Desiring God Ministries-- Part 4 & 5 Aims that should drive every Christian's career path

4. Aspire to Confound the World

With Paul, I appeal to you, future employers and employees, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). Your life — your whole life, including your work — is an act of worship. How? Next sentence: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2).
Will you work in a way that conforms to this world? Or in a way that confounds it? Spirit-filled followers of Jesus are to be distinctly, noticeably different from people who do not know and love our Lord. Change the central reality of your life, and other things ought to change, at least enough that people around you start to ask about it (1 Peter 3:15).

So we should be intentionally thinking about every area of our lives — home, marriage, eating, buying, working — as road signs of the life-giving message of the gospel. We want the world to be confused enough about the way we live, work, and spend that they ask about the hope we have.

5. Aspire to Provide for Your Family

This comes naturally to most. I (and my family) have to eat; therefore, I have to work. Even within the safety and generosity of the church, Paul says, “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). God has made a world in which we survive by contributing to society in tangible, tradable ways. We live by faith, and that means we eat by work.

Most of the world takes this for granted, but God-loving, money-fearing people might overlook it. We serve a providing God (Luke 11:10–13; James 1:17), and we image his providing love for us when we provide for those entrusted to us. Practices like planning, budgeting, and saving are not faithless acts. In fact, that kind of stewardship will glorify God greatly when they’re done in love for him and your family.

It’s important to say that this will not always, or even mainly, be financial. Fathers and mothers must provide for each other and their children in a thousand unpaid ways. Providing spiritually and emotionally might even mean setting aside an income or promotion, at least for a season. The principle is to provide for your own in a way that points people to God’s provision for us in Jesus.

Randy Smith