Working With Our Hands

by Chris Simmons

We are commanded in scripture to work. Paul said in I Thessalonians 4:11-12 that we are “to make it (our) ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to (our) own business and work with (our) hands, just as we commanded you; so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.” In the second letter to the Thessalonians, he went on to say that it, in fact, is sinful to not work and that we have no right to expect God to bless us with the material things that we need if we are not willing to work (II Thessalonians 3:7-12). There are some spiritual truths that need to be considered and applied when we make choices regarding how we will work with our hands and how we will choose a profession so that we might provide for the needs of our families.

First, we can not choose to take a job that would condone, promote or facilitate that which is sinful. Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 5:11 to “not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them” applies just as much to a job that we would undertake as it would to some social or recreational situation. A child of God can not condemn drunkenness on Sunday and go to work on Monday to drive a beer delivery truck. We are to choose jobs and professions that are honorable and “above reproach” (cf Philippians 2:15) and that reflect positively on our spiritual claims. We can not choose a profession which would cast shame upon or disparage the body of Christ.

Second, we can not choose a profession which would routinely preclude us from worshipping with the saints when they assemble. There is not an exception in the fine print below Hebrews 10:24-25 that says that forsaking the assembling of the saints because of work reasons is o.k. We need to make choices in regards to our chosen line of work that will ensure our ability to make it to worship services. As parents, we need to teach our children from an early age (in our words and in our example) that we always consider whether we can attend the assemblies of the saints BEFORE we take a job. There once was a young man who had a very promising future as a professional athlete. He was, in fact, offered a lucrative contract with a professional basketball team. The young man, who had been a Christian just a few years, had one question before he signed the contract. His question was, “will I be guaranteed the time I need to worship the Lord on the first day of the week?” He was told that there would be no such promise. The young man left the contract on the table unsigned and walked away. There is a cost to being a child of God and sometimes being a disciple of Jesus Christ means that we have to give up on a profession that we perhaps have always dreamed of for the sake of serving God.

Third, we need to ensure that greed is not the reason for the jobs that we take. The desire to get rich, or as we often say in our society, the desire to “get ahead” will cost many people their souls. As noted in I Thessalonians 4:11, our work and our professions are so that we might provide for our “needs.” We need to be very careful that we are not making career choices so that we might be able to provide all that our family “wants.” “Get rich quick” schemes have always been around but that is not the angle that the Christian is to take in order to provide for the needs of his family. Often times, one’s job becomes the idol that he bows down to in his life. Paul states it very plainly in Colossians 3:5, “greed…amounts to idolatry.” That is not to say that a Christian can not be successful and do well in a business, job or profession. We do, however, need to be honest in our self examinations for our motive for doing what we do.

Finally, we simply need to make choices about what work our hands will do that will be consistent with the only priorities that God will accept. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Whatever honorable and honest business or profession we put our hands to do, we are to do it to the very best of our capabilities. Solomon wrote, “whatever your hand finds to do, verily, do it with all your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Our work is to be done “as to the Lord” Himself (Ephesians 6:5-7) and we are to give Him the glory and the thanks for any and all prosperity that may come from our work (Deuteronomy 8:10-19; especially verse 18; Ephesians 5:20).