I Was Just Thinking … About Why We Work Now

One of the impressions I formed as I traveled around Afghanistan in 1974 was that the people seemed to build ruins. Because they used sunbaked mud for the walls of their structures, buildings that were not carefully maintained quickly disintegrated as they succumbed to the forces of nature. Similarly, it seems as if every dystopian movie depicts the same outcome, even for our most modern structures. Even Scripture tells us that God himself will eventually destroy the world he made (2 Peter 3:10; Mark 13;31). Does this mean that our efforts to obey God’s mandate to fill and subdue the earth and to govern the rest of God’s creatures are worthless, or that we should do shoddy work because we know that nothing we do will last?

Not at all. God has good reasons for us to work hard in the here and now. Here are a few to consider today.

Knowing that our physical accomplishments in this age will disintegrate frees us from the pressure of trying to “build and boast in a tower that will reach heaven” (Genesis 11:4). Indeed, the teacher of Ecclesiastes argued at length that trying to escape our finitude is futile, for we must leave what we build behind us when we die (e.g., 2:16–17). Our hope for a good future does not rest on the success, or failure, of our efforts in this time frame and physical reality. Our eternal happiness is not contingent on consistently knowing and choosing a course of action that will create lasting results. Because God built finitude and futility into creation (Ecclesiastes 3; cf. Romans 8:20), we would be wise to adapt our ambitions and expectations to the limitations he has placed on us.

Since he did not see this limited creation as wasted effort on his part, neither should we. In this timeline God intends us to represent him to one another by imitating his gracious creativity. Trusting him to provide the resources we need for our tasks—either directly or through our participation in life with other people—we can engage with our environment to shape it in such a way that other people benefit, and that they recognize and rejoice in some of the attributes of God displayed in our work.

Jesus had this in mind when he said, “Let your light shine before people in such a way that they see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:!6). Paul echoed him: “Whatever you do, do everything so people will experience and appreciate the goodness of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Then he adds and incentive: “Always work enthusiastically, as for the Lord, because he is the one who will provide an eternal reward” (Colossians 3:23–24). All of them echo Ecclesiastes’ declaration that “there is nothing better for people than to rejoice and do good as long as they live, eating and drinking, and seeing the good in all their toil, for it is a gift from God” (3:12–13; cf. 3:22; 5:18–19; 8:15).

But there is still a problem. Even though God’s glory is evident in creation, not everyone acknowledges him. Nor will everyone acknowledge God because of what we do and how we do it. Jesus responded to this failure in his day, by continuing to exhibit the grace of God; for “God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. And he went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him” (Acts 10:38). He also urged those who observed him to own up to what they were seeing: “If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe what I say; but if I do them, though you do not believe what I say, believe the works, so that you might know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father” (John 10:37–38; cf. 10:24–25; 5:36; 14:10–12).

So, while we are not responsible for the failure of unbelievers, their failure does not relieve us of our responsibility to pursue God’s purpose to manifest the knowledge of him through our words and our work. Peter urges us, “As recipients and stewards of God’s manifold grace, serve one another appropriately. Whoever speaks, let it be with God’s words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:10–11). And Paul exhorts us not to “weary of doing good” (Galatians 6:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:13). Then he strengthens our resolve by reminding us that because God will give us victory over death and destruction “through our Lord, Jesus Christ, therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that, in the Lord, your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).