Matt Perman unpacks seven Christian motivations for work:
1. The glory of God
2. The good of others
3. Enjoyment of the work itself
4. To earn money to support yourself, give, and enjoy
Perman does a great job here in showing that financially supporting yourself is a legitimate motivation in work, it just shouldn’t be the first motivation or the primary one. I deal with this a lot in Thriving at College, and as a college professor. Remarkably, 80% of college students say that “income potential” is the primary thing they hope to gain from a college degree. On the one hand, that’s somewhat understandable, given the high cost of a college education. However, it sometimes leads students to pursue careers for which they have little chance of success. More commonly, it causes them to bring a crass utilitarianism to the classroom — as if every 50 minute period is supposed to correlate directly to their future earning: “When are we ever going to use this stuff?”
5. Hope
6. The gospel
7. Adorning the gospel
Read the whole post – it’s excellent!