The Word Before Work

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’s body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). (John 20:11-16)Two weeks ago, we looked at Jesus’s first appearance to humankind at the very beginning of time. Last week, we looked at his second on that first Christmas morning. Today, we examine the third.You’ve probably read the above passage dozens, maybe hundreds of times. And if you’re like me, you’ve likely always thought of the fact that Mary mistook Jesus as “the gardener” as some odd but insignificant detail of Scripture.But no word of Scripture is placed there by accident, and as renowned New Testament scholar N.T. Wright recently revealed to me, this detail is no exception. It appears that John is pointing to something quite remarkable indeed.To see it, we must first go back to Genesis where God created Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden to work and “fill the earth.” Sin did not yet exist, but work did, making their work of gardening worship in its purest sense.But of course, just a few verses later, sin does enter the world. Work is still worship, but it is now also arduous. Sin has also ushered in the necessity for Jesus to come that first Christmas Day and sacrifice his life three decades later.But everything begins to change on Easter. The resurrection resets the world as Jesus inaugurates the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. And in his first appearance to humanity, Jesus reveals himself to Mary looking like a gardener. Why? Here’s what Wright says in his book Surprised by Hope: “In the new creation, the ancient human mandate to look after the garden is dramatically reaffirmed as John hints in his resurrection story, where Mary supposes Jesus is the gardener. The resurrection of Jesus is the reaffirmation of the goodness of creation,” and I would argue, work itself.By appearing as a gardener, Jesus is deliberately pointing us back to Adam and Eve, the world’s first gardeners and workers. He’s showing us that our work as citizens of his coming Kingdom is not just about “saving souls” or helping more people gain entrance to the Kingdom (as important as that work is). Jesus is showing us that it is time to garden again, working to till the earth—to “fill the earth” with signposts to the Kingdom that began to spring to life that first Easter morning.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (Luke 2:15-20)In just a couple of weeks, we will celebrate Jesus’s second appearance to all of humankind that first Christmas morning.As you fix your eyes on the baby in the manger, I would encourage you to expand the aperture to view the rest of the scene. Take a moment to focus not just on the newborn king, but also on the home he was born into and what that meant for Jesus’s future work.From the very beginning of time, God knew that He would have to send Jesus to earth to ransom us. Knowing this—and knowing the ultimate purpose of Jesus’s life on earth—the fact that God chose for Jesus to grow up in the home of Mary and a carpenter named Joseph should stop us in our tracks.God could have placed Jesus in a priestly household like the prophet Samuel or John the Baptist. He could have grown up in the household of a Pharisee like the Apostle Paul. But instead, God placed Jesus in the household of a craftsman, doing work that likely looked very similar to the work you and I do today.Biblical scholar Dr. Ken Campbell has pointed out that the Greek word tektōn that most of our Bibles translate as “carpenter” in Mark 6:3, would more accurately be translated as “builder,” someone who “worked with stone, wood, and sometimes metal” to create new things. According to Dr. Campbell, Jesus and Joseph essentially operated a family-owned small business, “negotiating bids, securing supplies, completing projects, and contributing to family living expenses.”Sound familiar? It should. In first-century Jewish culture, it was likely artisans and craftspeople like Jesus and Joseph whose work looked most similar to ours.That truth gives great dignity and meaning to the work you and I do to rearrange creation each day. If you ever doubt that your work matters or that your calling is just as significant as that of a pastor or “full-time missionary,” remember Christmas. Remember that that little baby would grow up to roll up his sleeves and remind us of the goodness of work.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:15-16)Let us begin by meditating on Jesus’s first appearance to humankind at the very beginning of time.Today’s passage makes clear that Jesus—along with God the Father and the Holy Spirit—was present at the creation of the world. Furthermore, “all things” were created through Christ. In other words, Jesus is the Creator God we read about in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created.”Before God tells us he is love, before he tells us he is holy, before he tells us he is Savior, God wants you and I to know that he is a creative, productive, working God.As I’ve written about before, this idea of a God who works is unique in the long list of stories of the origin of the world. Every other religion claims that the gods created human beings to work and serve the gods. None would dare to say that God himself works—much less introduce that fact in the first breath of the story.This truth carries the utmost significance for the work we do today. Work is not a fringe thing or a meaningless means to an end. Work is central to who God is, and thus, central to who we are as his image bearers. That’s one of the great meanings of the first revelation of Jesus Christ.And it’s not just any work that God does. It’s creative work—the work of taking risks to create new things for the good of others. It’s the work of entrepreneurs and artists, storytellers and sales executives, marketers and mothers. And as we will see next week, it’s the type of work Jesus did at his second appearing as he was born into the home of a carpenter.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism. Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven. (Colossians 3:18 – 4:1)Over the years, I have written frequently on Colossians 3:23 (Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters). In a way, this verse guides nearly everything I write on, calling all of us to lean into the work God has given us to do with all our hearts so that we would all do our most exceptional work for the glory of God and the good of others. But today, I want to view this verse in its larger context to see what additional application we might glean.As you can see from today’s passage, Colossians 3:23 is set in the middle of Paul’s instructions to Christian households. When read in its entirety, one thing stands out to me in this passage more than anything else: the spirit of mutual submission that we are called to in every aspect of our lives.Wives are called to submit to their husbands. Husbands are called to love their wives and (as Paul adds in Ephesians 5) to “give himself up for her.”Children are commanded to obey their parents. And fathers are called to serve their children through their words.And, of course, “slaves” (what most theologians translate to “employees” or “workers” today), are commanded to submit to their employers, while employers are called to serve their employees by “providing…what is right and fair.”Each time the seemingly powerless party is called to submit, the traditionally powerful is commanded to do largely the same.It’s interesting that, for both employees and employers, Paul’s instruction is the same: Reimagine your work as if you are working for the Lord. If you are an employee, you are not primarily working for your employer: “It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (3:24). If you are an employer, you are not primarily working for shareholders, customers, or even for yourself. You are working for your “Master in heaven” (4:1).Hierarchies at work are often necessary for efficiency and order. But whatever your position, view your work in light of this passage as a servant primarily to God, leading you to be a servant to those who work for you and those you work for. And let that picture of work make us more ambitious to do our most exceptional work, because it is for God’s glory and the good of others.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.comSince, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)The third chapter of Colossians starts with a stark reminder that as Christians, we have “died” and our “life is now hidden with Christ.”What does this truth mean for our work? Does it mean that we are no longer to care about our work and the things that captured our attention pre-salvation? Is that what we are to assume Paul meant by his command that we “set our minds on things above, not on earthly things”?Not at all. If that is what Paul meant, he wouldn’t have called us to “work with all your heart” just a few verses later (Colossians 3:23). Paul is not calling us to forget about work or “earthly things.” But he is calling us to completely replace our motivations for work, aligning our hearts with the heart and agenda of our Caller and working to reveal the characteristics of His Kingdom here and now.Immediately following the passage above, Paul calls us to “put to death” the things that may have characterized our work pre-Christ, including sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, and lying (see Colossians 3:5,8-9).Paul says, “You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived” (verse 7), but again, we Christians are called to “put to death” our sin and “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (verse 10).Our new selves look starkly different than our old ones, clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love, unity, peace, and thankfulness (see Colossians 3:12-15).Turning our minds away from “earthly things” doesn’t mean that we turn our minds away from the work God put us on this earth to do. It means that we continually work to replace the character of our old selves with the characteristics of Christ.As you begin your work week, I’d encourage you to spend a few minutes meditating on the characteristics listed by Paul above, allowing the Holy Spirit to show you which aspects of your old self you still need to put to death in order to become more like Christ at work.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 1:28 – 2:3)In this four-week series, we are walking through each of the four chapters of Colossians, honing in on a few passages that are particularly relevant to ambitious professionals like you and me.Today, I’d like us to focus on Paul’s description of his work ethic, in which he says, “I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me” (Colossians 1:29).In the past few years, there seems to have been a dramatic rise in the number of books and other pieces of content encouraging us (especially Christians) to slow down and rest. Given our modern addiction to work and increased susceptibility to workaholism, I think most of this trend is good (in fact, I myself recently published a devotional series on the topic of rest).But in the midst of all of this talk about rest, I beg that we be careful not to swing the pendulum in the opposite direction. All throughout Scripture (and in Colossians in particular) we are called to work hard or as Paul so eloquently says here, to “strenuously contend with all the energy” we have for the work we were created to do.Why? To what end are we called to expend this much energy in our jobs?Paul answers this question in verse 28: We are called to work hard as a means of proclaiming Christ in everything we do so that others may see and know him.Doing just enough work to get by and earn a paycheck is the norm in our world today. What is rare is to “strenuously contend” for exceptional work because we are compelled by a mission bigger than ourselves or even the companies we lead or work for.What is that larger mission? To “proclaim” Christ (1:28) so “that [others] may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ” (Colossians 2:2).Our work provides perhaps the most significant arena through which we can make Christ known through the way we live, the way we talk, and the way we energetically work to produce exceptional things in service of others.So yes, let us be sure to rest and combat workaholism wherever that temptation may lurk. But let us also be known as those who work hard as a means of making the Creator God known to those around us.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:15-16)Here, in the first chapter of Colossians, we find a profound theological truth: “all things were created” and “all things have been created through [Jesus Christ].”So, Jesus was present at the beginning of time, creating all “things in heaven and on earth.” But, as we know, on the sixth day, God passed the baton of creation to us, calling us to “fill and subdue” the earth with our own acts of cultural creation.This begs the question: When we create today, is it God who creates, or us?John 1:3 tells us that “Through [Christ] all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” And in Hebrews 3:4, Paul says that “For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.”I love this verse in Hebrews as it may be the most succinct and concrete description of what I believe the Bible has to say about our work as co-creators with the Creator God. Yes, “every house,” every company, every bridge, and every piece of art is “built by someone.” And yet “God is the builder of everything.”How can both be true?As the first chapter of Colossians reminds us, we worship a God who works, a God who creates, a God who is productive in making new things in service of others. And through our faith in the work of Christ on the cross, we have that same Creator God working in and through us (Colossians 1:27).As Christians, we do not create on our own. Christ creates in and through us. This truth brings to mind one of my favorite modern hymns:To this I hold, my hope is only JesusFor my life is wholly bound to HisOh how strange and divine, I can sing: all is mine!Yet not I, but through Christ in meThe “products of our own creations” aren’t that at all. They are products of “Christ in me.” This truth should lead us to great humility as well as a deep desire to work and create as a means of revealing the character of Christ in us.Let that ambition be what fuels our work this week!

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)Believing that Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was his way of “repairing creation,” Fred Rogers was intensely serious about his work. As we’ve seen over the past few weeks, that sense of calling heavily influenced Rogers’s motives for his work as well as what he produced on-air. But his faith also influenced how he went about his work in three prominent ways.First, before Rogers left for work each morning, he committed himself to the reading of Scripture. Without daily reminding himself of the gospel, Rogers would have been unable to effectively demonstrate the love of Christ on television. As one of Rogers’s former staffers once said, “I think [Fred] had very Christlike qualities, and that is part of what drew children. Children know a fraud more than anyone….He was one of the most authentic and Christlike people that I have ever known.”Second, once Rogers arrived at the studio each day, he would pray over his work and that of his team’s. As Rogers once said, “I’m so convinced that the space between the television set and the viewer is holy ground. And what we put on the television can, by the Holy Spirit, be translated into what this person needs to hear and see, and without that translation it’s all dross as far as I’m concerned. When I walk in that studio door each day, I say, ‘Dear God, let some word that is heard be Yours.’” So, while Rogers worked hard at communicating the gospel through his work, he ultimately relied on the Holy Spirit to work in the lives of his audience.Finally, Rogers’s faith compelled him to work with an “iron insistence upon meeting the highest standards without qualification.” But Fred Rogers’s definition of excellence was quite different from other children’s television producers at the time who focused on elaborate sets, flashy special effects, and the highest “production value.” None of these things were “essential” in Rogers’s eyes. As a quote on his desk constantly reminded him, “What is essential is invisible to the eye.” Fred Rogers’s exacting standards applied to how he and his staff loved people on and off-air and how well the show communicated difficult concepts to children. Rogers was known for scripting out every single word of Neighborhood and rewriting scripts in the middle of production to ensure they were speaking in the clearest and most loving terms to the show’s television neighbors. Fred Rogers believed that because we are called to do our work for the glory of God and the good of others, only our most excellent work will do.Whether you’re called to create a TV show, a book, a business, or a new process at work, the fact is that all of us have been called to be “repairers of creation”—influencing culture for the sake of the gospel. I pray we can all learn from Fred Rogers’s example and allow our God-given calling to change the way we think about why we work, what we create, and how we live out our vocations.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31)Fred Rogers had a vision for a children’s television show that would “make goodness attractive.” But not just any “goodness.” Rogers was convinced that he could make the goodness of Christ and the gospel winsome to the world.Due to the public funding of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Rogers couldn’t be explicit with the gospel message on-air. But he was convinced that wasn’t necessary. Instead of preaching the gospel explicitly from his television pulpit, Rogers created a show that consistently modeled Christ-like character and, most prominently, loved every neighbor as himself. As his friend, Reverend George Wirth, said, “Fred’s theology was love your neighbor as you love yourself.” And this was the ultimate theme that came through in the thirty-plus year run of Neighborhood.The name of the show itself and Rogers’s daily “Hello neighbor” greeting to his television audience served to set the stage for what he hoped to communicate in his entire television ministry. Throughout the show, there were countless examples of Rogers displaying what at the time seemed like radical displays of Christ-like love to the overlooked and the marginalized. In one episode in 1969, during the heat of racial tensions across America, Rogers and a black man washed their feet together on screen. In another episode, Rogers took a significant amount of time to patiently sing a song with a disabled boy in a wheelchair. And of course, in each of the show’s 912 episodes, Rogers showed children their inherent God-given dignity, treating them as important and valued as adults. To Fred Rogers, the idea that everyone has inherent dignity was obvious; if you said otherwise, for him, “you might as well go against the fundamentals of Christianity.”By loving every neighbor in the Neighborhood as himself and treating everyone with the utmost dignity, Fred Rogers modeled the gospel to millions of children every day, and in so doing, created one of the most beloved cultural goods of the twentieth century. In Rogers, we find an example to follow in our own efforts to influence culture for the sake of the gospel. While it may not be possible or effective to preach the gospel explicitly through our work, all of us are called to demonstrate Christ-like character and make the goodness of Jesus attractive to those around us. This truth significantly influenced what Rogers created on-air; and as we will see next week, Rogers’s faith also impacted how he went about his work.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. (Genesis 1:26-31)Just before graduating from college, Fred Rogers turned on a television for the first time, and what he saw totally appalled him. “I saw people dressed in some kind of costumes, literally throwing pies in each other’s faces,” Rogers later recalled. “I was astounded at that.”Rogers’s first impression of TV was that it was gimmicky and even demeaning—especially to children. But while Rogers “hated” what he saw in that first show, he was also intrigued by a vision he had for how the medium of television could be redeemed and used for good, particularly in demonstrating Christ-like character to children. Not only that, but in television, Rogers saw an opportunity to channel all of his varied gifts in a single direction. “And so I said to my parents, ‘You know, I don’t think I’ll go to seminary right away; I think maybe I’ll go into television,’” Rogers said.Eventually, Rogers did both, attending seminary classes on his lunch breaks while producing his show. But upon graduation from Western Theological Seminary, Rogers knew he had to choose between TV and pastoral ministry. For Rogers, the decision to commit to a career in television was a relatively easy one, as he felt that’s where he could be of the utmost service to his “neighbors.” In the mind of Fred Rogers, there was no divide between the sacred and the secular. He understood that man’s first calling in the Garden was to emulate the Creator Father by creating new things (Genesis 1:28) and that the path to having the greatest cultural impact for the gospel is often found in embracing the call to create.While Rogers didn’t want to pastor a church, he did desire to be ordained by the Presbyterian Church with an explicit call to ministry through television. But the Presbytery had its reservations. At a meeting in which the local Presbytery was debating the issue, Reverend Bill Barker addressed the elders on Rogers’s behalf, saying, “Here’s an individual who has his pulpit proudly in front of a TV camera. His congregation are little people from the ages of about two or three on up to about seven or eight …This is a man who has been authentically called by the Lord as much as any of you guys sitting out there.”The Presbytery eventually did ordain Rogers, but this action only served to formalize what Rogers already knew to be true: that he was called to create as a means of influencing culture with the Christian values he held so dear. Later in his career, Rogers said, “No matter what our particular job, especially in our world today, we all are called to be ‘tikkun olam’—repairers of creation.” As we will see over the next two weeks, that deep sense of calling to “repair creation” with the gospel message impacted what Rogers produced on Neighborhood and how he produced the show, giving us a model to follow as we seek to influence culture for Christ.