An Introduction to the Theology of Work

What is a Theology of Work?

            Welcome to this series of articles about the theology of work. We suspect that you have several important questions.

            First, why does anyone need a theology of work? When we talk about a "theology," it can sound as stuffy as a tomb. Theology is often considered the domain of scholars who are wrestling with questions that no one ever asks, or solving problems that have never really arisen. When we talk about theology, however, we are really talking about what we know or do not know about God. Everyone does theology. An atheist who says she doesn't believe in God is already dealing with theology. Wars are fought over theology by people who are convinced that they are doing God's will. Agree with them or not, everyone everywhere does theology. People in the workplace who may never attend church are dealing with theology in some way every day. Ultimately, the questions we ask about God are not merely religious; they are life-altering. In fact, what you believe about God may be the most important thing you ever think about. That's theology!

            This series of articles, however, deals with the theology of work. In that sense, it's limited. And in another sense, it is very broad. It's limited to work, but work is as diverse as are the people in the world. One question that may come to your mind is "what is work?" The answer to that question seems very obvious. Work is what we do to make a living. By saying that, however, you're implying that people do work for 40 or 50 hours a week in order to live for the other hours of the week. There's more to work than that. A farmer, for example, doesn't "work to make a living." Plowing a field, planting a crop, bringing in a harvest is really his life. Or when we say that people "work to make a living," we imply that they work to receive a salary or a wage. But what about the volunteer who travels to another country at his own expense to help people who have suffered in an earthquake or a flood? What about the person who raises children, cooks meals, and takes care of the family home? Certainly these people work and work hard, but do not receive a salary. What, then, do we mean when we talk about their "work"?

            Others might insist that the opposite of work is play. These are the folks who say, TGIF: Thank God, it's Friday and the weekend is coming! The recreation we enjoy on the weekend stands in contrast to the labor we put in during the week. But what about the professional golfer? Or the tennis player? Do they work? How does their "work" differ from recreation?

            Add to that a deeper question, "Does God care about our 'work'?" So you see, there is a flood of questions about the simple concept of work. In fact, we are barraged by a flood of questions about work that have to be answered.

            Or look at work another way. If you're a pastor reading this material on a theology of work, do you find yourself thinking about a woman in the eighth row, three seats from the end, who works as a secretary, or the man behind her who owns the garage? Or a couple on the other side of the sanctuary who have recently invested everything they have in a business installing windows in automobiles? Do you think about yourself as a pastor? Do you work? Are you tempted to respond, "Of course I do, but it's really not the same thing. I have a special calling from God"? That leads to another question: What do you mean by a "call"? Is it reserved for missionaries, teachers at a Bible college or a seminary, or translators of the Bible? How about the executive, the vice president of an insurance company who attends your church? Does she have a call from God? Does God call men and women in business to their positions? Can you imagine God "calling" a pastor to go back into the world of work? Is that whole way of thinking true to the Bible? You'll find an article on "calling"that wrestles with that question.

            There are other questions in a theology of work that we have to think about. If I own a business, what responsibility do I have to the people who work for me? Does God really care if I have to fire someone? Does it matter at all to God how much I pay people that I employ, or is it only a question of the bottom line? Do I have to think about what will occur in the lives of people who make only a minimum wage, or, because of an economic downturn, are left without a job at all? Does God care about those people or about their kids or about the depression that people feel when they lose a job? If God cares about them, should I — and how?

            Something else: does God care about the products I make or the way my company advertises them? Is it important to God how I talk or what I talk about when I'm having coffee at the break? Does it matter at all about how long a break I take? So you see, from simple questions about how we do the work we do to questions about the profits we make and how we make them, are we left on our own to decide what is good or bad? Does God have anything to do with the work that consumes a major part of my life?

            These articles will not answer those sticky issues by providing a set of rules, but it will attempt to give us a direction to go. After all, the Scriptures resemble a compass rather than a roadmap. But when you're on the journey, a compass can be very helpful. We want these articles to help Christ-followers make the decisions that they have to make in the workplace.

How Do You Do a Theology of Work?

            The simple answer is, you study the Bible. Unfortunately, there is not a book in the Bible called First and Second Executive or Letter to the Christian Plumbers. Instead, what the Bible teaches about God's view of work is embedded in the Scriptures. Only a few of the biblical writers speak directly about the work that people do. They simply assume it. For instance, one of the Ten Commandments declares, "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8) as if the only day God cared about was the Sabbath. But the command also says, "Six days you shall labor and do all your work" (Exodus 20:9). So the command deals not only with a special day when we can rest, but with the other days of the week designed for labor and for work. What we have done in researching these articles is to go through the Bible book by book and surface what we might not have seen about work had we not been looking for it. For example, one of the articles is about work as seen in the last book of the Bible, the Revelation. It's possible to be so caught up in the visions in Revelation and with questions about when they will occur, that we do not see that it also tells us something about work now and in the future. You might be surprised that the Song of Solomon, a love poem, has quite a bit to say about workers and work. So this book is a theology of work. It attempts through a study of the Scriptures to answer the question, "Does the work we do matter to God?"

            These articles have two chief divisions: biblical and topical. The biblical section is similar to a biblical commentary, but focused on work. It contains articles about books — or groups of books — of the Bible. What does each book have to say about work? The topical section contains about 20 articles about key topics that arise in the workplace; for example, “calling”, “motivation,” “compensation,” and “truth and deception.” These were the topics most frequently mentioned by 132 workplace leaders who were asked what a theology of work needed to cover.

How Would You Use This Material?

            You might sit down over the course of several days and read it through, but most of us are too busy to do that. One suggestion is to read a book of the Bible, then read the article about work based on that book, so that the theology of work can prompt and guide your thinking about what we learn about work in the different sections of the Bible.

            You might want to look at the articles written about particular topics that interest you. There is one on "calling." Does God call people to their daily work? Or does he only call people to religious kinds of tasks? How do you discern where God is calling or leading you? Or you may be concerned about questions of ethics in the workplace. Or you may ask, Should Christians try to spread the gospel through their work? And if so, how? You'll find articles on these and other topics on the Theology of Work Project’s knowledge base website at wiki.theologyofwork.com. The website also allows you to make comments, propose edits, and add cases and illustrations, if you are willing to create a (free) account for yourself.

            If you're a pastor preparing a series of sermons to help your people see what God says about work, there will be many different ways that you can approach your study here. If you're teaching a Sunday school class or leading a discussion in Adult Education on the topic of work, you'll find that what you have in your hands will be invaluable. If you’re wrestling with a decision in your work, you’ll find a practical guide to understanding how God’s word can direct you.