Why Work Matters to God

For many of us, work can feel like a necessary evil—something we must do in order to get to the real work of ministry and loving our neighbors–rather than an opportunity we’ve been given to do Kingdom work. ​​We wind up reducing work to what we do to survive and provide for our families. Even in the best-case scenario, work is just a means to an end—just the thing that enables us to tithe.

It’s easy to believe that what we do Monday through Friday is somehow less spiritual or less meaningful than what happens in church on Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights.

But when we open Scripture, a different picture emerges.

Long before brokenness entered the world, there was work. 

Good work.

Purposeful work. 

Work that reflected God's own character and intent for the world.

In Genesis 2, we meet God not only as Creator, but as a Worker. We see Him get his hands dirty and roll up his proverbial sleeves. He plants, creates, forms, and cultivates—and then invites us, as image-bearers, to join in that work. 

We see that work isn’t something that gets left behind when Jesus comes back to restore and redeem the earth. Work was baked into the DNA and foundation of all of Creation.

In the opening chapters of Genesis, we see the Great I AM condescending to walk in the garden among His creation. And when he looks around at all He has created, He is not satisfied until He has placed His image into that creation.

But God doesn’t stop there. He gives His image bearers something to do. An invitation not for busywork, but holy participation. The man and the woman are placed in the garden to cultivate it, to take what they’ve received and steward and expand life: to tend it, multiply it, and help it flourish.

Work is not a punishment or placeholder. 

“‘We’re called to a very specific kind of work. To make a Garden-like world where image bearers can flourish and thrive, where people can experience and enjoy God’s generous love. A kingdom where God’s will is done ‘on earth as it is in heaven,’ where the glass wall between earth and heaven is so thin and clear and translucent that you don’t even remember it’s there.” - John Mark Comer, Garden City: Work, Rest, and the Art of Being Human.

Work is an intentional part of God’s divine, intentionally crafted plan. It is part of our living offering to the Lord.

So if work is where we spend most of our waking hours, why would we keep it separate from what God is doing to redeem the world?

Work is God’s invitation to you to join Him in making things on earth, in our cities, as it is in Heaven.

When we begin to see our work through this lens, our jobs become more than tasks—they become our living sacrifice, story, worship, & testimony. 

Our labor itself becomes a primary way we reflect God’s image in this world.

This is the kind of reflection and conversation that shapes our Formation Cohort. Not just theology in theory—but theology lived out in the real world, through business. Work that’s grounded in justice, dignity, and shared flourishing.

Receive this reminder:

Your work matters.

Your work in the beauty industry, in the construction industry, planning events, serving pancakes, fixing electronics…

Your work matters. 

Not just to God–but to your employees, your clients, your neighbors, your community…

Your work matters.

Our prayer for you is this:

That you’d shift from asking, “Does my work matter?”

But instead, that you would respond the Lord’s invitation to co-create with Him—and begin asking,

“How can my work be an outpost of Eden, embodying the Kingdom in my city, as it is in Heaven?”