For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

These thoughts develop themes presented in Working with God III, and the idea of being on the same page as God presented in More on Power. I see two different aspects of God at work through our vocational lives in this verse. One is the emphasis on what God wants to accomplish in the world through our work. I have always read this verse as primarily about those good works that God has for me to walk in. So it is about what I am doing, but I cannot boast or take credit for those things because God is a key part of making them happen. There is a helpful focus on the value of our work in this verse.

The other aspect is the idea that we are God’s workmanship. It is not just about what we are doing or accomplishing (or what God is accomplishing through us), it is also about who we are becoming. God is interested in us as His workmanship, not just what He accomplishes through us. There is a helpful focus on the value of our character (fruit of the Spirit) in this aspect of the verse. As Paul learned with his thorn in the flesh, sometimes what we are experiencing in our work is more about us as His workmanship than good works he has prepared for us to walk in. This might particularly apply to when we are struggling with our work outcomes. Work circumstances that do not make sense from the view of good works that God has prepared for us to walk in, might make more sense from the view that God is shaping us and our character through those circumstances.

We can focus too much on one of these aspects to the exclusion of the other. With the example of flawed revival leaders, those who continued to prop them up were focused on the works they were doing and overlooking the problems with them in the area of being God’s workmanship. If they had more of an understanding of the importance of that aspect to God, they would have been more likely to take corrective action.

On the flip side, many have a healthy concern for Christian character and the fruit of the Spirit when they think of integrating their faith with their work. And that is really important and we should never lose sight of that focus. However, a focus on the character that we display at work does not assign any value to the actual work that we are doing. In this view, God does not care about what we are doing, He only cares that we are fruit of the Spirit people as we do it. We need to be able to see our work as having value in and of itself. There are good works that God has prepared for us to walk in to benefit His world. So it is about what we are doing along with who we are becoming.

In both aspects, good works that we are able to accomplish and who we are as His workmanship, we can experience the presence of “God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Phil 2:10).

I would love to connect with you about these posts if they have stirred any thoughts or questions. Take a minute, shoot me an email at bo@leavenedlives.org, and let’s see where that takes us.