Saturday, April 5, 2008

The Work of the LORD

I wholeheartedly believe that Christians are called to no other work than full-time work for God. Secular work simply does not fit this calling. I will provide both Biblical and logical reasons for this assertion. Then I will discuss some of the dissentions.

The logical reason for this is that Christians cannot fulfill the Great Commission that we have all received during regular work hours at a secular job. It is simply not ethical to do so. And the fact is, we are all called to make disciples and/or be witnesses according to Acts 1:8. There is nothing more important on this earth while we live here than to do this work of the Lord.

What is that work of the Lord?

It is found it I Corinthians 15:58 - "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. " Based on the context of this chapter, our work of the Lord is the transmission of the Gospel according to the commission of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Look at the three commands that Paul gives in this verse: stedfast, unmoveable, and always abounding. If you read these in black and white as I do, then the Biblical conclusion is that as ministers of the Gospel, we are to be about that work all the time, nothing impeding, nothing taking its place, nothing of sustenance other than this work.

Pay attention to the calling of God. It is different for every Christian. Some, like me, are called as writers. Others are pastors, teachers, evangelists, and other occupations that meet His calling criteria. The most important to pay attention to is your spiritual gift. I use my spiritual gift of prophecy to work as a writer.

What do you believe is your full-time calling of God? I'd like to know your story.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

While I'm not sure I completely agree that all Christians are called or should be in full time ministry, I believe that too many Americans have allowed our culture to control the way they live. You have to have a few tvs, cars, stereos, computers etc. to have a life. I have found that so many things in our culture serve as distractions to living the life that God has called us to. It is easier to sit in front of the tv or IM our friend (which normally is conversation no REAL meaning) than to read His word or pray.

Anonymous said...

Like Duane, I am not certain that all are called out of the workplace. I believe that we are all given the great commission however to go into all the world and preach the Gospel and we can do so in our work place (lunchbreaks is when I often chat with my non Christian colleagues), at the corner shop, walking the kids to school, etc. Some think that they need to go abroad to share the Gospel but "...into all the world" includes the places I have just mentioned. --W McCallum