THEOLOGY OF WORK

REACHING PEOPLE IN THE MARKETPLACE

OUR MINDSET MUST BE
SET ON FOLLOWING THE
BIBLE, NOT ON MAN-
MADE RULES OR
TRADITION
 THE PROBLEM: DUALISM
PRINCIPLE
• THE IDEA OF SACRED (SAINT) & SECULAR (SINNER) – these ideas derive from monasticism.
• MONASTERY- they separate themselves to keep pure and live holy according to their beliefs that this body is
sinner and this world is sinful.
• Benedict of Nursia (480-543): Considered the father of Western monasticism, Benedict originally took up the life
of a hermit, but after being surrounded by numerous others, he founded a communal house at Monte Cassino.
• Very little is known about the life of Benedict of Nursia, who lived approximately 480–547, and most of what
is known comes from a biography written by Gregory the Great. Gregory made the Rule of St. Benedict widely
known, and Benedict is today considered the father of Western monasticism.
• Monasticism is a way of living that's religious, isolated from other people, and self-disciplined. In many
religions, monks and nuns practice monasticism. Do you live as though you're a monk in a monastery? Then you
can describe your lifestyle as monasticism.
• The New Monasticism is still monasticism at its root. Like the old monasticism, it calls for a general retreat from
the world and an adherence to a set of man-made rules. And, like the old monasticism, the emphasis on rule-
keeping can lead to a legalistic, works-based view of salvation.
• The Great Commission calls us to “go and make disciples” of all nations, baptizing and
teaching as we go.
• The messengers of the gospel should be careful of what they teach; they should not
replace God’s rule with Benedict’s, Francis’s, or anyone else’s. And we cannot ignore
sound doctrine for the sake of perceived unity.
• Puritans/sacred - those who work in the church are holy and spiritual
• The Puritans were a widespread and diverse group of people who took a stand for
religious purity in Europe in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Their rise was directly
related to the increased knowledge that came to the common people in the Age of
Enlightenment. As people learned to read and write, and as the Bible became more
accessible to commoners, many began to read it for themselves (a habit strongly
discouraged in the established church). Some Puritans were connected with Anabaptist
groups in continental Europe, but the majority were connected with the Church of
England. The word Puritan was first coined in the 1560s as a derisive term for those who
advocated more purity in worship and doctrine.
• Secular – those who work in the world are cursed and sinful.
• These principles are not found in the bible and are not a practice of the early church.
• Example of miss applied interpretation - MARTHA & MARY STORY ( Luke 10:38-42). It
explained only the limited time of Jesus for them.
• NOTE: WE CAN’T SEPARATE SACRED & SECULAR WHILE WE ARE ON EARTH WHAT
WE CAN SEPARATE IS THE GOOD AND EVIL DOINGS.
 PAUL HAS TRADE
• Act 18:1  After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 
• Act 18:2  There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus,
who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because
Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit
them, 
• Act 18:3  and because they had the same trade he stayed with
them. They worked together because they were tentmakers by
trade. 
• Act 18:4  Every Sabbath he would speak in the synagogue, trying
to persuade both Jews and Greeks. 
 APOSTLE PAUL REASONS
• Reason #1
• Paul (and at least one other person, notice we) refused compensation because he wanted to have the greatest possible impact.
Instead of clinging to the principle “the laborer deserves to be paid,” Paul was thinking, “How can I be most effective?” And
specifically, Paul pondered this question: “Is it most effective to preach for free or for pay?”
• Much of the time, Paul conscientiously chose to preach for free. And that meant, Paul had to work a day job. Fortunately, since
Paul was trained by the ancient rabbis who believed in teaching the Torah out of love and not for profit, Paul was skilled in a
trade and that trade was tentmaking (Acts 18:1-3).
(The actual Greek word translated as “tentmakers” in Acts 18:3 could be applied to any type of leather worker.)
• For Paul, earning money through manual labor wasn’t a second-tier way to make a living. Instead, Paul’s statements display a
certain pride in his hardworking lifestyle,
• For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we
proclaimed to you the gospel of God. (1 Thess 2:9 ESV)
• For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s
bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you (2
Thess 3:7-8 ESV).
• Those statements give us a second and third reason why Paul worked a day job.
• Reason #2
• Paul didn’t want to be a financial burden to those he ministered to. He writes, “nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying
for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you.” As the context shows, Paul
sought to avoid being a financial burden to those he ministered to. He didn’t enter new cities with a plan to rely on his ministry as
a means of material support. He entered new cities with a plan to work with his own hands. And those hands, which probably
became calloused over time, enabled Paul to stand in line and buy his own food with his own hard-earned money.
 APOSTLE PAUL REASONS
• Reason #3
• Paul wanted to serve as an example of diligence. He states, “you yourselves know how you ought to
imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you.” Paul’s listening audience would have
recognized him as the same man who made tents in the marketplace with sweat-soaked brow. Certain
things are caught rather than taught and Paul wanted his audience to catch his work ethic.
• Reason #4
• Paul worked hard to provide for those in need. In his farewell speech to the elders in Ephesus, where he
stayed for two years (Acts 19:1, 10), Paul declared,
• You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. In
all these things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and
remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’
(Acts 20:34-35 ESV).
• Paul’s gospel—the message of God’s sacrifice—was displayed in his lifestyle of sacrifice: “by working
hard... we must help the weak.” This fourth reason is closely linked to the third reason because Paul
wants his audience to imitate his hard work and sacrificial giving: “I have shown you... we must help
the weak.”
• In summary, Paul didn’t make a living from his spiritual work in Corinth, Thessalonica, or Ephesus. In
fact, he refused to do so. And he refused to do so out of a desire to be most effective, to avoid being a
financial burden, to serve as an example of diligence, and to personally provide for those in need
 WHAT IS YOUR VOCATION?
• VOCATION derives from the word vocale – which means voice or calling.
• You are called to a certain purpose.
• If your vocation is a teacher then be a Christian teacher.
• If your vocation is businessman then be a Christian businessman
• If your vocation is a soldier then be a Christian soldier
• If your vocation is a preacher, then preach the Word of God
• You vocation defines your purpose in life.
• Your vocation is the extension of God’s kingdom.
• Know your vocation, you are called to do the will of God.
• NO VOCATION IS GREATER THAN THE OTHER!
 MINISTRY IN A WORKPLACE, IS IT POSSIBLE?
• What if we have a ministry in your workplace, in your office?
• Sharing the goodness of God with your co-workers.
• Bringing the gospel to your workplace instead of bring your friend to the church.
• Sharing your influence/faith/love of God with your co-workers
• Mat 28:18  Then Jesus came up and told them, "All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me. 
• Mat 28:19  Therefore, as you go, disciple people in all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
Spirit, 
• Mat 28:20  teaching them to obey everything that I've commanded
you. And remember, I am with you each and every day until the end
of the age."