Every Good Endeavor: Book Notes
Book notes and my own perspective.
I. God’s Plan For Work
Genesis lays out God’s plan for our work. He gave us talents so that we can serve Him by cultivating the earth and serving others.
In the beginning (Genesis), God spent six days creating the universe. Because of aseity, He created the universe for the sheer joy of creation.1
The work that God did in the early days of Genesis resembles our own physical (and intellectual) work. He moulded us out of dust, gave a spirit to our physical body, and breathed life into the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:8).
This same creative vitality God used to mold the universe is present in humans.2 When enthralled by the wonderful act of creation, you enter a state of Flow.
Do More Leisurely Activities
Jesus was a humble carpenter until he started his ministry at 30. Let that sink in… The savior of humankind spent majority of his life making tables.
Maybe you’ve fallen for the false notion that less paying work has less dignity. Don’t let this stop you from doing leisurely things that bring you joy even if they’re not profitable.3
Leisure, in the biblical sense, is having the ability to enjoy things as an end in themselves, without regard for utility.4 It’s the pursuit of anything where that act of doing that thing is a gift itself.
God is self-sufficient - which means He doesn’t need the universe to exist for Him to exist. Therefore, He created it (and us) for the pure joy of it. Because God doesn’t need us, He created us out of leisure.
This blog is an attempt to be leisurely. It’s good to take a break from work to worship God through leisure.
Our Call To Cultivate Earth
Whereas God created the universe, He calls us to cultivate it, by being active contributors to culture, society, and the economy.
Here’s what this looks like, per Al Wolters:
“The earth had been completely unformed and empty; in the six-day process of development God had formed it and filled it - but not completely.
People must now carry on the work of development: by being fruitful they fill it even more; by subduing it they must form it even more… as God’s representatives, we carry on where God left off.“
I worked on a soybean farm during college. It was hard work, but it was fun to cultivate the earth, shaping it into something that God would smile upon.
You don’t just have to create by the sweat of your brow. Creating with your intellect is another way to cultivate the earth God gave us.
The Purpose Of Work Is Service
The purpose of work is to serve God by serving others. Which requires self-knowledge of your unique abilities.
Because using your talents to serve others happens to be a great way to earn more money, it’s important to be weary of golden handcuffs because the endless pursuit of money will never satisfy.
Even if you do achieve high income, you’re on unsteady ground. What if you get laid off? What if the stock market tanks? How are you defining self worth?
By aiming to honor God through your work, you take the pressure of material success away. Father Jacques Philippe hit the nail on the head when he said that “[without God] man is condemned to success.”
Tim Tebow is a great example of serving God by being excellent. He was a beast of a quarterback for the Florida Gators, and always repped John 3:16.
II. Problems with Work
Adam’s garden of Eden in Genesis was the perfection of work. There was no selfishness, ego, or vanity attached. Since the forbidden fruit, work has gotten distorted.
When you base your life on achievement through work, you live on unsteady ground. Work itself cannot be the sole provide of inner peace.
Even if you’re one of the few who accomplish all you hoped for, the hedonic treadmill brings you right back to baseline. What’s more is that we all end up as dust - even civilization itself will cease to exist one day. Either the Sun with burnout, or some other cataclysmic event with happen before then. Achievement doesn’t last forever, but heaven does.
When Work Becomes Selfish
Work has this funny way of convincing you that you’re working hard for your family - when in reality you’re being seduced through ambition to neglect them. Working for the glory of God is worlds more fruitful than working for the glorification of yourself, because there a natural stopping point when you’ve overdone it.
There is this shiny allure to prestigious jobs. David Brooks puts it well:
“In whatever field you go into, you will face greed, frustration, and failure. You may find your life challenged by depression, alcoholism, infidelity, your own stupidity, and self-indulgence…
Around what ultimate purpose should your life revolve?”
Too many people ignore their abilities, talents, and capacities. And instead choose prestigious work that boosts their own self-image. In a perfect world, you’d choose good work that fits your God-given talents, capacities, and gifts.
The first goal of work should be competence.
The next should be aspiring to advance your field of work by increasing humanity’s capacity to do that work.
When your sole focus is on serving God by serving others, these two goals come naturally.
When Work Becomes Prideful
C.S. Lewis has this great quote about pride from Mere Christianity:
“…Pride is essentially competitive by its very nature. Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man.
We say people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better looking than others.”
Even the most moral people fall prey to selfish motives of greed, vanity, glorification of self, and pride. Accept your own brokenness - and recognize that’s exactly why you return to God like the Prodigal Son.
There’s another fallacy of pride that’s common among successful people: a belief that worldly success is of your own doing. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Everything you have (good and bad) is given to you by God. If you happen to be in a position of power, influence, or wealth, seek to use it in the most God loving way possible.
When your influence, professional reputation, and resume are gifts from God, it’s easier to risk them, spend them, and even lose them in an effort to serve God by serving others.
Serving others will often come at the expense of your own progression, but Luke 6:30 calls for us to “Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.” By giving away everything we have, God gives us a seat in heaven for a lifetime.
Work Reveals Our Idols
The final idol that work reveals is that of control, security, significance, satisfaction, and beauty.
By expecting work to provide us these things to its fullest, which only God can provide, is idolatry. Work can give us a taste of some of these things, but it’s always in the broader context of serving God.
III. The Gospel And Work
Segmenting your Christian life from your work life isn’t possible or healthy. A fully integrated life is one where your actions point to one thing: pleasing God.
Every advancement in learning, art, and technology is simply God “opening his book of creation and revealing his truth”. These self-evident truths were part of God’s original creative design, and are discovered through human cooperation with God’s will.
God gives out gifts of wisdom, talent, and skill according to His grace. By studying great examples of excellent human culture, like reading amazing writing, we know God more.
God reveals himself through human culture. Anyone who becomes skillful at anything is literally being taught by God.
A New Vision for Work
Integrity is the most worthy long term aim. It can take years to build up a reputation, and one moment to ruin it. Unethical business practices can snowball into further unethical decisions. A “zero tolerance” policy for unethical business practices is key.
You should hold yourself to the highest ethical standard, even at the expense of financial gain. Doing the right thing honors God, but only the virtuous are able to lower themselves for the betterment of others.
80% of the challenging situations you’ll face at work aren’t directly addressed in the Ten Commandments. To act rightly in fuzzy situations like this, you need to:
Know God personally. Spend time with God daily in prayer, liturgy, or inviting him into your life through your hobbies. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, St. Paul wrote, “Pray without ceasing.”
Know yourself. Many bad decisions stem from a lack of self-knowledge. The Bible reveals who you are by way of example.
Learn wisdom through experience. By reading the gospel frequently, and applying its wisdom learnings to life, you will grow.
Proverbs is an amazing book for the acquisition of wisdom. There isn’t one situation you’ll ever encounter ever that isn’t already covered in Proverbs.
Work For The Lord
Christians should be fully engaged at work as a whole person, giving their minds, hearts, and bodies fully to doing their best work possible on the task at hand. Why? Because you should work as if they’re serving the Lord.
By working as if you’re serving the Lord, you’re freed from both overwork and underwork. Aspiring to please God helps you find the right balance. What’s more is that Pleasing God through your work is a greater reward than money.
You should not be ruthless in your work, but instead have a reputation for being fair, caring, and committed to serving others. You should also be calm in the face of difficulty or failure.
New Power For Work
Resting on Sunday is a great way to get perspective on work and put it in its proper place. Often you can’t see your work with properly until you reimmerse yourself into other activities and come back with fresh eyes.
If you worry about work during the sabbath, you aren’t truly practicing the sabbath. Rest, in God’s eyes, means you don’t even think about work. Overwork and underwork violates the nature of work that God intended.
Jesus is the only boss who will neither give you too much nor too little work. To get the deepest picture of biblical work, look no further than Matthew 11:28-30:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
When you carry the yoke, you have the power to work with a free heart. You can accept whatever level of worldly success God gives you.
If you’re truly working for God with your heart and soul, then you have nothing to worry about. You can work with passion, rest, joy, satisfaction, and zero regrets because the real reward is heaven.
Thanks for reading!
— Grant Varner
Aseity is the philosophical quality of being self-derived, self-existent, or “of oneself”. In Christianity, it’s the belief that God is uncaused and self-sufficient.
Also see the Kalam Cosmological Argument, which Dr. William Lane Kraig explains beautifully.
One of my favorite books of all time is Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. In it, Howard Roark is the pinnacle of God-centered work.
Whereas the other architects in the story are concerned with prestige, fame, and fortune, Roark brings a fiery passion to his work for the joy of creation.
I find inspiration from Andy Weir, author of The Martian, who tells an inspiring story about how he got into writing full-time by writing for leisure.
Leisure, the Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper
Great post Grant. Very thoughtful and insightful. I will reread this often and share it with others.