The Oldest Profession (Part 1)

I met a young man, probably in his early twenties, at a Farmer's Market recently, who told me he didn't work. He was hanging around the market playing a drum. Someone had told him he was a "drain on society" because he didn't work and he wasn't very happy about their estimation of him.

The conversation didn't last long enough for me to learn why he didn't work. Was it because he was on disability? Was it because he didn't believe in it? Was it because he was independently wealthy? A foray of questions went through my mind about why he didn't work.

The experience caused me to think about work and God's Word.

Many people refer to prostitution as 'the world's oldest profession.' However, that's not true. The world's oldest profession is landscaper. Adam's (the first man's) job was to "...dress the garden" (Genesis 2:15 - KJV).

Until sin entered the human race through Adam, work was a joy. After Adam fell, however, work became toil because the ground was cursed with "thorns and thistles" (Gen. 3:18 - KJV).

I always wondered why God said, "The ground is cursed because of you," (Gen. 3:17 - KJV) to Adam, until I realized that Adam was created from the ground (Gen. 2:7). His name literally means, "red clay."

Thus, the ground was cursed because the man from whom it was made was cursed, due to his sin.

It seems that, to a certain degree, even non-agrarian work tends to have "weeds" in it. In other words, even if a person finds their job to be rewarding, they tend to find aspects of it to be drudgery and difficult.

Nevertheless, it seems from scripture, men are supposed to work as mentioned in this passage from the New Testament -

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody" (I Thessalonians 4:11 - NIV).

II Thessalonians 3:10 goes even further...

"For even when we were with you, we used to give you this command: 'If anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat.'"

And, of course, the Bible gives provision for those who legitimately can't work and need to be cared for.

But, back to my young acquaintance who doesn't work... assuming he's of reasonably sound mind and is physically able, he should work. Plain and simple.

The world is too full of individuals who have fantastic physical and mental limitations, challenges, liabilities and other problems, who earn their way in this world.

Proverbs 26:13 says, "The lazy man says, "There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion is in the streets!" (KJV). Some people get very creative as to why they can't go to work. I'm sure employers have heard even more absurd excuses than this.

So, Christian men... it's incumbent upon you that if you are physically and mentally able to, to work. And not only to work, but to overcome the "weeds" found in your work in order to find value in being productive and not lazy.