Calvary Road Baptist Church
“WORK ... A JOB”
Second Thessalonians 3.10-14
God blessed our Friends Day some months back, with several guests. I like to think of such people as potential new friends for life. My prayer is that each of you here at Calvary Road Baptist Church will roll up your sleeves and work hard to persuade every visitor to our Church to come again and that you will work hard to invite others to come to the Church house.
I mention work as it relates to our Friends Day and visitors to our Church because not only did God bless us wonderfully then, but He also blesses us continually through the use of means. Put another way, God blesses us through prayer and hard work. Not everyone does, but some pray diligently and work hard to get people to Church.
We can work without praying, and we would no doubt have had a Friends Day or subsequent Sunday that is not so much blessed by God. Or we could have prayed without working, and we would no doubt have had a Friends Day or subsequent Sunday that is not nearly so much blessed by God. That feature of work combined with prayer is so characteristically Christian.
It is too often the case with people that familiarity with the terms of the Gospel, salvation by grace through faith apart from works of righteousness, creates a fatal misconception concerning this idea of work. It is the misconception that work plays no part in the Christian’s evangelism, that work plays no part in the Gospel ministry, and that work is only an incidental part of the Christian life. Tragically, this misconception about work bleeds over into other areas of life, even though Paul identifies this activity as the work of faith in First Thessalonians 1.3.
So, to establish something of a Christian theology of work, this is the first of possibly four sermons about work over these next few Sunday evenings. My goal is to contrast in your mind the clear distinctions that exist between what the ungodly world thinks about work, including the world of evangelical Christianity, and the relationship of the Christian faith to this pattern called work.
Turn in your Bible to Second Thessalonians 3.10-14, where you will see that these issues about the Christian and the topic of work have been around for a long time. When you find that passage, stand for the reading of God’s Word:
10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
11 For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.
12 Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
13 But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.
14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.
It is very clear from this passage that shortly after their conversion, Paul dealt with the Thessalonian believers about the kind of attitude and posture toward work they should adopt as Christians. It is also evident that the apostle was in no mood to quibble about this matter of work since he left the Thessalonian congregation with very little wiggle room when he ordered their actions and attitudes toward the topic of work.
In the aftermath of the Covid lockdown and the plethora of individuals who seem to be uninterested in pursuing gainful employment, but draw money from the government, this message has to do with laying a groundwork, or perhaps erecting a backdrop, against which the subject of working as in working for a living, laboring to support yourself and your family, can be better understood.
Before I treat the topic of work and employment, let me quickly review the salient points of our text:
Verse 10:
“For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”
This verse shows that Paul had a powerful position toward those who refused to work. Read Proverbs to connect a refusal to work and laziness, and you will see precisely why Paul says what he says. No Christian should subsidize another’s sins, even if it means he goes hungry. This is because hunger is sometimes the only thing that motivates a lazy person to get to work. By work, I do not refer to that which makes you tired, but that which is productive.
Verse 11:
“For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.”
“Disorderly” refers to being out of formation. When able-bodied Christians do not work, it reflects so badly on their testimonies that it becomes common knowledge. Paul wrote, “For we hear.” No capable Christian should have the reputation of being someone who avoids work. Why not? Because word gets around, that is why not. There is no leisure class in the family of God.
Verse 12:
“Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.”
Paul issued this command based on his apostolic authority. Christians are to work and live off their earnings. Though this sometimes creates a conflict with some who receive more money from the government by not working than by working for themselves, the Biblical requirement is clear.[1] The Christian should not work only when it is financially advantageous. The Christian should always work because God’s Word commands it.
Verse 13:
“But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.”
Let me suggest that this comment was directed at Church members discouraged by those not working. It is terrible for a congregation’s morale to realize that some, because they are not working and earning a decent living, are not only not carrying their fair share of the burden but are living off the hard labor of others and setting a bad example for others in the community.
Verse 14:
“And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.”
So, you see, sometimes embarrassing consequences can be suffered by the person who does not work to support himself. Not that you ridicule him or act nasty to him. But he is not the guy you want your sons to emulate as a model for Christian manhood.
Sometime back, I met a guy who worked on the same spy satellite program I used to work on as an engineer. A self-described trust fund baby, he told me his parents set him up to be cared for without working a day of his life. When I asked him why he worked, he said he had come to Christ as a teen and worked, not to support himself, but because holding a job was beneficial and a good testimony to others.
I could go on, but these things said, my sermon is built around four broad points about work:
First, SOME BIBLE FACTS ABOUT WORK
The most compelling reason we should work is because we are created in the image and likeness of God.[2] As God worked for six days to create this universe and all that therein is, we who are made in His image and after His likeness should behave in a manner that shows us to be His image bearers.
In similar fashion, just as we are to work because the One whose image we bear worked, so are we to rest, because God rested. I read Genesis 2.2-3:
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Let me immediately put to rest any notion of Sabbatarianism. Scripture is unequivocal in showing that Christians have no obligation to rest on the seventh day of the week. But the principle of resting for six workdays each week is undeniably taught in God’s Word, and we would be all the healthier to observe it.
Just as surely as each of us is supposed to work (and work hard, I might add[3]), we must be careful not to idolize work. I will not take the time to establish what is so evident as to need no proof, that a career or a work obsession can become just as much a person’s idol as a statue of a false god. When does a career, when does work, become an idol? Whenever it rates higher on your list of priorities than worship and service to God, whenever work precludes worship and service to God, and whenever your love for your work or your career is more significant than your love for God.
So, there should be a balance. Just as it is forbidden to refuse work, it is also forbidden to place too great an emphasis on work. Judgment is required. Work is not unimportant, but neither is it all important. Work is what most of us do to finance our lives. Work is what you do to take care of your family and support your Church. Work will have its proper place in your life when you work as hard as you can in six days to support your ministry and life while carefully taking care of yourself, your family, and your ministry correctly. What about the labor union’s efforts to achieve a four-day workweek?[4] I think it is a terrible idea, since most people engage in harmful things, they do during their leisure time. Not even retired people should sit around drinking mint juleps all the time but should be engaged in productive activity of some kind if their physical health permits. What if you work a job that has a four-day workweek? I suggest you establish a two-day side hustle then, thereby increasing your earnings and avoiding the temptations that arise from too much leisure time. Not working is harmful, to you and to those who watch you.
Next, SOME HISTORICAL FACTS ABOUT WORK
Let me only lightly touch on two matters related to the topic of work in the light of history:
First, work and leisure. Is it not a fact that for most of human history, survival has been dependent upon hard work? In almost every environment, there have been times when rest and leisure have been possible. But even when leisure is possible, it is not always beneficial. Proverbs contains several verses that warn of the danger faced by the fellow who relaxes when he should be preparing to work.[5] For example, though some farmers can't farm in the winter, he is a lazy fool who does not use the wintertime to prepare themselves and their tools when he can till the ground and plant their crops. Only within the last two centuries has the technological revolution produced such abundant supplies of goods and materials that it has been possible for people to do absolutely nothing without the fear of starvation. Such laziness is possible only because of the humanist do-gooders in the West as they distance themselves from Bible truth since communist countries have always imprisoned those who refused to work for parasitism.[6] As I previously alluded, a related feature is the notion that a hard-working fellow should make enough money to retire while he is young, or young enough to enjoy his retirement. This, of course, flies in the face of the distinctively Biblical view that labor is beneficial in and of itself and that a person should work in some way so long as he is physically able to work.[7]
The second historical matter related to the topic of work is the Gospel’s influence upon society. It is safe to say that the Protestant Reformation unleashed the Gospel on Europe and England. As the Gospel spread and affected the West, there also came a repudiation of the long-held division of work and toil into the sacred versus secular categories.[8] No longer did so-called laymen look upon their toil as essentially different from so-called ministry vocations. Every job and task was now done “as unto the Lord.” Where the Bible was accessible to all, the value of work was elevated in status and seen as a legitimate arena of endeavor in which God could be obeyed and glorified. Reaching its peak with the Puritans, the goal was to integrate one’s daily work with his daily devotion to God. “The Puritans revolutionized attitudes toward daily work when they raised the possibility that ‘every step and stroke in your trade is sanctified.’”[9] This compares favorably with the ideal of First Corinthians 10.31,
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God,”
and Ephesians 6.5-8:
5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
Sadly, in our time many of the effects of the Protestant Reformation and the First Great Awakening are noticeably wearing off. The impact of those great movements of God in the lives of so many people has dramatically diminished. The result is that we now have Church people and professed Bible believers who live for luxury, who plan for leisure, who scheme and connive for ways to get out of work, just like in the Apostle Paul’s day when the Word of God was initially being spread among the Gentiles. You can see that a Christian’s attitude about work ought to be diametrically opposed to that of others. The child of God should be moderate, rather than extreme, reaching a balance midway between laziness at one extreme and being a workaholic at the other extreme. As well, the Christian’s focus should be upon ministry, seizing upon the opportunities afforded by work to compliment and support your Church ministry, and not detract from it.
Third, SOME PRACTICAL FACTS ABOUT WORK
Before we draw some conclusions about work, let me state two facts related to work that need to be said:
First, work is good for you. Work is so good for you that you should work even if you don’t have to. Suppose you are independently wealthy, that you have inherited a vast fortune. You should still work, and work hard, for no other reason than because it is good for you to work hard. Work is good for your state of mind. Work is good for your physical health. Work is good for your social well-being. And work is good for you spiritually. If you have children, part of raising them is setting a healthy example of work for them. You should also create work opportunities for your children around the house, chores inside the house, volunteer work in and around the Church, or wherever they can be put to work. The primary reason work is good for you is because, as I mentioned earlier, it is a reflection of the very nature of God that you as an image-bearer of God, should never fail to display. But work is also good for you because it brings untold physical, emotional, social, and spiritual benefits.
On the other hand, laziness is bad for you. When a person is lazy, he is resisting God’s will for his life, because there can be no doubt that God wants every one of us to work, to work hard, and to work steadily. Not that vacations are not necessary. Not that some time off once and a while is not very beneficial. Not that one day each week to rest the body and the mind and to concentrate more fully upon the things of God, is not appropriate. It is just that good, hard work benefits a person in ways that we do not always appreciate. Good, hard work develops character in ways that nothing else will. And good, hard work gets you through when intelligence, cleverness, and convenience disappoint you. A comment about hobbies. There is nothing wrong with hobbies. I begrudge no one a round of golf, time at the range, scrapbooking, surfing, or whatever. Just be careful that what you call a hobby is not an adult version of playing when you should be working. Playing is not wrong unless you ought to be working.
Let Me End With SOME CONCLUSIONS ABOUT WORK
It is apparent in the Bible that God’s plan for mankind involves work. God worked in the six days of creation, so He has blessed humanity with the ability and the opportunities to work that should not be neglected. Even before the Fall, Adam’s job was to dress and keep the Garden of Eden, Genesis 2.15.
Some people think there is no solid connection between a person’s relationship with Jesus Christ and their work habits, but the Bible clearly shows there is such a connection. The benefits that Jesus Christ secured on the cruel cross of Calvary are life-changing and affect every aspect of life, including one’s approach to work.
This is because not only does the sinner who comes to the risen Savior enjoy the forgiveness of his sins and a new standing before God as the result of being justified by faith in Christ, but he also discovers that his personality is being altered due to his conversion.
To be sure, there will always be unconverted people who will work harder and more compulsively than Christians do, but no one should be able to achieve a life that achieves the proper balance of hard work on one hand, coupled with the determination to observe the Biblical principle of resting appropriately and serving God effectively that a Christian can. Also, a real Christian should not be numbered among those who are lazy and allergic to good, hard work.
Work is hard. It is supposed to be hard. But legitimate work is good for you, and when you are doing legitimate work, you reflect one aspect of the very image of the God who made you. However, the great tragedy that everyone must someday confront has to do with other aspects of the image of the God who made you.
Early in this sermon, I mentioned God’s creative work. To be more specific, let me say that the work of creating this universe and everything in it, including humanity, was the Lord Jesus Christ’s work.
This is born out by the Apostle John in John 1.3, where we read this about Jesus Christ:
“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
As well, this is born out by the Apostle Paul in Colossians 1.16, where we read this about the Savior:
“All things were created by him.”
So, when the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” in Genesis 1.1, the apostles John and Paul add clarity by pointing out that it was the Lord Jesus Christ Who created all things. I say that to pose this question: We know that Jesus Christ’s creative work resulted in the existence of this universe and everything in it, including you and me. But have you ever wondered about the Lord Jesus Christ, after the work of creating the entire physical universe in six literal days, then doing the work of sacrificing Himself on the cross of Calvary?
Though I have preached a mainly informative message about our proper attitude toward work, it would also be profitable for you to give some thought to the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross. He worked to produce salvation full and free, so I do not have to work for my soul’s salvation.
But following my soul’s salvation through faith in Christ, I work because I was created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God before ordained that I should walk in them, Ephesians 2.10.
__________
[1] Star Parker speaks to the welfare trap she used to live in https://curepolicy.org/star-parker/
[2] Genesis 1.26; 5.1
[3] Ecclesiastes 9.10
[4] https://thehill.com/homenews/nexstar_media_wire/3903040-32-hour-workweek-bill-reintroduced-in-congress-will-it-pass/
[5] Proverbs 6.6, 9; 10.26; 13.4; 18.9; 19.24; 20.4; 21.25; 22.13; 26.13-15
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_parasitism_(offense)
[7] Proverbs 14.23
[8] Leland Ryken, Worldly Saints, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), pages 24-25.
[9] Ibid., page 25.
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