The second main section of Anthony Selvaggio’s book A Proverbs Driven Life addresses work- work as divine calling & working with integrity. Both of these are important subjects in our day and culture.
Let’s not think simply about “job” because we work when we clean up the house, do laundry, mow the law or take on volunteer ministry tasks. For instance, I am called (voca) to work as pastor, husband, father, homeowner, son, brother, pet owner … I think you get the point. Each takes time and requires integrity.
Selvaggio does this by defining work as “any set of tasks to be performed in the pursuit of a particular goal.” That is a good, broad definition. We tend toward extremes in regard to work: Why?! and Why stop?! Some of us are lazy and need to get off our duffs in front of the TV and get to work. Others of us make an idol of work, resist rest and need to slow down for the sake of our spiritual lives and family life.
When I look at how others may have ‘prospered’, I am tempted to think I’m lazy. But CavWife reminds me that I put more time into parenting than they do. I’m working, just at different things- things that don’t necessarily generate income. But work is never to be measured by income alone, but by what God has called us to do. Yet, most of us need to hear the warnings about sluggards.
“What an ironic testimony to the extent of our fallen nature! Here the book of Proverbs calls for humanity, the very pinnacle of God’s creation, to be instructed by a mindless, soulless, tiny insect. Man, who was placed on earth to have dominion over all creation, must sit at the feet of the ant to learn a rudimentary lesson on work.”
Oh that more of us would listen. Notice the homes, families, businesses and churches that are in a state of serious neglect and disrepair. But this is a gospel issue, as Selvaggio notes:
“Refusal to embrace a diligent work ethic is sinful because it violates a primary call God has given to us as Christians- to echo our Creator who works. The sin of the sluggard (like all sin) has consequences – poverty and want.”
The gospel, when preached for sanctification, points to Christ’s work in us to apply His work for us such that we become like Him. He works (and rests). As we are conformed to His likeness, we will work and rest properly.
Selvaggio does not fool around. He goes for the throat- calling out our excuses, lack of initiative, pride and idolatry. He preaches the law to drive us to Christ in this area.
“Both (the sluggard and workaholic) are interested in avoiding responsibilities that don’t interest them. The workaholic simply avoids things by a different technique- crowding them out of his calendar. And where the sluggard is sure to suffer economic loss, the workaholic suffers losses that are often more relational than monetary, but nevertheless real, lasting, and painful.”
He points to Jacob to illustrate the change that can happen in a person. Jacob was a man who lacked integrity. After God descended and wrestled him into submission, Jacob becomes a man of integrity (though not perfectly). We can work, by God’s grace, with integrity. This is about working hard and working honestly.
“Greed can tempt us to seek an unfair advantage whenver we buy and sell. Laziness or malice toward employers can tempt us to cut corners in the quality and quantity of our work. … Much of our sin is simply an effort to gain by sinful means the satisfaction or security that God has promised to give us freely. (Make no mistake- all our grasping, selfish, Jacob-like sins are among those for which Christ died, and his forgiveness is freely available.)”
Anthony Selvaggio once again does us a service by not just summarizing the teaching regarding work from Proverbs, but by putting them within the context of the gospel. I recommend this to all who work- which is nearly 100% of us.
Cavman Considers 
CavMan — In my mind, Jacob’s wrestling match with the angel wasn’t just about becoming a man of integrity, but about becoming a man! This was very much on my mind this month, so please forgive me as I quote myself from
http://philippianjailer.blogspot.com/2009/03/jacob-becomes-man.html
***
The account of Jacob’s wrestling match with an angel on the banks of the Jabbok river used to perplex me greatly. Why did God set up this wrestling match? Why was it even remotely competitive, with the angel unable to overpower Jacob (before putting his hip out of joint)? Wasn’t Jacob’s refusal to let the angel go “until you bless me” impertinent? So why was he blessed anyway? Jacob’s encounters with God just seem very different than other accounts of men who fell on their faces.
It’s been helpful for me to put Jacob’s experience in context. First, Jacob was chosen by God while still in the womb to be the child of the promise–the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham and Isaac. He would be Israel, and the human ancestor of Jesus. God was committed to Jacob.
Of course, Jacob proved himself to be considerably less than worthy of such an honor–a superb example of God’s great mercy and patience, but not much of an example of personal faithfulness. Moreover, Jacob was basically a wimp from early on–a mama’s boy, in contrast to his manly brother Esau. He got what he wanted through deceit and conniving, and then by running away whenever things get dangerous.
His weak and servile interaction with Rachel and Leah betrayed the pathetic depths to which he had fallen. He slept with whomever he was told, including the maidservants. At a particularly low moment he allowed Leah to buy his “services” from Rachel for a night with her son’s mandrakes. To put it crudely, he played the prostitute while Rachel played the pimp.
Jacob’s early encounter’s with God seemed to lead nowhere. He was impressed by the experiences, but his commitments were tentative and conditional: “If God will … then the LORD will be my God”. This is hardly to be confused with the “Here am I, send me!” of Isaiah. But then the wimpy weasel who was Jacob at this point could hardly be confused with the pillar of strength and devotion who was Isaiah. We can almost rationalize God’s forgiveness of Isaiah’s “unclean lips” on the basis of his comparative righteousness … Jacob’s filthy “lips” would seem to demand a harsher judgment. Obviously this reveals a misunderstanding of the “filthy rags” nature of man’s righteousness. Isaiah was certainly not impressed by his own righteousness, but Jacob’s failure to be impressed by God’s majesty and mercy still seems troubling.
Ultimately, however, God’s long patience and preparation culminates at the Jabbok River. There’s nothing like impending doom (the approach of his brother and enemy Esau with 400 men) to concentrate the mind. Jacob’s prayers take on a new urgency and humility (“I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant.”) but still his actions reveal his self-centeredness and cowardice, as he sends his servants ahead with bribes and then even his family ahead of him across the river, placing them between himself and the threat.
God has planned this moment, however, and at the same time as He humbles Jacob, He also wants to build him up. God wants Jacob to submit, of course, but He also wants Jacob to be a man and to stop running and engage with Him. So Jacob is not presented with a test of cleverness, but a test of physical strength and endurance. The wrestling match with the angel goes on all night, and God allows Jacob some degree of success, though in the end the power of God is clear when Jacob’s hip is wrenched. Still, Jacob learns tenacity, and refuses to let go unless he is blessed. Jacob needs to learn humility and submission, but he also needs to learn the courage and responsibility that comes with manhood.
Jacob’s response demonstrates that he was finally prepared to take the lesson to heart. He rises, limping and humbled, and then moves across the river and passes in front of his household to meet Esau himself. He bows down to Esau, accepting Esau’s judgment as God’s own, and receives mercy. It was, at long last, an act of faith, humility … and the act of a man.