Work Matters: Lessons From Scripture

by R. Paul Stevens

Adam and Eve worked. Jacob and Joseph worked. So did Ruth, David, Daniel, Jonah, Martha, Priscilla and Aquila, Paul -- and most people in the Old and New Testaments. In Work Matters marketplace theology expert R. Paul Stevens revisits more than twenty biblical accounts -- from Genesis to Revelation -- exploring through them the theological meaning of every sort of work, manual or intellectual, domestic or commercial. Taken together, his short, pithy reflections on these well-known Bible passages add up to a comprehensive, Bible-based theology of work -- one that will be equally useful for seminars, classes, Bible studies, and individuals seeking to grasp more fully the theological dimensions of their daily labor.

Genres: Theology, Spirituality, Christian

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

R. Paul Stevens is professor emeritus of marketplace theology and leadership at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia, and a marketplace ministry mentor. He has worked as a carpenter and businessman, and served as the pastor of an inner-city church in Montreal. He has written many books and Bible studies, including Doing God's Business, Work Matters, Marriage Spirituality, The Other Six Days and Spiritual Gifts. He is coauthor (with Pete Hammond and Todd Svanoe) of The Marketplace Annotated Bibliography.

Reviews

[Bill Pence · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author writes that this book is both a systematic theology of vocation and a spiritual theology of personal transformation. It is a book that engages both the head and heart. It is an approach to a comprehensive biblical theology of work, but it is certainly readable for those who don’t consider themselves to be theologians.
The author provides an introduction to each major section of the Bible, and then follows with stories of people in the Bible who are workers. He includes helpful discussion and reflection questions at the end of each chapter that can be used in study and discussion groups. Summaries of each major portion of Scripture are found at the end of each part. The epilogue reflects on how we should work in light of the preceding discussion. 
The author shows us that throughout the Bible we see different images of God as a worker - a gardener (Gen. 2:8), shepherd (Ps. 23), potter (Jer. 18:6), physician (Matt. 8:16), teacher (Ps. 143:10), vineyard-dresser (Isa. 5:1-7), and metalworker and refiner (Mal. 3:2-3; Ezek. 22:20), to name only a few. He tells us that we also made in the image of God as workers. We are called to work as God does (Gen. 1:28), and that calling does not stop at sixty-five or some arbitrary retirement age. He writes that there is no concept of retirement in the Bible.
He writes that we should make no distinction between sacred and secular work. In God's design, there is no dualism - sacred and secular. What makes work God-pleasing and God-blessed is not that God's name and Word are spoken out loud but that the work is done in love, faith, and hope. He states that the command to work was given before the fall and hence work is meant to be a blessing, not a curse. Toil, bad work, and the idolatry of work are the results of the fall. If it is true that all human work that embodies God's values and serves God's goals is rightly called God's work, then it follows that the old distinction between sacred work and so-called secular work can no longer be maintained.
He tells us that the most fundamental fact about calling and living vocationally is that we are first of all called to Someone before we are called to do something.
We all have a vocation, a calling, which is much more than a career. A career is something we choose, something we push to succeed in. But a calling is something for which we are summoned.
He writes that all believers are providentially sent by God into workplaces as missionaries. In these workplaces, we bear witness both by deed and word.
And although some believers may not see the value of our work because they believe it to be temporal, the author writes that our final destiny is not a workless utopia but a renewed world in which we will work with infinite creativity and fulfillment.
As the author takes us through the Bible, he shares how individuals such as Joshua, Ruth, Esther, Nehemiah, Daniel, Jesus and Paul did their work. I appreciated the approach the author took in this book, showing work throughout the Biblical record. Highly recommended for those exploring the value of work and integrating it with their faith.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Works

This was a great Christian book on work.

I found it very well written. Stevens is an engaging writer.
Great theology book.

Packed with great book recommendations in each chapter as well for further reading!

I would recommend this!

4.1/5

[Ganbayar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biblical insight

This book helps you to understand your job importance. No coincidence in our spiritual life same to your occupation. There must be purpose even it’s hard

[Ste Fy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of useless pages, very bad theology and awful quotes;
The rate of this book lowered like 1star/30 pages:))

There are women preachers and orthodox promotion, and toxic doctrines, my opinion

[Toby · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually want to say something nice about books I get from the Early Reviewers program and my mom did teach me that if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. But with this book, that's not an option. Lets agree that the atrocious editing could be a result of the book being an advance copy... good, that's out of the way. What remains is a book that sounded like a great idea to me. Let's examine the nature of work in scripture.... great, that could be very interesting and encouraging. But this book totally fails! Paragraphs are poorly though out and often don't carry the same thought through the paragraph. Many of them end with a sentence that concludes something completely different than what I though I was reading for the last few sentences. Then the overall flow is similar, wandering and strange. Even the overall logic is deeply flawed and so bad as to make me feel like I was reading a high schooler's term paper. Rife with huge jumps in logic such as "scripture says this, which implies that" and yet the implication is not at all clear, or even clearly related. In some cases, this happens for huge chunks of the text, including one large chunk that seemed to be making a Luddite anti-technology argument from scripture, but completely failed to connect the logic.[return][return]In short, I only got a few chapters in before quitting because the book is just plain poor writing, actually makes intelligent people who believe in Scripture look bad, and won't actually teach you anything about the nature of work in scripture. I didn't even pass it to someone else, I just tossed it in the recycle bin.

[Joaquin Hernandez]

recomendado por TGC
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/t...

Beginners who want to delve deeper into the theological background can also check out several other books. R. Paul Stevens's Work Matters (yes, the same title as Nelson's book) is a biblical survey showing how the theme of work runs through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

[Joel Ohman · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some gems hidden in here, but they should be mined only by those willing to venture into a morass of tangled logic, outlandish hermeneutical blunders, and outright incoherence. This work has some serious missteps, which is unfortunate, because the overall aim is sound. Unfortunately, I can't recommend this book. Read "Every Good Endeavor" by Keller or "How Shall We Then Work" by Welchel (or, both!) instead of this one.

[Robert D. Cornwall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decided to skim it -- Takes a look at the biblical texts dealing with work. Interestingly nothing about the Gospels.

You'd think there'd be a discussion of Matthew 20:1-16.