Working World

[redblue22]

Does having a job mean working for the world? (for example, working to get money)

 

[YCGP]

i have a question like this...

Does working out and eating 6 meals a day mean you are working for vanity?

 

[YCGP]

I guess it depends on the individual.

Be real with yourself and take a look at what you're actually focusing on. You'll have your answer.

 

[redblue22]

some don't want to work and feel that work is spiritually beneath them.

some think their special work is a calling, while they think others are just at a job.

 

[Sketcher]

Does having a job mean working for the world? (for example, working to get money)

The short answer is "no." If you fall into the love of money, or if you do evil things for a living, that is when you have crossed over into working for the world.

some don't want to work and feel that work is spiritually beneath them.

Paul had some choice words for these people in 2 Thessalonians and Titus. They were not commendations.

some think their special work is a calling, while they think others are just at a job.

The way I look at it, it is both a means to pay my bills and an opportunity - to learn, to grow as a person and therefore as a Christian, and to shine the light I do have.

 

[timewerx]

Does having a job mean working for the world? (for example, working to get money)

It depends on how much money you're making and how much more you want, how you treat your job, and what are your future plans.

....And what would Jesus have done in your situation.

It all rests on those premises.

If what you're doing is the same as everyone's, setting yourself up in the old age so maybe you can retire to sail around the world, play golf all day, etc, then you're probably working for the world/self.

 

[redblue22]

(to anyone)

How do you view your own work?

 

[timewerx]

(to anyone)

How do you view your own work?

I work to make ends meet and help financially support my parents (their pension is terrible). If they would subsist on just that, life would be miserable for them.

After all those, I have nothing else left. That is why I can't even go dates. I simply have no money left to myself. The little I may have left I save.

Anyway, here's my real work... It's an unpaid job. It's a project I founded focusing on discovery of game-changing technological solutions to help solve poverty or alleviate miserable conditions of poverty. I do it all in my free time. It's unofficial at the moment. I really have no idea to make it official. But the first technological solution in the works is a super efficient and super cheap airconditioning system. It doesn't require electricity to run (the energy source is incredibly abundant and very easy to get but secret for now) and in theory can cool air to near cryogenic temperatures. It depends on principles of Quantum Mechanics to achieve the feat but the device itself would be simple and cheap. It is meant to save the thousands of lives lost to heat waves in some of the poorest regions on Earth and obviously, the vast majority of the victims are poor who either can't afford airconditioning or the electric bills associated with air conditioning or they simply can't work in the extreme heat.

 

[Jack of Spades]

Does having a job mean working for the world? (for example, working to get money)

From practical point of view, having the option of not to work is a luxury. Not everyone can afford luxuries.

From spiritual point of view, I think that the spirit/attitude towards our work is what makes it a blessing or a curse. If I judge myself and other people based solely on what kind of work they do, then I'd say I worship working.

The best class of contemplation and prayer I have ever been in, was my job at a manufacturing line in a factory for few years. It was kinda boring routine work all day long, and there was bit of a noise from the machines so you couldn't really talk that much with other workers, so it was basically a 8-hours shift of contemplation inside my head. I really found new depths in prayer, self reflection and contemplation while working there.

I would actually happily recommend doing that kind a job for someone who is thinking about trying out contemplative life.

 

[Journey.In.Grace]

I have only been working a new job for a couple of days but stresses and concerns have arose, and I have an interview with another company nearby. I am just trusting in God on this!

 

[miss-a]

I think it depends on the condition and attitude of the heart. Working for money does not have to be working for the world. However, I think we have to be aware that it can consume us. We need to find a way to keep our focus on what God would have us do, His will for our lives. For example, I spend many hours of my week working to keep a roof over my head at my job as a merchandiser. However, I truly believe in my heart that at some point in my life God would have me honor Him with my writing. So I don't think of myself as a merchandiser. I'm a writer who writes when I can and does it to honor God. And I'm determined to do that more and more and am trusting God to open the doors when He considers it my time. I also do my job merchandising in the most God honoring way I can. I also don't just think of it as merchandising. I understand that there are people and families who depend on those products selling well to keep roofs over their heads, and God loves those people too. And I talk to God and listen to Him a lot while I work.

So that's just an example of how I do it, and all that to say that, no, working does not have to be being consumed by the world.

 

[blackribbon]

I wouldn't be doing my current job if it didn't pay well with good benefits. It is almost abusively hard much of the time. However, I do have a responsibility to care for my family and it does that. I do not think that working for money is "evil" since I do believe the Bible tells us to take care of our obligations. I need a safe home, electricity, water, food, uniforms for me and clothing for my kids....and I don't think their recreational activities are wasteful nor non-Christian either.

My new career field for me is a "calling". What I get out of it is the satisfaction of caring for people when they are most vulnerable. I can advocate for them and listen when nobody else is listening. Occasionally, I can even provide the information they need to live a healthier life or more often, just empathy and validation to their frustrations. I have been able to help people change how they see life...I mean dialysis may be a pain but you are still alive and get to watch your grandchildren grow up.

I work my butt off for my money. Harder than most people can even imagine. I wear other people's body fluid. Smile as I deal with 3 inches of liquid poop covering a patient's bathroom floor (yes, this is the nurse's job). I poke tubes and catheters in places that most people don't let other people touch. I wash babies still covered with birthing material...sometimes infected birthing material. I hold the hand of disoriented & loud old ladies who have lost their grasp of this world and often are actively dying... I love what I do for other people even when it means I am often literally too tired to pronounce many medical words when I hand my list of patients off to the next shift. I do hate that I am a waste case for about a whole day after doing several shifts in a row.

I wouldn't change my career choice for the world...but I am always actively reconsidering my options because my job is literally killing me physically.