Both of my grandfathers belonged to a generation of men who worked hard their entire lives. They grew up fast. Personal responsibility was not optional. From boyhood until their bodies gave out, they labored. Even then, they pushed beyond their limits. I still remember finding one of my grandfathers army crawling through the dirt of his garden because his legs gave out, but the weeds still needed to be pulled, as he said.
My other grandfather once offered my teenage uncle a lesson he never forgot. When my uncle stretched out in the yard to work on a suntan, my grandfather walked outside, tossed him a shovel, and said, “If you want a tan, you’ll have to get it the honest way.”
My father didn’t grow up on a farm, and he didn’t endure quite the same physical demands, but he carried the same work ethic. He began working immediately after graduating from school. He rose early. He treated Saturdays not as a day for lounging, but as a day for chores.
Then comes my generation. Technically, I fall on the line between Generation X and Millennials, but I’m usually grouped with the latter. Generally speaking, we took longer to mature. We lingered before embracing responsibility. Work wasn’t always our default position. We craved flexibility. We spoke of following our passions. We wanted “meaningful” work more than stable paychecks—the kind of thinking that would have earned me a shovel tossed at my feet with the words, “Boy, get to work.”
My generation wrote books like The Four-Hour Workweek. I read that book. The secret to working four hours a week? First, write a book promising to explain how. Second, sell a million copies. Third, capitalize on spin-off products until the hype wears off and people realize how unrealistic it is to survive on four hours of labor.
I can’t speak for those younger than me, but I know my own experience. As a teenager and young adult, I adopted a hedonistic worldview. I couldn’t understand the logic of slogging through school, only to land in a nine-to-five grind that stretched for decades. I decided I wanted no part of the rat race. I would live for the moment, doing what I wanted when I wanted.
Rebellion, however, carries its own consequences. It’s hard to enjoy life when you’re broke. It’s harder still when reckless choices leave you sleeping in your truck or in the county jail. Suddenly, my father’s and grandfathers’ way of life began to make more sense.
Looking back, I realize something was missing from my education. I had been told to work hard in school and be responsible, but I never understood why. Those virtues were never grounded in Scripture. Perhaps I wouldn’t have listened in those days, but I see now what I didn’t see then: the call to work is more than cultural wisdom or family tradition.
God Created Men to Work
I’ve known Christian men my age who quit their jobs, sold everything, and moved into their cars. They might pick up part-time work to cover gas and food, but otherwise, they lounge and roam from place to place. They often justify it with Bible-based expressions, such as: This world is only temporary. I’m not materialistic. There are more important things than money.
On the surface, their reasoning sounds spiritual, but something in us wants to push back, even if we’re not sure what to say. Why? Because deep down, we know men are not only permitted to work, they are called to work.
Richard Phillips puts it plainly in The Masculine Mandate: men have a divine calling to work. We see this not only in Scripture but in our instincts. What’s the first question men usually ask when meeting someone new? “So, what do you do?” We assume men work. It’s part of their identity.
I saw it in my grandfathers. One retired but poured himself into a garden that seemed to grow larger each year. The other hardly retired at all. Even in his eighties, even after one of his cattle nearly killed him, he kept going. My dad followed the same path, and when he retired, he took up woodworking, spending most of his days laboring with his hands.
This pattern isn’t just a result of cultural conditioning. It is something God built into us. We see it in the very first pages of Scripture.
Genesis begins with God himself working: “In the beginning, God created” (Genesis 1:1). The creation account portrays God producing, shaping, and exercising dominion. Chapter 2 emphasizes it further: “On the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done” (Genesis 2:2).
This is profound for two reasons. First, work is not punishment. Before sin entered the world, God himself worked. Second, when God made man in his image, he created him to reflect this pattern of labor and dominion:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26)
God gave Adam responsibility to subdue creation, to steward it under his rule. Genesis 2:15 makes the calling explicit: “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”
Even in a perfect world without sin, Adam was designed to work. He tilled the ground, sowed seed, and harvested crops. He also exercised his mind, naming the animals and exercising creativity as God’s image-bearer. Work was not a curse. Work was, and is, a gift.
As Ecclesiastes says, “Everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man” (Ecclesiastes 3:13).
Work, whether of the hands or of the mind, is God’s design for man.
When Work Became Hard
Work is God’s gift, but after Adam’s fall, it changed. What began as joyful stewardship became a painful struggle.
When Adam sinned, God said:
Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
“You shall not eat of it,”
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return. (Genesis 3:17–19)
The calling to work remained, but the ease of work was gone. The earth now resisted. Bodies ached. Minds fatigued. The same task that once gave unbroken joy now came with sweat and sorrow.
Cain’s judgment in Genesis 4 illustrates the same point: “When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength” (Genesis 4:12). Although that sentence applied directly to Cain, it reveals what we all experience: the world often fights back against our labor.
Still, the command to work endures. Proverbs warns,
A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. (Proverbs 10:4)
Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth. (Proverbs 12:27)
Laziness breeds want; diligence provides blessing. And the New Testament intensifies the charge:
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. (Colossians 3:23)
Now, such persons [the idle, the busybodies] we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. (2 Thessalonians 3:12)
If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (1 Timothy 5:8)
For the Christian, work is not merely a means of survival; it is an act of obedience to God. It is love for one’s neighbor. It is a witness to the world.
When Christian men claim they are “not materialistic” and therefore avoid work, they forget that God not only created us for labor but commands it. He calls us to work heartily, as if the Lord himself were our employer.
Work That Lasts into Eternity
Work is not just a temporary necessity for this life. Scripture points to its continuation in the life to come.
In Luke 19, Jesus tells the Parable of the Ten Minas. A nobleman entrusts money to his servants, then returns to evaluate their stewardship:
He ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. The first came before him, saying, “Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.” And he said to him, “Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.” And the second came, saying, “Lord, your mina has made five minas.” And he said to him, “And you are to be over five cities.” (Luke 19:15–19)
The reward for faithfulness was not a vacation; it was more responsibility. Likewise, in Matthew 25, the Parable of the Talents ends with these words:
Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. (Matthew 25:23)
What’s striking is the pattern of stewardship leading to greater stewardship. Faithful work leads to more work. The master’s commendation does not send his servants into retirement, but entrusts them with larger realms to govern.
This language echoes Genesis. Adam was told to have dominion, to rule and subdue the earth. And here again, in eternity, the redeemed are given authority to reign.
Revelation reveals that the final state of God’s people is not a disembodied escape, but a renewed creation. The new Jerusalem descends. A garden reappears. Creation is restored. In that world, free from the curse, we will work without sin, without exhaustion, without futility.
Work is not an afterthought in the Christian life. It is built into our creation, commanded in our redemption, and promised in our eternal future. We serve a working God. We are made in his image. We work now, and we will work forever in joy, in fruitfulness, and in fellowship with our Savior.
How to Evaluate Our Work
If work is central to God’s design, then we should evaluate our jobs with more than salary and comfort in mind. Not every kind of work honors him, and not every job benefits others. Richard Phillips offers five questions to help us think biblically.
1. Does this work glorify God?
Paul says, “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1Co 10:31). That means the first test of any job is whether it enables obedience. Does this work force me to compromise integrity, exploit others, or indulge sin? Or can I walk in holiness while laboring here?
We are not called merely to work. We are called to work as those who also love our neighbor, keep God’s commandments, and seek his glory.
2. Does it benefit my fellow man?
Jesus said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). Paul adds, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need” (Ephesians 4:28).
Work is not simply for personal gain. It is a way of serving others. The plumber restores clean water. The postal worker delivers communication. The doctor and nurse provide care. Even simple jobs can become channels of God’s provision for our neighbors.
3. Do I sense a calling to this work?
By “calling,” I don’t mean an audible voice from heaven. I mean aligning God-given gifts and interests with our current opportunities. The craftsmen in Exodus 31 had skills suited for building the tabernacle. In the same way, God wires each of us uniquely.
The question is: Can I do this job well, and will it fit the way God has equipped me in this season? We may not love every assignment, but even temporary roles can be done with all our might. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
4. Does it provide for material needs and enable generosity?
Paul is direct on this point: “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). Supporting our families is nonnegotiable.
Paul also reminds us that work is not for self-indulgence: “Let him labor … so that he may have something to share with anyone in need” (Ephesians 4:28). Provision and generosity are closely linked. A smaller paycheck in a righteous job will always be better than a larger one gained through compromise. “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice” (Proverbs 16:8).
5. Does it permit a godly and balanced life?
Work is essential, but it is not everything. God calls us to care for our families, serve in the church, and rest. Some seasons may require long hours, but they should be temporary.
Jesus asked, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). In the same way, a man may gain promotions and wealth but lose his marriage, his children, or his faithfulness to Christ. Balance matters.
This is where pride can deceive us. Many men hide behind the excuse, “I’m working to put food on the table,” while pouring more into their careers than necessary. Satisfaction, however, is not found in work alone. God also gave the joys of family, fellowship, and rest. And often, those closest to us—our wives, children, pastors, and friends—see more clearly than we do whether we’ve struck the right balance.
Taken together, these five questions help us discern work that glorifies God, benefits others, utilizes our gifts, meets needs, fosters generosity, and maintains a balanced life.
Working for the Lord
Paul writes, “Whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him” (2 Corinthians 5:9). That includes our work. Our highest concern is not what pleases us or what impresses others. Our highest aim is to please the Lord.
Years ago, I picked up a book from the library titled How Starbucks Saved My Life. The title caught my attention. The story followed a man who lost his high-paying corporate job. He sat in Starbucks every morning, laptop open, searching for work. Eventually, unable to find anything else, he took a job as a barista. To his surprise, the humbling experience reshaped his life.
What struck me most was this: many men would never even consider working at a place like Starbucks. Pride would keep them away. But Scripture calls us to a different perspective:
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)
There is no shame in any honest work done for the glory of God. A man can scrub toilets to the glory of God. He can bag groceries, swing a hammer, or lead a company. If he does it heartily, as unto the Lord, Christ receives it as faithful service.
And one day, he will reward it.
