Is it sin to look for a job?

"So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them"

If you own a company, then wouldn't you want people to ask you for jobs? You would be in big trouble if no one came to your company looking for jobs.

MikeinSeattle said:

So, I know this sounds really weird but this actually is something that I am struggling with.

I am realizing that I have a problem with a hyper sensitive conscience. I know that it is a problem. But I do not have the ability to control it. I constantly feel condemnation and guilt at even the smallest thing and I do not have the ability to turn it off. It is very debilitating mentally.

I have picked the issue of looking for a job because it is just the latest example of a very small thing that I am feeling a huge amount of condemnation and guilt about.



So the reasoning goes like this:

The word says in Rom 13:10

"Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."

And in Matt 7:12

"So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them"

Ok so here is my problem:

If I am going into a bunch of different places of business and asking if they are hiring and if I can come work there than I am obviously going to be going into many different businesses that do not have any positions available that I can fill. And therefore I will be wasting the time of the people who I talk to in those businesses that do not have any jobs for me. I will be wasting their time that they could have spent doing other things. I will be in effect adding to their work load.

And that is the problem.

Wasting peoples time and adding to their work load is not a loving thing to do. I do not want other people wasting my time and adding to my work load. Even if you could say that it is a necessary part of finding a job or even that it is a necessary part of working for a company, it is still adding to their work load a task "talking to me" that they would not have to do if I was not making them do it. It is adding a burden on them that they otherwise would not have. It is harming them. Even if it is a very tiny way to harm someone it is still harming them.

As crazy as it sounds and as small of a thing as this is I still cannot get rid of the condemnation and guilt that I feel at harming others even in a way that is as small as this.

And this is something I experience all the time, in a million other ways in which I harm people in very small ways, making grocers bag groceries for me, making people slow down to get on the on ramp because they are getting on right next to me. There are a million things like this through the day.

If love does no wrong to a neighbor, then even harming someone in tiny ways is still being unloving and breaking the law of Christ which is love your neighbor as yourself.

So what scripture can I go to where it shows that God is ok with harming people in tiny ways like this? All the verses about men of God in the old testament slaying false prophets or evil kings do not help me since those were just times when God was giving out justice to people who were doing evil things. I cant think of any time in the bible in which someone hurt an innocent/random person in a small way in which God was pleased with it. Except maybe when David put the life of the priest in jeopardy by asking him for bread and a sword when he knew that Doeg would tell Saul. But that does not seem to me to be a very good example. And I cannot think of any other similar example.

Does anything come to your minds?

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How do you know you're harming them? The person you slow down might need to be slowed down and taught to be patient. The person you ask if they're hiring might in fact be encouraged by someone who is actively looking for work. You're assuming you're causing harm without any proof.

May I suggest you live your life as unto the Lord and let Him worry about any "harm", real or imagined, you may be doing? Because, if nothing else, you are most definitely causing harm to yourself thinking the way you are at the moment and that's not good. The Lord does not want to see you in this state of anxiety. He has a solution. It's called grace, working through faith.

God has allowed evil and sin to enter this world for a reason. Trust Him to work out the things that come our way. You focus on Him and His kingdom and he will lead you in the paths of righteousness.

You need more than a verse (don't we all, ) but if there is one verse I would hold to in your place it would be:

Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

I appreciate that you try to be careful about not wasting people's time.

Here's one way to look at it: The people in the businesses that you talk to are being paid to be there. Either they're paid by the hour, or they're paid a salary. In either case, they're paid to be at the business doing business-related things. Talking to you is a business-related thing, so they're being paid to have that conversation with you. It's not a waste of their time. Conversing with customers and with potential employees is part of their job, even if that conversation is "sorry, we don't have anything available right now."

I wish you lots of luck in your job search, and I hope you find a position that fits your interests and skills. Maybe few years from now, you'll be the one talking to potential employees!

Perhaps if you just answered ads or signs that were advertising for help, you wouldn't feel like you were encroaching on someone unnecessarily. Also keep in mind if you don't have a job, how do you get money to live? Is it a way that may be "harming someone in tiny way"?

MikeinSeattle said:

So, I know this sounds really weird but this actually is something that I am struggling with.

I am realizing that I have a problem with a hyper sensitive conscience. I know that it is a problem. But I do not have the ability to control it. I constantly feel condemnation and guilt at even the smallest thing and I do not have the ability to turn it off. It is very debilitating mentally.

I have picked the issue of looking for a job because it is just the latest example of a very small thing that I am feeling a huge amount of condemnation and guilt about.



So the reasoning goes like this:

The word says in Rom 13:10

"Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."

And in Matt 7:12

"So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them"

Ok so here is my problem:

If I am going into a bunch of different places of business and asking if they are hiring and if I can come work there than I am obviously going to be going into many different businesses that do not have any positions available that I can fill. And therefore I will be wasting the time of the people who I talk to in those businesses that do not have any jobs for me. I will be wasting their time that they could have spent doing other things. I will be in effect adding to their work load.

And that is the problem.

Wasting peoples time and adding to their work load is not a loving thing to do. I do not want other people wasting my time and adding to my work load. Even if you could say that it is a necessary part of finding a job or even that it is a necessary part of working for a company, it is still adding to their work load a task "talking to me" that they would not have to do if I was not making them do it. It is adding a burden on them that they otherwise would not have. It is harming them. Even if it is a very tiny way to harm someone it is still harming them.

As crazy as it sounds and as small of a thing as this is I still cannot get rid of the condemnation and guilt that I feel at harming others even in a way that is as small as this.

And this is something I experience all the time, in a million other ways in which I harm people in very small ways, making grocers bag groceries for me, making people slow down to get on the on ramp because they are getting on right next to me. There are a million things like this through the day.

If love does no wrong to a neighbor, then even harming someone in tiny ways is still being unloving and breaking the law of Christ which is love your neighbor as yourself.

So what scripture can I go to where it shows that God is ok with harming people in tiny ways like this? All the verses about men of God in the old testament slaying false prophets or evil kings do not help me since those were just times when God was giving out justice to people who were doing evil things. I cant think of any time in the bible in which someone hurt an innocent/random person in a small way in which God was pleased with it. Except maybe when David put the life of the priest in jeopardy by asking him for bread and a sword when he knew that Doeg would tell Saul. But that does not seem to me to be a very good example. And I cannot think of any other similar example.

Does anything come to your minds?

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Submitting applications for work is not committing sin nor is it wasting anyone's time .... applications may or may not be looked at ... that's up to the recipient of the application.

Guilt is not from the Lord.

Psalm 32:5
New International Version
​

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.

When you ask for forgiveness your guilt goes along with it ..... don't take it back.

Colossians 3:2​

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

When you can't stop analyzing situations over and over in your mind, it creates anxiety.

Give your anxieties and/or depression to the Lord and don't take them back.

My experience has been this ....

It has taken me a long time for this to happen in my life (relief from anxiety and depression) .... and occasionally it still creeps up on me .... but I am so much more at peace now than I have ever been and the more I immerse myself in His Word and focus on His Love and focus on heavenly things ... the less difficulty I have .... and it is significantly less.

My the Lord bring peace to your mind .... in Jesus name .... amen.

MikeinSeattle said:

So, I know this sounds really weird but this actually is something that I am struggling with.

I am realizing that I have a problem with a hyper sensitive conscience. I know that it is a problem. But I do not have the ability to control it. I constantly feel condemnation and guilt at even the smallest thing and I do not have the ability to turn it off. It is very debilitating mentally.

Click to expand...

It may not be a "hyper sensitive conscience" as such, but a real problem with anxiety, or maybe OCD type thoughts - I'm not an expert.
Have you spoken to a doctor; just to check that there's not a medical reason for this?

MikeinSeattle said:

I have picked the issue of looking for a job because it is just the latest example of a very small thing that I am feeling a huge amount of condemnation and guilt about.

So the reasoning goes like this:

The word says in Rom 13:10

"Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."

And in Matt 7:12

"So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them"

Ok so here is my problem:

If I am going into a bunch of different places of business and asking if they are hiring and if I can come work there than I am obviously going to be going into many different businesses that do not have any positions available that I can fill.

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But you won't know that until you ask.
You don't know that a staff member hasn't resigned/died/been fired the day before and the management haven't yet got around to discussing how to fill the vacancy. You don't know that you popping in at the right time hasn't been the answer to a prayer.

MikeinSeattle said:

And therefore I will be wasting the time of the people who I talk to in those businesses that do not have any jobs for me. I will be wasting their time that they could have spent doing other things.

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You won't be wasting their time. It's likely they will pass you straight onto the manager/personnel department - and it is their job to advertise and recruit people.

MikeinSeattle said:

And that is the problem.

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No, the problem is that you perceive that this is a problem.

Businesses, retailers, schools etc need new staff all the time. Their staff won't work for them forever; they may be fired, find more attractive jobs, move away with their families, get married, become too ill to work, or die. Any boss knows this. Even if they employ a number of people who all work in the business for their whole lives, when those people retire, the boss has to advertise for more staff, or just close the business. And very often there will be life events along the way - illness, marriage family problems etc.

MikeinSeattle said:

Wasting peoples time and adding to their work load is not a loving thing to do.

Click to expand...

Have you asked them if your going in and asking if they have any vacancies is a waste of their time?
If not, it is just your perception that this is what you are doing.

MikeinSeattle said:

I do not want other people wasting my time and adding to my work load.

Click to expand...

A simple enquiry is not a waste of time.
If you were to discover they had a vacancy, say that you were interested, look around the business, fill in an application form, get references, go for an interview, get offered the job and then say that you had changed your mind/weren't interested, THAT would be a waste of their time. They would have spent time interviewing you, showing you around etc when you weren't interested. They might very well ask you why you had treated them that way, and they would probably make a note, incase you decided to apply there again.

MikeinSeattle said:

Even if you could say that it is a necessary part of finding a job or even that it is a necessary part of working for a company, it is still adding to their work load a task "talking to me" that they would not have to do if I was not making them do it.

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You're not "making them do it." You ask if they have any vacancies; they answer you. It would be very rude, as well as very foolish, to say "not telling you" - although it takes more time to say "not telling you" or "go away and stop bothering me" than it does to say "no, sorry".

You're not making any of us answer your thread on this forum. I'm spending time writing this answer because I choose to.

MikeinSeattle said:

It is adding a burden on them that they otherwise would not have. It is harming them.

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No, it's not harming them in the slightest - that is your perception.

MikeinSeattle said:

As crazy as it sounds and as small of a thing as this is I still cannot get rid of the condemnation and guilt that I feel at harming others even in a way that is as small as this.

Click to expand...

You are not harming anyone else.

If you are harming anyone, it is yourself. You may not be able to control these negative thoughts, emotions and anxieties - which is why I asked if you had talked it over with a doctor. And no, you won't be wasting his time either; it's his job.

MikeinSeattle said:

And this is something I experience all the time, in a million other ways in which I harm people in very small ways, making grocers bag groceries for me,

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You do not make a grocer bag groceries for you - they do it because it is good customer service. You will remember their kindness and helpfulness and maybe go back there again - it's good business sense. The grocer might even be a Christian and be doing it because they are serving Christ who gave them the job in the first place.

MikeinSeattle said:

So what scripture can I go to where it shows that God is ok with harming people in tiny ways like this?

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There isn't one - because nothing that you are doing is harming others. You are the only one who believes that it is.

MikeinSeattle said:

All the verses about men of God in the old testament slaying false prophets or evil kings do not help me since those were just times when God was giving out justice to people who were doing evil things. I cant think of any time in the bible in which someone hurt an innocent/random person in a small way in which God was pleased with it. Except maybe when David put the life of the priest in jeopardy by asking him for bread and a sword when he knew that Doeg would tell Saul. But that does not seem to me to be a very good example. And I cannot think of any other similar example.

Click to expand...

Can you find a verse which says that if you go and ask someone if they have any vacancies in their place of work, they are wasting their time by answering you?
Is there a verse, or passage, that if someone puts your groceries in a bag, they only did it because you made them, and therefore you have harmed them?
Jesus commended people who served out of duty, loyalty and love.

Was Jesus harming the disciples when he told them to collect the leftovers after the feeding of the 5,000?
Or when he sent them out into nearby towns to proclaim the Good News?
Or when he asked the woman at the well for a drink?
Did he apologise to his mother for making her give birth to him?
When Jesus healed Bartimaeus and gave him back his sight, did he feel guilty for making him give up his life as a beggar? Did he feel guilty that Bartimaeus followed him along the road? Or that his disciples left their jobs, homes and families to follow him?
Does Scripture say that if you ask someone a question because you want to find out some information, that person suffers harm by answering you? How many questions did Jesus, the Apostles or Paul ask others?

MikeinSeattle said:

I would probably just feel bad for wasting the time of all the people I didn't end up hiring.

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Their time wouldn't have been wasted.
If they were wise, they would have learnt from the process of writing their CV and the application form. They may have learnt that the job wasn't right for them. They may have been challenged to go away and get some further skills/qualifications.
They may even, in time, be grateful that you didn't employ them, because they found something better.

Unless things have changed, you're supposed to fill out a job application and leave it there with your resume (if any) and wait for them to call you.

Back in 1994, I once landed a sales job for a chemical equipment reseller simply by driving in and asked if they were looking for a sales engineer. I spoke to the owner just as he was getting ready to leave and he set up interviews with his sales management team. Never hurts to ask. The worst they can say is no.

It's like dating. If you don't ask for the first date, you might not have found a spouse for 30 years

There are gadzillions of reasons folks come up with not to do things, or to do them, for that matter. If one's income is sufficient to meet one's needs, then one might not wish to be employed. However, that does leave one with an immense amount of time to be filled. I suggest that employment beats sitting at home playing video games, by far.

MikeinSeattle said:

Does anything come to your minds?

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It sounds like you are dealing with scrupulosity-type OCD.

Your "dilemma" will not go away until you deal with the OCD aggressively by

1. seeing a psychiatrist (not just a psychologist) &
2. finding a church that is good at dealing with mental illnesses.