Resources on Work

As promised to my congregation, here is a listing of some helpful resources for those who might want to think more deeply about the subject of work from a Christian perspective:

A Biblical Understanding of Work, a very good sermon by John Loftness of Covenant Life Church, laying out a nice overview of a doctrine of work.

Loftness refers to this article by D.G. Hart in an issue of Modern Reformation magazine, which fleshes out the doctrine of work as it relates to the 1999 movie, The Big Kahuna (you may need to create an account and log in to view the article, but doing so is free).

God at Work, by Gene Veith. A good, introductory level book looking at the doctrine of vocation, or calling. It touches not only work, but also callings in the family, church and state.

An article from Veith from World Magazine entitled, Arenas of Service. A good introduction to the doctrine of vocation for those who don't want to read a whole book about it.

Another good book on the doctrine of vocation is The Call, by Os Guinness.

In his book Don't Waste Your Life, John Piper has a very good chapter on work titled Making Much of Christ from 8 to 5. You can read the entire book online here (the chapter on work begins on page 131)

Two sermons by John Piper: Tentmakers in Minneapolis and Why God Wills Work. The chapter from Don't Waste Your Life pulls from material preached in these two sermons.

Tim Keller has some good sermons on work that are available for free online: Made for Stewardship, Work, Work and Rest. I've learned a great deal on this subject from Keller.

In Michael Horton's book Where in the World is the Church? there is an excellent chapter on work (he's where I got my Loverboy reference from). The whole book is well worth reading, and is one of the best, most balanced books I've come across in the area of Christian engagement in culture.

You can watch a video of a talk Horton recently gave on work here.

Dorothy Sayers has a pretty famous article on work titled, Why Work?, which can be read here. To be honest, I've not read the whole thing, but I've enjoyed what I've read of this.

Leland Ryken has written a good, thorough book on the subjects of work and leisure called Work and Leisure in Christian Perspective. I am pretty sure it's the same book that I read published under the title Redeeming the Time: A Christian Approach to Work and Leisure.

For those especially interested or involved in business, Wayne Grudem has a little book titled, Business for the Glory of God.

The book Engaging God's World by Neal Plantinga is not about work per se, but the biblical worldview it lays out is one that can fuel wise thinking about work.

If you're wondering about the practice of slavery from a biblical perspective, this recent sermon by Matt Chandler titled Slavery and the Skeptic gives clarity on the subject. It's also a good apologetics resource.

If the sermon is too time-consuming for you to listen to, this article from the Village website highlights some of the same material on slavery in a shorter format.