Theology of Work

“Don’t let misplaced guilt (that you should be able to “rescue” or “save” them) keep you in a toxic situation. In the Gospels, Jesus walked away many times from those who challenged him or hardened their hearts against him.

“As I think back, the one great lesson I learned from my father is that regardless of the work that God has called each of us to do, we must all put our hands on the plow, and not look back at our mistakes and shortcomings. Instead, we should look forward, ‘fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith’ ” - IFWE

“There are people made in the image of God whose vocational gifts tend toward manual labor and craftsmanship. It is unhealthy to devalue those gifts in comparison to others.” - The Universal Basic Income and the Theology of Work

“You can have great relationships at work, allowing you to work closely with others and even have fun doing so. Part of wisely building work relationships is understanding what it means to develop nuanced and careful trust with people.” - IFWE

“Your conscience, as Colin Smith has suggested, is like an alarm clock. It’s designed by God to go off at the right time. And just like an alarm clock, our conscience can go wrong in one of two ways.” - TGC

“ ‘My dream is to one day …quit my job and do real kingdom work.’ …But at the same time, I cringe at the false dichotomy I hear in statements like this. As if ‘real kingdom work’ only takes place when one is volunteering at church or getting a paycheck from a nonprofit organization.” - Daniel Darling

“Good work reveals God by mirroring his life-giving capacity to bless and serve others (Psalms 8:5-8). As creative agents, cultural stewards, and ambassadors of shalom, faithful work has limitless possibilities.” - Facts & Trends

“How should we incorporate spiritual disciplines into the ordinary rhythms of everyday experience? How can we be transformed into Christ’s likeness through our jobs and daily work?

“I never thought of anything I did at Woolworth’s as accomplishing anything truly good. I was certain such labor was far from heavenly. My perspective was: “This work stinks!” (And many nights, it literally did because of the volume of trash.) …Looking back on that first job, I wish I had grasped at least one or two heavenly threads about our human labor.” - TIFWE

“Our work… ought to be seen as the service that we are called to do for others, whether we are paid for it or not. This view of work leads to a truer and healthier framework for approaching the various demands of jobs, spouses, children, parents, friends, and neighbors.” - Acton