Every Good Endeavour

by Timothy Keller

How do you view your work? Is it something you do to earn money to pay your financial

obligations? Are only full time church workers doing God’s work? How can our secular jobs be a

place where we find God’s purpose fulfilled? These are questions this book deals with.

We should view our work as a contribution to the good of all and not merely as a means to

one’s own advancement.

A job is a vocation only if someone calls you to do it and you do it for them rather than for

yourself. As a Christian, this means a vocation is a job that we see as God given, and we

look for ways to glorify God in what we do. It is a mission of service to something beyond

merely our own interests.

Reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin argued that all work, even those deemed as secular

work, was as much a calling from God as the ministry of a monk or a priest. When we

work, we are the fingers of God, His providential love for others. This understanding elevates

our purpose of work from making a living to loving our neighbours and doing God’s will at the

workplace which is our mission field.

A painter, a writer, can bring beauty into the world and help people as agents of God. In the

Lord, our labour is not in vain (1 Cor 15:58). We may start off in our careers with dreams of

making a difference in the world, to do meaningful work, but 10 years after we have been in the

workforce, we may find that we seem to have made very little progress, and may even feel

disillusioned and depressed. But our task is to be faithful in whatever God has entrusted to

us, be it big or little tasks, be it spectacular or mundane duties, but always being faithful

and doing all to the glory of God. We mustn’t allow ourselves to get puffed up with our

successes or devastated by our setbacks.

God’s plan for work

In Genesis, God’s creative efforts were described as work. In most other cultures, the origins

of the earth are depicted as the result of warring cosmos forces. Creation is not the aftermath of

a battle but the plan of a craftsman. Each “day” brought a new chapter in the creation story

which is systematic and organised. Then He shows us humans working in paradise. Work

was not a necessary evil which came into the picture only after the Fall. Genesis 2:15 tells us

that God put Man in the Garden of Eden to work it and to take care of it.

God’s plan was always for Man to have a healthy constant cycle of work and rest. In John

5:17 Jesus tells us that God the Father is always always at work. Without meaningful work

we can suffer from an inner loss of significance and emptiness.

It is interesting to note that God rested on the seventh day, but that He had finished the work

He had been doing (Genesis 2:2). God being omnipotent does not need to rest but He did so

to provide an example for us to follow.

We must resist making our work the aim and purpose in life for then we create an idol that

takes God’s place. Our relationship with God is the most important foundation for our lives.

Leisure is not the mere absence of work, but an attitude of mind in which we are able to

contemplate and enjoy, to reset our focus and priorities.

Some philosophers view physical work as a curse, and that man should immerse himself in

ceaseless contemplation. They postulate that to be spiritual one should distance oneself from

physical and material things. This kind of worldview created the 2 distinct classes- the working

class who did manual labour with their hands,and the intellectual elites, who were able to

indulge in non stop leisure and to use thinking as their work.

In the modern world, we also see young people aiming to gain sufficient net worth to afford early

retirement, deeming that as the ultimate goal to achieve.

We need to remember that Jesus, the Son of God, spent over 20 years of his life using his

hands, working as a carpenter. So working with our hands should never be viewed as a

lesser vocation.

Businesses can be a way of serving the common good of people. If a business is set up in an

ethical manner, with honest and fair policies, it can be a place that creates meaningful

employment to the workers, as well as to use God given resources in an effective way to

provide a product or a service which helps the community and the nation.

God calls and assigns us to a particular role, based on the gifts and talents He has

bestowed on us. When there are devout Christians in every field in the community, godly

influence on the nation increases.

Just as wise parents give chores to children to help develop their character, God in His wisdom

gives us tasks to help us to grow in godly character.

Look around you. Even things you use daily have to be made by someone, or a series of

people. Your refrigerator, your table, your bed, your clothes, your kitchen appliances and

foodstuff- we all cannot be self sufficient and make these ourselves. We need one another to

work for the betterment of society and community as a whole. Our first priority in our work is to

do it competently. A person who walks around sounding preachy but does not do his work

competently dishonours God.

Our problems at work

In Genesis 3:16-19 God tells man that due to their sin, work will be difficult with painful toil

and sweat of the brow. In the Garden of Eden, man was tested, and given the opportunity to

voluntarily make our relationship with God the primary value of our lives and to obey his Word

simply out of trust. When man disobeyed, they took upon themselves the decision to choose

what was right or wrong for them to do, and how they should live. We were designed to

know, serve, and love God supremely and when we are faithful to that design, we flourish.

But when we choose to live for ourselves, everything begins to work backwards. As Paul

describes in Romans 8, the world is now subject to decay due to sin.

God had warned Adam and Eve that they would die if they ate of the tree of knowledge. But

when they ate, did they immediately drop dead like they ate a poisonous fruit? No. But what

God meant is that they would be separated from God, and paradise could no longer

function as it was supposed to, instead it began to fall apart.

After the Fall, Adam and Eve in Gen 3:7 realised that they were naked, as contrasted to

Genesis 2:25 when they were naked and unashamed. Shame is that sense of unease with

yourself at the heart of your being. We know there is something wrong with us but we can’t

seem to admit it or identify it.

Relationships were broken, Adam and Eve were no longer able to bare theirselves

unashamedly to each other, and when confronted by God, they shifted blame to others instead

of honestly taking responsibility for their actions, even though they were talking to God who

already knew all that they had done.

Thorns and thistles will come up as we seek to grow food (v18) indicating that our work will not

be smooth sailing but we shall be faced with setbacks and frustrations. Isn’t that what many of

us encounter in our working lives? And sometimes the thorn is actually ourselves. When our sin

and pride prevent us from taking criticism and advice, when we insist on doing things our

way rather than listening to suggestions from others.

In Ecclesiastes, the writer’s main theme is that the wisest, richest, most gifted man at that

time, could not find fulfilment “under the sun” which refers to life in this world considered in

and of itself, apart from any greater or eternal reality. Basically if we live for this temporal

world alone, we will never find true meaning or purpose.

The philosopher tries to make sense of life firstly through learning and wisdom ( Ecc 1:12-18,

2:12-16). Then secondly through the pursuit of pleasure (Ecc 2:1-11). Thirdly he pursues

achievement through hard work (Ecc 2:17-26). But he came to the conclusion that work done

under the sun is meaningless, a chasing after the wind (Ecc 2:17).

The young people of today may land up taking up jobs which do not fit their abilities. Some may

be lured to do jobs for prestige and high pay even if it doesn’t suit them. On the other hand,

there are some who have brilliant minds but shun high paying jobs which they view as

materialistic, and may settle for a non profit organisation doing work which may be

unrelated to their training, but which they feel gives more meaning and purpose. However

even though the intentions are altruistic, they may not realise that their gifts and talents may

not be utilised in the best way, and as such they become poor stewards of God’s gifts.

How should we choose a job or career?

Firstly, if we have the luxury of options, find out what work we can do well, and what fits our

gifts and talents.

Secondly, see if the job benefits the community. This may not be directly evident, but many

jobs help society to function better.

Thirdly, see if you can bring benefit to the field of work you will be involved in. This can

result in satisfaction when you do your job well.

Fourthly, try to find work that you will enjoy. (Ecc 3:22)

There is a powerful inclination of the human heart to make work the main basis of our meaning

and identity. It becomes a way to distinguish myself from my neighbour, to show the world

and to prove to myself that I am special.

In Genesis 11:2-4, the people wanted to build a high tower to make a name for themselves.

Aren’t we like that when we want to etch our names in history, to have a legacy to be

remembered?

Pride is essentially competitive. It gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of

having more of it than the next man. People are proud of being richer, cleverer, or better looking

than others.

A look at the story of Esther brings up questions in the first few chapters. Modern day feminists

disagree with Esther’s subservience, others are bothered that she slept with the king before she

was married, and some are offended by the fact that unlike Daniel who identified himself as a

Jew from the beginning, it seems that Esther keeps her true identity to herself. In spite of these

limitations, we see that God uses Esther and her position to save the Jews, and she too learns

to use her God given position to good use, even when it puts herself at risk.

Esther, Daniel and Joseph were all believers of God holding a position of influence in a non

believing nation. The biblical perspective was that there people were placed there by God for a

purpose. When we look at our modern day perspective, so many of us serve in a non Christian

environment, and there will always be limitations placed on us as employees as to what we can

and cannot do at the workplace. Quite possibly, many of us will not be in a position to openly

distribute tracts and share the gospel. But we can be a witness by our conduct, and by

building relationship bridges with colleagues. Then when the situation arises, we, like

Esther, should rise to the occasion and seize the opportunity to be a witness of Christ. This may

be outside working hours, perhaps over lunch or tea, or inviting your colleague over to your

home.

While we must resist being a closet Christian, we must also avoid coming across as a self

righteous person, belittling our friends’ beliefs and values. When we share our

experiences, we should not be judgemental.

Work reveals our idols.

An idol is anything that takes the rightful place of God in our lives. (Exodus 20:3). This may

be financial security, recognition, achievements, Status, power, comfort and pleasure, moral

virtue, acts of devotion, etc. The irony is that we can often see idols in our colleagues and

friends’ lives but we are often blind to our own idols.

In addition to personal idols, there are also cultural and corporate idols which shape how we

think and what we value as important in life. This can lead to views that our race, our way of

life is superior to another.

In modern society, the rise of the importance of self has surfaced. People work for self

improvement, for self gratification, for self interest, rather than for the good of the community or

nation. Human self replaces God as the ultimate goal to satisfy. Products, services,

experiences that we aim for are to satisfy the human desire for pleasure and self satisfaction.

Advertising and media bombards us with temptations to seek after what society places as

symbols of success and achievement.

The Christian needs to view his work as partnering God to bring about a better world, to

bring Christian values and ethics to the secular workplace, and an opportunity to show God’s

love to non believers.

A new story for work

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Cor 10:31)

The gospel teaches us that the meaning of life is to love God and love our neighbour, and the

operating principle is servanthood.

Salvation of humankind is fundamentally relational. We were made for a relationship with

God, but through sin, we lost that relationship which can only be regained by grace

through Jesus.

The Christian perspective to work can be applied to different fields.

In the business world, corporate profits, if stewarded wisely, can be a healthy means to a good

end. Likewise individual compensation for work done is to be appreciated and necessary to

provide for oneself and one’s family. Remember that Paul viewed his work as a tentmaker as

essential so that he would not be a burden to the churches he ministered to. Corporations and

businesses can glorify God by not exploiting employees, and by pouring back in social

projects for the community.

In journalism, one must do a good job of reporting empirical facts as objectively as

possible.

In education, a Christian can play a vital role in shaping the minds and attitudes of the

future generation.

In health care, a Christian can look at a patient in a holistic manner, dealing with not only

physical, but psychological and spiritual aspects which affect a person’s health.

In creative arts, Christian musicians do not need to be limited to Christian music alone, and

creative writers can delve into non Christian genres as well. Look at the Chronicles of Narnia.

It has a hidden message and yet it is not overtly Christian literature.

We can improve our outlook at our workplace if we ask ourselves what opportunities there are in

my profession for

1.Serving individuals

2.Serving society

3.Serving my field of work

4.Modelling competence and excellence

5.Witnessing for Christ.

To think that a Christian working in a factory or office will necessarily be better at his work

than a non Christian colleague would not be realistic. We must learn to appreciate work

that is done by all people, believers and unbelievers, which is essential for the wellbeing of

the community.

Christians should not think of work as either spiritual or secular (dualism). Jesus spent the

first 30 years of his life working with his hands as a carpenter. Every job that benefits the

community is a blessing from God. Even scientific and industrial discoveries are as a result of

God the creator working through scientists by common grace and general revelation, to discover

more of this wonderful world that God has made.

We need to integrate faith and work. We cannot be Sunday Christians and weekday

workers. We must learn to do the right thing, even if it means losing a bonus or a promotion,

and even if everyone else is doing the wrong thing openly. Listen to the Spirit, who speaks

through our conscience.Colossians 3:23 tells us “Whatever you do, work at it with all your

heart, as working for the Lord”. Christians need to be people who say what we mean, and do

what we say, to follow through on commitments every time, to be dependable, transparent and

fair minded.

At our workplace we need to develop wisdom. How do we do that?

Firstly by having a personal relationship with God, and reading His word daily to know

God’s commands and plans for us.

Secondly, we must know ourselves. Many bad decisions stem from an inability to know what

we are and are not capable of accomplishing. We also need to choose careers which suit

our giftings.

Thirdly we learn wisdom through experience.This happens through a process where we ask

questions about things that have happened to us, and ask the Holy Spirit to teach us from

our mistakes as well as through our successes.

Ephesians 6 tells employees to do their work wholeheartedly, as if serving the Lord. Our

motivation is so that we will not dishonour God or to grieve Him. It then tells employers to treat

employees in the same way, meaning to be fair and compassionate.

Christians work for an audience of One- our loving heavenly Father, and that gives us

accountability and joy in our work.

A Christian should have a reputation for being fair, caring and committed to others. They should

be sympathetic and willing to forgive and reconcile. There should be a lack of vengefulness,

sanctimony, and spite. They should be calm and poised in the face of difficulty or failure, and

live modestly, below their potential lifestyle level, in order to be generous with others.

Some people try to get a sense of meaning by increasing productivity and pursuing success but

in the struggle they land up being burnt out.

The gospel replaces the story that animates our work, it alters our conception of what work

is, and it reorients the ethical compass we use for work, and it gives us new power for work

by supplying us with a new passion, purpose, and a deeper kind of rest.

Vocational discipleship is a relatively new term which means helping people to integrate their

faith and work. It helps Christians to live out the gospel in all spheres of culture and work

environments. Our motivation is that a life of gratitude for being saved is far more pleasing

to God than a life based on self righteousness over being good.

We are partners with God in bringing God’s love and message to bring transformation to the

marketplace.

Adults learn differently from children. Listening to a message alone seldom makes a significant

change in a person’s behaviour. The message needs to be discussed with peers, and applied

in scenarios which we are likely to face in real life. And finally we need accountability to help

us stick to our new views towards work, to share our successes and failures in a small support

group.