The doctrine of vocation, then, reflects the experience of Bezalel, Oholiab, and their co-workers in Exodus 31. Vocation fills otherwise ordinary labor with significance and sheds light on understanding work as God’s gift. Vocational work continues God’s commitment to forming and filling a shapeless and empty world as in the beginning. God’s calling helps the individual identify and engage in his or her particular role in partnership with God and as part of God’s master plan for the advancement of His creation.

Rooted in Bounty

Abundance characterizes Spirit-empowered work. Filled with the Spirit of God, Bezalel receives wisdom, understanding, knowledge and “all kinds of skills” (Exod. 31:3), including the ability “to engage in all kinds of crafts” (v. 4). God gives Bezalel an assistant, Oholiab, and provides “ability to all the skilled workers to make everything” He had commanded (v. 6). Exodus 36 describes every worker as “willing to come and do the work” (36:2). R. Paul Stevens explains here that “the Hebrew literally means that their hearts were lifted up to become involved in this work”64 (emphasis added)—the language of abundance. Moreover, all of this takes place in the context of such generous giving on the part of God’s people that Moses must instruct the people to stop bringing offerings for the building of the Tabernacle “because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work” (36:7).

Such abundance exists repeatedly in Scripture where the Spirit of God reigns. In the creation account, Adam receives “every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it” (Gen. 1:29).65 Following the flood, Noah hears, “Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything” (9:3). Abram’s conversation with God includes this promise: “Look around … . All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever” (13:14-15). When Jesus feeds five-thousand with five loaves and two fishes (Mark 6:34-44), twelve baskets remain leftover. In Acts, because of the generosity of the followers of Christ, “there were no needy persons among them” (Acts 4:34). The New Jerusalem of Revelation 21 is marked by such abundance that “the nations … walk by its light and the kings of the earth … bring their splendor into it” (Rev. 21:24).

All this reflects and flows from the nature of God himself. God acts on creation’s behalf not because lack requires it, but because bounty compels it. Ephesians 2, for example, describes God as “rich in mercy” (Eph. 2:4) and further identifies God’s abundance as the motivation behind His redemptive activity. Specifically, “because of his great love for us,” Paul writes, “God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ” (vv. 4-5). In other words, although humanity certainly stands in need before God, His actions toward His creation do not flow out of their need but out of His greatness. Even within the Trinity itself, perichoresis exists not because Father, Son, or Holy Spirit lacks in any way but because each abounds in every way. Additionally, as Jensen observes, “the divine persons are what they are only within this eternal relationship”66 This intrinsic abundance within the Godhead results in generosity toward human beings, as God “shares creativity and power with those he works with, choosing to work in community.”67 The Apostle John affirms this when he writes, “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another” (John 1:16).

Presupposing that out of and because of His abundance God has supplied everything needed allows for a generosity regarding work and its fruits that corresponds, then, to God’s generosity of grace toward us. As Jensen observes, “Whereas current patterns of work imply scarcity and competition, the divine work operates out of abundance, generosity, and freedom.”68 When confidence rests in God’s abundance, work becomes God’s gift to generously share not a commodity to battle over. Resources become evidences of God’s grace to utilize for the benefit of the whole, not possessions to hoard. By implication, enough wealth-creating work exists within the realm of God’s creation to engage gainfully all willing people. Enough divine abundance exists to supply every need.

Current economic presumptions generally assume limitations, not sufficiency. A scarcity mindset, however, impacts the human thought process negatively, leaving people preoccupied with what they do not have and minimizing their capacity for fruitful decisions regarding what they do have. In their recent book, Sendhill Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir examine how even the perception of scarcity captures the mind and restricts human percipience. Concern over insufficiency, whether genuine or only imagined, left subjects robbed of “cognitive capacity and executive control”69—essentially, the mental ability and human willpower required for productive assessment and action.

By contrast, presupposing the abundance and generosity of God leads to different conclusions not only about the nature and purpose of work but also about broader economic realities. As Jensen explains, “What differentiates reigning economic assumptions from their ecclesial counterparts is that sharing in the former is needed as an exigency amid scarcity. In the church’s economy, however, the world already has all it needs, and the desire is that all should participate in fullness.”70 Knowledge of that fullness—the fullness of the triune God who created and redeems all that exists—must transform humanity’s understanding of work into God’s grace-based and sufficient gift.

Part of the challenge lies in the believer’s inclination to limit the effective sphere of the grace of God. Quoting A. I. C. Heron, Volf suggests that most Protestant theology has been “inclined to restrict the activity of the Spirit to the spiritual, psychological, moral or religious life of the individual.”71 Volf expounds, suggesting, “first, the activity of the Spirit was limited to the sphere of salvation, and second, the locus of the present realization of salvation was limited to the human spirit.”72 The Scriptures paint a different picture, suggesting that the activity of the Spirit is not bound to such limitations and, indeed, has liberty to engage the whole person and the entire world, including every laborer’s task and every economic system extant on the planet.

Expressed in Community

When people see lack and deficiency as abnormal and, instead, see gracious supply from a generous God as typical, relational paradigms shift, as well. Rapport replaces rivalry and interaction supplants isolation. Where resources are more than adequate, others become partners, not competitors. As Jensen asserts, “The divine economy underscores primacy of relation and the priority of persons over labor.”73 This prioritizing of relationships moves people toward alignment with the Trinitarian reality in which Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in eternally harmonious relationship. Equally, this reflects the warm invitation Jesus extended to weary laborers: “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Indeed, Jesus calls His closest disciples first into relationship— “that they might be with him”—and only after that toward productivity—“that he might send them out to preach and have power to cast out demons” (Mark 3:14-15).

The Trinitarian Godhead’s example of and invitation to the prioritization of relationship stands in stark contrast to the overarching emphasis on individualism in contemporary culture. People obsess over individual rights and individual preferences. But “in the process of individualization,” writes Witherington, “we lost contact with the biblical notion of collective personality—that is, how we get our true identity through the group we belong to, in this case, the body of Christ.”74 Michael Matheson Miller agrees, shattering the myth of the isolated individual by announcing “individualism is a myth … there are no individuals.”75 Further reflection suggests this is not far from the truth. Humans have identity not in isolation but only in relationship, as no one exists apart from relationship. From the moment of conception, every person is “son” or “daughter”—a statement of relationship. The same stands true for Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who eternally exist only in relationship with one another. Because of this, stresses Greg Forster, “we need to see the work of everyone around us and understand the vast cultural system of economic exchange through which we all serve one another as independent co-stewards.”76 Apart from such an understanding, human labor lacks the relational context God intends.

Biblical work, then, which with the appearing of Jesus becomes more specifically the work of the kingdom of God, is characteristically shared labor that grows from God’s abundance. God models this from the beginning, “shar[ing] creativity and power with those he works with, choosing to work in community, from the dawn of Creation when he says, ‘Let us make man …’ and on an ongoing basis ever since.”77 Shared labor characterizes all truly biblical labor.

Moreover, Scripture presents shared prosperity—generosity—as a primary motivation behind biblical work. Paul instructs the Ephesian believers, for example, that “he who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need” (Eph. 4:28). Notice that Paul intends not simply for believers to live within the law, or even be gainfully employed, but that they practice both those disciplines so that they might also practice generosity. The New Testament strongly and repeatedly encourages generosity, particularly toward the needy.78

Generosity, then, reflects the heart of God while testifying to God’s intent behind work. It stands in stark contrast to the spirit of this age where “consumption has become the stimulus for work. In a society that prizes acquisition, consumption, and disposable commodities, work is not valued in itself, but because work creates the means for devouring more products.”79 Biblical work recognizes the need to provide for one’s family (1 Tim. 5:8), but also embraces God’s heart for those in need, aware of the abundance that marks the character of God.

This sense of partnership and community in human work stretches beyond relationship with God and relationship with others to include the whole of “non-human creation.”80 Humanity is created “from the earth,” anticipating their inherent connection with labor, but also “in the image of God,” clarifying that their identity grows out of relationship with the One who formed them. “It is not just that we work on the earth or in the earth; it is that we work with the earth, and as our home and habitat we need to treat it with respect. … Dust we are, and to dust we shall return.”81 Rightly understood, the communal quality of human labor stretches to include all non-human creation, also.

The implications of such an understanding run deep, suggesting that every time a mechanic turns a wrench or a waitress delivers a meal, every time a surgeon makes an incision or a CEO makes a decision, that worker does so in response to and as an expression of the abounding grace of God, not in isolation, but in partnership—with God, with others, and with the world itself.

Fueled By Anticipation

A biblical understanding of work, then, grounds work in the goodness of creation, informs work through the practice of Sabbath rest, and accomplishes work in the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. A fully Pentecostal understanding of work, however, also celebrates work as both a present and anticipatory expression of the eschatological reign of Christ. Biblically, the Spirit-empowered believer works in cooperation with God toward God’s consummative act as declared in Revelation. Properly understood, then, humanity’s relationship to work stands rooted in the past activity of creation and the present reality of redemption. But the panoramic significance of work remains incomplete without considering the connection between work and God’s Kingdom both present and coming.

Living the Future Now

From the moment sin fractured the world in the Garden of Eden, anticipation of the world’s healing began. Beginning with the blood sacrifice required in order to supply Adam and Eve with “garments of skin” (Gen. 3:21) extending to the blood sacrifices demanded of Israel’s covenant, God repeatedly foreshadowed an altogether righteous sacrifice capable of making humanity whole. Likewise, from the warning to the serpent regarding one of Eve’s descendants—“He will crush your head” (v. 15)—to the multiple prophetic declarations promising a righteous Kingdom ruled by a righteous king,82 God made clear His commitment to restore not just broken people but broken creation.

God’s plan for creation’s redemption advances powerfully through the ministry of Christ. Fulfilling God’s prophetic promises, Jesus evidences through His ministry heaven’s invasion of this earthly realm. He draws to himself disciples who share His mission, teaching them to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10) and to work for the same. Ultimately, following His death, resurrection, and exaltation, that same eternal Spirit by which Jesus ministered is generously poured out on all flesh, and the age to come continues its aggressive invasion of this present age. Life becomes, for a rapidly expanding number of redeemed people, a present experience of eternal realities. “The unprecedented aspect of Jesus’ understanding of the Kingdom,” writes Graham Cray, “was that the future rule of God was in some sense present now.”83

Jesus’ resurrection serves as “an anticipation of the new creation [with] eschatological consequences for the new heavens and the new earth.”84 The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost shatters the barrier between “this age” and “the age to come.”85  Eternity now continuously invades time through the ongoing activity of the Holy Spirit in the earth. Indeed, as “a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession” (Eph. 1:14), the activity of the Holy Spirit is, by definition, eschatological—offering a present expression of a promised future. Spirit empowered believers live the future now.

All of this powerfully impacts a Christian understanding of the role and significance of work. Indeed, for Volf, no more significant factor exists. “At its core,” he writes, “Christian faith is eschatological. Christian life is life in the Spirit of the new creation or it is not Christian life at all. … Christian work must, therefore, be done under the inspiration of the Spirit and in light of the coming new creation.”86 Although work may be intrinsic to human nature by virtue of humanity’s creation in the image of God and transformed into something bountiful and communal through humanity’s redemption by the grace of God, the most compelling characteristic of truly biblical work now emerges as its eschatological character imputed by the Spirit of God.

Striving for His Kingdom Come

For Volf, God’s coming Kingdom establishes the pattern toward which all Christian activity must aim. Concern for current realities holds significance primarily in terms of its contrast with future realities as promised in Christ and the new creation. Articulating these contrasts provides the foundation for understanding the goal of Christian service. The purpose behind any theology of work, indeed behind work itself, must stand as “ever greater correspondence with the coming new creation.”87

Amy Sherman develops this theme at length, declaring that “the consummated kingdom is marked by two major, closely related features: justice and shalom.”88 Justice, for Sherman, breaks down into rescue, equity, and restoration. “The justice of God,” she writes, “is all about restoring wholeness in relationships—with God and with other human beings.”89 Shalom finds expression in four quadrants of peace: peace with God, self, others, and creation.

These two qualities of justice and shalom provide a basic framework for Christian labor. Such efforts often falter, however, when Christians (1) understand the gospel too narrowly, concentrating on the individual and the past; (2) understand heaven too inadequately, divorcing eternity from the here and now; (3) lack accountability regarding the implementation of personal faith; and (4) live in a homogenous culture, insulated from other social classes and ethnicities.90 Sherman warns the Church not to “shrinkwrap the kingdom down to this limited scope of activity.”91 “If anything,” she writes, “this gospel is about heaven coming to earth, not us going to heaven.”92

N. T. Wright sheds further light on the conversation with his challenge toward “imagining the Kingdom.”93 Wright argues that biblical scholarship has historically failed to see the story of Jesus as “the continuation and climax of the ancient story of Israel.”94 The Gospels, he suggests, stand in contrast to the contemporary narrative of the rise of Augustus, the Roman emperor, and declare “how Israel’s God becomes king of the whole world.”95 Unlike a gospel, then, in which “the purpose of the whole thing is ‘to go to heaven when you die,’”96 the biblical Gospels invite us to imagine “the kingdom of God on earth as in heaven and [work] for that end.”97

Perhaps Paul’s words in Colossians 3:22-24 provide the most directly illuminating New Testament passage regarding the eschatological character of work. Collectively, Colossians 3:18-4:1 expound on Paul’s previous exhortation that the believer should put both heart and mind on things above (Col. 3:1, 2), put to death that which belongs to the earthly nature (v. 5), and live as one who has “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (v. 10). Colossians 3:18 through 4:1 ultimately extrapolates what it means to “do … all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (v. 3:17).

Martin Luther described Colossians 3:18-4:1 as a Haustafel, meaning “a list of rules for the household.”98 The list defines the ethical responsibilities relative to various positions within a domestic unit. In each case, the passage identifies the party being addressed, commands a certain course of action, and provides a motivating statement for the specified behavior.99 The structure suggests a “literary independence”100 from both what precedes and what follows it. Indeed, some scholars suggest the verses addressing wives and husbands and children and parents reflect roots in pre-Christian ethical instruction. O’Brien, however, argues that verses 22-24 appear unique to Paul. “Even those commentators who have asserted most forcefully that Paul took over and Christianized material from Hellenism or Hellenistic Judaism in the household tables concede that [the injunctions given slaves and masters] have been newly formulated as specifically Christian instructions.”101 

Given that slaves constituted as much as one-half the population of the Roman Empire,102 Paul may have developed and included this material at this point in hopes of diffusing any concern from outside Christianity over the threat of social upheaval inherent in the pronunciation of equality made in 3:11.103 Still, part of the assurance of Colossians 3:22- 24 as distinctly Christian instruction grows from the status given slaves by the passage. “Contemporary non-Christian writings, both pagan and Jewish, do not ordinarily address, or refer to, slaves as morally responsible persons.”104 Indeed, the contemporary culture made no distinction between slaves and any other piece of production equipment. “The Roman Varro classified farm implements into three classes: the articulate, the inarticulate, and the mute— the articulate being slaves.”105 Paul erases such distinctions and affirms strongly the equality of all humanity in Christ.

Equality brings responsibility, however. In contrast to earlier codes that may have contributed to what Paul has written, he treats each individual as a responsible moral agent in his or her own right.106 Indeed, Angela Standhartinger argues that isotes (fair) in 4:1 serves as an “interpretive key to reading the [household] code”107 and is designed to ultimately undermine the “unambiguously oppressive ethics”108 reflected in 3:18-4:1. Susan Henderson’s language uses less inflammatory language, suggesting that the author encourages the Colossians to “transform [existing cultural] values by means of the distinctive ‘grace’ that derives from new life in Christ.”109

Significantly in regard to work, the passage frames human labor in uniquely Christian parameters, even labor offered under the most distressing circumstances. Although Paul directs these words of exhortation to slaves, the principles revealed remain pertinent today.

Indeed, these words may hold particular significance for the contemporary blue-collar or pink-collar worker whose employment obligations provide limited opportunity for any kind of autonomy or self-direction on the job. Paul writes:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven (Col. 3:22-4:1).

Colossians 3:22 exhorts slaves to “obey … earthly masters in everything.” The phrase “earthly masters” translates kata sarxa and hints that some other “Master” may be involved. Paul warns against “eye-service” only, using ophthalmodoulia, a word found here for the first time in Greek literature and perhaps a word coined by Paul himself.110 Paul invites, instead, labor offered with “sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord” (Col. 3:22). “Sincerity of heart” (haplotes kardias) reflects “a singleness of intention, a focus of purpose, springing from the center of motivation and concern.”111 Such intentionality should couple with “reverence for the Lord,” an emphasis reminiscent of the wisdom literature of the Old Testament.

The eschatological character of Paul’s exhortation comes to the forefront in Colossians 3:23 where Paul promises sincere, reverent, full-hearted laborers “an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.” “Inheritance” translates kleronomias, a word appearing fourteen times in the New Testament. More than just the forgiveness experienced at salvation,112 the word carries eschatological dimensions, ultimately connecting God’s redemptive action with “future fulfillment at the end of time.”113 Scholars disagree on the voice of the final sentence: although, as above, many translate in the indicative voice, others argue for the imperative, “Serve the Lord Christ.” The voice of the latter matches the previous imperative for “work” and may align better with the section’s concluding verse: “Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism” (Col. 3:25), especially with the inclusion of the debated textual variant gar.114

Any biblical perspective on human work must embrace this scriptural promise of an inheritance from Christ. Certainly, the first-century slave “could expect neither ‘recompense nor inheritance’”115 for labor diligently offered. Indeed, in other New Testament passages, the Scriptures highlight the lack of any standing on the part of the slave.116 In Colossians 3:24-25, however, the Christ-pleasing laborer is assured both that “the Lord would take care of any indignities suffered in the role imposed upon him [and that] in the Kingdom he could expect the same lot as his master, the eternal ‘inheritance.’”117

“Working for the Lord” (Col. 3:23) certainly involves exhibiting the kind of character qualities that Paul describes in the preceding section of Scripture, Colossians 3:1-17. The eschatological promise of Colossians 3:24, however, stretches the implications for biblical work beyond those desirable traits to include an understanding of human labor as a means of anticipating and expressing God’s coming Kingdom in the here and now. “With this ‘new creation’ orientation, work becomes a type of eschatological mandate rather than simply a creation mandate.”118 Biblical work anticipates and strives toward the realization of the Kingdom of heaven on earth. “Work … from a Christian perspective, is not just viewed in light of the original creation order, much less in light of the Fall. It is primarily viewed in the light of the Christ event, and it looks forward to the completion of that event when Christ returns.”119 Colossians 3:22-4:1 expands the timeline of work’s significance from creation’s beginnings forward into eternity yet to come.

Expecting Eternal Results

For some, an eschatological concept of work raises questions of the validity of such work, and specifically whether any benefit accrues from such work given the brokenness of this world until the return of Christ. A common Christian understanding presumes the annihilation of this world, although not the annihilation of its human inhabitants, and the eternal experience of “a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:13). Indeed, the Apostle Peter declares, “the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (v. 10). Taken alone, these verses suggest that “since everything will be destroyed in this way” (v. 11), investment in advancing the Kingdom of heaven on earth results in only temporary impact at best.120

Without detracting from the return of Christ or the ultimate destruction of that built with “wood, hay, or straw” (1 Cor. 3:12), Volf argues that the liberation of creation, as described in Romans 8:21, “cannot occur through its destruction but only through its transformation.”121 The continuity evident in the pre- and post-resurrection appearances of Jesus provides a biblical precedent. “As the resurrection of Christ shows,” says Volf, “… the new creation is a reaffirmation of the first.”122 The way in which the resurrection body of Christ ties to the natural body of Christ suggests something about how the liberated creation ties to the historical creation. “The resurrection body demands a corresponding, glorified but nevertheless material, environment.”123

This understanding of redeemed humanity’s eternal experience as something earthy and palpable challenges much conventional thought. However, as Andrew Shepherd declares, “Paul’s understanding of the ‘gospel’ could not be further removed from the appalling belief held by many Christians that creation will be destroyed by God and that our eternal future consists of some sort of disembodied state with other souls in a place called ‘heaven.’”124 Indeed, the creation account itself demands something different. The “concept of human holiness,” writes Carol Wiseman, “has its origins in creation. God is holy; therefore all that He created was holy.”125 Christians should reexamine their presumptions regarding the eternal destiny of God’s once-entirely-holy creation in view of Christ’s resurrection and the biblical promise of creation’s liberation.

When believers integrate the liberation of creation itself and the resurrection of their own bodies into their understanding of life eternal, present Kingdom-advancing labors take on entirely new dimensions. Murray Dempster describes such efforts as “kingdom-signifying deeds of anticipatory transformation” and declares that these “are the kinds of human effort that God preserves, sanctifies and directs teleologically toward the future age of God's redemptive reign.”126 Today’s work holds rich potential for bearing fruit of eternal value.

Indeed, biblical texts promise a rich and eternal prize specifically as a reward for diligent earthly labor. The Parable of the Talents stands as a prime example. The servant who did no work in his master’s absence finds himself cast into outer darkness. “In that place,” Jesus says, “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 25:30). But those servants who labored faithfully and fruitfully find abundant reward: “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21, 23). The Apostle Paul anticipates such a reward, declaring, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Tim 4:7-8). Finally, John echoes this theme in Revelation, where “the one who is victorious and does my [Jesus’] will to the end” (Rev. 2:26) is promised authority over the nations—a promise reflected in the repeated references to the new role of the redeemed as kings and priests (5:10; 20:6; 22:5).

Fundamentally, then, “all present activity is a convergence of creation and hope, integrating the creation order with the perfect order of the age the come.”127 An eschatological perspective on work recognizes that believers live the future now and rightly strive to work in such a way that advances God’s heavenly Kingdom on the earth, confident of results that will endure on that day when God’s consuming “fire will test the quality of each man’s work” (1 Cor. 3:13).

Conclusion

The Scriptures stand replete with insight for the contemporary worker. Work is no curse but rather God’s gift. Humanity’s propensity for work reflects creation in the image of God. Rest provides a necessary balance to work, challenging the worker to find his or her identity not in labor or labor’s results but in the finished work of Christ. Work and its products are not commodities to fight over but gifts from an abundant God to share in community as graciously as He has shared himself with humanity. Indeed, beyond salvation He has gifted and enabled every human in order that His creative acts might continue to unfold through humanity as part of His plan for eternity. All of this expresses and anticipates that future day when the Father brings “all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Eph. 1:10), and a redeemed humanity participates in “a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13).