Secular Work
Last fall I decided to make a transition from preaching to something else. I wasn’t sure what something else was at the time. The way I had been going about the work of preaching, which is another story for another time, left me emotionally fried. My dear Stephanie had been telling me for some time that something had to change. She had been thinking about small changes, like using the same sermon for my radio work or asking the brethren to help out with various things. She was right as usual; something had to change. But it was not a small change that was needed. I used the expression “mental breakdown” with my counselor (yes, and again another story for another time). I needed a major transition and have been blessed to find that something else.
Some would call what I am doing now secular work. I suppose in one sense it is. Webster defines secular as “of or relating to the worldly or temporal…not overtly or specifically religious…not ecclesiastical or clerical.” Honestly, is there any work more worldly or temporal than dealing with money on a daily basis? Nor is my current work directly connected to serving the church in any way. So sure, what I am currently doing is secular by definition.
But for Christians, there should be no such thing as secular work. Our work is to be performed as if the Lord Himself were our employer. Paul wrote, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Col 3:23-24). Heartily translates the phrase ἐκ ψυχῆς, literally “from the soul” or “from the heart” as the CSB renders it. This provides a spiritual lens to view our daily labors. After all, it is the Lord who commands us to work and provide for our families: “Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread” (2 Thess 3:12). Furthermore, God gave humanity the concept of work. Moses recorded, “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Gen 2:15). Adam was to work in the Garden. Farming is literally earthly work, but Adam’s work in the Garden was spiritual because His spiritual Father gave him that work.
In whatever industry of labor we find ourselves, our work can be either spiritual or secular. If one works as a garbage man but sees his work as a blessing from God, fulfilling a valuable service to his fellow man and the divine command to provide for his own (1 Tim 5:8), he’s doing spiritual work. On the other hand, if a preacher is prideful and has the wrong motivation, that’s secular work. Whether something is secular or spiritual has little to do with the industry itself, but it has everything to do with how we think and labor in that industry.