Tired of Work? The Secret to Avoiding It Might Surprise You

If you relate to Alexis, stressed by quotas and keystroke monitoring , or Hector, whose small business is struggling, this podcast is for you in the modern reality that work often "stinks". Help is found with the teaching by the Apostle Paul. a declaration that work can find a larger value. Our workplace can become a sacred space where we are teammates with God. 

Hear inspirational stories—from a hospital volunteer to a Ph.D. neurological specialist and a Winnie-the-Pooh costume-wearer to a 4-star General —showing how embracing a larger purpose transforms labor into a path of meaning. Discover the secret to "avoiding work" by embracing a purpose larger than the job itself.

Transcript

Let me share a personal story. My Dad owned a building material supply business. Each December 31 it was inventory time. That meant all the materials in the giant, 2 story, unheated warehouse had to be counted.. I was enlisted to count. The winter of 1969 was brutal in SW Missouri and the warehouse was below freezing. I bundled up in every warm piece of clothing I could find yet still felt my hands and feet going numb with cold as I counted and marked with shaking hands the numbers on a clip board. It was then and there I felt called to preach!

I wanted to avoid work and knew preachers just worked one day a week. I had a lot to learn about work after my brief work in Dad’s warehouse.

In 2 Thessalonians 3 we find teaching about work that is important for all of us no matter what work experience we’ve had. When we understand the value of work we can avoid much of it.

We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

Our passage speaks to the house church in the city of Thessalonica. a large imperial seaport city on the north coast of the Aegean Sea. A Roman superhighway, the Via Egnatia, ran through it, bringing a massive flow of traffic and wealth. The upper class of wealthy land owners, ship owners, and public officials controlled most of the wealth. At the bottom of the scale were thousands of slaves, farmers, and soldiers. Thessalonica was rare in having a good middle class of merchants who embodied a “gig work” style.

Paul, Silas, and Timothy founded a church during his missionary journey described in Acts 16-18. He went to the synagogue to preach and found some interested. He set up his leather working business in the city market and found some Gentiles who were receptive to a message different from the imperial cult or the mystery religions.

Paul and other preachers were preaching about the new Kingdom of God Jesus had founded. It meant a new way of living now, of course, but the next step was even more thrilling. Paul had the hope for an imminent return of Jesus to inaugurate the Kingdom of God on Earth. 

After Paul gang was driven from the city this expectation went into hyperdrive. Some got so excited they stopped working to wait for Jesus to return. They looked to others in the church to support them, telling everyone to follow this great expectation. Divisions and controversy started in the house church and spread to the community. The letter of 2 Thessalonians is about this problem and what should be done.

Paul lifted up his own work to counter the fervent busybodies who were refusing to work and wanting support from the little church. All this led to a conclusion to his teaching, he declared a condemnation for the busybodies in v. 10 “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”

What do we make of this today? So let’s dig into this for today and—how we can avoid work.

Does Paul’s command mean America should turn out the disabled to beg on the street, or end Social Security, or stop providing free lunches at schools? Of course not. In the last 100 years, the advanced nations of the world have discovered that providing the basic needs of people across the life span unlocks the highest quality of life imaginable.

You are smart enough to know that teaching for one city 2000 years ago cannot be cut out and pasted into our 21st century world.

Paul’s admonition contains a fundamental truth I only dimly understood standing in a cold warehouse: work is good. We make our workplace a sacred place where we are teammates with God for a better world. 

Do you remember your first job? Was it throwing hay in a truck, babysitting, working fast food, sacking groceries, being a summer intern? I mowed yards in the summer, then worked at a TV station as a studio cameraman and director of shows. I earned an impressive $2.50 per hour. My soon-to-be fiancé Jan worked in a daycarer. My high school friends had their jobs: Howard wore a Winnie-the-Pooh costume at Sears, Mike bagged ice, Carol a hospital volunteer, 

The entire Bible teaches that work has meaning, honor, and learning that enriches life. It’s possible for the workplace can become a sacred place for a better life and world.

The Scriptures view God as the ultimate worker. God creates the world as an evolving masterpiece of beauty, collaborates with stubborn people, and energizes every creature to strive for life

Many Bible stories tell the value of work. In the Garden of Eden legend, Man and Woman are given the work of tending the garden. King David got his start as a shepherd. In the building of the Temple, the craftsmen are said to be inspired by God. Jesus said, “We must work the works of him who sent me.” (John 9:4). 

Let’s get real. We have great theology but does it mean anything for our daily labors?

What about Alexis? Her sales job has quotas that bring stress daily. The software records every keystroke and word. She didn’t get a raise in January. She got a second job as a waitress to help on the bills. The owner of the national business is a billionaire who sails on a 100 million dollar yacht. Work stinks for Alexis

What about Hector? After he was laid off, He started a business repairing tech gear. A franchised competitor moved to the same part of town last year. Last month the cost of his imported parts doubled. His store might not make it. Work stinks.

A recent survey found something incredible: for Generation Z workers the workplace is so difficult that the employed are as unhappy as the unemployed. The payscale is low, expectations are impossible, and job security doesn’t exist as AI and layoffs shrink the market. 

I believe Paul offers hope by grasping the larger picture. This Scripture is not about forcing people to work. It is a declaration that work has a bigger value. The main lesson is this: our workplace is a sacred place where we are teammates with God for a better world. If we expand our vision, work can become a form of worship that works toward a worthy purpose.

The busybody believers in Thessalonica thought they were doing the most holy thing by waiting for Jesus to come take them away. But the holy thing lay right in front of them in their work and witness to the God who was already present!

Here's something amazing: God joins us in the daily work to create a sacred space of possibility. We are collaborators with God to join our energy with the Divine Spirit. In non-coercive love God is leading us to the abundant life Jesus spoke about. God is working side by side with us, learning along with us and from us as we work. This divine interaction means all work can be filled with the potential of value for us personally, our family, and our community.

How do we avoid work? We embrace the purposes that are larger than the work. We reframe our workplace as a sacred place where we are teammates with God for a better world.

Maybe it is the caregiving without a paycheck that raises a child or escorts a loved one to a death with dignity. Maybe it is speaking a word to a student that inspires them. Maybe it is defending the nation in a faraway land. Maybe it is harvesting a field of cotton to clothe the world. 

Way back when I stood in that cold warehouse, I was naïve. But whether I understood it or not, God was present to prepare me for some of the challenges across 50 years of ministry. My friends were also being prepared for good things.. Jan went from a daycare teacher to a three decades as an educator, Bible teacher, and mother of four. Carol was a hospital volunteer who became a Ph.D neurological specialist. Mike went from bagging ice in a huge refrigerator to a 40 year career in Baptist Student Ministry.  Howard went from dressing as Winnie-the-Pooh to wearing the uniform of an AF 4 star general in the Joint Staff offering daily briefings to President Obama

You can add your own story of how work has changed you. The labor becomes the path to meaning for life, family, and community. God is working in you and with you to build a Kingdom here and now.

How do we avoid work? We reframe the purpose so our workplace becomes a sacred place where we are teammates with God for a better world. It is a place where you might look around and find Jesus next to you to change your work and the world.