Have you ever considered that Jesus modeled work life ministry? It is easy to forget that Jesus spent more than 50 percent of His adult life in a carpentry shop. He was more known for being a carpenter than He was for being the Son of God. Perhaps that is why so many people had difficulty reconciling Jesus, the carpenter, with Jesus the Son of God who did miracles in the workplace.
Consider the following amazing facts:
▲ The New Testament records that Jesus appeared publicly 132 times—122 were in the marketplace.
▲ Jesus told 52 parables—45 had a workplace context.
▲ Acts recorded 40 divine interventions—39 were in the marketplace.
▲ Jesus spent His adult life as a carpenter until the age of 30 when He began a public preaching ministry in the workplace.
▲ Jesus called 12 workplace individuals—not clergy—to build His church.
▲ Work is worship. The Hebrew word avodah is the root word for both work and worship.
▲ Work in its different forms is mentioned more than 800 times in the Bible—more than all the words used to express worship, music, praise and singing combined.
▲ “54 percent of Jesus’ reported teaching ministry arose out of issues posed by others in the scope of daily life experience.” –Lewis and Lewis, LICC
Yes, Jesus was a workplace minister who combined both a priestly call with a workplace call. In the mind of Jesus, there was no sacred/secular divide. He did not consider His work life to be less important than His spiritual life. Both were entwined in everyday life. The Hebrews understood this. There was not a separation of the faith life from the work life.
Oswald Chambers, well-known author of My Utmost for His Highest, said: “The spiritual manifests itself in a life which knows no division into sacred and secular.”
If you were to conduct a survey on an average city street and ask if religion belonged in the workplace, chances are high that most answers would be no, and that would be correct. Religion doesn’t, but Jesus does. Most people today, even many Christians, see no relevance between God and work in today’s fast-paced society.
