By Jerry Bridges
Author, Resource to The Navigators college ministry staff

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In The Navigators we have often drawn a distinction between work and ministry. But the truth is, ministry is work (just ask any Navigator staff member), and work is ministry if we have the right view of work. But for this article I am going to use work to express that which is done out in the market place, or industry, or various professional practices, or even in the mechanical and building trades.

While The Navigators are actively recruiting qualified people to come on our staff, we realize that not everyone who has been involved in our ministry as a student has been called to the Navs, or for that matter, to any “full time” Christian ministry. Centuries of church history and 75 years of Navigator history show that God calls the vast majority of believers to work in temporal vocations and careers. And the truth is, all forms of temporal work that are not by their nature sinful are honorable and noble callings. So in this article I want to address The Nobility of Work.

In Genesis 2:7-8 we read that God formed man of the dust of the ground, and then God planted a garden in Eden and there he put the man whom he had formed. Verse 15 tells us that God put the man in the garden “to work it and to keep it.” God designed the garden to be worked, and he appointed the man to do the work. Man’s first job was as a gardener.

In chapter 1:28, though, we read that man’s and woman’s assignment was also to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.” To fill the earth implies an increasing population, and to subdue it means to make more of the earth habitable for this increasing population. God planted the first garden, but Adam and his descendants were to plant others, along, no doubt, with acquiring other skills and building the necessary infrastructure to support a growing population. Already in Genesis 4:2 we see that Adam’s second son, Abel, was not a gardener but a keeper of sheep.

The world in which Adam and Eve were placed was a perfect world. The thorns and thistles that we have today came as a result of God’s curse on the ground because of Adam’s sin. See Genesis 3:17-19. But originally it was a perfect world. As well as no thorns or thistles, there were no aphids, or bark beetles, or boll weevils, or grub worms. All man had to do was plant, cultivate and harvest.

I. The Nobility of Work

For Adam, work was a noble thing because God had ordained the earth to be worked and had ordained man to do the work. It was a hand and glove situation. Each was designed for the other.

Of course Adam not only worked originally in a perfect world, but also in a simple agricultural world. Life was simple but fulfilling because he was doing what God designed him to do. Today we live in an extremely complex world. But imagine that even with life’s complexities what it would be like if you never encountered any problems or frustrations in your work. Farmers never experienced drought, computers never crashed, airplanes always ran on schedule. In its simplest form that is the world into which Adam and Eve were placed.

Work was a noble thing because God had ordained it. God had designed the earth to be worked, and had appointed man to do the work, all in a way that would be fulfilling to the man, and as we would say today, in a way that was “environmentally friendly.”

II. The Vanity of Work

Alas, this perfect environment and work as a noble thing did not last long. We do not know the time period between Genesis chapter two and three. Whatever it was, it must have given Adam and Eve time enough to enjoy the nobility and fulfillment of work so they would know what they might have had were it not for their sin of eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:1-13).

There were horrendous negative consequences that came upon all of humanity as a result of that one act of disobedience by Adam and Eve. Sin entered the world, bringing with it all the suffering and misery experienced by all of humanity since that time. This includes not only all the natural calamities such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, droughts and floods, but also all the evil acts perpetrated on human kind by each other. All the wars, genocides, murders and rapes as well as the more commonplace sins we commit against one another every day are the result of that one momentous act of rebellion against God by Adam and Eve.

Among all the negative factors, all of which would appear in time, the one that is of interest to us now is its effect on work.

“And to Adam [God] said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:17-19).

Not only thorns and thistles, but harmful insects, droughts, floods, and anything else that would frustrate Adam and all who came after him, were a result of God’s curse on the ground. “By the sweat of your face,” is an idiom meaning work is going to be hard, tiresome, and often frustrating. So now we live in an age where work, instead of being noble and fulfilling, is often boring, vexatious, and frustrating. Some years ago I read a statement by a human resources consultant that eighty percent of people in America are dissatisfied with their jobs. That’s why we have expressions such as, “Thank goodness it’s Friday.”

The writer of Ecclesiastes (presumably Solomon), wrote, “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14). This applies not only to the people working at the unskilled, lower paying jobs. It goes all the way up the corporate ladder and throughout the professional world. The writer of Ecclesiastes had all the wealth and opportunity to do whatever he wanted in the way of civic and agricultural development and personal pleasure. We would say today, he “had it all.” Yet this is what he concluded, “Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:11).

In fact the writer goes even further when he wrote, “I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, …because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil” (Ecclesiastes 2:18, 21).

This writer was also an astute observer of sinful human nature. He wrote, “Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 4:4). In other words, the basic motive in the temporal workplace is mostly self interest. This is not to deny the existence of altruistic motives even in some unbelievers, but the most pervasive motive is self interest. Today our culture is shaped by a desire for what I call the “deadly P’s” – position, promotion, pay raises and prestige. But in the end, work that is done primarily for oneself in quest of the four “P’s” is “vanity and a striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:11). The latter phrase is an expression for reaching for something and finding it’s nothing. So many people have reached the pinnacle of success in their field, only to ask, once they have arrived, “Is this all there is?”

Even the accumulation of wealth which some businesses and professions provide doesn’t satisfy. Again the writer of Ecclesiastes is on target when he writes, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). It is reported that John D. Rockefeller, in his day one of the wealthiest men in America, in answer to the question, “How much is enough?” replied, “One dollar more.” Regardless of where you end up in the hierarchy of your profession, and how much wealth you accumulate, work that is done primarily for yourself will prove to be “vanity and a striving after wind.”

III. The Nobility of Work Restored

So is there any hope? Are young people entering the work force today automatically doomed to pursuing that which in the final analysis is only vanity and a striving after wind? Thankfully, the answer is no. It is true that the results of the fall in terms of the cursed earth will not be removed until Christ returns and establishes the new heavens and the new earth. Insects and adverse weather will always plague, even the godly Christian farmer. Computers will crash, and airplane flights will frequently be late. But there is hope. The nobility of work can be restored for the believer. In order to do so, however, we must regain a Christian attitude toward work itself and also a Christian attitude toward the curse on work.

First, we must remind ourselves that work was ordained by God. Despite the curse on creation due to Adam’s sin, the intrinsic nobility of work as that which God ordained remains in effect.

Part of that intrinsic nobility lies in the fact that through our work we serve God through serving other people. This view is clearly expressed in Paul’s words to the Christian slaves at Colossae:

“Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:22-24).

The slaves of Paul’s day often held responsible positions in the homes of their masters. In some respects they were similar to employees today except for one thing. They were owned by their masters. They couldn’t resign to get a better paying job or career advancement elsewhere.

So what attitude did Paul encourage them to have toward their work? First they were to obey their masters. Then they were to work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. They were serving the Lord Christ. That last sentence is significant. They were to serve Christ by serving their master. Since they were serving Christ, they were to work heartily at their job.

This is the first step toward restoring the nobility in a believer’s work. A believer should seek to serve Christ by serving people in his or her work. Today we live in a complex, inter-dependent society. All of us need the work of other people just to live in today’s world. By the same token each of us has a contribution to make to the needs and well being of others. And we should seek to do our work, whatever it may be, in a hearty fashion as serving the Lord through serving other people.

This is a far different attitude than the person who is chasing the four “P’s” of position, promotion, pay raises, and prestige. That person is serving himself. He may work diligently at his job, but his motive is to serve himself; not other people, and certainly not the Lord.

This radically different attitude is illustrated so clearly by a retired car salesman I met. He had trusted Christ as his Savior somewhere in mid-life, so he had a sales career before trusting Christ and one afterwards. He said to me, “Before I trusted Christ I sold cars. After I trusted Him, I began to help people buy cars.” What is the difference? The difference was first in his heart attitude and secondly in the way he treated customers. In the first stage his goal was to make as good a commission as possible on each car he sold. The customer’s interest was secondary to his own. After becoming a believer, he began to seek the interest of the prospective customer first. What car would best fit the needs and desires of the customer, coupled with his ability to pay for the car? And if the customer wasn’t ready to buy, he would not pressure him or her to close a sale. He truly wanted what was best for them.

After telling me his story this retired car salesman said to me with a smile, “Now my old customers keep calling me at home, asking me to come down to the dealership and help them buy a car.” The man had restored nobility to an occupation that often has had a reputation for high pressure salesmanship.

But even with the right attitude towards work as serving God through serving people, we still have to deal with the curse on work. Though this curse was expressed to Adam in terms of his agricultural situation, the effect applies to all aspects of work, even the highly technical vocations and careers of today. We could go through every vocation and profession, and people working in those fields could tell you of frustrations, road blocks, and mistakes that even they make. That’s all a part of the curse, and that will not change until the new heavens and the new earth.

But meanwhile we can, to some degree, redeem even the curse on work if we remember that God controls all events and circumstances in His universe, and directs all of them to their proper end. For the child of God every frustrating or disappointing event or circumstance in his entire life, including his work, has been allowed by God and intended by God to conform him or her more and more to the image of His Son, Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:28-29).

You should also consider the opportunity you have of relating naturally to fellow workers who do not know Christ. They are your natural mission field. But remember, you owe it to your employer and to God to work heartily as for the Lord. And your best witness to your fellow employees is a job done well with integrity, and with thoughtfulness for your co-workers.

Consider also that through the income from your work you have the privilege of partnering with those in “full time” Christian work; especially those still ministering on college campuses or serving overseas. Paul thanked the Philippian believers for their partnership in the gospel (Philippians 1:3). And from what he says in Philippians 4:15-17, it is clear that he is referring to their financial partnership with him.

So if God calls you to work in a temporal profession, you are not doomed to that which is only vanity and a striving after wind. By God’s grace you can restore nobility to your work if you will seek to serve God by serving people, and will believe that even those aspects of your work that experience the Adamic curse, have been redeemed by God to conform you to Christ.

Years ago there was a popular wall plaque with the following words:

“Only one life; twill soon be past Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Keep those words in mind, whether you are selling cars or translating the Bible for some remote tribe. And when you do you will have restored nobility to your work.