God, the Gospel, and Your Vocation

Work. Vocation. Your 9 to 5. Most of us spend a good chunk of our week employed and exerting effort to benefit some company. Work is an ever present reality in most everyone’s lives, including Christians. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that Scripture contains extensive teaching on what work is, how to work, why you should work, and dozens of principles to help you understand how your day job fits into God’s larger plan for the world.

Tackling the Bible’s full teaching on work will take some time. For this post, I want to go through 3 New Testament verses that I think address Christians and their vocations. In particular, these three texts will focus on how God’s plan for the world and the gospel connect to your work.

God is sovereign over where you work

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10, ESV

Like any theology, a New Testament theology of vocation starts with God. Not just “God” in general, but what God has done through the gospel. Before you were saved, work was a way to gain money. Power. Status. Everything you did, including your work, was self-serving and devoid of proper motivation.

But after Christ transforms your life, saves you from your sin, and brings you into newness of life, work does not stop. Paul says in the verse above that God has prepared good works for you to do. Now, certainly this verse is speaking more broadly than your day job when it uses the term “good works”. But I think “good works” certainly includes what you do for 40+ hours every week.

Your vocation is not a distraction from serving God. Where you work is an integral part of God’s sovereign plan for how you are to serve Him.

To have a proper understanding of work, you have to start with answering the question “how did I find myself in my current job?” You can give a number of reasons, but fundamentally you must grasp God had planned your vocation before time began. He prepared the good works ahead of time for you. Your job is to be faithful to where He has placed you.

Christians are not self-sufficient workers

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:17, ESV

“Whatever you do” includes a lot of things. It is a broad category that almost certainly includes your vocation. Your work, therefore, is to be done “in the name of the Lord Jesus.” What does this mean? It seems like a very abstract phrase. When the New Testament talks about the “name of Jesus,” it says a number of things:

• There is no other name that saves (Acts 4:12)
• Jesus has the most exalted name (Philippians 2:9-11)
• Believers are to ask things in Jesus name (John 14:13)
• Calling upon the name of Jesus saves a person (Romans 10:13)
• Signs and wonders in the New Testament were done in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:30)

I believe the last verse give us insight into what Paul might mean in Colossians 3:17. When the apostles performed signs, they did it through the “name of Jesus.” That simply means Jesus was the source, the one who empowered the signs. It was not by their own strength and ability that the apostles acted. How does this apply to normal work?

Dependence on Christ, not self-sufficiency, should characterize your work day.

When you pray in Jesus name, we are acknowledging it is not through our own efforts that you can approach God. Salvation comes through Jesus name because He is the source of salvation. Doing all things in Jesus’ name means acting in constant dependence on Him and His grace.

God’s glory is the goal of your vocation

What is your goal for your job? Climbing the ladder? Making more money? These are all false paths to happiness which will disappoint in the end. Christians have a deeper, unshakeable goal for their work.

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV

If you want to understand how the glory of God relates to everything, I recommend working through “The End for Which God Created the World” by Jonathan Edwards. Essentially, Edwards argues God created the world so that His attributes could be seen by His creation and that His creation should delight in those attributes. As the Westminster confession states, it is mankind’s “chief end”: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

It is easy to slip into the mindset that “glorifying God” takes place outside of work hours. Sure you can glorify God at Church or with your family, but sitting in front of a computer screen in a cubicle? But if Paul can command Christians to display and enjoy God’s attributes in something as mundane as “eating and drinking,” your vocation must also be centered around glorifying the Lord.

Start each new work day asking “how can I show through my work that God is infinitely valuable and glorious?”

Summary of doctrine

These are only three of numerous verses on vocation in the New Testament and the Bible as a whole. But I think they frame any discussion of work. How can we summarize and synthesize the truths given in these passages?

God provides Christians with their vocations and the power to perform their vocations to display His worth.

Christians have a fundamental new perspective of their jobs: they are from God. They have a new goal of working: to exalt and display God not self. And finally, Christians have been given the power of the gospel and of Christ to meet this new goal.

A few brief takeways

1. You are equipped to do your job in all the ways that matter

There is an obsession in America with productivity books. How to become a better worker. Books on successful leadership. How to develop marketable skills. These are all useful in a small way, but the good news of Scripture is “good work” isn’t measured by worldly success. It is measured by obedience to Christ.

You might not get that promotion. Perhaps you will never be the most skilled worker in your office. But if your goal is to display how marvelous and priceless Christ and the gospel are, then you have been given exactly what you need. Christ has given you “everything needed for life and godliness.” So yes, build up skills in your individual job. But always remember that it is Christ who equips you to do your work for God’s glory. No book, other than Scripture, can help you become “successful” in that.

2. Don’t focus on getting your “perfect dream job.” Focus instead on what God would have you do in the job you have now.

There is always a “better job” out there somewhere. The grass is always greener on the other side. A lot of times, how much you enjoy your current job can become the determining factor in how hard you work. For Christians, this should not be the case. You don’t need your perfect dream job to be happy. You need to start focusing on glorifying God in the job you have.

A lot of times, how you talk about your job and how much you enjoy are job is connected solely to yourself. How you feel. What you think of the job. But if you understand that God has chosen to place you in your current job, your perspective changes. Instead of asking God “why do you have me working here?” you ask “how do you want me to serve you today in this job?”

God didn’t mess up in placing you in your current vocation. Pray that He would show you what good works He has for you in your current workplace.

There is a lot more to investigate in Scripture about vocation and God’s purposes in work. But for now, remember that God has a plan for where you are working and has given you power through Jesus to go to your job seeking to display God’s glory. Don’t get caught up in working for yourself only. Pray that God would give you eyes to see how your work is a means by which He blesses the world, displays His attributes, and calls people to faith in Christ.

Read this post if you want more of my thoughts on Christians and work. Check out the “Thoughts” page for more topical reflections on life. Be sure to follow The Average Churchman on Instagram to get post updates and recommended resources.