Latest / Pastor John Piper's answers / Work as Worship

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Work as Worship · Pastor John Piper's answers

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the podcast we uh. On this podcast
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  Speaker 1: we fight against the love of money. We talk about
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  Speaker 1: an inordinate love of shopping, of how to live out
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  Speaker 1: a wartime simplicity and financial contentment, and how to enjoy
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  Speaker 1: the gifts that God has given us. This question today
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  Speaker 1: is sort of back in that stream of thought because
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  Speaker 1: in the first half of October we're reading the Book
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  Speaker 1: of Ecclesiastes together in the Navigator's Bible reading Plan, and
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  Speaker 1: that leads us to a question about work and the
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  Speaker 1: fruit of our work over texts in our current reading.
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  Speaker 1: Here today's question from a listener named Brian. Hello, Pastor John,
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  Speaker 1: I hope you're doing well. I've been reflecting on a
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  Speaker 1: few verses in Ecclesiastes lately, particularly Ecclesiastes two twenty four,
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  Speaker 1: three thirteen, three twenty two, and five nineteen, and those
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  Speaker 1: are texts that we've read from October third to the seventh,
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  Speaker 1: which will be tomorrow. Those texts repeatedly speak about enjoying
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  Speaker 1: the fruit of our labor as a gift from God
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  Speaker 1: to be enjoyed. But I struggle a bit to know
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  Speaker 1: exactly what that looks like in real life. The idea
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  Speaker 1: that there's nothing better for a person than to eat
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  Speaker 1: and drink and find enjoyment in his toil's Ecclesiastes two
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  Speaker 1: twenty four, And that it is God's gift that everyone
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  Speaker 1: should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.
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  Speaker 1: That's three thirteen is something I want to understand and
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  Speaker 1: live out better as a businessman. I want to honor
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  Speaker 1: God with fair dealings, honesty, and trustworthiness. And I think
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  Speaker 1: I get that part, even if I don't live up
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  Speaker 1: to it flawlessly. But I'm unsure how to process my
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  Speaker 1: work when it's finished in the evenings and the weekends.
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  Speaker 1: What does it look like to reflect on work done
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  Speaker 1: well and find joy in it as a gift from God,
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  Speaker 1: as our readings encourage us to do.
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  Speaker 2: Let me start with two cautions that we should take
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  Speaker 2: when reading Ecclesiastes, and then I'll go straight to answer
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  Speaker 2: that last question. Reading Ecclesiastes requires a careful distinction between
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  Speaker 2: the author's description, on the one hand, of the futility
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  Speaker 2: of life without reference to God, often called life under
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  Speaker 2: the sun, and on the other hand, his description of
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  Speaker 2: life with reference to God that snatches, so to speak,
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  Speaker 2: snatches from the futility of this world, a purposeful way
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  Speaker 2: of living that honors God and is generous toward others,
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  Speaker 2: and brings some measure of happiness in this world that
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  Speaker 2: is rooted in God and not just in earthly pleasures.
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  Speaker 2: The second caution is that Ecclesiastes is part of the
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  Speaker 2: Old Testament, during which God did not foreground the great
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  Speaker 2: commission he does in the New Testament, when the Church
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  Speaker 2: exists to make disciples of all the peoples of the world.
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  Speaker 2: This is significant. This has huge implications. The Old Testament was,
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  Speaker 2: in general a common see religion, not a go tell religion,
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  Speaker 2: which Christianity most definitely is a go Tel religion, meaning
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  Speaker 2: that the wealth and prosperity and health and civic well
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  Speaker 2: being of Israel in the Old Testament was by and
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  Speaker 2: large a testimony to the nations of God's kindness to Israel,
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  Speaker 2: which the nations could come and see and be a
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  Speaker 2: part of if they believed, but which missionaries did not
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  Speaker 2: take to the surrounding peoples in the Old Testament. Unlike
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  Speaker 2: Old Testament, Israel, Christianity has no geographic center, no material temple,
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  Speaker 2: no national identity, no military, no earthly ruler. We are
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  Speaker 2: an exile people scattered among the nations. We're not building
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  Speaker 2: a home on this earth, but are sojourners living simply
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  Speaker 2: maximizing our impact for the sake of the peoples who
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  Speaker 2: have no Gospel witness. We are a go tell religion,
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  Speaker 2: and we do what we do to maximize the finishing
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  Speaker 2: of that go Tell purpose. And I mention this because
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  Speaker 2: it means that we will not simply draw a straight
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  Speaker 2: line from an Old Testament conception of the good life
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  Speaker 2: to the Christian conception of the good life. They're not
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  Speaker 2: always the same, okay. So with those cautions in place,
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  Speaker 2: let me affirm Ecclesiastes two twenty four and twenty five.
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  Speaker 2: It says we should eat and drink and find enjoyment
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  Speaker 2: in our toil. This, also, I saw, is from the
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  Speaker 2: hand of God. For apart from him who can eat
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  Speaker 2: or who can have enjoyment, For to the one who
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  Speaker 2: pleases him, God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy.
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  Speaker 2: And Iophirmaclesiestes three twelve. We should be joyful and do
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  Speaker 2: good as long as we live. Also that everyone should
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  Speaker 2: eat and drink and take pleasure in his toil. This
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  Speaker 2: is God's gift to man. One more Phesians, I mean
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  Speaker 2: exsist these five nineteen that if God has given us
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  Speaker 2: wealth and possessions and power, we should use it to
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  Speaker 2: enjoy Him. We should accept our lot and rejoice in
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  Speaker 2: our toil. This is the gift of God. Now, the
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  Speaker 2: common denominator in each of those texts is that work,
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  Speaker 2: the work of our hands or mind, is a gift
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  Speaker 2: of God, and that we should rejoice in it be
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  Speaker 2: thankful for it. In one of those, tax three twelve
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  Speaker 2: makes explicit that the overflow of this joy should be
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  Speaker 2: doing good to others. In other words, the toil of
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  Speaker 2: our hands is not only directed to our own prosperity,
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  Speaker 2: but to the good of others. Now here's the New
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  Speaker 2: Testament version of that exhortation and celebration of God's goodness
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  Speaker 2: for Timothy six seventeen following. As for the rich in
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  Speaker 2: this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor
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  Speaker 2: to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but
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  Speaker 2: on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
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  Speaker 2: They are to do good and be rich in good works,
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  Speaker 2: and be generous and ready to share. Thus store bring
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  Speaker 2: up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future,
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  Speaker 2: so that they may take hold of that which is
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  Speaker 2: truly life. So you can see the shift in emphasis
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  Speaker 2: from Ecclesiastes. Paul focuses our attention on eternity, not merely
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  Speaker 2: this earth. He warns about the dangers of pride and riches.
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  Speaker 2: He pleads for trust in God, not money. He gives
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  Speaker 2: a fourfold emphasis. Do good, do good, do good. He
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  Speaker 2: can't think of enough ways do good. Be rich in
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  Speaker 2: good works, be generous, be ready to share. That's amazing,
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  Speaker 2: like you can't miss the message. This is the go
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  Speaker 2: tell or showtell to the nations. Go to the nations.
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  Speaker 2: This is New Testament Christianity, maximizing our lives and our resources,
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  Speaker 2: especially for the sake of good, especially eternal good, taking
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  Speaker 2: hold of life, which is life indeed. And then he
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  Speaker 2: solidly lines up with Ecclesiastes by saying God has given
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  Speaker 2: us what we have for our enjoyment. You don't have
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  Speaker 2: to be ashamed of being a successful businessman or having
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  Speaker 2: food on your table. So with that backdrop, let me
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  Speaker 2: mention a few things that try to get at an
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  Speaker 2: answer to Brian's essential question. I mean, what does it
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  Speaker 2: look like having done a good days or a good
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  Speaker 2: decade's work. To step back and think about it. Here
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  Speaker 2: here's number one. When you reflect on your work, give
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  Speaker 2: thanks that every breath you took, all the intelligence you applied,
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  Speaker 2: all the strength you exerted, were a gift of God.
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  Speaker 2: Bible says it, Ecclesiasts and newest places in the New Testament,
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  Speaker 2: so that your work becomes an occasion of happy, thankful
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  Speaker 2: worship as you think about it. Number two, when you
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  Speaker 2: reflect upon your work, realize that not only the causes
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  Speaker 2: of its excellence are from God, but the fruit of
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  Speaker 2: it in the future for good will depend upon God's
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  Speaker 2: decisive grace. I planted polish watered. God gave the growth
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  Speaker 2: the horse has made ready for the day of battle.
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  Speaker 2: Victory belongs to the Lord. God has made all grace
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  Speaker 2: abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all
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  Speaker 2: things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
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  Speaker 2: So be amazed at God's grace in your work, but
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  Speaker 2: its causes and its fruit. Third, no matter how prosperous
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  Speaker 2: or how excellent your work is, always admit that there
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  Speaker 2: may be blood spots of how you could do better.
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  Speaker 2: So be ever praying to God and open to others
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  Speaker 2: for how your work could be even more beneficial to
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  Speaker 2: others and a glory to God. Number four, answer the
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  Speaker 2: question honestly, has my work become my God? Or is
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  Speaker 2: God himself the one that I love above all? So
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  Speaker 2: that if my work were taken away from me, would
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  Speaker 2: I still treasure Christ above all as totally sufficient in
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  Speaker 2: my life? Number five is my heart and my mind
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  Speaker 2: set on doing as much good for others as I
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  Speaker 2: can possibly do, especially eternal good, but also this worldly good?
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  Speaker 2: And six does my work fit into the totality of
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  Speaker 2: my family and community and worship life in a way
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  Speaker 2: that contributes to the overall impact of my life as
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  Speaker 2: a pointer to the greatness of Christ? Seven? Is my
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  Speaker 2: lifestyle shaped by Christ? Or shaped by the worldly expectations
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  Speaker 2: of someone in my position? And finally, do I recognize
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  Speaker 2: my finitude and fallibility and sinfulness and trust in the
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  Speaker 2: Gospel for the forgiveness of my personal and business shortcomings
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  Speaker 2: so that I can indeed delight in my work without
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  Speaker 2: becoming presumptuous?
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  Speaker 1: Thank you best, John? Yeah? Is my lifestyle shaped by Christ?
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  Speaker 1: Or shape by worldly expectations? Always a great question reflect
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  Speaker 1: on We've talked about money. How to fight the love
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  Speaker 1: of money? We've talked about the one who lived completely
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  Speaker 1: counterculturally free from the love of money, and we talked
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: about the inordinate love of shopping, and how to live
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: out a wartime simplicity and financial contentment in this world,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: and how to enjoy the gifts that God has given us.
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  Speaker 1: All of that we've put together into a little section
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  Speaker 1: in the APJ book. If you have that, look at
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  Speaker 1: the themes covered on pages ninety five to one twenty one.
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  Speaker 1: If you want more in this vein of thought of money?
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  Speaker 1: What do we do with money? What do we do
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  Speaker 1: with possessions? How do we glorify God with them? See
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  Speaker 1: the APJ Book, pages ninety five to one twenty one
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  Speaker 1: and thanks for joining us today. If you have a
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  Speaker 1: question to ask Pastor John, find a link to email
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  Speaker 1: us and find our complete episode archive at the same
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  Speaker 1: place online Askpastor John dot com. Next time, we look
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  Speaker 1: at the complexity of Christian emotions, as suffering and happiness
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  Speaker 1: go hand in hand, when our sorrows are surprised by happiness.
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  Speaker 1: And Tony Rank, you will see you on Thursday