Rick Warren - The Purpose of Work — Part One

This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry

of Pastor Rick Warren.

Well.

Today we begin a series called Doing Business with God.

In this series, Rick helps you understand why you work,

what you should be working for, and how God can

use you in your workplace. Right now, here's Pastor Rick

with part one of a message called the purpose of Work.

In your lifetime, you're going to spend one hundred and

fifty thousand hours of your life at work. That's about

forty percent of your life working. Work defines our lives.

Work describes our lives, It dominates our lives, It identifies

our lives. And that's why we're going to do a

series on it now for the next several weeks. What

is God's will for your work? A recent study showed

that about two thirds of people say if I could

have a different job, I would I'm not satisfied, I'm

not fulfilled. I don't think I'm in the right job

after all. And so what we're gonna do during this

series is look at what the Bible says, God's word

about work, and we're going to look at questions like

what do I do when I get laid off? How

do I get a promotion? What is the best job

for me? What should I be doing with my life?

How do I even know what's the best kind of

job for me? What do you do when you've got

a bad boss and you've got conflict going on? What

do you want to do if you want to start

a new business? The Bible actually has a lot of

material to answer all of these questions. Today. To kick

us off in this series, I'm calling doing Business with God.

I want us to look at the fundamental question, and

it's this why why work? What is the purpose of work?

And it's not a new question. Thousands and thousands of

years ago. Solomon asked this question in Ecclesiastes chapter three,

Look on your outline. The Bible says this Ecclesiastes three nine,

What do people really get for all their hard work?

What if people really get, what's the benefit? What's the payoff?

What's the purpose of all the hard work? If I'm

going to spend forty percent of my life working, what

in the world is the reason for that? Now? I

know some people think that actually work is punishment from God,

but it's not. They said, But doesn't the Bible say

that after sin inate of the world. God cursed the ground.

He kicked him out of garden of Eden and said,

now you're going to have to work by the sweat

of your brow. Yes, that's true. But even before sin

entered the world, God had work for Adam and Eve

to do. He gave them assignments. The Bible says in

Genesis chapter two, verse fifteen, it's here on the screen.

God put the man in the garden of Eden to

work it and to care for it. To work it

and to care for even in paradise. Work was a

part of God's plan. So the result of sin is

not work. The result of sin is work is harder,

it's more difficult, it's more disappointing, it's more demeaning. It

has drudgery, it has disappointments. These are the things that

are brought on by work. Work is painful. But the

fact is, the Bible says God works. In fact, God

is working all the time. Jesus said it like this

on the screen. My Father is always at his work,

and I too am working. God is constantly working, So

it's not a sin to work. In fact, the reason

we work is because we're made in God's image and

God says he's working all the time. I hate to

tell you this, but you're going to work in heaven.

He said, Oh no, what'd you think you're going to do?

Sit around and play a harp all day. No, God

has work for you to do. Only it's good work.

It's fulfilling work. There are no mosquitoes in heaven, no

bad bosses in heaven, no gossip, no inter office politics

in heaven. And so the good thing is you'll have

work to do, but it'll be fit your shape, and

it will be fulfilling and it will be fun. But

you're not just going to lay around because you weren't

made to do nothing, and so there will be work

in heaven. I talked the other day to a guy

and I said, why are you working? He says, I

work to retire. And I said, now, haven't you got

that a little bit backwards? I'm going to spend all

my life doing something I don't want to do, so

in the last couple of years I can do what

I really want to do. Shouldn't you be doing what

you really want to do all along? Isn't that beginning

it backwards? You're going to use your best energy, your

best mind your best physical health to do something you

don't want to do, and then when you have lost

a lot of your strength, that lost a lot of

your energy, then you're going to do what you really

want to do. There's got to be a better purpose

for work than simply in order to retire, and there is.

In fact, the Bible gives us six purposes of work.

We're going to look at them this weekend, and they're

actually like levels of motivation, from the least important to

the most important. Number one, the most basic motivation for

work is necessity, and that is to meet my needs.

I work to meet my needs. That's the principle of necessity. Now,

this is the most obvious basic reason, and I've spent

a whole lot of time on it. We work to

stay alive. This is the survival mode reason for work.

If I don't work, I don't eat. I owe I owe,

so off to work I go. Proverbs twelve, verse eleven

says in the message, the one who stays on the

job has food on the table. This is really pretty simple.

I work in order to be able to stay alive.

I work out of necessity. I work to meet my needs. Now,

the Bible says, not only are we to provide for ourselves,

we are to be self sufficient if at all possible.

There are times when we can't be self sufficient, but

if we are able to, we are to be self sufficient.

And the Bible also says that we are to provide

for our own family, particularly our own immediate family. That's

our responsibility. It's not the government's responsibility. It's not somebody else's,

it's my responsibility. If I'm able to work. Now, as

I said, sometimes I'm not able, But when I am,

I am responsible for the needs of my family. One

Timothy chapter five, verse eight says this if anyone does

not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family,

he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

WHOA that's pretty strong words. God says that providing for

those in my family is my spiritual responsibility. That we

are to take care of our own families as best

as possible. Now, there are many people today who don't

actually believe this. They think if I don't want to work,

I shouldn't have to work. I'm not talking about can,

I'm not talking about inability. I'm talking about no desire.

I don't want to work, so I shouldn't have to work,

So the government should pay for me, or you should

pay for me, or somebody else should pay for me,

simply because I don't want to work. I want to

read to you an editorial in the La Times. I'm

not making this up. It's almost too hard to believe it.

Somebody actually wrote this in the La Times. Quote. There's

been a lot of criticism of people lately who do

not want to work, especially when they're collecting welfare. Now,

most people prefer to work, and that's fine for them,

but others may prefer to sit in the park, or

go to the beach, or observe the wonders of nature.

Those who dislike working should not be penalized by depriving

them of the benefits of all of our society. There's

plenty for all of us. Everyone does not feel the

same way about working. Some people actually have built in

feelings about work that could make it very unpleasant for them.

Oh really, really, when they're required to work. Now, these

feelings could be looked upon as a handicap. We do

not punish others with handicaps. Instead, our society provides for them,

and we should do the same for those with a

natural dislike for work. Why can't we all just live

and let live with each other, living in his own style. Now,

can you believe that this guy is recommending that lazy

lists categorized as a disability? Now, the point is that

I want to make this. Wherever you have freedom, you

have free loaders. Somebody out to tweet that. Okay, wherever

you've got freedom, you've got free loaders. You know, the

Pilgrims when they came to America that found this country

made a rule right off the bat, and it was this,

whoever is unwilling to work doesn't share in the meal

they had a common meal. If you don't work, you

don't eat. Now where in the world would they get

an idea like that from the Bible? Look at the

next verse on your out second Fessalonians three tens. Is this,

whoever doesn't want to work shouldn't be allowed to eat? Now,

circle of the word doesn't want the phrase. No, he's

not saying you can't work. Sometimes you can't work. Sometimes

you're disabled, sometimes you're sick. Sometimes you've got extenuating circumstance.

You're caring for somebody who's sick, or you've got little

kids at home, or all kinds of different. Whoever doesn't

want to work should not be allowed to. Not that

they can't work, it so that they won't work, God says.

Everybody who can work is supposed to work. There's no

free lunch, no loaves for loafers. But that's not you

or me. What about when all my needs are met?

I mean, if the first purpose of work is simply

to meet my physical needs. Once I've got enough to

just meet my physical needs, isn't it okay that I

just stop working because I've got enough to meet my

physical needs. Isn't that okay for me stop? The answer

is no, because there are five other purposes of work

besides meeting your physical need. God did not put you

here on earth just to take up space, breathe air,

live for yourself, and die. If you're alive, God expects

you to be making some kind of contribution with your life.

It may not seem significant to you, but your life

has a contribution to make, and God will always have you.

Whether you're making money or not making a contribution with

your life. You're not free to just do nothing for

the rest of your life. Simply because you can afford

to do nothing the rest of your life. If you're

not going to do anything with your life, got you

ought to just kill you and take you on to heaven,

because He didn't leave you here to be selfish. Now,

the Bible says this Proverbs thirteen, verse four. They're on

your outline. Let's read this aloud with great enthusiasm. All right,

lazy people want much but get little, But those who

work hard will prosper and be satisfied. Circle the word

prosper God is not opposed to prosperity. God is opposed

to selfishness. God is opposed to greed. God is opposed

to self centeredness. But God is not opposed to prosperity.

In fact, many of the greatest saints in the Bible

were very, very wealthy people Job Abraham, David, Moses, Lydia,

I could go through the whole list. Many of the

people in the Bible were actually quite wealthy. God's not

opposed to prosperity. He is opposed to selfishness. And Jesus

actually praised businessmen who used business skills to make a profit.

Prophet is a good word. It's not a dirty word.

It's a good word. You want your life to be profitable.

Jesus commended the two men who doubled their return on

investment in their money. He said, well done, good and

faithful service. In fact, the guy who played it safe,

didn't take an investment, didn't make any risk, didn't do

anything with his life or his talent. He said that

was wicked and all through scripture, Jesus commends wise business people.

The fact is the Bible is filled with principles for

successful business, for successful career, for successful job, vocation, work.

And it is my job as your pastor to help

you succeed in this area that you're going to spend

forty percent of your life in. Now you may be

working at home, you have little kids at home. That's

not a nine to five job. That's called a twenty

four hour a day job. And you're working far harder

than somebody who's working simply nine to five. But everybody

has some kind of work in their life. The second

purpose of work is not necessity, it's identity. And the

purpose of identity is to express my talent. God wants

you to work work so you can express what He

made you to be. He's given you certain gifts and talents.

He expects you to use them. He's given you certain personality.

We call this your shape, shape, spiritual gift, heart ability, personality, experiences.

And God doesn't want you to hide those things. God

wants you to use them. Work is a place to

show your creativity. Work is a place to show to

create beauty. Work is a place to make a difference.

Work is a place to give back. And God says,

I want you to express your identity, to express your

talent through your work. Now that means the best work

for you is the work that best expresses your talent.

Some of you are in jobs it's not doing that.

It doesn't express your uniqus. We're going to go into

this in detail next week, in depth. But the truth

is God has wired every one of us to do

something different. And the reason we all like to do

different things is so everything gets done. I mean, if

we all like to do what you like to do,

then there'd be a lot of things left behind. Now,

some of you you're really good at numbers. You're good

at math, You're really good at that. Some of you

you suck at math. Okay, you're terrible at You're just

bad bad. Some of you are good with words, and

you're good at writing and composing. And some of you

you couldn't spell cat if you had to. Some of

you you're really good with physical things. You have good

core hand eye coordination. Some of us are very uncoordinated physically.

You may be good with mechanical things, or you may.

Some of you have a supernatural ability to empathize with people.

You have great caring skills. You have great serving skills.

And people who do hospice, people who are nurses, people

who are preschool teachers who have an amazing ability to serve,

and the rest of us we're not like that. Some

of you are by nature super organized. And if we

were to go and look in your closet, all your

blue shoes are together, and you think everybody has a

clause of like that. None of us have claousets like that.

You're the only one. But you have a natural ability

to organize. And what you are good at you think

everybody else is good at. They're not. We're not. But

we need people doing different things so everything gets done.

Does that make sense? Okay, So I want you to

turn to the person next to you right now and

say thank you for not being like me. All right,

Just go ahead, thank you for not being like me.

All right. It's very important. So we only need one

of you in this world. One of you is enough now. Now,

when you do what your shape to do, and your

work matches your shape, that's a whole lot of fun.

How do you know if the job you have is

right for you? How do you know if you're shaped

for the job you're in. You are successful and you

are satisfied, you're fruitful, and you're fulfilled. You're good at

it and it feels good at it. That's how you know. Now,

if you say, well, I'm not really that successful what

I'm doing, or I don't really fulfilled by what I'm doing,

you're in the wrong job. And I don't care how

much money you're making. You're in the wrong job. Your

life is too important to waste. I want you to

write this down. Meaning matters more than money. Meaning matters

more than money. And if you're in a job that

you don't find meaningful, you're in the wrong job for you,

and you need to do whatever it takes, even if

you have to look your standard of living. You have

to buy a smaller home, meaning matters more than money.

When you get to heaven, God isn't going to ask

you how much money did you make. He's going to say,

did you make your life count? Did you express the

talents that I gave you? Well, no, I was busy

making money. Wrong answer. I gave you talents and you

didn't use them. No, I was busy making money. This

job paid more. The Bible says in one Peter four

to ten, each of you has been blessed with one

of God's many wonderful gifts to be used in the

service of others. So use your gift well. And how

do you know if you're using your gift well? As

I said, you're successful, successful, and you're satisfied now when

you do what your shape to do. And we're going

to cover this in more detail, it gives you respect,

self respect, and it gives you dignity. It feels good,

and you know what, it's okay to feel It's okay

to have pride in doing a job well done. When

you have pride over a job well done because you

know God gifted you in a certain way, wired you

to do it, and you're flat out good at it,

that's okay. That kind of pride is okay as long

as you don't compare yourself to somebody else. The moments

you start comparing yourself, well, I'm better than that person,

now it becomes a sin. Look at the next verse

Galatians six 's four. Be sure to do what you should,

in other words, what you're wired to do, what you're

made to do, what God purposed for you to do.

Be sure to do what your shape to do. For

then you will enjoy the personal satisfaction of having done

your work well. Why because you're good at it. Having

done your work well, and you won't need to compare

yourself with anyone else.

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