Work & Calling (Kitty Cheng)

The Transforming Melbourne team was invited to participate in the Cre8 Kingdom Summit organised by Australian Marketplace Connection. Being part of the Cre8 team, I had the privilege of learning from the process of assisting to organise, as well as during the conference.

I was reminded that the Bible has a lot to say about work and business. Indeed, Jesus said, “do work / business till I come.” So how would Jesus have us, in the midst of our busy and often stressful work environments, rise up and bear fruit to our Father’s glory?

According to Dr Wynand J de Kock’s roundtable sharing “Vocation and Careers” during Cre8, many workers feel unfulfilled and frustrated in their work, including Christians. Work can be boring, mundane, stressful, and insignificant. Many do not see a bigger purpose for their work than simply earning money or meeting temporal needs of those served. While satisfying the needs of self and community are necessary, these purposes are ultimately unfulfilling if one does not sees a connection with God’s purposes.

For some, work feels a bit like the Egyptians must have felt when Pharaoh said, “let them collect their own straw but don’t reduce their quota of bricks.” This is not how work is meant to be. The Bible gives us an entirely different view of work – a realm where we can expect to see His kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This is the way God intended work to be from the beginning of time – His children managing His creation in relationship with Him.

We should establish that our everyday business as a call from God for which He anoints us and equips us. God’s personal invitation for us to work on His agenda using the talents we’ve been given in ways that are eternally significant. (Thomas Addington and Stephen Graves, A Case for Calling).