Writing is Worship

 

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