WORK IN A FALLEN WORLD
In Genesis 3, sin entered the world. All of creation experienced death in unique ways, and our work became cursed too. We have all felt the brokenness of work at some point. A job needs to be accomplished, and no matter how hard you try, nothing seems to go your way. Tools break, people are unpredictable, technology has a mind of its own, and no matter what you do, it feels impossible to do the job right. Does that sound familiar at all?
Two things are true in our world—God still believes that work and responsibility are good things, but there is brokenness and difficulty in our work. We tend to react to this tension in one of two ways. Some of us will be tempted to be lazy and shun responsibility because of the energy work requires. Others will be tempted to work so hard that their identity comes from the approval of doing a job well.
Those who tend to be lazy often strive for comfort. They will avoid hard and painful responsibility at all costs and find themselves in cycles of procrastination and underperforming. This group is going to be tempted to hide and prefer to do the bare minimum.
Those who tend to over-identify with work are fueled by affirmation. This group will start to misplace who they are with what they do—their identity is the work. When work doesn’t go well, they are devastated and fear what people think about them. Perfection will be the goal and nothing less than that is accepted.
You may find yourself somewhere in between those two extremes in different seasons of your life or depending on the task at hand. The goal is not to find a perfect balance, but instead to see work for what it really is. We were given a responsibility to take care of the world around us and to use work as a way to provide for ourselves and others. Work also creates structure and purpose for our lives in a way that can keep us from trouble.
While you are young, there is more room for you to fail and learn from your mistakes. Your responsibility is lower than it will ever be, which gives you the opportunity to do hard things without the same consequences that come later in life. This is an important season for you to learn that your identity is not wrapped up in the work that you do, but instead we can trust God and have peace as we do the work he puts before us.
Read Ecclesiastes 2:18–26 and then 2 Thessalonians 3:6–13.
- What does “work” look like in your season of life?
- If you find this question hard to answer, talk to a parent or small group leader. Have someone help you think through what responsibilities you need to be taking care of. Most likely, you will have multiple answers for this question.
- What is most difficult for you when it comes to work?
- Do you lean more towards laziness or over-identifying with work?
- In what way have you seen the brokenness of the world affect your work?