I like to work! I\u2019m 71 years old and NOT retired! Today, with The Navigators, I get to spend time helping pastors be more effective making disciples in their churches. I also mentor younger men and analyze corporate data for The Navigators. Before that, I was in the Air Force for 20 years and had my own statistical consulting business for 10. <\/p>\n
Work itself is an honorable and necessary thing. <\/strong><\/p>\n The first picture we have of God is that he is a worker (Genesis 1 and 2)<\/p>\n Many of God\u2019s key people worked at \u201csecular\u201d jobs:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Many events in the Bible occurred in the context of work:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019m excited that the Bible affirms work and our place in the world of work as followers of Jesus.<\/p>\n – Our work in and of itself is an extension of God\u2019s work in the world<\/strong>. Nearly every reference to the Sabbath begins with something like, \u201cSix days shall you work.\u201d Nearly all work is important\u2014that\u2019s why we\u2019re paid to do it! I\u2019ve been to Haiti on three occasions, a country with an unemployment rate exceeding 80%. The result? There is no garbage collection. There is no mail service. The roads are a mess. America, by and large, is a country that works. I was in the Atlanta Airport before 6am a few months ago, and I marveled to see how many thousands of people were there ahead of me. Working in TSA, fixing and serving food in the restaurants, handling baggage, getting planes ready to fly, etc. Such productivity is something to give thanks for. Work is what keeps things going. We serve people by our work. <\/strong><\/p>\n – We serve people at our work. <\/strong>Our work is a place where we\u2019re in contact with co-workers, bosses, and clients. We have an opportunity to serve them. I\u2019ve always been fascinated with Joseph in prison. In charge of the prison (Genesis 39.22), Joseph noticed that the cupbearer and the baker were dejected (Genesis 40.6). I don\u2019t know if I would have noticed that two guys in prison were more dejected than they usually were. But Joseph noticed, and he served them.<\/p>\n – If we serve people well by<\/strong> our work and at <\/strong>our work, we can advance the Kingdom from our work. <\/strong>Many believers think that advancing the Kingdom is the only reason to be at work. Or they think that the only spiritual value of working is earning money to support their families and maybe giving money so that missionaries can advance the kingdom. These are both very limited views of work. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I like to work! I\u2019m 71 years old and NOT retired! Today, with The Navigators, I get to spend time helping pastors be more effective making disciples in their churches. I also mentor younger men and analyze corporate data for The Navigators. Before that, I was in the Air Force for 20 years and had … Continue reading A Biblical Perspective on Work<\/span>