We continue our thoughts on Practical Christianity through the lens of Ephesians 4.
We now consider the matter of the Christian work
ethic. The goal of the Christian’s work
ethic is
in line with the two great
commandments - for the praise of
God and for the good and
benefit of mankind. [Mk. 12:29-31]
In 4:28 Paul writes, “Let the thief no longer steal , but rather let him labour, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” He says three things:
1. Concerning the past: “Let the thief no longer steal“
2. Concerning the present: “but rather let him labours, doing honest work with his own hands”. This statement is at the heart of our deliberation.
3. Concerning the future: “share with those who are in need”.
I remind you then that we, the church, are a people with an imperfect past[1] but with a present ability, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, to live productive lives into the future. The Christian man and woman is no longer a slave of their past. You have been transformed through the work of Christ, by the indwelling Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father. “Having learned the truth as it is in Jesus you have been enabled to put off your old self which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (4:21-24). Let us say this again: Christians by virtue of their new birth have received an ability to change. We have previously seen that Christians have ability to put away falsehood and to speak the truth; Christians have the ability to be righteously angry and not sin. And today Paul asserts that Christians are equipped with a diligent work ethic to produce all they need AND even to share with others who are in need.
1. Concerning the past: “Let the thief no longer steal …”
“Do not steal any
longer”...This may
be a surprising start to this subject, but think about this. A managing director of a large business sent out this message to his employees: “Sometime between starting work and finishing
work, without infringing on lunch breaks, coffee breaks, rest periods, story-telling and the rehashing of yesterday’s television programs, and
holiday planning, daydreaming, we ask
that each employee try to
find some time for a work break!“ You laugh! But this brings the whole matter
of stealing a little closer to our own door, doesn’t it? The Pareto
principle[2] is based on a general observation, that
20% of our work time will achieve
80% of our results. There is no particular spiritual wisdom in that, but
it is a shrewd observation of how things are in life. An average person working
a 9 hour day may actually only work 1 hr 48 minutes (20% of 9 hrs) towards
accomplishing what they are asked to do. It is of course a generalisation, and
there are exceptions. There are people who take this to the other extreme. We
call them workaholics. They steal
time in a different way –they steal it from their spouses and children.
So then, as we think about a Christian work ethic let us think a little more about this obstacle and how we steal, remembering also that the law of God teaches us that stealing is sin (Ex.20:15).
Here are some more examples of stealing:
Stealing happens when employers rob their employees of a fair
wage (James 5:4[3]).
It happens when employees give poor work service or who waste time or resources
at work (cf. Eph.6:7, Titus 2:9, 10[4]).
Stealing happens when we are not punctual for our appointments, for in doing so
we waste other people’s time. Stealing
happens when we don’t pay people in exchange for their services. Stealing
happens when using pirated software, and when we withhold taxes, and when we do
not return borrowed items.
At an even profounder level, we may also steal from God when
we withhold our spiritual gifts, and talents and services which we promised to
God. And we must remember that God instituted the tithe in the Old Testament as
a reminder to the people that it was God who was blessing the work of their
hands (Lev. 27:30; Num.18:28–29). Withholding
that was tantamount to robbing God (Mal.
3:6-15). So then, when we speak
about a Christian work ethic, we must begin here, for the concept of an ethic presupposes
integrity, honesty, diligence.
But where does this inclination of stealing in its many faceted forms come from?
Jesus says in Matt.15:19, "Out of the heart come evil
thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness,
slander.” The desire to steal
ultimately comes from a bad or corrupt heart.
How does one deal with
a bad heart? The answer is, “There must be a heart transplant”.
And again we must return to the gospel of Jesus and the difference it
makes. Our old hearts must be exchanged. The old heart of stone must be
exchanged by a new heart (Ezekiel 11:19;
36:26). This is what the new birth is all about. And we find this all
explained in Ephesians 1- 3, which is
a profound exposition of God and His change producing work in this fallen world.
When we receive that new heart, we receive new abilities. Those abilities mean
that we are able to put off our old nature in all its negative forms! In this process
we are not on a DIY, or self- improvement course. We are in the hands of the
holy God whose grace saved us and whose grace is always sufficient. This holy God
is a jealous God. He will not suffer our lies, and our unrestrained anger and
poor work ethics. He promises to hear us when we call out to Him for help and when
we desire to obey His commandments.
How does this affect my subtle stealing habits? I live by faith and dependence upon the God who helps me. How else could David pray in Psalm 141:4 “Do not let my heart incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity…?” David was deeply aware that his old nature could only be conquered by living in moment by moment dependence upon the God who made him. And so too, we as a Christian man or woman can say with Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20.) And if I live by the Spirit (i.e. in dependence of God, and not by the flesh) I will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Gal. 5:16)
2. Concerning the present: “Labour – do honest work with your own hands!”
This is the positive side of things, and we begin with another
reminder that our life must be driven by the truth as it is in Jesus. Truth is rooted in good theology, starting in
the book of Genesis. Mankind is created in God’s image (Gen.1:27). Part of that means that we do what God does. God creates and works. God created human
beings to work. The first instruction God gave Adam was to work in the Garden
of Eden (Gen. 2:15). Work was given before sin entered the world
and therefore work is good. Adam was created to enjoy his work. It is part
of his essential being. Work was not a
result of the fall, but the fall made work more difficult (Gen. 3:17–19).
Work provides meaning. It gives us a reason to get up in the
morning. Through our work we glorify
God: “Whatever
you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”(Col. 3:23). Through work we provide for our basic needs
and help others who may be unable to work (Eph.
4:28). From 1
Timothy 5:8 we learn that people who
neglect to provide for their families were considered ‘worse than unbelievers’. Ecclesiastes
9:10 says, “Whatever your hand finds
to do, do it with all your might.”
A strong work ethic is confirmed, with warnings concerning
slackness. Paul said that those who
refused to work should not be allowed to eat (2 Thess. 3:10). Paul, as an apostle and therefore a pioneer worker for the gospel reminded
the churches that, even though he had the right to earn his living solely from
his ministry to them, he also worked as a tentmaker to provide for himself (Acts 18:3; 20:34; 1 Thess.2:9). Jesus
had an occupation. He was a carpenter (Mk.6:3). For the first years of His
adult life, Jesus would have worked with his earthly father, Joseph, as a
carpenter. But before that, in eternity, Jesus was instrumental in the work of creation
of the universe and our world. And who can forget His work on the cross for
us? Jesus was a worker. “My Father is working until now, and I am working.“ (John 5:17)
In our work then we bear the image of God. And therefore we ought to do it in a godly way.
3. Concerning the future: “share with those who are in need.”
This is not the end of the story. Paul is not only concerned to be done with
stealing in its various forms. He is not only concerned with a God-glorifying
perspective of work. Our Christian faith
teaches us that we do not live for ourselves but we live also for others. We
also work to give! This is what makes God centred Christianity so extra-
ordinary! It is the faith of the extra[5].
God’s purpose for His people is not reached when they simply work hard and make
an honest living. God’s goal for His people is that they may meet their
legitimate needs and that
they can share with those in need.
Christians are not only people that are delivered from greed and
stealing. And Christians do not simply just work to get rich and comfortable. Christians are also mindful of others –
particularly those that are in need in the household of faith. In the Old Testament, God gave the Israelites
specific instructions about how to do their work. He also gave instructions
about providing for those who had less: “When
you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field
or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien.
I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 23:22).
One more thing! God is more interested in relationship with
us than in what we do. For this reason God instituted the Sabbath at the
beginning of creation. He did the work of creation for six days and then ceased
from work. God, of course, needs no rest. But it is a divine principle, by which He teaches
us not to make a god of our work. We need a day of rest in Him. Though the specific laws regarding the Sabbath
no longer apply to NT believers, and since we know that the Sabbath was made for man (Mk. 2:27), we embrace it as a gift to rest in our
Lord.
May our life speak to
the praise of His glorious Name- particularly in the matter of our work ethics.
[1] 1 Cor.1:26, 6:9-11
[2] The
Pareto principle is named after economist Vilfredo Pareto, who discovered this
pattern in his studies of wealth distribution in societies.
[3] James
5:4 “Behold, the wages of the
labourers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out
against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord
of hosts.”
[4] Titus 2:9,10 “Bondservants
are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be
well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith,
so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.”
[5] see Jesus ‘ teaching in Matt 5:38-47
on the “ Christian extra”
