09.02.22
by Dr. John H. Morgan

Your work and the fruits of it are sacred. Here at five reasons why and three steps to recover that spirit.

#1. We Live Out God’s Image through Our Work

The human process of work starts in the human mind with a picture of what we want. Then we work to cause it to happen. This is a God-like trait. God pictured the universe, the earth, and everyone and everything that would exist in it first in his mind, in his Logos, and then he did and does the work to make it happen.

God created us as special creatures who could do this in similar ways. No other creature does work as a reflection of God’s attributes like people do. Animals are very limited by comparison. So are angels. Angels don’t build technologies, complex innovations, and empires. That’s what people do. The Creator created you to be a creator.

Genesis 1:27 says that we are created in God’s image.

Genesis 1:28 follows that truth with God’s first command to people who are created in his image. It says, “God blessed them and said, Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth…. and take dominion of it.” Taking dominion is the act of creating new products, services, and solutions that make our livings, serve others, make the world a better place, and honor God. It is human work.

#2. We Fulfill Our First God-given Purpose through Our Work

Christians love the Great Commission in Matthew 28 to go make disciples of all nations, and rightly so.

However, the first command, the First Commission, was the command to use our God-given mental capacities to dream of better lives and a better world and to do the work that creates it. That is what you do through your work.

#3. We Create Money through Our Work

The first principle of economics is that value, or money, is created. It is created by people who create new products, services, and solutions. The new value we create is where true money, where the value in money, is born.

Money is not created by the government on a printing press. Currency is the printed representation of value, but it is not the value itself. It only has value if the people of a nation create value with their work. Imagine what would happen to the U.S. dollar if every American refused to go to work. The dollar and the American economy would crash because the value behind the dollar would disappear.

You are the creator of money. You turn ideas into reality. You give birth to money.

#4. We Create Human Flourishing through Our Work

When you work and create good value, you are creating human flourishing. You are solving your poverty and you are not putting that burden on anyone else. You are supporting your family. You are creating things that serve other people. You are making the world a better place and honoring God.

That’s why the Bible says, “Do your work as unto the Lord.” It is sacred.

#5. The Fruits of Our Labor are Our Sacred Possessions

John Locke wrote the Two Treatises  on Government in 1689. He argued that people, who are created in the image of God, have several God given rights. First, they own their lives. That means they are free to do the work it takes to feed, clothe, house, and sustain themselves. Second, they own their work. That means they own their time and efforts to create goods. They are free to employ themselves or sell their services to an employer. And third, they own the fruits of their labors. They are the rightful owners of what they create with their work or what they purchase with what they create. They can harvest the fruits of the earth, cultivate crops, raise livestock, craft goods, build things, innovate, provide services, and purchase, own, and improve land.

Locke went on to say that it is the purpose of government to protect the God-given rights of life, liberty, and property. His writings were the most influential ideas that shaped how the American Founders wrote the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. America was founded on the freedom to work and to possess the fruits of our labor. It was founded on the Spirit of Work that creates human flourishing.

Recent Government Policies Have Damaged the Spirit of Work

Unfortunately, In recent times, government policies have created a spirit of anti-work.

During the Summer riots of 2020, it permitted and encouraged the destruction of people’s properties and businesses that were the fruits of their life’s work.

It promoted the lockdown of people in their homes and away from work and the shut-down of businesses that people had given their life savings and work to build.

It promoted over-spending by the government and an anti-work spirit in people by sending them “free” money. However, it was not free because another key principle of economics is that everything gets paid for. Government spending gets paid for by working people paying more in taxes and everyone paying more in inflation.

It over-printed money way beyond the value that workers were creating and thus the government created inflation. Another economic truth is that Inflation is always caused by government overspending and over printing of currency. It is also the most oppressive and regressive form of “taxation” because it “taxes” the poor more harshly. After all, they too have to pay more to stay alive out of their limited means. They pay more for rent, utilities, food, transportation, medicine, and everything else.

It has lost its mind with outrageous spending on climate change initiatives that do not make sense for human freedom, the economy, or the environment. It is a massive boondoggle to centralize power and money in the government through its pet “crises” and causes.

In short, government policies appear to be intentionally destroying the Spirit of Work. This is a crisis because, in the name of nature’s flourishing and human flourishing, the result will be tyranny, destruction, and misery. Just look at how the state and local government leaders of these movements are creating zones of human homelessness, drug infestation, destruction, and human degradation in their cities. It is their picture of things to come.

Three Steps to Recover the Spirit of Work

To recover the Spirit of Work, we must take three actions. They are simple but they are not simplistic. They are complex in their applications.

#1. First, we must recover faith in God as our number one priority.

#2. Second, we must recover our identity as people created in the image of God with the gifts and calling from God to create better lives and a better world and with the God given rights of life, liberty, and property.

#3. And finally, we must demand that the government protect our God given rights. 

Imagine a country where you are free to serve God by creating the best value you can through your work and where the government would protect you with high freedom, low taxes, low regulation, and low interference. That would be a place of personal and human flourishing.