Why Should I?

“Why should I?” 

It may not be the exact way the question is phrased in your or my mind on any given Monday morning, but it is the question beneath so many thoughts and questions that swirl in our minds when we wake up and do not want to go to work.

”Why should I?” 

“What is the point?” 

“What is the purpose?” 

“Does it even matter?”

Even if we enjoy what we do, and what we do meets directly with our passion and wiring, we have all wondered why this work is worth doing? Though I have certainly meditated on this question in every vocation in my life—even as a church leader—it was never more pressing or more accurate than when I worked for Ricoh Lanier, a software and printer solutions company.  I liked sales, but I found myself longing to do something else, which at the time was vocational ministry. 

I wrongly believed at that time that one was not in ministry unless working for a church. 

Since I knew God called me to vocational ministry, I erroneously thought Ricoh was a waste of my time, a stepping stone to navigate on my way to my real life. As an aside, and as is so typical of human beings and their lack of satisfaction with most things, there have been several seasons of these last 15 years of vocational ministry that I have longed to be back in the marketplace. Go figure. Though I did decent work, I often did not do my best or most productive work because I spent so much time wondering why I even needed to be there. I spent time that I should have been effective in my career, daydreaming about my next move—am I alone in it? You see, whether you are working in a job that aligns with your passions or not, you have asked this question—why is this work worth doing?

I believe that having the answer to that question will empower us to work well in the things we love, which are at the centre of our passions. I think it will carry us, even when we are in a less than ideal situation. And here is the answer—God created us to be productive. It almost seems over-simple, but it is the very core of the answer to the question, “why should I?” We should because God made us—in part—for that purpose.  Though it might seem the greatest miracle of all time is the Universe itself, scripture tells us that the peak of His making, the very crown of His creative work, is us. Humanity. Human life. One might think that the Grand Canyon, or the great oceans, or Kilimanjaro, or even the Universe itself are the very heights of God’s creative genius, but they are not. 

You are. We are.

Nothing else God made compares to us.

Why? Because we are the only being in all of creation, God made in His Image—this is called Imago Dei.  But what does it mean, specifically, to be made in God’s image? 

Being made in God’s image means that you are uniquely endowed with a share of His glory and honour. 

Being made in God’s image means you have a Divine Deposit.

Being made in God’s image means that you have creativity, love, knowledge, reason, and will.  

Being made in God’s image means that you are His Royal Representative in this world. 

Part of your work’s purpose and motivation—the answer to why should I— is to reflect God’s character and creative genius. As God’s royal representatives in the world, the work you do is not mundane; it is reflective of God’s greater purposes. In one way or another, your job involves bringing beauty out of ugliness, order out of chaos, form to the formless. Perhaps unassembled car parts or pieces of construction material are used to create two of the most vital things in human culture—cars and homes. Perhaps natural products are identified, harvested, and distributed to nourish many or few. Perhaps a formless clump of meat becomes a delicious meal handed to someone across a counter.  Sickness treated. Babies delivered. Emails sent. Garbage removed. Meetings led. Homes sold. Recycling reused. Injustice rectified. Windows repaired. Sidewalks fixed. Technology extended. Stories transformed. Hearts and minds buttressed through counseling. 

Even working a commercial wrecking ball is not just to see something destroyed; there is purpose—making room for new creation. All of this work, and more, reflects God’s character and work. A formless and void universe was given form and filled. Chaos was tamed. Purpose and order and organisation, and in our work, we are reflecting the same. Yet, even understanding that our “why should I” is answered in our being Image Bearers is not the complete picture. You see, we are not only made in the image of God, but God gave us a specific mandate to work, make, and create.  “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God’s words here are a charter of sorts to all of humankind, and at the heart of this command are two clear directives—be productive and create culture.

The word translated “subdue” implies that Adam and Eve should take the Earth’s resources and make them useful for their lives. God intended them to develop the Earth so that they could come to steward agricultural products and animals. Housing and works of craftsmanship. Beauty, and eventually buildings and means of transportation. Finally, cities and inventions of all kinds. It is no wonder, then, that when God finished His work and called it very good, he placed Adam in the garden to work it and keep it. Work, meaning development and care. Keep, meaning nurture and protect. God left Eden’s glittering garden to human supervision as a divine charge and partnership in the exercise of earthly dominion. The narrative sets the man—and eventually the woman— amid Eden to perform their managerial work.

In the garden, God gives humankind a purposeful existence that includes overseeing their environment. After the Garden, and right from the start, we see people beginning to fulfil what Christians call the creation mandate. Humankind begins to grow food [Genesis 4:2], create cities [Genesis 4:17], play musical instruments [Genesis 4:21], and create tools [Genesis 4:22].  Even the Tower of Babel—the world's first skyscraper—[Genesis 11:3-4] is a display of the reflective nature and creative genius God placed in humankind.

When we work—in any work—God sees us imitate His attributes of wisdom, knowledge, skill, strength, creativity, delight in beauty, sovereignty, planning for the future, and the use of language to communicate.  “Why should I” is the question that threads this together and the one I believe we have answered thoroughly. When we wake up on a Monday morning and look at the week ahead, it should be with a sense of purpose, not begrudging. It should be with a sense of fulfilment, not fret. We should not be working just to get through it and to our weekend.  God made us for work. God made us for more.

Our sense of why comes from the abiding knowledge that the Living God made us in His image and created us to reflect Him in all we do. 

Our sense of why comes from the understanding that we are God’s representatives in the world, mandated to make, create, care, and cultivate.

Our sense of why comes from our knowing—perhaps even for the first time today—that there is no worthless or mundane work because when we work (aside from outright sinful behaviour), we obey, glorify and imitate Him. 

What do we do, then? We work in a way that obeys, imitates and glorifies God. If this is at the forefront of our mind, then we will never wonder why we should, and we may begin to thank God each time Monday rolls around.  What we do next, well, that is up to each of us. Perhaps we will be inspired to wake up tomorrow—or whenever it rolls around again—and earnestly say, “Thank God it’s Monday!”