What Is My Mission?Намуна

Man’s Job Description

Is my work really a part of God’s plan?

On the sixth day of creation, God gives Adam and Eve their job description, “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.’”

Nancy Pearcey writes in her book, Total Truth, that our purpose isn’t just to go to heaven, it’s to cultivate the earth and serve God. Working creatively in this way is part of our human existence. God gave the cultural mandate to Adam and Eve, and it still applies to us today.

Tragically, because of sin, men and women have abused their stewardship of God’s creation, lost their sense of the cultural mandate, and struggled to find purpose and fulfillment. But Christians, because of Christ’s redemptive work in their lives, now stand in the same place as Adam and Eve before the Fall. We not only know what God wants us to do, but we are also equipped by the Holy Spirit to fulfill this calling.

We can now approach work in our families, churches, communities, and vocations with a clear understanding of God’s mandate. You are empowered to exercise proper stewardship over God’s creation. This stewardship applies to your whole life.

The prophet Jeremiah understood this when writing to the Israelites who were in exiled in Babylon. In chapter 29, Jeremiah reminds the Israelites that although they are in a strange land living under adverse circumstances, they are still to continue to fill the earth with God’s images and subdue it.

Interestingly, Jeremiah describes subduing the earth as a type of biblical flourishing which is both missional and outward focused, motivated on spreading God’s glory.

This mandate intimately applies to your life. You can share God’s truth and exercise godly dominion over every aspect and institution of human society through your relationships at work and at home, at church, and in your community. You can do this as a handy man, a mother, a social worker, a graphic designer, an engineer, an architect – as whatever God has called you to be.

The cultural mandate was meant to govern everything Adam and Eve would do after it was given and everything we do as Christians today. The gospel calls all Christians to be faithful to God’s mission as expressed in the cultural mandate.

How can the cultural mandate bring you a sense of purpose and fulfillment?

Additional Elements:

Read more about how Christians can make an impact in today’s rapidly changing cultural environment in this article, “Three Pieces of Advice for Christian Leaders Seeking to Influence Today’s Culture for Christ."