Theologies of work, Part II

In my last post I claimed that many pastors neglect, when teaching about the role of work in the Christian's life, the content and product of work. We are enjoined against work that is illegal or unethical, of course, but the actual result of our labor is strangely absent. It is the Christian's behavior in his work that is of much greater concern to the modern Protestant pastor. John Piper, who may well be -- after Luther, Calvin, and the Almighty Himself -- the most oft-cited writer among Reformed pastors, gives this advice to young people: "Devote yourself to [sanctification] with all your heart, and take whatever job you want." As for those already in the workforce, he falls back on predestination to sanction occupational apathy: "You are where you are by divine assignment, even if you got there by fraud."

A broad sampling of Protestant pastors on this topic will reveal that a great many concur with Piper either tacitly or explicitly (though the Arminians downplay the predestination angle, of course). Search "work" at Charles Stanley's In Touch Ministries and you'll find lessons that focus on the Christian's attitude and diligence, not the content of his work. The same is true at Billy Graham's ministry.

The predominant teaching by modern Protestant pastors regarding work is that the Christian is to do his work diligently unto the Lord, and respect his superiors, and be a shining light in the workplace. His primary goal is sanctification and evangelism, for which most any (legal) job will do. Work heartily unto the Lord, and be confident that you are where He has placed you for a reason. There is the occasional mention of matching a job to one's talents, but this is rare, and not connected to the question of what one is producing, but again, to one's diligence and competence.

These messages are especially welcomed, in my experience, by wives who are economically vulnerable to stupid decisions by their husbands. The last thing many wives want is for their husbands to start looking for "meaningful" work, because we've all seen men in mid-life crises make ridiculous job decisions in search of that elusive goal. The last thing a good many church budgets could stand, likewise, is for wide swaths of men to begin trading income for purpose. Thus not only do there appear to be good biblical reasons for occupational apathy, but a substantial portion of the church membership has an interest in deterring men from questioning their professions. And somebody has got to pay for all these fancy new church buildings we keep throwing up. I doubt many pastors deliberately shape their sermonizing on work in order to maximize their revenue, but they certainly don't have much incentive to rock the boat in that domain -- especially when it is easy to string together scriptures so that practical (as opposed to spiritual) purpose in work is diminished.

The aforementioned pastors are certainly on solid ground as far as they tread. I don't think any Christian would dispute that God is sovereign, or that sanctification and evangelism are important, or that doing one's work heartily unto the Lord is an important goal. But the question remains: does our knowledge of God, and of His creation, tell us anything further about what work should entail? Should we really tell young people to take whatever job they want, so long as it doesn't interfere with the sanctification process? Next time I'll offer thoughts from other theologians who suggest that what we do -- not just how we do it -- is of much greater significance than many modern pastors allow.

To read Tony's "Theologies of work, Part I," click here.