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Life’s Questions – Week 16 Study Guide

WORK AS CALLING: CHRIST IN CULTURE

OPENER: Have group members think about the different types of jobs they’ve had. What was their favorite job and why? What was their worst job and why?

OBJECTIVE: Our objective for today is to spend time thinking about our view of work and the role it plays in our lives as we live for Christ in the current culture God has placed us in.

STUDY: Is it Job or Vocation?

Question: In your own words, how would you define the difference between a “job” and a “vocation?” If you don’t see them as different but the same, then give your reasons to the group.

Answer: Job has the sense of the mundane, meaning something lowly, earthbound, non-spiritual. The background for “job” is “task, something to be done” A job is seen as something many love to hate, it is something we “have to do” but often don’t really want to do. Vocation comes from a Latin word that means “calling.” Vocation has a sense of transcendence…something of higher and lasting value. A calling is something that has divine weight to it.

Question: Now dig a little deeper… What is the real difference between a job and a vocation?

Answer: Our internal perspective.

Discuss: When it comes to work, why is it that one person doing something sees it as a “job” and another person, doing the same thing, sees it as a “vocation,” a calling? (Think back to what Terry said about Brother Lawrence for an example.)

BIBLICAL PRECEDENCE FOR WORK:

(Col. 3:17 NIV) And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

(Col. 3:23 NIV) Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,  

(Ecc. 5:19 NIV) Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work — this is a gift of God.

Question: What is the key point to the verses above? What are the verses telling us about our view of work? What do the passages tell us about God?

Answer: Work as calling doesn’t mean you should seek to find your “purpose” from your work. It means that your work, whatever it is, has a purpose because this is where God has called you to serve Him and others. Some people move from job to job because they can’t find “meaning” or “satisfaction” in their jobs. This unhealthy discontentment is often caused by looking externally to fix what is really a heart and mind issue. Ecc 5:19says “happy in his work” but the word is better translated “Toil”…”tedious labor.” “Lot” means portion…what God has given you. So, it is not the gift of a great job, “You are blessed if you have a good job.” It is the gift of a great perspective on what God has given you to do.

Discuss: Where does this unhealthy discontentment come from?

FOUNDATIONAL VERSES FOR OUR CALLING:

Gen. 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Gen 1:26   Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Gen 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Discussion/Question: Why would we refer to these verses as foundational when we’re talking about a job, a calling—vocation?

Answer: God’s creative work is the beginning of all that exists apart from Him. Foundationally it means all things exist for Him. Meaning and purpose are derived from a relationship with Him. We exist for His glory. We thrive as people when we live in line with our purpose.

Humanity is the pinnacle of God’s creative work, we are His image bearers. We are designed and equipped to do creative work. We cannot create matter and energy as God has, but we can take what God has made and do incredibly diverse things with it.

Gen 2:15 is known as the Great Mandate. It shows us how all of our lives are to be lived in a “single story”…everything we do with our gifts, skills, training, minds, hands…are to be for the glory of God and the good of others. (Throughout the Old Testament you can see artisans, craftsmen, stonemasons, woodworkers’ musicians, priests, politicians, teachers, and engineers –all types of callings that God has put into His people to honor Him and bless the world.)

Discuss the answers given above: How do they inform our attitude and feelings toward work?

PROPER APPROACH TO WORK AND THE WORLD

READ John 17:13-18. What is this passage telling us about living in the world?
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Answer: We are to live in and not of the world, we are to be “Christ in culture.” We are to be a faithful presence. The church is to “bear witness to and to be the embodiment of the coming Kingdom of God” wherever God places us…homes, gyms, offices, sick beds.

Question: How does this verse inform our attitude towards work?

Important note: Remember, when it comes to our work, it’s much like dealing with questions of evil and suffering, where there were themes and not merely easy answers. There are so many questions that are legitimate to ask regarding vocation. To answer them requires the wisdom of Scripture, the Holy Spirit and the help of others God has placed in our lives. When we find ourselves questioning what we should be doing, it’s important to make sure we have a healthy discontentment. We can only do this by staying in right relationship with God and others as we seek His guidance.

APPLICATION

Think about where you are at today in terms of your understanding of the work you’re doing. Is there anything that needs to change? How can we help?

PRAY

God help us live with wisdom and grace for His glory and the good of others in our diverse callings.” “Help us better understand the secret of being content in every situation…help us experience personally the reality that You give us strength for all You call us to.”

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