What is the biblical view of work or vocation?

Ishmael LaBiosa: Welcome to the You Ask Podcast, where the goal is to answer common questions about Christianity. Let's listen in as Pastor Rusty answers today's question. Today's question is: what is the biblical view of work or vocation? Well, I actually like the word vocation more than I like the word work. Not that work is bad, but vocation. I like the idea because vocation means calling. And I think that sets a context for the Christian and his view of work. So here's some ideas about work. Oftentimes we can think of work in a derogatory way. I've got to go to my job, I've got to work a job. And you may think of the toil of work as work itself being not something ideal. Some people long for leisure and not for work. But I think the Bible paints a different picture here for us. I think the first thing the Bible says to us about work is work is inherently good and part of God's design for humans to flourish. Before sin entered the world, God told humans to work. It says in Genesis 2 15, the Lord took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work, to work it and to keep it. So prior to sin, there is work. So work cannot be inherently bad. I would propose work is inherently good because work existed in a world where there was no sin. And that should reframe our perspective of work. I also think that work is often associated with the place where we go that we get an income. And so maybe we think of work in that way. We go somewhere and through a particular task we're able to receive monetary compensation. And that's what we label as work. But the idea of vocation is broader than that. Vocation is calling, and vocation extends beyond your job to all the places where God has put you. That you have a job, maybe at work, you have a calling in your family. You have a calling and a location in your church. You're a citizen of a nation. And from all these stations, not just a place where you le earn an income, that all these places, all these callings, are places where you can serve God in every sphere of life. I think it's very important. And that work. Is one place of calling where you are called to serve others. Now, the reason that a lot of us have a poor association with work is because the fall of humanity into sin made work frustrating, sometimes fruitless, and actually work can become an idol. We notice that the frustrating slash fruitless reality of work is seen in Genesis three, verse seventeen and following, where because of human sinfulness in the garden, God cursed the ground. It said, 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. By the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread. So while work is inherently good, the fall of humanity into sin has made work frustrating and sometimes fruitless. Even more than that, sometimes work because it can be a place where we are able to gain provision. And for some people it's more than provision, it it's prestige. That work can cease to be a place where we feel that this is a place where God has called us to love and serve Him and others, it can become a place of idolatry. It's my job, it's my resources, it's the kingdom I am building. And once that happens, work is not being utilized in the right. Way. Additionally, I think that, you know, oftentimes we tell like graduating seniors to go find a job. I think it's well intended enough. But in some ways I'm not sure that jobs are chosen as much as jobs are discovered or callings are discovered. I think about the prophet Jeremiah, for example, it says, from his mother's womb, he was set apart to be a prophet for the nations. And I I do think there's a sense in which we ought not just ask ourselves the question, what is it that we want? Although I think God puts desires within us, but maybe what does God want? This may sound rather comical to you. Now it sounds a little comical to me, but I remember being a a high school student at one point in time, and you s have to start thinking about careers. And here was my logic. I thought, well, I want to make a good income. And so from my limited perspective at that particular moment, I thought, well, doctors, I guess, make a good income, but I was kind of afraid of the sight of blood. So I thought, well, I probably won't be a very good doctor. So I thought, well, what could I do that is kind of in the medical field, but I don't have to see blood? And I thought, ⁓ a pharmacist. That's what I could be. And for a few moments, I guess, I thought, that sounds reasonable enough. It's a place in the medical field where I don't have to see blood, but I would make a good income. That was my two cents about it. Well, that didn't last very long because Pretty early on in my life, God was pretty clear. Well, that's nice, Rusty. I'm glad you would like to be a pharmacist. Good I've called you into the ministry. And in some ways, at least in that particular moment, I I did not feel a great deal of freedom to do anything I wanted. I felt that I needed to submit to that which God wanted me to be. And I think that was very much part of vocation. I think that's an ⁓ that needs to be an open question. It certainly doesn't mean that God calls every person into the full-time ministry like I am, but I do think vocations are discovered as much as they are chosen. The good news is that even though work has been distorted by the fall, it can be redeemed through Jesus. A Christian comes to Jesus. Repents of their sin, puts their faith and trust in Jesus, and now work is not done just as a job. But Colossians 3, 23 says, Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you receive the inheritance as your reward, you are serving the Lord Christ. And so I think that all work is ultimately in service to God. And that work in Christ is redeemed, even though the world is still sinful and work can still be hard, that it can be redeemed because it is done through the lens of working towards God for the good of a neighbor. I would also like to say that, you know, as a Christian, I think things should be done with excellence. They should be done with integrity. They should be done as wholeheartedly that a Christian employee should be different. And they should be different not because they're the smartest and not because they are the most credentialed, but because of a unique motivation that they have to work unto the Lord and not unto man. And so maybe today you're Listening to this podcast and you're driving into work or home from work, just think about this. Work is inherently good, that God has allowed you to be in this place, in this season, in this station of life, as your vocation, your calling at this moment. That yes, work can be frustrating and sometimes fruitless because of human sinfulness, and we have to be on the lookout that it can become an idol. But work situated at a cross is ultimately something that can be done unto the Lord and not to men. And it can be done, the provision that you have can be done for good of family and neighbor, and that you can do your job with excellence and integrity and wholeheartedness, because Jesus has given you a fresh motivation and you serve the Lord Christ. I hope this helps you today to resituate. And by the way, let me say this in conclusion. Sometimes we separate what we call the secular from the sacred. And I think it's a sad thing if we think that our work is somehow secular and not sacred. Because when God placed Adam in a garden and told him to work to his glory, that was quite sacred. And I think today that your work, it can be and should be an expression of your Christian faith, an expression of your devotion, an expression of your Christian character. And so work unto the Lord, not unto man, because you're a Christian. Thank you for listening to the You Ask Podcast. This is a ministry of Liberty Baptist Church. And we pray this podcast enables you to more faithfully live out your Christian life.