For some people, the idea of building their career for the next 40 odd years seems like a really exciting prospect, but if you were me after graduating university, it was a prospect that filled me with anxiety at worst and apathy at best. I have a distinct memory of walking to church with a friend in our final year of university, both of us decrying the idea of the same old 9-5, day in and day out, until we retire. It made us shudder. Does that seem like a familiar feeling to you? For lots of people, work is a way to make money and to live, especially when the excitement and novelty of the job wears off, and we’re left with “Let’s just make it till Friday then the weekend is here.”
Work as a calling
It’s easy to feel those feelings when we see work as detached from the rest of our life. We might think God has called us to serve him through youth and children’s ministry, or through caring for the poor, but we think that work happens in the ‘in-between’ of those things. Even more common is the idea that work is only so that I can financially support God’s mission and ministry in other areas. If you had asked me if these were my thoughts before becoming a Worship.works intern, I would have vehemently said no! I knew gospel is an ‘all of life’ thing, not just a Sunday thing. Dig deeper into the crevices of my mind though, and you probably would have found that I definitely didn’t associate work with ministry, mission or service. Work is just what you have to do, it’s just the way the world works.
In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus tells his disciples a parable about a Master who gives his servants 5 talents, 2 talents and 1 talent respectively before going on a journey. He gave them these talents according to their ability. The ones who were given 5 talents and 2 talents made double what they were given, but the one who was given 1 talent buried it and was called wicked and slothful. Similarly, today, God gives his people gifts and skills, and we are called to use them for his glory instead of hiding them away. We use these gifts and skills in our work, whatever we do and wherever we are because it is God’s call to us. God doesn’t simply call people to mission in foreign nations, he calls us to workplaces to serve him there too. It naturally follows then that everyday that we go into work is a response to God’s call for our lives.
God doesn’t simply call people to mission in foreign nations, he calls us to workplaces to serve him there too.
Work as an act of worship
If work is God’s call for us, then it is only natural that work would also be an act of worship to him! This seems logical enough, but how often do we go into the office everyday without actively desiring to worship God through our work? We so easily forget that every meeting we have, every client we interact with, every piece of work we do, is an act of worship to God and should be done with His glory in mind.
In Romans 12:1-2, Paul writes ‘I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.’ When we present our bodies as a living sacrifice and we are transformed by the renewal of our minds which is the work of the Spirit in us, then all of our lives will be lived in worship to God. And that should be happening all the time by the Spirit’s strength! In fact, for those of us in corporate jobs, work will likely be where we spend the majority of our time, which means it is where we worship God the most! As a Worship.Works intern, this notion of work as worship could not be more central. Through starting our work day in corporate prayer time, to regular discipleship and ministry training as well as constant conversations with mentors about our growth in faith and service to God, worship is undoubtedly the fundamental component of our work.
So how then has this shifted not just my mindset but also my actions and thoughts about the rest of my life? As I mentioned at the beginning, the thought of the same 9-5 for the next 40 years of my life seemed like a dreary existence. Understanding that work is both a calling and an act of worship unto God has blown those thoughts out of the water. Seeing not just how God fits into our work life but how our work life fits into God’s kingdom plan allows me to come to each work day with joy, positivity and excitement. Each and every task can be approached with the thought, “How am I serving God and connecting with him through this?” This allows me to lay myself down in service to my colleagues, to do everything without grumbling and to enjoy work. Working for the next 40 years no longer seems like a burden but a joy – joy at getting to partner with Jesus in the marketplace and to carry his kingdom. To do all of this well for his glory and to one day meet him and hear the pronouncement, “Well done good and faithful servant!”
Working for the next 40 years no longer seems like a burden but a joy – joy at getting to partner with Jesus in the marketplace and to carry his kingdom.
Francesca Gan is a 2021 Worship.Works Graduate Intern. To find out how you could get involved, learn more about Worship.Works Graduate Programmes here.