Tag Archives: Work

Part 4 – Reources, The First Fundamental Element

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As I stated in the last post, God created humans with needs and provided Four Fundamental Elements for those needs to be met. The Four Fundamental Elements are Resources, Opportunity, Instruction, and Relationships. With these provisions, humankind could live independently and have a full life.

Adam had a need for the resource of food and water and God provided for that need in the Garden. There were four rivers that ran through the garden, which would provide water and food was literally hanging from the trees. Adam had a need and God met that need. With these resources, he and Eve would be able to stay alive.

While this may sound elementary, this is God’s first Fundamental Element and God continues to provide resources to mankind when He wants something accomplished.

Let’s fast forward to Noah. For some reason God called Noah to build an ark instead of just giving him one.

Wouldn’t it have been easier if God had just told Noah, “Hey. I’ve put a big boat out in the wood full of everything you need...all you have to do is climb in and ride out the storm.” But He didn’t…God wanted Noah to do the work Click To Tweet

But God provided Noah with the resources necessary to complete the task. Now Scripture does not tell us exactly how Noah got the resources, but it seems pretty apparent that they were available in the surrounding area. And unlike the Hollywood movie, I don’t think that a box full of tools found its way to Noah’s front porch and the wood wasn’t delivered by the Go 4 WOOD company.

Again, this would have been easier, but God had Noah do the work. In fact, Noah probably had to fashion the tools just to do the work. Now I used to remodel houses and I had the benefit of pneumatic tools, electric saws and trucks…and it was still really hard work. Can you imagine how much harder it had to be for Noah? But for some reason, God had Noah do the work. And work he did…it took him 120 years to build that ark.

Every time God called people to accomplish something, He made the necessary resources available. When He called the Israelites to build the Sanctuary, the resources were already in their possession. When God called Nehemiah to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, the resources were provided through the king in Nehemiah 2.

God made people do the work to accomplish His will, but He always provided the First Fundamental Element, Resources. He provided the Resources that were necessary for the work to be completed.

A Problem in Thessalonica

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Paul was not a guy who liked to mince words. If he saw problem, he addressed it straight on. Well there was an obvious problem in Thessalonica and Paul addresses it with the believers living there on at least three occasions. The problem? There were people in the church that would not work and meet there own needs. The first time Paul brings this up is in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, where he writes:

1Th 4:9 – 12 –  About brotherly love: You don’t need me to write you because you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. In fact, you are doing this toward all the brothers in the entire region of Macedonia. But we encourage you, brothers, to do so even more, to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, so that you may walk properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.

Here are a few points we need to recognize from this passage?

  1. “About brotherly love…do so even more…” – Caring for yourself is a display of love to others.
  2. “As we commanded you…” – this is past tense. It is a command that Paul had given when he was with them. Here he reinforces that command.
  3. “That you may walk properly…” – Working to care for your own needs is proper, it is the way we should live.
  4. “Not be dependent on anyone.” = We are not to ask others to provide for us if we are able to do the work on our own.

Paul wasn’t done with his instruction on this subject. He addresses it again in 2 Thessalonians 3.

2Th 3:6 – 12 – Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from every brother who walks irresponsibly and not according to the tradition received from us. For you yourselves know how you must imitate us: We were not irresponsible among you; we did not eat anyone’s food free of charge; instead, we labored and struggled, working night and day, so that we would not be a burden to any of you. It is not that we don’t have the right to support, but we did it to make ourselves an example to you so that you would imitate us. In fact, when we were with you, this is what we commanded you: “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.” For we hear that there are some among you who walk irresponsibly, not working at all, but interfering with the work of others. Now we command and exhort such people by the Lord Jesus Christ that quietly working, they may eat their own food.

For further understanding of this passage, here is a segment from Chapter 4 – God’s Plan in the New Testament, from Breaking the Broken.

There is a lot here, so let’s take this passage one step at a time. Just like Paul did in 1 Thessalonians 4, he makes this a “command,” but this time the command is different. This command is very serious. This is the only command, in all of Paul’s writings, which is given “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Could Paul have been any more serious when he made this command?

Paul “appeals” to them to pray fervently in Romans 15. Nine different times Paul “urges” people to display unity, to love, to live sacrificially for Christ, and to walk worthy of their calling, but here Paul “commands them in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The importance of what is coming next cannot be overstated. It could be argued that Paul believes this is the most important message he is going to deliver to the Thessalonians.

Paul introduces what is so important. They should “keep away from every brother who walks irresponsibly and not according to the tradition received from us.” Paul actually instructs them to break the relationship, but what was the tradition of Paul? That he worked hard to provide for his own needs. Paul says those who don’t do this are “irresponsible.” Notice that Paul refers to those who do not work as “irresponsible”
three times.

Paul reminds them that he and God’s coworkers had a right to support, but they did not accept it because they did not want to be a “burden.” If these believers worked so they weren’t “a burden,” then wouldn’t the opposite be true? Those who are able to work, but don’t, are a burden. Paul also worked hard to set an example for others to follow. If working to care for your own needs is an example worthy of following, then those who do not work live a pattern that should not be imitated. Paul believed so strongly in this teaching that if any of his coworkers did not support themselves, they did not eat.

Paul started this teaching and he ends this teaching with a command in the name of the “Lord Jesus Christ.” How much more of a priority can he put on this instruction? There is not any other passage of Scripture that Paul wrote with this high of a priority. So what was the final command in this section? To work quietly and eat their own food.

Final words are important. They are the last thing heard and often the first thing people remember. Living out God’s plan to work and independently provide for our own needs is the final instruction Paul gave to the Thessalonian church. Paul believed it, preached it, demanded it for his companions, and personally lived it out. Living out God’s plan was a really big deal to Paul.  (Breaking the Broken Pages 56 – 57).

There is a progression to this teaching of Paul on work. When he was in person he made it a command that people cared for their own needs. When he wrote the first letter he compared working for our provision to loving our brothers and emphasized again that this was a command. The last time he wrote about it he really made it clear. It is a command in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and if someone isn’t willing to work then they should not be provided food by others.

God provided ways for people to gain dignity and work for their own food. Providing for others, if they are able to care for themselves, is not good for them or the one serving.

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FAQ 3 – Why Is Work So Important?

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NOW HIRINGWow…It’s been a crazy few months since my last post, but here is FAQ 3 – Why Is Work So Important?

Have you ever thought about the fact that God gave Adam a job before the fall? God could have provided Adam with everything. He could have created things in such a way that Adam would never have had to lift a finger, but He didn’t. He created Adam, and the rest of us, with needs that could only be fulfilled with work. Work must be pretty important if it was part of God’s perfect creation before the fall. Work must have provided Adam with something even more important than money.

As I have presented this material, I have asked audiences if they remembered their first jobs. I get head nods and smiles, then I ask about the first paycheck. Their faces light up as they remember that moment. It’s amazing to me how many people remember that first check. It is a significant moment in our lives. I have had people in their seventies, eighties, and even nineties tell me exactly how old they were, how they earned it, and the amount. I’ve noticed the pride in their voices as they walk down memory lane.

That feeling of value isn’t a mistake. God created each of us with a desire to take on responsibilities and accomplish things. He embedded a code in the DNA of every human being to meet their own needs. We want to be useful. We want to provide for ourselves. God gave Adam a job because he needed to believe he had value and was worth something. Relying on others to provide for our basic needs is a learned behavior.

We see the desire to care for ourselves in every child as they grow and find their identities. We see it in their desire to be independent. We even see it when they play. Most boys want to drive trucks and tractors and build. Most girls want to be teachers and nurses and care for others. While the examples may be stereotypical, it points to our natural desire to
work, be productive, and have value. This desire isn’t taught to children. It’s given to all
of us by God.

As adults, a large part of our identity is wrapped up in what we do for a living. When we meet someone new, it is common to ask where they work or what they do. That question may bother some people, because they don’t think their work defines who they are, but I disagree. We find a large portion of our value and identity in our jobs. As we get to know others, it is perfectly understandable to ask what they do for nearly half of their waking hours. It isn’t a bad question because it explains a major segment of our lives.

Our work, and our ability to independently provide for our needs, provides us with dignity. We find value in ourselves. God’s plan for us to work and care for our own needs allows us to see ourselves through His eyes as people who were created with abilities, purpose, and significance. We were created in His image. God calls us to work because He worked, and He has deemed work as necessary for our well-being.