Paraphrasing one of Clowney's students, Timothy Keller, "all work is God's work."
Indeed we are often so caught up with the things of this world - the pursuit of material goods, travelling the world and perhaps an early retirement etc, that we treat our jobs as merely means to an end. We as Christians are called to minister, even if we are not in "full-time" ministry. It is often a mental stretch to try to figure out what kind of flourishing does our work promote in the lives of others... Can our work be a mode or a vehicle, by which we can, through our conduct share the gospel (if necessary, using words)?
There must be more to life than just slogging our guts out in the insanely busy marketplace, only to pass on a bank-full of wealth and assets onto children? Some of whom may not necessarily cherish the preciousness of money, or be generous with these money that they did nothing to receive? Or perhaps that we had spent almost everything on ourselves such that our children would have to support us in our golden years?
Dear Lord, please help us to find meaning and purpose in our paid-work, and in our volunteer service to the church and to others! It is much easier to be lazy and expect the government to hand us unemployment benefit, but shape our hearts to desire the blessedness of working so that others may be blessed with the work of our hands and the word of lives. Amen.
From Pages 20-21; 23 of Called to the Ministry
The distinction commonly made between secular pursuits and Christian service comes dangerous close to the distinction between what the Gentiles seeks and what the children of the kingdom seek. Christian calling cannot be secular. The man who hesitates between a money-making career and the ministry is not merely in doubt about his calling to the pastorate, he is questioning his commitment to Christ.
Kingdom service may include agriculture, industry, or art; but only as such labour is done with a view to the purposes of the kingdom. Again, the calling of God is decisive. Since the program of God's kingdom requires a period of time between the first and second comings of Christ, the expectation of the kingdom to come does not call for the abandonment of God's command to subdue the earth. When certain Thessalonians quit work to await Christ's return, Paul commanded them in Christ's name to work with quietness and eat their own bread (2 Thess. 3:12). Only in this way can they fulfill their kingdom calling not to be weary in welldoing (v13). The "well-doing" of which Paul speaks is described more fully in Galatians 6:9,10. It refers particularly to supporting the work of the gospel financially and providing for those in need both within the church and outside of it.
...In what residence can your service be most effective? What about employment? American society is unique in the flexibility of job opportunities. The job you take is under Christ's Lordship. In what way does it honour him? Automation has not yet removed drudgery and monotony from industrial processes. Useful work is often mechanical; it is not therefore secular. A Christian girl worked as an inspector of rubber products. She spent hours at a table with other women rapidly picking up surgical gloves, spinning them from the wrist to inflate them, and then squeezing each finger to reveal flaws or punctures. The work was necessary: flawed gloves could mean infection in surgical use. It was also monotonous. She found that her real job was more challenging: to participate as a Christian in the endless conversation of the women kept at the table by their weary task.
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