It is an odd thing to advise God’s people, who are called by his name (2 Chronicles 2:17), not to work for God. Yet this shocking, perhaps even borderline heresy in the ears of some, might in fact be the single-most liberating counsel you will stumble upon this year. At least it has been for me since I quit working for God, having realized he doesn’t need me at all.
I work in the disability ministry, reaching out to persons with disabilities and their families. Only about 1-3% of parachurch organizations serve in this space. Because so few venture here due to the perceived challenges, I often receive well-meaning compliments: “You are doing such a wonderful job,” “You must have a big heart to do this,” etcetera. Such words can make a person believe they are indispensable.
I have to constantly remind myself and those who praise the work that even though the people I labor among might look by all counts underserved, and the need too great, God is by no means underserved or understaffed. If I stepped away from this work, vital though my contribution be, God’s plans and purposes would still be accomplished.
What Does Working for God Look Like?
Think about a human boss. Why does a boss employ people? He does it for one reason: he cannot do the job alone. The boss has limitations, no matter how talented he might be. He cannot be in two places at once or do multiple tasks at once. So he hires others to help him, and he pays them for their services. The notion that we work for God looks exactly like that. God is treated like a human boss who is overwhelmed. It assumes God is sitting in heaven, acknowledging that he cannot save the world alone and needs help. It assumes God needs us to fulfill the Great Commission because he cannot reach the lost without us.
When you view ministry as above, you serve with your own strength and your own might. You become a spiritual employee who is always stressed. You will worry endlessly about finances, about partners to join hands with in the work, and most of all about those to whom you’ve been called. All the weight of the ministry is on you because you think the results depend on your effort. Worst of all, you will start to feel as though you are doing God a favor. That God is somehow lucky to have you on his dream team.
But John Piper warns, “God is not served by human hands or mouths or arms or legs or brains. God is not served, as though he needed anything… Many people serve as though God needed them in our churches, and in doing so, in the very act of trying to honor him, belittle him. God is belittled when we serve him as though he needed anything.”
The Day I Quit Working for God
I used to worry constantly about many things in ministry. I’d worry about finances, about provision of strength, and about partners to work alongside. I acted as if I cared more about the ministry than God did (who actually owns it and am just a steward). I harbored great pride, though I did not see it that way. God would teach me through lack and pain that the ministry is his. He used the common but rich biblical text, 1 Peter 5:6-7, to rebuke me. I realized that refusing to cast my anxieties on him meant I wasn’t being humble under his mighty hand. I stopped working for him and started working with him. I began serving “as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified.” (1 Peter 4:11)
Working With God: His Power, Grace, and Energy
Working with God means acknowledging the following truths.
- It’s his power: Zechariah 4:6 reminds us, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”
- It’s his grace: Like Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:10, we say, “But by the grace of God I am what I am… I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”
- It is his energy: We toil with the energy that he works within us, as we read in Colossians 1:29, “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”
Treasure in Jars of Clay: Why Weakness is of Value
When you work with God, you realize you are just a vessel. In 2 Corinthians 4:7, Paul says that we have this treasure in “jars of clay” to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. A jar of clay is defined by its limitations: it is very fragile and easy to crack when dropped or kicked, and it is common. Jars of clay don’t produce anything; they are empty and only carry what their owners want them to carry. Their usefulness is in carrying whatever their owner pleases. It is never the jar’s concern where its contents will come from. Likewise, we as humans are weak and easily broken and have nothing we can produce without God. We can only be humble and trust in God’s mighty hand, as we see in 1 Peter 5.
Finding Liberation: Being an Open and Willing Jar
Doing ministry as one who works with God, not for him, has been incredibly liberating for me. Whatever your ministry – usher, cleaner, pastor, missionary, a member of the worship band, or some form of community worker, make sure to rely on God. As for me, I asked God to care for and provide for his ministry. When it bears fruit, glory to God; if it does not, glory to him as well. I no longer have to stress about the outcome.
God cares more than we can imagine for our daily needs and our work. He will always provide. Stop trying to be the hero of the story and let God be the Giver. “The Giver,” says John Piper, “gets the glory. If you serve in your own strength, you get the glory. If you serve in the strength that God supplies, God gets the glory.”
So, stop working for God. Start resting in his power and working from his abundance. Let him be the Giver, and you be the one who simply receives and overflows. Be an open and willing jar, ready to be used and to give back the credit and praise to God alone.