How does God intend for us to think about our work? Business leader and entrepreneur Sebastian Traeger says there are two extremes: being idle at work, or making our work an idol. He helps us gain understanding of God’s design for our jobs and the rest of our life as we review his latest book The Gospel at Work. It’s a biblical approach to work on this latest Connecting Faith. Here’s where the conversation takes us.
Sebastian gives us a glance at his background – including his work with with FiveStreet.com, Razoo.com, Christianity.com and Silas Partners. He’s also an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C.
What is it that God has called me to do at work? Perhaps it’s a question you yourself have asked. Sebastian says there are two pitfalls that our faith has called us to avoid.
On the one extreme, we can tend towards being idle in our work. On the other, we can make our work life our idol. So what can the Bible teach us about God’s attitude toward work?
God is the first worker. He created the world, and then he rested. That’s the pattern He Himself established. The conversation then becomes more complex because, as a result of sin’s entrance into the world, He cursed work. What does that mean for us today?
Studies tell us that a startling eighty percent of people aren’t satisfied with their jobs. Work is simply not meaningful to many people in today’s world. While work can never give us ultimate satisfaction, there is a deeper reason than simply a paycheck or meeting our daily needs behind why people of faith should give their all on the job. Who we are working for is more important than what we are doing.
