Strange Scriptures to Grow Your Faithናሙና

A Blue-Collar Kind of God

Blue-collar work is manual labor. Manufacturing, construction—you know, the stuff that gets your hands dirty and puts sweat on your face.  

Believe it or not, God is a blue-collar worker. We see Him getting His hands dirty in the Scriptures. Acts 19:11–12 is a perfect example. Here, we find God in the center of the narrative, working hard to help broken humanity.

In this text, Paul is teaching daily in the school of Tyrannus. It’s probable that Paul taught here from 11 o’clock in the morning until about 4 p.m.

In the Mediterranean world back then, work began early in the morning. Around 11 a.m., laborers would take a siesta. Since they had the afternoons free, they could go to the hall to hear Paul talk about Jesus. And they did. In fact, we are told that these hardworking laborers brought their “handkerchiefs” and “aprons” with them.

The Greek word for “handkerchief” is soudarion. It refers to a sweat band that workers tied onto their heads to keep the sweat out of their eyes. The Greek word for “apron” is simikinthion. It means “a workman’s apron” or “a loincloth,” such as worn by an artisan. 

We get a picture of people who had been working all morning entering the hall, dirty from their blue-collar jobs yet hungry to hear the Word of God. And God met them where they were.

The Scriptures tells us that God worked on the behalf of those workmen, “And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul.”

“Was doing” comes from the Greek word poieō. It can mean “to manufacture” or “to produce.” The workmen weren’t the only ones working. God was at work. Only He wasn’t manufacturing leather goods or carpets. He was manufacturing miracles, using the workers’ handkerchiefs and aprons to do it. Talk about a down-to-earth kind of God who meets us where we are.

It’s often wondered why God used cloths to transmit His miracle power. I think that it hints at the notion that He is at work like the rest of us. While we are busy at our jobs, He is busy running the universe. And that means getting His hands dirty to reveal Himself to mankind.

When you’re tempted to wonder where God is, remind yourself that He’s a hardworking laborer. He is the Almighty, but He’s also a blue-collar kind of God.