A New View of Work: The Law of God

Law is always a reflection of its author.

I’m always struck with the foolishness of those who say, “You can’t legislate morality.” All law is moral.

All law represents somebody’s view of what is right or wrong, whether it is on an issue as arcane as how much a business should be regulated or as lofty as the issue of abortion. Law represents the rewarding of some type of conduct or the punishment of another or the valuing of one over the other.

With that premise in mind, a study of the Law of God is particularly interesting. While we might question the character or policy choices of our politicians, who will question God’s?

Perhaps the Lord’s most famous edict regarding work is this: Continue reading “A New View of Work: The Law of God”

A New View of Work: The Effect of the Fall

Ten years ago I thought about quitting my job as a trial lawyer because I thought I didn’t like my job.

As a trial would approach, I would begin thinking of everything that had to be done procedurally in addition to mastering all the facts and law of the case. The task usually seemed overwhelming, and I worried about whether I could get it all done.

Then there was the anxiety of standing up in front of a judge, jury and my client, as well as the fear of losing. The tension would build as the trial approached, and I usually had difficulty sleeping.

Curiously, once I got into the trial and was in the moment when there was no time to worry, only act, I loved it. When the trial was over, I felt I couldn’t wait until the next trial to get back into the courtroom. Then when the next trial showed up on the radar, the same cycle of anxiety began again. It took me a while to realize that what I hated about my job was not my job but all the anxiety I attached to it. Continue reading “A New View of Work: The Effect of the Fall”

A New View of Work: The Nature of Man

In the last blog post I looked at the nature of God relative to work.

I noted that from the beginning God has been working and that Jesus worked very hard. Work is part of the lifestyle of the Lord.

Man is made in the image of God. (Gen. 1:26) And after God made man in His image He placed him in the Garden of Eden.

The Garden of Eden is rightly characterized as paradise on earth. It was before the Fall of Man. Sin had not corrupted man or the rest of creation, and yet present in this paradise was something we rarely associate with paradise: work.

And it wasn’t just that there was work in the garden; God put man in the garden with a work-related purpose: to keep and cultivate the garden. (Gen. 2:15). Work, then, cannot be a necessary evil. It was part of paradise. Continue reading “A New View of Work: The Nature of Man”

A New View of Work: The Nature of God

I always thought of work as a necessary evil.

I don’t know if I was taught that or just caught it, but I definitely thought it.

It took me years to come around to a different way of looking at work, but that is not because the Bible is not clear on the subject. It is very clear.

The very first thing the Bible records the Lord doing is working: “In the beginning God created . . .”  (Gen. 1:1) And He didn’t stop there. Jesus said, “My Father is always working and so am I.” (John 5:17).

God was working in the beginning, He has continued to work since then and His Son did the same thing. So, why do we look at work as a necessary evil? God doesn’t do anything evil, but we know He works. So, work cannot be evil, not even a necessary one. Continue reading “A New View of Work: The Nature of God”

A New View of Work: Introduction

Eighty percent of Americans, according to one study, are dissatisfied with their job.

You would think in the worst economy since the Depression, those with a job would be grateful to even have one.

It’s not just specific jobs but work in general. I don’t know what percentage of people want a shorter workweek, but I bet it’s even higher than 80%. We hate Mondays, love Fridays and live for the weekend.

All this leads me to the not very  insightful conclusion that people generally do not like to work. It’s not that they just don’t like their job; they don’t like any job. Given the choice of work or play, people choose play almost every time. Continue reading “A New View of Work: Introduction”