Reimaging Your Work as Worship (Faith & Work, Part 2)
Series: Faith & Work (Part 2)
Authors: Drs. John M. Frame and Steven L. Childers
Title: Reimaging Your Work as Worship
Earlier we learned in Scripture that the paradise God created was perfect, but it was not complete. Everything was good, but it was not yet what God intended. God’s purpose was to make everything he created even better through the work of his image bearers as his “sub-workers.”
We’re now taking a deeper look at God’s original purpose for work found in the first chapter of Genesis. In the beginning God describes human work in its very primitive, earliest form as exercising authority over his creation as his representatives. In Genesis 1:28, we read that after God created Adam and Eve, he blessed them and said to them:
Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
God presents the human task as primarily two things: multiplying and ruling over all the animals on the earth. Multiplying includes being fruitful and filling the earth. And subduing or ruling includes having dominion.
In the original context of the writing of Genesis, the ancient Near East, the rule of the earth refers primarily to the development of animal husbandry and agriculture, which were the basic elements of human society at that time. But as history and Scripture unfold, we soon learn this ultimately included all the more developed aspects of culture and society.
Many are surprised to learn that the initial purpose of humanity is not portrayed in Scripture as something seemingly more spiritual, like worship. Instead the primary human task is described by God as a much more mundane sounding activity like engaging our environment in work.
The problem is that people normally separate worship and work in a way that God doesn’t. Most of us see worship as merely engaging our heart’s affections by offering up our prayers and praise to God. That is worship, but biblical worship is much more.
The Scriptures teach that the essence of worship is bringing honor and glory to God for who he is and for all he does. This is why the biblical concept of our worship of God cannot be fully understood apart from our service to God. Thus, the historic Christian concept of understanding our worship as service and our service as worship.
So from Genesis chapter one onward, humans are given the task of bringing honor and glory to God (worship) through carrying out his will on the earth (service). We see this same perspective toward worship in the Apostle Paul’s admonition to the Roman Christians when he writes:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Rom 12:1).
In the remaining verses in Romans 12, Paul describes what spiritual worship looks like, and it doesn’t look like prayers and praise to God. Instead, in Romans 12:6, Paul writes to the Roman Christians, “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them.” Then Paul gives them practical examples of spiritual worship based on the unique gifts God has given them. He writes,
If prophecy, in proportion to our faith; service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. (Rom 12:6-8).
So what is spiritual worship?
It’s bringing honor and glory to God by using the unique gifts he has given us to carry out his will on the earth. For some, spiritual worship looks like preaching, teaching, exhorting, and leading. But for others, their spiritual worship is offered to God much more behind the scenes in their serving, giving, and acts of mercy.
Paul is not teaching that our spiritual worship should be limited to so called “spiritual activities” we do in or through the church. Instead, to the Corinthian Christians Paul writes, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31).
The Scriptures present worship as more than the gathering of God’s people once a week for praying, singing, preaching, etc. God also calls us to worship him all the other days of the week as we bring honor and glory to him in all we do, including our work and leisure.
Therefore, the Scriptures present worship to us as much more than a religious gathering of people carrying out spiritual rituals and traditions like reading, singing, and praying. Instead, the Bible presents worship to us in a much deeper, broader, and more comprehensive way that involves every aspect of life.
Theologians use the Latin phrase Coram Deo to describe this understanding of worship. The term Coram Deo refers to something that takes place in the presence of, or before (Coram) the face of God (Deo). R.C. Sproul writes, “To live corem Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.”[1]
This means that our worship involves our relationship with God in a much broader sense. It also involves our relationships with ourselves, others, and our relationship with all of creation in its fullest sense through our work. This is why Paul wrote to the Colossian Christians:
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Col 3:23-24
God created the human race in his image and likeness for two primary reasons: to worship him and to serve him by carrying out his will on the earth. And one of the most significant ways God means for you to worship him is by serving him in and through your work.
Paul told the Corinthian believers why they should seek to bring honor and glory to God, not only with their souls, but also with their bodies in all areas of their lives. He writes, “You were bought with a price. So you must honor God with your bodies” (1 Cor 6:20).
When God, through Jesus Christ, redeemed you with his precious blood, and when the Holy Spirit made you a new creature in Christ, it was all for a high and holy purpose. It was so that God’s name would be honored, and his kingdom would come, and his will would be done on earth as it is in heaven–through your life and work.
In the next article, we’ll take a deeper look in Genesis 2 at how God means for us to carry out his will in our work.
Footnotes:
[1] www.ligonier.org, http://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-does-coram-deo-mean/