An Architect and Some Bricklayers

DAILY BYTE

Christians can be a tad squeamish about discussing the value of "work." We emphasize the value of grace, which is, of course, the way that God saves us - loving us not because of the work that we do but because of an extravagant, irrational desire to love his creation - the works of God’s own hands.

But, as the social activist and minister, Anna Garlin Spencer, once said, "We get our most important education not through books but through our work. We are developed by our daily task, or else demoralized by it, as by nothing else."

In other words, our work matters. To us and to God.

From the very beginning of creation, God tasked humankind with work to do. We often make the mistake of thinking that people were only given work once they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden - that work was a curse. But, in the creation story, we are told that even in the garden, we were tasked with the glorious and backbreaking work of tilling the same earth from which we were created.

We say we are what we eat, but, also true, according to the scriptures, is that we are how we work. Even if we’re not actually tilling the earth, we are shaped by what we do, how we do it, and why we do it.

We may like to keep our work separate from our church – work is what we do during the week, church is what we do on the weekend. We drown in paperwork during the day and pray to God at night. But, if we look at our lives and the way scripture speaks into them, we see that the two cannot be separate. We cannot help but admit that James 2:17 speaks truth when it says, our "faith, by itself, if it is not accompanied by action - works - , is dead" (NIV).

No goal in the world is achieved without someone making an effort to work toward it. Think about your own life - even the smallest tasks - as small as washing the dishes or learning for an exam or praying for someone who is struggling - all of these are examples of faith! Faith that the world can become clean and pure. Faith that wisdom can be gained. Faith that God hears us in prayer.

But, each moment of faith is attached to a tangible action. Nothing in the world is built without someone laying bricks and mortar. Colleen Barrett, one of the most successful businesswomen in America says that “When it comes to getting things done, we need fewer architects and more bricklayers.”

That’s not to say there is anything wrong with the profession of an architect... But it is to say, that as people of faith, our architect has already been named. We have been exquisitely designed and created by the unparalleled architectural genius of God for one purpose - to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

So, if that is the faith statement we live by, the one we have been created for, then God must be empowering us with the ability to work toward that. What kind of work do you think God created you for? How is God empowering you to do that work?

FOCUS READING

James 2:26 (NASB)

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.