Should We Work or Should We Worship?

I was shaken and challenged today while reading a book by one of my favorite authors, Dan Miller. In his book, 48 Days to the Work You Love, Dan makes a bold statement concerning work. Here’s the statement, “Never separate your work from your worship.” See what you do during the week as a form of ministry. If you are unable to see your work this way, then you really need to look at changing it.”

Wow, straight to the point! No sugar coating anything there! Isn’t that right, Dan?  

AS a Christian I have always tried to view my work as a form of serving God. I'll admitthat some days are easier than others. But if the truth be known, in the hustle and bustle of the moment I often lose sight of this truth.

I somehow seem to unintentionally compartmentalize my life. On one side there’s work and then on the other side there’s Jesus. I’m now realizing that somewhere along the way I was given the wrong information concerning what it really means to minister before God. The ill conceived notion that only those who are in full time ministry or missions are the only ministers before God is not true. What we really need are some “regular” occupational ministers.

Imagine what the world would look like if we never separated our work from our worship. Buildings would look much more ascetically appealing because they would have been designed through the lenses of worship. Customer service would be changed to Godly service. Overtime wouldn't even be a concept because we'll lose track of time worshipping. The wold would be a totally different place.

Colossians 3:17 teaches us to “whatever… deed…do it all in the name of Jesus...giving thanks to the father.” Simply put, ‘never separate your work from worship’.

In closing I'll like to leave you with another thought from 48 Days to the Work You Love. This helps us to sum it all up, "In addition to the paycheck, we all want a sense of meaning, a feeling of accomplishment to what we do. And what we do vocationally is important; the way we spend 40 to 50 hours a week is no small matter. OUr work must be a fulfillmet of our unique ministry; otherwise, we are wasting a lot of our time and energy."

So to answer the question of whether we should work or should we worship?

My answer is simple...What's the difference?

Adraine Scott

Adraine is the president of Edvance Services LLC. His entire professional career has been spent helping others find their unique ways of learning and being. He has been able to accomplish this by serving as a youth minister