Without work, creativity cannot be released and culture cannot be developed. No wonder in his Sermons on Deuteronomy, John Calvin says, “It was necessary for men to occupy themselves with some work. Why? Because it was against our nature to be useless blocks of wood.” Well said.

Yo-Yo Ma is the greatest cello player in the world. From the age of four, he practiced six to eight hours a day on his cello, until his spine got crooked. You don ’t become world-class merely by wishing, you become world-class by hard work —very hard work!

The apostle Paul had to rebuke the Thessalonians because they had become so obsessed with the second coming of Christ, they refused to work. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians saying, “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thess. 3:10).

Work is a precursor to success, wealth and prosperity. Adam plowed the ground, sowed his seed and reaped a harvest to feed his family, but he didn ’t stop there. He explored the geology of the land, dug deeper into the ground, and discovered gold and all kinds of precious stones (Gen. 2:11-12). The more you apply yourself and the harder you work, the richer you will become in life (Prov. 13:4).

God’s work from Genesis is to create, preserve and govern. Man’s work from Genesis is to tend, to keep and to subdue the world that God has planted him in. In other words, we have a threefold role of being the prophet (tending), priest (keeping) and king (subduing) of our contemporary society. As a prophet, every man is to reveal his talent, creativity and innovation into the world —all to the glory of God. As a priest, every man must serve his society by elevating the self-esteem of his neighbors, enhancing their quality of life, and bringing them joy and delight in a world plagued by pain and sorrow. As a king, every believer is to take dominion of the whole world by doing culture in a way that brings glory to the greatness and goodness of God.

JESUS CHRIST OUR MODEL

How then should we live? Our greatest example in life is Jesus Christ. He wasn’t afraid to be relevant to His society and touch those people others would consider unclean. He was accused of being “worldly”—mixing with prostitutes and drunkards, and going to parties hosted by tax collectors. Jesus understood that in order to influence the world, showing off His spirituality or religious beliefs alone is not enough. The way we impact and influence the world is by: (1) the excellence of our quality of life, (2) our acknowledgment of normal human needs, and (3) our ability to identify with a fallen world.

When Moses gave Israel the Word of God, he gave them the rationale for abiding in it: “Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. Therefore be careful to observe them” (Deut. 4:5-6).

The laws of God were to help the people be successful in possessing the land. The laws of God were so incredibly well thought-out that if the Israelites followed them, they would become the envy of every nation. God guaranteed that His laws would make them so wealthy and prosperous that other nations would start borrowing from them! But more than money, God promises the following:

“For this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has God so near to it” (Deut. 4:6-7).

The commandments are given to establish God’s people in society. The world only gets impressed with our faith when they see our wisdom in marriage and raising a family, our wisdom in handling finances, our wisdom in human relationships and people skills, and our wisdom in creatively doing culture (including pop culture). They will gasp in amazement as they look at the wisdom among God’s people: “For what great nation is there that has God so near to it?”

Make no mistake about it, God wants the world to envy us and say to us: “We must have your way of life!” Yet, how many among the unchurched are actually jealous of Christians today? Why aren’t the unbelievers rushing to church every weekend, or knocking on our doors saying, “Help me, I have to get into the kingdom of God! I want to be like you—happy, successful and creative!” Or have we presented Christianity in a way that is flaky, boring and ugly? Have we presented the kingdom of God to be so backward and irrelevant that the world doesn’t want any part of us?

Let us decide to be relevant to our society. We shouldn’t be afraid to engage a world that God has created and always loved. We should not be fearful to engage culture by being as creative, as colorful, and as progressive as we could possibly be for the glory of God. We mustn’t shun the sciences and arts out there in the marketplace. Rather, we should work hard and excel in the arena of life God has planted us in. As you do that, you will become the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Ultimately, you will bring many into the kingdom of God ! HT

(Part II of this message will continue in the next issue of Harvest Times.)