“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16 NKJV). Man is meant to work. It is part of his purpose and meaning in life. From the time God placed him in the garden, He appointed man the task of laboring, though the circumstances were certainly different in the beginning than they are after man’s fall. As Moses wrote, “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Even after man’s fall, God said, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). Yet, either before or after the fall, the need to have purpose and the fulfillment of that purpose through good, old-fashioned work was hardwired into man.
In our generation, we talk a lot with heated fervor for this very reason about the millions of jobless Americans, unemployment rates and jobless claims. When man is true to himself and the godly purposes given him, he will work and find meaning in an honest day’s wage. He will be a producer, a thinker and a laborer. He will perceive the work of his hands as meaning and purpose laden to the point of defining, in part, who he is. For this reason, the sluggard is like “As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy man to those who send him” (Proverbs 10:26).
Of course, the same is true in spiritual matters and labor in God’s kingdom. Being spiritual is not just some lofty idea about which one muses but never really comes to understand in a laborious and hands on way. Instead, man must realize his spiritual purpose and meaning through legitimate and god-defined work. It is for this reason that the body of believers in Christ is called a vineyard, compared to a field that must be harvested and to a house that must be built. There is work that must be done if we are to ever find purpose and meaning in Christ. Just as the unemployed man is left suffering with the feelings of inadequacy, guilt and shame, so too, must the unemployed child of God experience similar feelings. There is one big difference, though, between our secular work and our work in the kingdom; God always provides plenty of job opportunities. They are never scarce, and there is always one that is tailor made just for you (James 2). Thus, we have no excuses!
Will you labor in the kingdom? Will you get on that road to explore who you can be in Christ, finding your purpose through meaningful labor? Or, are you, sadly, content to remain on the broad road with the rest of the spiritually unemployed? Will you simply be content to watch your brothers and sisters do the work? Is the church really a place, like so many businesses, where the 80/20 rule applies—80% of the work is done by 20% of the people?
