4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. 5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature … 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Genesis 2:4-7; 15 (ESV)
People either love work or they hate it. Although the actor Noel Coward’s view of work as “much more fun than fun” would not be echoed by many today, far more people would identify with Ronald Reagan’s famous remark: “They say hard work never hurt anybody, but, I figure, why take the chance?” Many today work for the wrong reasons and the wrong rewards. While one extreme encourages us to be workaholics, the other dreams of a work-free leisure society. However, the Bible teaches that both extremes are wrong.
Work is not simply something that is a result of the Fall. It was part of God’s original blueprint for humanity. Work is therefore inherently good. God Himself is portrayed as a worker (Gen. 1), planning, deciding, ordering, doing, and evaluating repeatedly in creating the world. Indeed, God continues to work throughout history (cf. Ps. 121) and is constantly working even today (John 5:17). Unlike the ancient Greeks, the Bible portrays work as dignified, not contemptible. Not only is God a worker, God made men and women to work. When Genesis records the creation narrative for the second time (2:4ff.), it emphasizes that the reason that the land was not yet fruitful was because there was no water and “no man to work the ground” (vv. 4-5).
However, God remedies both by providing abundant water (v. 6) and an active workforce (v. 7). The man is then placed in Eden both to “work” (abad) and to “keep” (shamar) the land (v. 15) and soon provided with an ideally suited helper to assist him in his work (2:18-25). Although the Hebrew word abad can be translated “to till” or “to work,” the most frequent translation is “to serve.” At the outset of creation, both work and marriage were tethered to the service of God and the active caretaking of the world.
Work is not to be regarded as a necessary evil. Existing prior to humanity’s rebellion and fall, work is a God-appointed function of human life, a natural duty rather than something to be complained about or escaped from. Work remains God’s design for humanity. Although work is now often grim, frustrating toil, it is still an obligation for men and women and should still be geared to their service to God.
In a world confused about the place and priority of work, the pastor has an invaluable contribution to make in any economy. He has God’s word on work. He can call on the lazy and idle to be engaged in work, comfort the stressed and burned out with God’s realistic view of work in a fallen world, and warn the workaholics not to be engrossed in work or the rewards it can bring.