“OCCUPATION”

Session 1: Living to Work  

Read pages 1-28 of Garden City before beginning this lesson. 

IF YOU COULD DO ANYTHING…

John Mark Comer opens his book on work, rest, and the human desire to create with a story about his friend, Dave. (You can find this story on page 17 of Garden City.) Can you relate to the position that Dave finds himself in? How would you answer the questions that John Mark presented to his friend? Do you like what you do? Do you wake up in the morning excited about going to work? If not, why are you doing it? If you could do anything, what would it be? Think about it. There are many legitimate reasons you might be able to come up with for why you do what you do. Try to lay those reasons aside for just a moment. If you could do anything…What would that anything be?

1. Take some time to discuss these questions in your small group.

WORK AS “HUMANNESS”

John Mark makes the argument that what we do is central to our humanness. If you have been in church for any length of time, you have probably heard the opposite—that is is who you are that matters, not what you do. But is this really Biblical? Or is it that what we do flows from who we are? Both who we are and what we do matter. They go hand-in-hand. Think about it. We spend the vast majority of our time working and resting from our work. This often leaves very little time for the “spiritual life” that we learn so much about in church. We need to learn how to be a disciple of Jesus in life itself—all of it!

1. Read the section of Genesis 1—2 printed at the beginning of Garden City.

2. Ask yourself this question as you read: What does it mean to be human? (Focus on Genesis 1:26.) How does “ruling” relate to the concept of work?

3. What do you think of this explanation of man’s purpose? Is it different from what you expected to find? What implications does this revelation have?

4. Do we “work to live” or “live to work”? Does your answer change based upon what you have read? Discuss this question in your small group.