Why in the world do we work?

Dear girls,

I attended the "Why in the world do we work?" Seminar by Pastor Benny Ho.

And I think it would be especially beneficial for Wanglu as well as Yanhong and Sihua who would be starting work soon. And I think it is also useful for the rest of us as the principles of work and rest are the same. :)

GK Chesterton:
It is the late afternoon when the children grow tired of their toys; that's why they start torturing the cat."

Eric Fromm:
"The kind of person we become is very much influenced by what happens to us during he workday. That is why where we work, with whim we work, what we produce; how we produce it and how we relate to our workmates have far-reaching significance!"

Session 1: The Theology of Work

3 Biblical Perspectives
1. Work is a COMMAND

Genesis 2:15
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Exodus 34:21
21 "Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.

(As God has commanded us to work, and since God deserves the best, we shall do our best.)

Genesis 2:2
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested [a] from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

(And it's only after sin, that work became toil.)
Genesis 3:17-19
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.

19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."

(And Adam sinned not because he listened to his wife, but because he ate from the tree. Jesus gave His life, and redeemed EVERYTHING, thus toil shall be work for us, and no longer toil.)

Colossians 3:22-25
22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.

Colossians 4:1
1Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

Proverbs 22:29
29 Do you see a man skilled in his work?
He will serve before kings;
he will not serve before obscure men.

2. Work is a MEANS TO OUR GROWTH

Romans 8:28-29
More Than Conquerors
28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,[a] who[b] have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

(Many times instead of letting God transform us, we change jobs. Not to say we can't change jobs, but if God has put us where we are - GROW UP before you move on.)

Proverbs 27:17
17 As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another.

Howard Butt wrote in his book "The Velvet Covered Brick":

"To love those below you is not so fifficult... You can love those below you without affecting your pride. Your posture is superior condescension, madnanimous moral conceit. But to love the man above you is different. To love him without flattery or self abasement, to love him without bitterness or resentment, to love him in the midst of conflict and pain: to love the man above you is love's highest hurdle - you cannot get over it alone. You cannot do it without the Cross inside lifting you up."


3. Work is a platform for MINISTRY

Matthew 5:13-14
13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

(God is only pleased when you are where He wants you to be. Do you feel God's pleasure in what you do?)

2 Corinthians 5:18-20
18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

(All of us share this ministry of reconciliation. For the vocational ministers, the pulpit is the one on stage, where they preach from. For the rest of us, marketplace ministers, our pulpit is our work desks.)

John 15:16
16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.

(For all Christians, God is Jehovah Jireh, our Provider. And we are funded by fruits of our labour.)

1 Timothy 5:8
8If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Matthew 6:33
33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

2 Cor 4:18
18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

(This made an impact on me, as I realised why it is usually so fruitless to think about the material, to think about what I could get from the work that I'm doing... as it boils down to what I am working for? Eternal rewards, or temporal material gains?

The "secular" becomes "spiritual" when the focus is ETERNAL. (Therefore, the question is WHAT IS THE FOCUS OF MY HEART?)

The "spiritual" can become "secular" when the focus is TEMPORAL.
(If work is a ministry, and my work becomes divorced from my witness, then I'm missing the point.)

4. Work is a vehicle to transform society

Dr. Peter Wagner:

"For years we have sought after transformation of our cities. We have prayed, held pastor prayer conferences, prayer-walked our cities, etc. Still, not one US city has been transformed. Why is that? I feel that I finally know the answer to that question. It lies in the fact that the pastors and church laders do not hold the authority in the cities where the change must originate. Business and government leaders hold that authority. So, until we in the church equip and release the apostles in the workplace, we will never see our cities transformed by Jesus Christ."

DOES THAT MEAN THAT OUR WORK IS ALWAYS OUR CALLING?
Answer: Yes & No.

2 Major Distortions:

Watch this space for more updates...