Council Grove Christian Church

4/22/26
Servants of God,
“Work for the night is coming when man’s work is done.”
-from the hymn
 
The American work ethic began as the Protestant work ethic. Europeans seeking religious freedom, came not to inherit but to build a better life for themselves and their families. Once America bought the lie of secularism, the work ethic rapidly began to disappear. Most Americans now get their beliefs about themselves and the world around them from the government schools that grow increasingly godless. The beliefs that once drove Americans to work hard have faded. They are not gone entirely but they are running on fumes.
If you believe that you are created in the image of God Almighty and that He watches you and desires you to face your fallen nature and be changed from a self-focused person to a God and others-focused person, your life will reflect your belief system. Beliefs drive behaviors. The pursuit of excellence is a biblical idea. Satisfaction in serving God and others is a biblical idea.
Recently, I finished a book on the meaning and value of work. I slowly read through it and have been thinking about it pretty consistently for several weeks. The author, David Bahnsen, challenges the popular notion that work is something odious and negative. He hammers the American idea that retirement should mean no more work! He sees several problems with the attitudes American Christians have about work. He urges Christians to examine their attitudes about work and see if they match the teaching of scripture about the value of work and the meaning of life. If we are made to image God, we will look to God and His work for our guidance and model our lives accordingly.
This week I noticed a pickup truck that had Colossians 3:17 and Colossians 3:23,24 printed boldly across its windshield. I looked up the verses and got a large dose of encouragement. Those three verses are power-packed with good doctrine. Work and thankfulness to God should go together. The motivation to glorify God in all we do and to remember that we are God’s workers and not mere hapless employees is essential for believers. There is spiritual meaning and blessing in all honest work if we understand God’s word. One of the signs that a person is born again is that he or she engages joyfully in service and creativity. We must be careful not to confuse a job with work. Some of the best work is done graciously and without charge.
God intends for work to give us satisfaction and to bring Him glory. Any time we expend energy to accomplish a task we are working. That includes reading and writing and planning and a whole lot of other things that are not primarily physical labor. Serving the Lord Jesus is work—glorious work.
This morning I briefly helped Marcia with a gardening project. We noted that unlike the crops that we hope to harvest, weeds do not have to be planned, cultivated or nurtured. Weeds are a constant reminder that we live in a fallen world. Just a little neglect of a garden plot or a lawn or a field and the weeds and invasive species make themselves at home. If you want a crop of weeds, just neglect a plot of ground.
There is a spiritual lesson in all of this. Righteousness and productivity require effort—work! Because America has largely neglected Christian moral training in our schools and believed the lie that any one belief system is just as good as another, we are reaping a harvest of moral weeds. It is work to tell the truth. It is work to live within our financial means. It is work to steward the resources and relationships God grants to us. It is work to bring up children to be life-long learners and obedient to proper authority. We have neglected our moral fields and now we have a crop of leaders in various endeavors who have no idea that they are accountable to God.
I noted that the three most resent resignations from congress were individuals who are the age of our older kids—in their late 40s. All three resigned because they had moral failures that have destroyed and damaged lives—their own and others. The Baby Boom parents—people my age—often either indulged or neglected their children. Moral training was a little-used option. Church attendance and Sunday School came in a distant second to ball games and “my time” recreations. Parents believed the better route was not to put strong boundaries into the child’s life but to urge him or her to be a “success”. Getting ahead (whatever that means) trumped self-control and self-sacrifice. Now a generation (or two) of morally bankrupt individuals are in congress and at the top of various businesses and institutions. The moral weeds are in full bloom.
The Bible never teaches that humans earn salvation by working. It does not teach a works theology. Rather, God teaches us that salvation comes to fallen humans via the sacrificial act of someone else—a sinless substitute who takes our sin upon himself while God transfers Jesus’ righteousness to our account. Christianity is a grace religion. Properly understood, grace produces work—good, righteous, Christ-exalting work.
It is never too late to make godly changes. We desperately need a restoration of marriage and family life that accords with God’s word. Each one of us is a part of that. We are either working to the glory of God in all our endeavors or we are allowing the moral weeds to rule the day.
Blessings,
Pastor John
Coram Deo