Is Work Evil?

Hello.

I’m a 21-year-old woman from the conservative south. I’ve grown up my whole life in a loving family that has financially supported me.

But ya know what? It’s time to grow up. Time to get a job, time to stop buying coffees three times a week, time to be a little financially uncomfortable.

I just want to broach this topic because the word “socialism” is being thrown out by the “older adults” in our lives and it’s really making me think about the concept of working. The other day, I heard something that shocked me at first but then made me go DUH.

Work is a gift . . . because it was created before the Fall.

God asked Adam to watch over His creation BEFORE the first humans sinned in the garden. Cultivating plants, taking care of animals, organizing and overseeing—these were all beautiful parts of living out our purpose pre-Curse.

Genesis 3 gives us the full debriefing on what actually happened:

Cursed is the ground because of you;
    in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.

The ground was cursed; thorns and weeds became contenders in the effort to bring in a harvest. Insects wiped out crops; sweat became the mark of hard and painful labor.

Our generation is . . . weird. Can we accept that? I’m writing this laughing because, yes, I’m one of these weird ones. Let me explain: most of us don’t enjoy the prospects of a 9-5 job hunched in a chair with cubicle guardrails around us.

We’re the people who want to make videos for a living (YouTube); talk for a living (podcasts); buy clothes and be a walking billboard for a living (influencers). Our “jobs” are based on creating and the internet.

But someone has to sit behind the desk.

So let me be honest—and you’ll be honest with me too, right? Not working sounds great. Doing a job where it doesn’t feel like you’re working? Epic. But that isn’t for everyone. Especially when you’re starting out.

Now, you may just be super lucky like these kids I follow on YouTube who are already buying their parents cars and flipping houses with the income they’re getting.

But . . . I’m not that person.

So, I faithfully am hunting down a job. In a cubicle. Under fluorescent lights. Sitting in a chair for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

It’s not glamorous. But this is what God is calling me to right now.

And, whoever you are, He is calling you to work. Work gives us a sense of purpose, especially when we know our purpose is rooted in the God who gave us a heart.

That won’t look like a job for all of us. Some are or will be mothers. Some of us will be able to make a podcast for a living.

But whatever your road leads you to, let’s remind the people around us that we were meant to labor to live. No free handouts, no dependence on government.*

So, let’s work.

*I just know someone will find an exception to this; yes, there are single, disabled mothers who really do need and deserve help from the government. I’m not here to give you every single exception to the rule. This article is speaking to the majority of people.