Jesus answers the question with a parable
As with understanding what God expects from us in our work, the answer to work’s role in the kingdom of God was presented by Jesus in the form of a parable.
Jesus told a story about a nobleman about to go to a far away country to receive a kingdom. Luke says Jesus told this story because He was near Jerusalem, and His disciples supposed the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.
So, this was a story about the kingdom of God which was intended to clear up some misunderstandings the disciples had on the subject. And it is within the context of that explanation that we find the role of work in the Kingdom.
And he called ten of his servants, and gave them ten minas and said to them, “Do business with this until I come back.”— Luke 19:13
The nobleman called his servants.
There are at least three principal callings described in Scripture. There is the call to salvation, by which Jesus calls all people to Himself. I Corinthians 1:9. There is the call to sanctification, by which every Christian is called to be like Jesus. I Thessalonians 4:7. There is the call to vocation, by which the Lord assigns work to us during our time on earth. I Corinthians 7:17. This can be the work of being a mother, a minister, or a businessman.
From the context of the parable, it’s clear this calling is not the first or second kind. He calls servants, which means they are already serving him. So, this is not a calling to salvation. And, the nobleman says nothing to the servants about personal transformation or holiness.
This is the third kind of calling. The nobleman gives his servants money, and tells them to “do business with this until I come back.” This is a calling of vocation. And, now that we know Jesus is talking about vocation, we can begin to draw some deeper insight from the parable.
God determines calling
First, the work that we are to do in the Kingdom while Jesus is away is a calling. It is something the Lord calls us to do. The servants didn’t decide what work they were to do; it was assigned to them by their master.
We are taught by the world to see our work as a career we choose, but in fact it is a calling we are to answer. We often stop reading Ephesians 2 after verse 9: “By grace you have been saved…” But verse 10 immediately explains why we were saved: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works . . .” The Lord knows best what work we should be doing because He created us for it.
Because this is something God gives us to do, our work is sacred. Imagine if the President of the United States called and asked you to do a specific task for your country. Most people would consider it one of the greatest honors of their lives. The pay would hardly matter. The honor would be in being chosen.
All work becomes sacred and meaningful
All called work is sacred, not because of its subject matter but because of its source. There is no sacred/secular divide when it comes to work. There is legitimate work and illegitimate work.
The same point is reinforced by the fact that all the servants in this parable are given the same amount to start with. No servant’s work is better than another. There is no meaningless work in the Kingdom.
All work is meaningful when it is a calling from God.
We do not choose, we answer
In the kingdom of God, work is more than a career; it’s a calling. And when we recognize work is a calling it changes everything.
Most people spend years asking, “What career should I choose?”
Jesus’ followers must ask a different question: “What work has my King called me to do while He is away?”
Those are two very different ways of looking at work.
In the next post, we’ll look at the greatest example in history of someone who understood his work not merely as a job, but as a divine calling. GS
