Each day millions of people shuffle off to work in order to better themselves and contribute to the world economy.  Some of you enjoy your work, others tolerate their work, and many wish they simply had work.  The young are aspiring to live out a dream, the middle aged are coming to grips with reality, and the retired are remembering when a career gave them purpose.

Work is something that we all do.  It’s not alien to us.  God gave us work in Genesis, and the writer of Ecclesiastes discovers that the joy of life comes from that which God gave us to do… turn the soil.  So why are so many people miserable?  What expectation has been planted in the mind of the millions who trudge back and forth?  Could it be that work has become a means to satisfy ourselves… rather than give God a chance to do His work?

Go ahead, make all the money you can and build as much wealth as possible.  Clamor and grab as much stuff as you think you could possibly need… and see what happens.  The person earning $18,000 per year and the person earning $1.8 million per year are no different… unless Christ is their teacher, they both are miserably searching for more.

You are blessed if you spent more than 1 minute trying to decide which brand of milk you prefer.  You are amazingly rich if you weighed your snack options at 2pm in the afternoon.  You are among the wealthiest people in the world if you slept soundly in an insulated home on a comfortable bed.

A certain amount of disgust pushes through me each time I feel like complaining about my work.  But not for the obvious reasons.  The distaste for my work comes when I realize that I’m not using my resources to feed the hungry, clothe the cold, attend to the fatherless, and give hospitality to the strangers around me.  In the bigger picture… my day job… doesn’t matter one bit if I’m not finding ways to serve others.

The church needs a punch in the gut… a wake up call… a “come to Jesus meeting”.   If we aren’t teaching one another how to serve… we missed. Every person who claims Christ as their King should be in service to others. Claiming 20% of the membership to be in service is a failure.

This is where men’s ministry can thrive. Stand up and be men who lead, show, protect, serve, and give. Be the examples of Christ so that families, children, and communities can see what real work looks like. Yes, we are all tired… possibly from doing too much work that only benefits us. Make some room, create some space, build opportunities and pathways that pave the way for service to others.

Does your work matter? It’s time to draw a line. Which side are you on? Working simply for yourself, or working to find ways to be the hands and feet of Christ?