Christians aren’t the only people who do quality work, so Tim Vickers wonders what makes a Christian’s work different?

Christians have no monopoly on producing quality work. And many who don’t follow Christ not only produce brilliant work but also have very high standards of personal and professional integrity. As Michael, a property developer, put it to me recently – none of his colleagues want to skimp on detail, cut corners or let their employers down. So, how does his faith make any difference to his work?

A Tale of Two Projects

Consider then two stories in Genesis about two building projects. At first glance, the only significant difference in terms of work is that one story is about the building of a ship out of wood, while the other is about the building of a tower out of bricks. These two stories, found in Genesis 6 and 11 respectively, are both about construction. In fact, they’re about the building of the two largest structures seen on the earth up to that time.

Despite their extraordinary scale, it is hard to think about either Noah’s Ark or the Tower of Babel without our Sunday School glasses on. Building the ark, however, required years of repetitive, back-breaking labour and total commitment. Much the same as we would expect from a project to build a tower up to the heavens. Yet we know that there was a huge difference in how God regarded these two projects. The Babel Project incurred God’s wrath and scorn, while The Ark Project was used by God for the salvation of humankind. What made the difference?

The key is motivation. Genesis 11.5 tells us that the tower builders wanted fame, power and security:

“Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

By contrast, Noah built his ship out of simple obedience to God. God spoke. Noah built. In the middle of a desert, with only his three sons to help. The Babel builders worked for their own benefit, whilst Noah worked for God’s.

God judged the work of the tower builders as ego-orientated profanity, while he judged the work of Noah as sacrificial obedience as he endured the long hours and the mocking of all those around to do what he had commanded.

We may not have been given a God-given mandate to use our working time to build an ark for salvation, but we are told to do whatever we do as always working for our Lord and Saviour Jesus (Colossians 3:23-34). Noah, according to 2 Peter 2:5, preached the Gospel as he built – whether by words, or by the testimony of his work, we don’t know. His highly visible work on the ark cried out as a call to repentance to a society which needed to turn back to its Creator and Redeemer.

The Importance of Why

In an age where the papers and TV daily extol the splendour of human vainconceit – whether wealth, beauty, power or prowess, our first imperative as Christians is to live for the sole and singular aim of God’s glory. One day every knee will bow, and every work will be judged as gold and silver, or as wood and straw. How will our lives (including our daily grind) be judged?’

Ultimately this will boil down to motivation. The key distinguishing factor will not necessarily be the quality of our work but the motivation of our work? The X Factor is in the ‘why’. Why did I do the things I did? Did I behave decently for my own reputation or fortune? Or because I recognised that I owed my life to the God of Holiness who commands that my life is a testimony to his glory?

It doesn’t matter whether our life is wheels or deals, laptops or countertops, or just plain relentless grind (like Noah’s), our whole life, including our work, matters to God because his glory is at stake in our daily lived-out testimony to him. So it is that our constant prayer should be: ‘Not for my glory Lord, but for yours.’

Tim Vickers works with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students and prepares students and graduates in Europe and the former CIS for the transition into the working world. Tim is the author of Transition – the Graduates’ Handbook to Life after University available from LICC at £3. To find out more about his work, visit