Theology of Work

“Many believe that work is a curse, but the reality is that God made work, and it was part of the very good earth before Adam’s fall from grace. It is only after Adam’s sin that work is cursed” - IFWE

“If we fail to realize our embeddedness in a world of work, one of two things can happen. On the one hand, we may overvalue our jobs, which can lead to an inflated sense of ourselves and our work… Not seeing our embeddedness in a world of work can create a second, opposite problem—an undervaluing of our jobs, which can lead to a deflated sense of ourselves and our work.” - TGC

“What is the significance of work? Dorothy Sayers gave an address on the subject in 1942 titled Why Work? In that address, she stated that in respect of an intelligent carpenter, ‘The very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables.’” - Acton

“It is both fascinating and heartbreaking that most people long for significance and at the same time believe they’re nothing more than the product of arbitrary biological mutations” - IFWE

“God is at work making all things new through Jesus and his work on earth—namely, his death and resurrection.” - TGC

“…vocation–the Latinate word for ‘calling’–involves God Himself working through and by means of human beings to bestow His blessings. Thus, He gives daily bread by means of farmers, millers, and bakers; He creates and cares for new human beings through the vocations… the purpose of every vocation is not self-fulfillment or performing great works for God, but loving and serving one’s neighbor.” - Veith

“…it didn’t seem to me to solve the dilemma it kept tossing from hand to hand for hour after hour: If meritocracy isn’t so great, and aristocracy not so great either, then what?!

“Obadiah is a godly man, and God has put him in the palace, next to Ahab. Imagine the darkness of this palace with its evil king and its wicked queen. King Ahab didn’t fear the Lord or walk in His ways. But God placed someone next to him who did.” - C.Leaders

“Thinking carefully about how we answer questions is not capitulation to compromise or fear. The apostle Paul sometimes positioned himself as a faithful Jew contending for the resurrection when he was before Roman authorities. In other moments he took on skeptical philosophers, using their own literature to evangelize.” - TGC

“A part of recreation is rest. God demonstrates a pattern of rest at the end of the creation account, when he ‘rested from all his work that he had done in creation’ (Gen. 2:3). The God who does not tire stopped and rested.” - IFWE