Whatever
you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,
since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.
It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
(Colossians 3:23-24)
The blog
you have at hand is a revelatory (perhaps radical) premise based on the
thoughts of this passage and my recent deep dive into what it looks like to
live a creative life as a writer (Especially as one who is trying to find time
for my craft during often very pressing regular work responsibilities). This
blog also goes to the heart of having a correct understanding of worship.
Have you
ever considered that your writing is worship?
We give lip
service and knowing nods to the idea that worship happens not only through
events at church on a day a week, such as singing, praying and listening to
preaching, but also through a lifestyle of worship all week. Yes worship is
expressed in songs of praise (the Psalms attest to this), but it is much more
than this. The song Heart of Worship by
Matt Redman catches this idea in its lyrics:
“ When the music fades, All is stripped away, And I simply come
Longin' just to bring, Something that's of worth, That will bless Your heart
I'll bring You more than a song , For a song in itself, Is not what You have required”
I have
mused for a while that this song is a semantic oxymoron because it is itself a
self-contradiction : It is song. :)
Yet,
worship is more than our songs, or music, or church services. Worship is our
lives in dedication to God. Our creativity and creative energy given in
adoration to The Creator is the essence of worship.
In early
chapters of Genesis, “worship” (the way we usually relate to it) was not
mentioned. Adam and Eve expressed worship through their nurture, care,
stewardship, and creative labour (work). In fact, labour (service/work) is so
synonymous to worship that the Hebrew word “avodah” is used for work, serving
and worship. To worship is to work, to work is to serve is to worship.
Here is the
entry from a noted Hebrew lexicon:
עָבַד
(ʿā·ḇǎḏ): v.; … work, labor, do, i.e., expend considerable energy and intensity
in a task or function … give considerable energy and intensity to give aid to
another (Lev 25:46; 2Sa 16:19); … worship, serve, minister, work in ministry,
i.e., give energy and devotion to God or a god, including ceremonies (Ex 23:24,
25); cultivate, plow, i.e., work soil (with or without an animal) as part of
the agricultural process (Ge 4:2; Isa 30:24); plowed, be cultivated (Dt 21:4;
Ecc 5:8; Eze 36:9, 34)[1]
Take note
of the diverse spectrum of meaning of avodah as highlighted. The Ancient
Hebrews had a deep understanding of how faith and work came together in their
lives. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that they used the same word for work
and worship.
The various
usages of this Hebrew word as found first in Genesis 2:15 informs us that God’s
original design and desire is that our work and our worship would be a seamless
way of living.
Avodah is used 289 times in the Old Testament and is
translated variously as “worship,” serve” and “work.” In some verses the word avodah is translated as work, as in to work in the field and to do common labour.
Moses,
renewing the covenant with God, says:
“Six days
you shall work (avodah).” – Exodus 34:21
“Then man
goes out to his work (avodah), to his labour until evening.” – Psalm 104:23
In other
verses, avodah is translated as worship,
as in to worship God.
“This is
what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship (avodah) me.” –
Exodus 8:1
“But as for
me and my household, we will serve (avodah) the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15
Joshua says, I will avodah. I will work for, and worship, the Lord.
This is a
powerful image to think that the word for working in the fields is the same
word used for worshiping God.
Avodah is a
picture of an integrated faith. A life where work and worship come from the
same root. The same foundation. Avodah reveals that the nature of the Hebrew
mind is wholistic, integrative and comprehensive. There is no sacred-secular
dichotomy.
Avodah means to Live a Seamless Life of Work, Worship, and Service.
Avodah
implies a duality of purpose. In all work, there is an element of worship and
service. Worship is about service. Worship takes the form of service and
service expresses worship.
Avodah
reveals that our labour can be a form of worship.
Avodah encourages us that our writing can be worship.
Historian Thomas Carlyle puts
it simply:
“Laborare
est Orare, Work is worship … All true Work is sacred; in all true Work, were it
but hand-labour, there is something of divines … No man has work, or can work,
except religiously ….”
For the
Hebrew mind, there is no separation of labour from worship. Worship is not only
for Sunday, but for Monday as well. Worship is not limited to a religious
meeting in a building or for a public evangelistic effort. Worship is to take
place in the midst of our everyday lives, in our homes, in the office, in the
factory. The God of the Bible is not a part-time God. Our worship should not be
thought of as part-time praise.
So again,
our work and service ought to be an act of worship. In other words, whatever we
do ought to be focused outside of us, placing worth and value on others and
something greater than us. We have this principle of “work-ship” established
from the beginning of time.
Our
work-ship as writers is to honour Him in our craft.
We could
also say that worship, at its core, is an act of governance. Like Adam and Eve
it is a creative stewardship of creation and our gifts, talents and skills
brought to bear on creation in honour of The Creator.
God placed
us here to glorify him by governing in His stead. To that end, we are to labor,
serve and worship seamlessly ( avodah!)
Dr
Christian Overman the founding director of Worldview Matters states that:
“Work, at
its core, is an act of governance.
Governance
over wood, metal, cows, cotton, and carrots.
Governance
over sound waves, electrical currents, and wind.
Governance
over computer keyboards, fiber optics, and digital images.
Governance
over people. Governance over things. Governance over ideas.”
Bringing
order out of chaos as co-labourers and stewards we take the raw materials of
the earth and develop them for God’s glory and the benefit of others.
Builders
take sand and cement and use them to create buildings.
Lawyers take principles of justice and codify
them into laws that benefit society.
Writers
take the raw materials of words, grammar and ideas and arrange them into literary art.
In the New
Testament this tenet that what we do (work) is worship is borne out in Colossians 3:23-24 (seen above).
When it says
"Whatever
you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord"
It is saying that whatever you do in dedication to God is Worship.
This is not
just a reference to those who work in ministry or at church, it is referring to
anything and everything that occupies our time and energy, thus the synonym for
work, “occupation.”
Whether you
are a judge, waiter, accountant, teacher, healthcare worker, stay-at-home
parent, or a writer….
In all that you put your heart and hand to,
God views it as worship that we should carry out with reverence and rejoicing.
Perhaps in
your writing you have encountered an almost divine satisfaction like you are
doing what you were born to do!
Because what you do in your writing is a
creative outlet that in essence you were designed to honour God with.
Your
writing work and vocation can be a worshipful act. The word “vocation” comes from the Latin word
“voca,” which means “to call.” It’s how God designed you and called you to
serve in the world.
There are
two Old Testament figures in Exodus 31, Bezalel and Oholiab, whom Moses says
were filled with the Spirit. How did they express that? By being expert
craftsmen. Their expression of being filled with the Spirit and worshipping God
was doing excellent creative work.
It reminds me of a scene in Chariots of
Fire, where Eric Liddell, in his preparation for
the 1924 Olympics, is confronted by his sister who thinks he should be a
missionary to China. Liddell responds, “I believe God made me for a purpose,
but he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.”
Many writers feel that. They are doing
something they love and feel like,
“This is what I was made for.”
When I do it,
I feel God’s pleasure. It’s like I feel, even, the Spirit of God at work in me
in this.
This is key: as we do this, in a way, God is himself at work creating through us.
The
scripture in Colossians encourages us that whatever we do can be (should be)
for Jesus. In essence an act of worship to Him.
In the
original Greek language of the above scripture
“Whatever
you do” is poieó
It means produce,
construct, form, fashion make, manufacture, construct, (create)
As a writer
what are you producing/creating?
“work
at it with all your heart” is ergazomai
It means work,
trade, perform, do, practice, commit, acquire by labor.
As a writer
your work is writing and your work is worship.
Do you
believe that your writing (as creative work), is worship? is a calling?
Consider the
above scripture paraphrased in the context of your writing :
"Whatever
you write, write with all your heart, as writing for the Lord”
Write from
the empowered position that your writing is worship.
Shane Brigg
