My Work as My Worship

This is why resist this idea of retirement. Retirement to me is not Biblical. There is nothing in scripture that says we work and then we sit back and enter into idleness. I know that this state called “retirement” is supposed to be my chance to spend time with grandchildren and to leave the rigors of a challenging, exhaustive work environment. I can see the grandkids right now, and eventually the novelty of seeing “Papa” wears off. So then what do I do? I have had jobs that challenged me physically, and these careers have helped to hone my skills so that I can excel in my current role. Why would I want to leave this role, take a huge cut in pay and try to figure out something else to keep me busy?

For a long time I did not grasp the significance or the value of my work. I think part of this was perpetrated by the professional ministry class. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his classic book “The Cost of Discipleship,” wrote about the cheapening of grace as Christianity became commonplace. In the early church, the monastic movement remembered what it cost for us to receive grace, as Jesus has called us to deny ourselves, leave all and follow Him (Luke 9:23 ESV). The problem became that monasticism was represented as an individual achievement, one in which the entirety of the laity could not be expected to emulate (Bonhoffer, 1963). In our present age, the monastics are represented by a specialized group of professional clergy. They claim to be the ones who are serving God, while the rest of us cannot possibly attend to that level of service. This despite the fact that scripture says it is their role in leading the church to prepare God people for “ministry” (Ephesians 4:11-12).

Work is that activity that allows us to express calling and virtue through the manifestation of our gifts. It is not a punishment for sin, because God directed Adam to work in the garden before his sin (Genesis 2:15). Work of a vocational nature allows individuals to contribute to the success of an organization and to find fulfillment in their activities. There was one monastic, a “Brother Lawrence” who wrote of his journey in seeking to honor God. Lawrence learned that there was opportunity for worship through his everyday tasks at the monastery. For Lawrence, his work became his worship: he worshipped God by his service in the kitchen and his time praying to serve his fellow monks even better (Brother Lawrence, 1895).

My work has this common denominator of offering an expression for my gifts, acting redemptively in my own life, and through me into the lives of others. God has prepared this work beforehand for me, that I should walk in it (Ephesians 2:10). The redemptive element of our work is all the more evident in research on the provision of second chance employment to people who are looking for a fresh start after a prison sentence. The data suggests that when former prisoners find employment after prison it reduces recidivism and lowers the number of former prisoners who return to crime (Holodny, 2017). In one study, statewide rates of recidivism surveyed overall ranged from about 31 to 70 percent, while the rates for prisoners placed in jobs shortly after their release ranged from 3.3 to 8 percent (Cove & Bowes, 2015). So there is evidence that the employment of former inmates helps to dramatically reduce recidivism rates – their work becomes redemptive! There is also evidence of greater loyalty and lower turnover by those given this opportunity (Caminity, 2022).

God calls people to work in Business occupations the same as He calls people to serve in the church or in a foreign country. All work has value to God and is to be done with excellence. Business provides jobs that allow people to pay their bills and care for their families, as well as demonstrate their gifts (Proverbs 14:23; 1Timothy 5:8). People of faith who see their work as service to God and others can live out their values and earn the right to be heard by operating according to God’s standard of conduct as written about in the Bible. There are many examples of faith-inspired entrepreneurs who founded significant businesses and provided life changing products, and who used their business as a platform to point people to Jesus (Proverbs 16:3).

In the parable of the minas (Luke 19), Jesus tells of a nobleman who gave his servants one mina each (about three months’ wages) and told them, “Engage in business until I come” (Luke 19:13). It was not idleness that was rewarded but effort to work and add value. Here profit was not considered a negative result but the fruit of the effort to produce value from what gifts the servant was given. The servant who earned 1,000 percent profit was rewarded greatly (Luke 19:17).

One study in a culture with no word for retirement – the island of Okinawa (Pasricha, 2016) found that not only do the natives not pursue an idleness after stopping work, but they have a concept called “ikigai” which represents “the reason you wake up in the morning” (Pasricha, 2016). In a parallel study, it was found that those who had this “ikigai,” this daily driving passion, lived longer than those who didn’t (Pasricha, 2016).

HBR author Pasricha says that most folks don’t want to retire and do nothing. We want more time to do something we love (Pasricha, 2016). My question is, why don’t we just do that now? We can do what we love right now, if we turn our work over to God and find Him alongside of us in our daily tasks, as Brother Lawrence did. Then our “ikigai” will motivate us to zoom past retirement, and we can actually use our gifts and skills to bless others and add value to an organization. Your work can be your worship, a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God (Romans 12:1); as we work unto the Lord, and not only for ourselves (Colossians 3:23).

Sources:

Bonhoffer, D. (1963). The Cost of Discipleship. New York, NY: MacMillan.

Brother Lawrence (1895). The Practice of the Presence of God. New York, NY: Fleming H. Revell Co.

Caminiti, S. (2022, July 23). JPMorgan, Microsoft and Slack among companies hiring the formerly incarcerated. CNBC: Technology Executive Council.

Holodny, E. (2017, July 30). 'It still haunts me': What it's like to get a job after prison in America. Business Insider.

Pasricha, N. (2016, April 13). Why retirement is a flawed concept. Harvard Business Review.

Wood, J.B. (2010, August 3). Your Work is Worship. Theology of Work: The High Calling.