The Word Before Work

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2)Over the past three weeks, we have been dissecting J.R.R. Tolkien’s short story, Leaf by Niggle, and unpacking how this remarkable parable gives us an eternal perspective for our work.But how can we maintain the perspective we have gained over the past few weeks? How do we “renew our minds” as Paul commands in Romans 12:2? Through study of the Word and fellowship with other believers.Immediately after Paul commands his readers to renew their minds, he writes a long exposition on the value of the Body of Christ (see Romans 12:3-8). Why? Because Paul knew that community is essential to renewing our minds with eternal truths. To his credit, J.R.R. Tolkien knew this too. Throughout much of his career, Tolkien met on a near-weekly basis with a group of Christian friends famously known as “the Inklings.” The group included some of the world’s greatest minds, including Charles Williams, Hugo Dyson, Owen Barfield, and most notably, C.S. Lewis. Nearly every Tuesday throughout the 1930s and 40s, you could find these friends gathered in the back corner of an Oxford pub where they would drink a pint of beer and provide feedback on each others’ work.We know that at one of these gatherings, Tolkien brought up the topic of his neighbor’s “lopped and mutilated” tree and his fear that he would die before finishing his own “internal Tree”—his life’s work, The Lord of the Rings. Shortly after that meeting, Tolkien penned Leaf by Niggle. Was it the Inklings who inspired him to write the parable? We don’t know for sure. But we do know that time and time again, this group of Christian friends (especially Lewis, who is credited as the “chief midwife” to The Lord of the Rings) renewed Tolkien’s mind and encouraged him to persevere in his work.Without regular communion with other believers to refresh their eternal perspectives, Tolkien may have never completed The Lord of the Rings, and Lewis may have never finished The Chronicles of Narnia. As we work and create in this world, it takes regular communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ to renew our minds of the truths we’ve explored in this series and continually “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen” (2 Corinthians 4:18).Still looking for your own group of Inklings? If you’re an entrepreneur, writer, or culture-maker of any kind, consider joining my Community for Redemptive Entrepreneurs for free today.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind….[My people] will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. (Isaiah 65:17, 21-22)We’re in a four-week series exploring the biblical truths illustrated in J.R.R. Tolkien’s remarkable parable, Leaf by Niggle. Niggle was an artist who spent years developing a massive painting of a tree. Sadly, Niggle died only having finished a single leaf. But when Niggle arrives in the heavenly afterlife, he finds his tree finished and even better than he imagined!Last week, we saw how this story illustrates the biblical hope that there are eternal rewards tied to how we work in this life (see Colossians 3:23-24). Here’s what I want us to see today: That even though we have hope that our work matters for eternity, it is only proper to mourn over unfinished and unfulfilling work today.This is what we see Niggle doing in Tolkien’s short story. When death is on Niggle’s doorstep, he works frantically to finish his masterpiece, but eventually, he resigns himself to the inevitable: “‘Oh dear!’ said poor Niggle, beginning to weep. ‘And it’s not even finished!’”Niggle feared what many of us do—that we will never close the gap between what we can envision accomplishing in this life and what we actually will. We will all die with “unfinished symphonies.”But maybe you’re not mourning over work you won’t be able to finish. Perhaps you’re mourning over work you have yet to begin. You feel as if you have yet to find the work that best matches your gifts and passions and you’re “stuck” in what feels like a “dead-end job.”It’s only natural to lament over these things, for unfinished and unfulfilling work were not a part of God’s original design for work (see Genesis 1-3). But sin has ensured that work today is difficult and we will all die with unfulfilled dreams for our work, just like Niggle.These are things we should mourn over. But just as we “do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope” in death (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13), we also do not mourn over our work in the same way as the rest of the world. Why? Because there is coming a day when we will work free from the curse of sin! Today’s passage makes this clear. Isaiah is sharing a prophetic vision of the New Earth where God will dwell with us forever (see also Revelation 21:1-5). But Isaiah’s picture of eternity isn’t of disembodied souls floating around and playing harps all day. Isaiah says we will work for eternity! We will “build houses,” “plant vineyards,” and “not labor in vain.” And because there will be no sin, there will be no unfinished symphonies or unfulfilling work. We will have all the time we need to paint our masterpieces, finish our novels, plant our vineyards, and “long enjoy the work of [our] hands.”How do we maintain this perspective in the day-to-day grind of earthly work? That’s the question we’ll answer next week.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com  Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24)Last week, I recounted the depressing first half of Leaf by Niggle, the short autobiographical parable written by J.R.R. Tolkien. Niggle was an artist who spent many years working on a painting of an enormous tree. But tragically, Niggle died only having completed a single leaf which was soon forgotten, along with Niggle himself. Here’s the second half of the story: After his death, Niggle was sent to the afterlife where we find him riding a bicycle through a heavenly countryside. Suddenly, something caught Niggle’s eye that was so extraordinary, he simply fell off his bicycle. Tolkien writes: “Before [Niggle] stood the Tree, his Tree, finished…‘It’s a gift!’ he said….He went on looking at the Tree. All the leaves he had ever laboured at were there, as he had imagined them rather than as he had made them; and there were others that had only budded in his mind, and many that might have budded, if only he had had time.”Beautiful, isn’t it?We saw last week that if this life is all there is, then Solomon was right: All of our work is “meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:17).But we know that, through Christ, this life is not all there is, and thus we have hope. In this beautiful short story, Tolkien is illustrating what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15—that because of Christ’s resurrection and the promise of eternal life, you can “know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Somehow, our work matters for eternity.How? There are many answers to that question, most of which I have explored in past devotionals. But today, I want to focus on one promise that is beautifully illustrated by the “gift” of Niggle’s finished tree. Scripture makes clear that while salvation is by faith alone (see Ephesians 2:8-9), there are eternal rewards tied to how we work in this life (see Colossians 3:23-24). Scripture also makes clear that the New Earth will be filled with works of culture (see Isaiah 60 and Revelation 21:26). With these truths in mind, is it possible that the picture Tolkien is painting in his short story could be true? That one of our eternal rewards could be God graciously finishing and perfecting the work we leave unfinished in this life?I don’t think that’s far-fetched at all. We worship a God who works—a God who takes joy in creating with his hands (see Genesis 1-2). A God who loves giving good gifts to his children (see Matthew 7:11). I pray Tolkien was onto something. Because if he was, we have even more reason to “work heartily, as for the Lord” today!

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com “So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.” (Ecclesiastes 2:17-18)J.R.R. Tolkien had a serious thing for trees. So when a neighbor cut down one of his favorite trees in 1943, Tolkien was furious. But his anger was about much more than the loss of the towering evergreen. Tolkien saw the “lopped and mutilated” tree as a metaphorical preview for what he feared for his “internal Tree”—his life’s work, The Lord of the Rings.By this time, Tolkien had spent more than a decade toiling away at his magnum opus, but he was still a long way from completing it. World War II was in full swing in Tolkien’s home of Great Britain, and while the fifty-one-year-old was at no risk of being drafted into service, his experience as an officer in the First World War led to the sober realization that even as a citizen, his life and his life’s work might soon suffer the same fate as his neighbor’s tree. As his biographer explains, Tolkien was “fearful that in the end he would achieve nothing,” which was, of course, “a dreadful and numbing thought.”After sharing these fears with Christian friends such as C.S. Lewis, Tolkien was inspired to sit down and write a short story—an autobiographical parable titled Leaf by Niggle. Niggle was a painter—an artist like Tolkien himself—who had a massive vision for the work he would accomplish in his lifetime. One day, Niggle caught a vision for a painting of a leaf. Over time, that vision expanded to a painting of an entire tree, and then beyond that tree, a beautiful countryside with forests and snow-capped mountains. For years, Niggle worked diligently on his painting, but he never felt like he was accomplishing much. One night, Niggle came down with a fever. Knowing that the end of his life was near, he worked frantically to finish his masterpiece, but it was too little too late. As death closed in, Niggle burst into tears, realizing his life’s work would go unfinished.After Niggle’s death, his neighbors were searching through his home when they discovered the enormous canvas Niggle had erected for his magnum opus. But after years of work, Niggle had only finished “one beautiful leaf.” The neighbors had the small painting framed and placed in a local museum, “and for a long while ‘Leaf: by Niggle’ hung there in a recess, and was noticed by a few eyes. But eventually the Museum was burnt down, and the leaf, and Niggle, were entirely forgotten in his old country.”Depressing story, huh?Here’s the thing: We are all Niggle. We all envision more for our work than we’ll ever be able to accomplish in a lifetime, and we fear that the little we do accomplish will “burn up” in the end—just like Niggle’s painting. This is what led Solomon to say that all of his work was “meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”If this life is all there is, then Solomon was right. Our work is in vain. But you and I know something Solomon couldn’t—that through Christ, death would be defeated, ensuring that this life is not all there is. Death is not the end of our stories or the stories of our work. J.R.R. Tolkien knew that which is why his story of Niggle doesn’t end where we left off today. How does Niggle’s story end? I’ll share next week!

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. (1 Corinthians 15:12-14)Bodily resurrection was a big deal to Paul. So big that Paul dedicated the longest section in his letter to the Corinthians to this topic. Why does physical resurrection matter so much? Because without it, Paul says our faith is “useless.” And I would argue our work is as well.Unfortunately, the false teaching Paul was combatting here is still alive and well. Today it appears in our caricatures of heaven as a glorified retirement home where disembodied souls float around doing nothing but relaxing and singing for all eternity. That false vision is a distortion of what theologians like Randy Alcorn call “the intermediate Heaven…where we go when we die…until our bodily resurrection.” “Until” is the keyword there. The intermediate or “present heaven” is just a stop along the way to our final destination—the new earth—where God will dwell with us in our physical resurrected bodies.What does the promise of bodily resurrection mean for our work? At least two things.First, we can look forward to using our resurrected bodies to work without the curse for eternity! The Lord revealed this clearly to Isaiah when he said, “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth….[My people] will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit….They will not labor in vain” (Isaiah 65:17a, 21, 23a). Floating souls don’t “build houses” and “plant vineyards.” People with physical bodies do! And that’s precisely what this passage says we will do forever—work where there will “no longer be…any curse” (Revelation 22:3).If you love your work today, this promise should be thrilling to you—far more thrilling than the idea of playing harps for millennia on end. And if you loathe your work today, this promise should be thrilling as well, as you can look hopefully to the day in which your work will be perfect, blissful worship.Second, if we believe that human bodies can be resurrected from the dead, surely we can believe that our physical work can carry on on the new earth. In Revelation 21:5, Jesus says, “Behold, I am making all things new”—not just our physical bodies. Could it be that “all things” includes the novel you’re writing, the table you’re building, or the road you’re paving? Maybe! Scripture certainly offers hints to that end. Revelation 21:24-26 says that “the glory and honor of the nations will be brought into” the new earth. A parallel passage in Isaiah 60 lists some of the honor or “riches” of the nations as “the ships of Tarshish,” “herds of camels,” and “gold and incense”—all artifacts of human culture.The work you will do today healing people, serving cups of coffee, or designing a new building matters because the material world matters to God. “Therefore,” Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)In reading Paul’s letters, one thing about the Apostle jumps off the page to me: Paul worked incredibly hard. You can see this in today’s verse as well as 1 Corinthians 4:12, 2 Corinthians 6:5, Colossians 1:28-29, and 2 Thessalonians 3:8.Why did Paul work so hard? Because as Paul makes clear in today’s passage, hard work is part of a believer’s reasonable response to the gospel. “[God’s] grace to me was not without effect,” Paul said. And so, he “worked harder than” all the other apostles.Just like Paul, part of our response to the gospel is to work diligently on behalf of our Savior’s agenda. That’s why Paul commands us in Colossians 3:23 to follow his example and “work heartily as for the Lord.”In Ephesians 2:10, Paul goes even further, suggesting that the very reason why we were saved was to work hard on behalf of our King! Paul writes that “we are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand.”Now, I hear what you’re thinking: Jordan, when Paul says “good works” he was talking about giving money to the poor, not writing an elegant line of code, right? Wrong. Of course “good works” implies charitable and evangelical things, but the meaning of ergon (the Greek word for “good works”) is much broader. One commentary says it means “work, task, [and] employment.”Paul couldn’t be any clearer: God didn’t save us so that we would sit back and wait around for eternity. God saved your life so you would spend it for his glory and the advancement of the gospel.Now, we need to make one thing clear. We do not work hard because we need to. As Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “it is by grace you have been saved…not by works.” No amount of hard work will make us any more or less loved by our Father. But ironically, it is that security that leads us to want to work hard, not to earn our salvation, but in response to it. Tim Keller offers a beautiful picture of this. He writes: “Imagine a father watching his beloved son play baseball for the team his father coaches. As he sits in the dugout, he loves his son fully and completely. If his son forgets his father’s instructions and strikes out, it will not change his love for him or approval of him one bit. The son is assured of his father’s love regardless of his performance. But the son will long to hit that home run. Not for himself—to gain his father’s love—but for his father, because he is already loved.”Believer: You can never lose the love of your heavenly Father. May that security motivate you to work hard today for his glory and the good of others! 

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)This morning’s short passage offers two startling truths.First, while it’s natural to say that we are drafting an email, delivering a presentation, or waiting tables, it is actually God who is working through us. “In all of [us]…it is the same God at work” (verse 6). Second, because it is God who works through us, all work has dignity and meaning. This can be easy to forget in our culture which looks to work as the primary card in our never-ending game of one-upmanship.A comical example of this is found in the movie Meet the Parents. Pam is introducing her fiance Greg to her family. First, she introduces Dr. Bob, followed by “the world-famous plastic surgeon, Dr. Larry.” Someone mentions that Greg is also in medicine. Amused, Dr. Larry asks Greg which field he’s in. When Greg replies, “Nursing,” the room explodes in laughter. “That’s good. No really, what field?” Dr. Larry insists. “Nursing,” Greg replies. Realizing he’s serious, the room falls into an awkward silence as the obvious disdain for the “lesser” profession has been laid bare.Because God works through us, all work—from doctors to nurses to hospital custodians—has dignity and worth. We don’t just see this in 1 Corinthians. As Tim Keller points out, “…in Genesis we see God as a gardener, and in the New Testament we see him as a carpenter. No task is too small a vessel to hold the immense dignity of work given by God.” Furthermore, in Genesis 2, we see God instructing Adam to do the “manual labor” of gardening (verse 15) and the “knowledge work” of naming animals (verse 19).Now I hear what you’re thinking: Jordan, I get this. I believe in the dignity of all work. While we might know these truths intellectually, the cultural forces that fight against these truths are incredibly strong, which is why we need these reminders.I use the word “we” intentionally here, as I need to be reminded of these truths myself. I can’t tell you how many times my kids have said they wanted to be garbage women or cashiers and I have tried to steer their imaginations to being astronauts or entrepreneurs. Oh, how kids reveal the sin and idols of our hearts!My point isn’t that we and our kids shouldn’t explore the best, most unique opportunities we have to serve God and the world. My point is that deep inside many of our hearts there is an unspoken stigma against some types of work. The biblical truths we’ve explored today cut right through that stigma. All work has dignity and can be used by God to accomplish his purposes in the world!

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast….To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:14-15, 22-23)While the Apostle Paul’s work as a church planter is well-known, it’s easy to forget that he also chose to work as a tentmaker (see Acts 18:2-3).Today’s passage makes this clear. Paul says he had every “right” to work as what we might call a “donor-supported missionary.” But he didn’t. Why? Paul chose to work as a tentmaker in order to “become all things to all people so that by all possible means [he] might save some.” He did it “for the sake of the gospel.”Paul understood that those of us who work outside of the four walls of the church are uniquely positioned to spread the gospel, because the workplace is where many of us spend the most time with non-believers!For Paul, tentmaking would have been the perfect opportunity to build relationships with those outside the church. As Dr. Mark Russell points out, “[Paul’s] work as a tentmaker was a deliberate strategy that enabled him to identify with another, primarily different, group of people. By participating in [tentmaking] trade associations and guilds he would have become enmeshed in [previously inaccessible] social networks.” Paul’s work as a tentmaker wasn’t out of necessity or coincidence. It was a strategic choice to make disciples. The same can be true for you and me.Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a marketer, a nurse, a plumber, or a teacher, you have unique opportunities to make disciples with those you’re surrounded by at work. By serving your bosses, employees, co-workers, and customers through the ministry of excellence, you will “win the respect of outsiders” and earn the right for the gospel to be heard (see 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). So go and serve with excellence today and pray that the Lord would open clear opportunities to share the gospel not just with your work, but also with your words.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3:8-15)Today’s passage is one of the richest on the topic of work in all of Scripture. We could spend weeks unpacking these eight verses, but this morning, I just want to focus our attention on three things.First, ”the quality of each person’s work” will one day be tested by God. Work matters greatly to God as it is a means of glorifying him and serving others. Thus, we ought to strive to do our work exceptionally well and in accordance with his commands.Second, this passage makes clear that there are varying rewards tied to how we work in this life. Verse 8 says this plainly: “each be rewarded according to their own labor.” Which work will be rewarded? The work that “survives” the “fire” of God’s judgment. Paul lists six building materials in this passage: three that would survive a “fire” (gold, silver, and costly stones) and three that would not (wood, hay, and straw). The question then becomes, what sort of work is considered “gold, silver, [and] costly stones?” The quality work we do in accordance with the commands of our “foundation…which is Jesus Christ.” In the words of New Testament scholar N.T. Wright, “What we do in Christ and by the Spirit in the present is not wasted.”But, while Paul makes clear that we will all receive varying rewards based on how we work today, he is also careful to ensure we don’t turn this into a false gospel, which brings me to the final thing I want us to see this morning: Regardless of whether or not our work will “burn up” or be rewarded, “the builder…will be saved.” One day, God will test our work and reward us accordingly. But as those trusting in Jesus Christ for the atonement of our sins, our souls have already been judged and our entrance into God’s eternal kingdom is irrevocably secure. While rewards will vary, our statuses as co-heirs with Christ are equal.May that ultimate security lead us to be ambitious for doing excellent, God-glorifying work today!

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)Have you ever felt less than “influential” at work? Or felt like you were “lowly” or lacked the right “noble” family or pedigree for your career? Have you ever lacked the wisdom you need to do the work God has called you to do? All of us have. So what are we supposed to do with the feelings of inadequacy Paul describes in today’s passage?The burgeoning “self-help” industry’s answer to that question is to replace negative “self-talk” with “positive affirmations.” Is someone making you feel “lowly”? Forget about what they say. What matters is how you view yourself. Feeling like you don’t have what it takes to tackle the problem in front of you? Look in the mirror and tell yourself you can do it and that you are “enough.” In short, the world’s response to feeling inadequate is to inflate your self-esteem with pride. Paul’s response couldn’t be more different. In today’s passage, Paul is calling us to embrace our inadequacies so that God might be glorified in our weakness. In verse 27, Paul says that God works through the “weak things” of the world—that’s us!—”so that no one may boast before” God or man.God used ninety-year-old Sarah to give birth to a nation (see Genesis 17:17). God used ineloquent Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt (see Exodus 4:10). And he used lowly fishermen and tax collectors to help proclaim the gospel of the kingdom (see Matthew 4:18-22).Believer, you don’t need to convince yourself that you are capable of doing the work God has called you to do today. The point is that you’re not! And that means that God alone deserves the glory for whatever you accomplish.Paul David Tripp said it best: “God calls unable people to do important things because ultimately what he’s working on is not your immediate success, but that you would come to know him, to love him, to rest in his grace, and to live for his glory.”Amen. Boast in your weakness this morning so that God alone may be glorified through your work!