The Bible does not appear to give priorities to the various kinds of stewardship or work. All kinds of production and management activities honor God. If the work is seen by the worker as something accomplished for God and meeting a need in society, it is pleasing to God. Some roles that modern society tends to see as less valuable and mundane—animal husbandry and tilling the soil, for instance—are specifically mentioned as worthy endeavors in the Garden. Isn’t it logical that all work that results in food, clothing, shelter, rest or recreation, beauty, and a host of other worthy ends can be acts of worship to God and seen as valuable contributions to society? Are these not activities that can be as sacred as rearing children, teaching school, or even carrying out priestly duties?

Though I often fail to live up to God’s highest standards, I realize that my approach to the job is consistent with the expectation God places on all my daily work. God does not differentiate among types of work. Halfhearted efforts and sloppy work do not honor God. He expects me to use my best efforts, talents, and skills in every task I undertake, whatever its importance.

(From Joy at Work (Seattle: PVG, 2006), used by permission.)

POINTS TO PONDER

1.  How does Os Guinness’s definition of calling align with yours?  “Calling is truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.”⁶
2. Read Matthew 28:16-20
3. How does this passage align with our calling?

NOTES

¹R. Paul Stevens, The Other Six Days (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999), p. 88.
²Os Guinness, The Call (Nashville: Word, 1998), p. 31.
³Ibid.
⁴Douglas Sherman and William Hendricks, Your Work Matters to God (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1987), p. 77.
⁵Cornelius Plantinga Jr., Engaging God’s Word: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), p. 121.
⁶Guinness, The Call, p. 4.

Copyright © 2008 by Colin Creel.  Published by Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.