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Re: not letting them define us

In a message dated 7/20/00 4:07:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
Owner-Over-The-Rhine at actwin_com writes:

<< 
 I guess I hold much more to the Puritan's view of world -- your work 
 is your calling and is done as an act of worship to God.  If God is 
 God and God is sovereign, then all of the circumstances of your life 
 ultimate reflect his hand at work, either as a first cause or a 
 secondary cause;  either permissively or as part of his over-arching 
 plan of what He plans on doing with you.  Looking at Genesis one 
 recognizes (whether one sees this as history or myth) that only 
 "toil" is a result of the fall -- we were placed here (yes, "our 
 purpose") to "work the garden".  So, in a sense, though it is not ALL 
 that we are, we are still in large part defined by our work -- and 
 work is not bad -- work is an act of worship.  I realize a great many 
 of you are not "believers", but for those of you that are, I 
 challenge you to take a closer look at how you percieve your work,
 and "do everything you do as unto the Lord."
 
 Oh, and Over the Rhine rocks...
 ;-)
 
 
 
 mr. shannon lee lewis >>


I agree with Shannon Lewis that work is an act of worship to God. That in 
itself should make us more willing to do our best at our jobs. However, some 
people are not always involved in an occupation that they love. That does not 
mean that just because you don't love your job you should work less hard, but 
it does mean that your occupation shouldn't be placed on a pedestal. I think 
Kelvin made a good point when he referred to Paul as not being defined by his 
work. The workaday world is already constraining enough, let's not wrap up 
our whole identity in what we do, but rather who we are. Besides, if you 
believe that Christianity is true, then our jobs are only temporal. I don't 
mean to bash Shannon's point, I'm just cautioning against making our 
occupations seem too grand, because if we let that happen, the importants 
things in life, the things that awe us with their beauty and demand every 
ounce of courage that we can muster, could gradually fade out of importance. 
But, if your job gives you this sense of beauty and courage, then I must say 
you are truly blessed.

Brittney
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