Loving Your Labor: Is My Work Misery Or Ministry?
Ken Griffin, (PCA Diretor of Annual Fund)

It’s a beautiful crisp fall Sunday afternoon in the year 2025 and as you recline in your favorite lounge chair reveling in the Cowboys victory or wiping your eyes from your restful nap you begin to sense it... that internal knot that begins to form late each Sunday afternoon signaling the end of an all too short weekend and the cloud of dread forming that ushers in a new work week. You sit there and wonder that nagging question: How did I get here?!

I’ve got the marriage I hoped for, wonderful kids, a nice home and we’re a part of a great church and yet I just am so unhappy about work. Sounds encouraging doesn’t it? The reality of that scene is that it is unfortunately all too common. According to which statistic you read, anywhere from 50 to 70 percent of Americans don’t like their jobs or even hate their job. No matter how one looks at those statistics, what it says is that people don’t like what they’re doing.

Most statistics don’t state whether this takes place in or out of the church so chances are that a number of the people you worship with reflect those same sentiments. Here’s the great news for you. Since you no doubt don’t want to end up wondering “How did I get here,” you have the opportunity to take the steps to end up saying “I’m glad I’m here!”

If you remember nothing else in this article, remember this: God has gifted you with some amazing gifts and talents and given you certain passions in life. Use them for His glory and the advancing of His Kingdom.

You may be saying “What does that have to do with being a business major? I’m not called into ministry.” It has everything to do with your career in business. Think about your passion for business and how your Christian worldview will impact how you do business. Does our world not desperately need people of integrity and character who treat customers, employees and competitors with respect?

If your ultimate goal is just to make money to accommodate a certain lifestyle, then you may end up at a destination you don’t desire. Am I working to get better grades to get into a better grad school in order to get the best job offer? Is that result so I can pursue the lifestyle I want, but get up everyday and hate my job?  

Please understand this: excellent grades, excellent grad schools, great jobs and making a lot of money are not wrong or sinful. Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do let it be a representative of Christ....” What a tremendous testimony you are when you are the best student, the hardest working athlete, the most talented musician, etc....

Our world needs you to be the best Christian teachers, doctors, lawyers, coaches, artists, performers, accountants, entrepeneurs, writers and politicians along with the pastors and missionaries.

It starts with what you feel God has given you as a mission and vision to do in life. Chances are that your job will change several times and you may even have different careers. What doesn’t have to change is your core values and that mission you feel God has given you.

Do you remember those conversations you had in Dr. Miranda’s office when you were thinking about where you would go to college? Her wise advice to all is to “Get your m & m’s in order.” Who is your master? What is your mission? Who will be my mate? Once you know whom you’re serving and what your mission is, it will be a natural flow to find a mate who is in sync with those areas.

How do we go about discovering what that mission and vision is in light of how God has wired our personalities and gifted us? Ask yourself some of these questions: What one or two topics of conversation really get you going so that you could talk for hours on the subject? If money were no object and you had no financial concerns for the rest of your and your future children’s lives, what would you really want to do?

For example, you can talk for hours about sports-—particularly basketball. Unfortunately, at 5’10” coupled with a lack of leaping ability and an inconsistent jumper at best, the NBA does not look like a realistic career goal. Where does that leave you? Well, perhaps you have an excellent understanding of the game and you’re able to teach it well. It looks like coaching might be a good fit. Maybe you enjoy the game and like talking about it so much you’d like to broadcast or even write about it or even be on the business side such as in sports marketing. Perhaps you love missions work and would like to combine your love of basketball with missions work. You can see that the possibilities go on and on.

Just a quick footnote to those thoughts, one may not think of this as a career path, but don’t ever think less of it’s importance and that is the job of homemaker. Raising a Christian family in a Christian home is a huge responsibility. A life of wrestling toddlers and knowing the words to every Veggie Tale movie ever made may not seem glamorous. The value of engraining children with Kingdom principles obviously is immeasurable.

Now that you’re thinking about your career direction, here is a practical and popular resource. The book is entitled What Color is Your Parachute? A Practical Guide for Job Hunters and Career Changers by Dick Bolles. Despite of the title, it has nothing to do with skydiving. The title came from a discussion Dick Bolles had with some former co-workers who were “bailing” from the employment and Bolles asked them the now famous question “What Color is Your Parachute?” Bolles is a believer and does touch on the theme of a mission for your life. It is the most widely used guide for the potential job hunter.

This discovery process is going to take some thought and prayer on your part. Spend time in God’s Word as you seek His direction for your life. The closer you are to Him the more sensitive you will be to His leading.  

In the next article we’ll take a look at some helpful advice once those all important interviews do take place. Do I really need to wear a business suit to my interview and be well groomed? Tune in for these and other questions next time.