Our Young People: Which Workview?
We Christians have become rightly concerned about worldview. But we ought also to give attention to our own “workview” and to the way we equip our children to see their daily work.
Are we content to let our young people—by default—absorb the world’s workview? Or will we intentionally train them in the Kingdom-of-God workview? How do the two differ?
The default workview—the one from the world—offers some well-known motivations. These aims, while not sinful per se, fit comfortably into the lives of those not committed to Jesus. A few examples:
You work to make money. Earning tops the list of reasons for getting out of bed and going to work. The bills must be paid. Entertainment and vacations are pricey. Retirement must be prepared for.
You work to fulfill yourself or accomplish something. Everyone made in God’s image has a gift or talent that needs to be discovered and developed. Sometimes a need exists in society that translates into a personal motivation.
You work to gain respect. Most people still frown at freeloading. By working and paying your own way, you win their esteem and a sense of self-worth.
You work to make a name for yourself. No one wants to be forgotten, to end up as a nobody. Your name is your brand. You want to leave a positive legacy.
This workview tends to prioritize the self and one’s personal goals.
The Kingdom-of-God workview leads in directions that diverge sharply from the default workview. Here are seven Kingdom reasons to get up and go to work:
You work to worship God. The Hebrew word avodah means worship, work, and service. Paul speaks of offering your body as “your true and proper worship” (Rom. 12:1). And one of the main activities of your body is . . . working.
You work to obey God. The Old Testament repeats the work-six-days command at least a half-dozen times. In the New Testament, Paul warns the Thessalonians: “If you don’t work, you don’t eat” (I Thess. 3:10, MSG).
You work to do your part in sustaining life on God’s earth. As Lester DeKoster explains in Work: The Meaning of Your Life, “Work is the form in which we make ourselves useful to others.”
You work to become more like Jesus. In Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, Eugene Peterson writes: “I’m prepared to contend that the primary location for spiritual formation is the workplace.”
You work to build up and support fellow believers. A Christ-follower in the typical workplace, like Elijah, can feel that “I am the only one left” (I Kings 19:10, 14). You work to search out and serve other Christians in your on-the-job network.
You work to embody Truth. The Spirit of Christ lives in your temple-body. Your actions, reactions, and speaking should reflect him to your coworkers, bosses, and others in your work circle.
You work to support yourself and your dependents and to share with others. God expects you to earn enough to pay your own way and to care for those in your household. Earning will also allow you to share with those in need.
These reasons for working look beyond self-interest to Kingdom priorities.
In 1942, Dorothy Sayers asked “Why Work?” in the title of her now-famous lecture. She said the Church had not effectively addressed the question. Instead, the Church “has allowed work and religion to become separate departments.”
Now, eighty years later, it seems most local churches are still not answering the “Why work?” question for our young people. What is my evidence? Over a recent eight-year period, I asked my theology-of-work graduate students to survey at least five Christians in non-church work. One of the survey questions I supplied asked: “Before entering your life’s work, had you received any biblical instruction on how to choose it?” Total responses: more than a thousand. Seventy-two percent said no.
If we do not train our young people to seek God’s Kingdom first—even in their work lives—then the world will fill the vacuum with its own default workview.
My new book, God Loves Your Work: Discover Why He Sends You to Do What You Do, expands on these seven Kingdom-of-God reasons for working.
