Recently, a Christian friend of mine was contemplating an important career decision: Should he leave the company at which he had spent most of his career, or should he go to work for a new company, which promised a higher salary and more rewarding work—but with less job security? When asked where he saw God in all of this, he said, “As long as I’m ethical and try to be a witness for Christ where I work, why would God care which job I take? It’s not like I’m being called into ministry. God cares about spiritual things.”
While I’m sure that my friend’s belief is widespread, it’s also mistaken. Why wouldn’t God care about how we spend 40, 50, 60, or more hours of our lives each week? Even if God were only interested in spiritual things (which he isn’t), wouldn’t the time and energy we spend at work have a huge impact on our spiritual lives? And since God designed us from the beginning to be people who work most of the time, isn’t there some higher purpose and deeper meaning in the work we do—regardless what our job is?
I’ll explore these questions and more in a new 2-part sermon series beginning this Sunday: “Your Work Is Calling.” Our primary scripture this Sunday will be Genesis 1:24-2:3.