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.

Oh, My Papa - Part 4

"You're JUST like your father!" How many of you guys have ever heard that proclaimed over you?

It's not always a bad thing. Some guys would love to be just like their fathers. I'm afraid however, that this decree is usually offered as a pejorative.

What I'm concerned with today is sinful traits of fathers. Many men believe in what some call 'generational sin' - the idea that if a father is involved in some kind of sinful practice or addiction, their son (or daughter) will probably practice that same sin.

The passage that most will cite to prove this is Exodus 20:5 - "For I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation of those that hate me, and showing mercy to thousands of those that love Me and keep My commandments."

The first thing I want to mention is that all of this is couched in the Old Testament. Since Jesus, the entire play book has changed.

But just to cut to the chase here, what this verse is really saying is exactly what it DOES say... that if a father sins, God will punish the children for their sins three and four generations down the line. It doesn't say the children will inherit their father's sinful tendencies. It says they will be punished for what their fathers did that was wrong in the sight of God.

So, it's a warning to fathers to think about what they do, because their children, their children and even their children's children could be punished for their sinful behavior.

That's a sobering thought.

But here's the good news! God rescinded that decree later in the book of Ezekiel - "The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself" (Ezekiel 18:20).

So, where does that leave us with the idea that if your father sins, you'll probably be the same way? Well, we all have tendencies to be like our parents in certain ways. Like, a sibling will say, "You said that just like Dad," or, "Dad used to get that same expression on his face."

And it's true that certain tendencies can be genetic and a person will need to be careful about certain behaviors. But overall, there is nothing in scripture that says, if your dad sinned a certain way, you will too!

"Well, Dad had an affair, so I guess that explains why I had one too." "Dad was a drunk, so I guess that explains why I am too."

On and on the excuses go. But bottom line, our behavior is our own. And each of us will have to answer for it as individuals.

Today, my prayer is that everyone reading this will realize that they don't have to follow any of the poor behavior their father may have engaged in. Each of us has the power through God's grace to resist any weakness we may have in our character.

"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it" (I Corinthians 10:13 - NIV).

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