Meaning in work
When I was a journalist, I used to wonder what was the point of my work. People used to tell me, "Oh, you write for a newspaper! Just imagine all those readers reading your articles... you have such influence!"
I never thought so. I mean, everything I wrote had to go through my editor, and if you're talking about disseminating Christian values (even without being overtly Christian), a newspaper is not the place for it. After all, you're supposed to be objective and simply report. (We're not called "reporters" for nothing.) Moreover, there were times when I was covering Christian issues or events organised by Christian groups, and was told to "downplay the religious aspect".
Towards the end of my four years in the job, even though I still thought it a very interesting thing to do, I just could not find any meaning in it anymore. Not only that -- I couldn't figure out how a clerk or janitor or accountant could find meaning in their work, either. If you were to work with people, like, say, be a doctor or a teacher, I could see how that would be meaningful, coz you'd be able to see how you were making a difference in peoples' lives. But if your job was pretty routine -- what then??
During the conference last week, our conference speaker said the problem is that we tend to forget that we (human beings) were created to have dominion over the earth and everything in it. Right at the beginning, God told Adam and Eve to rule over all creation; and this included naming all the creatures. Adam & Eve were to care for the earth and protect it. This was their work! From the very beginning, we were created to work... (I know, not exactly what you wanted to hear, huh?)
When we work in the world, we continue to fulfil this mandate -- that of ruling over the earth, protecting it, caring for it, developing it. We're establishing God's kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven". The businessman who creates wealth and contributes to the economy, the tech support guys who ensure that systems run smoothly, the guy serving burgers to hungry customers -- they're all participating in this mandate, serving creation, helping things move efficiently, or even improving on what already exists.
The conference speaker said we tend to think of our offices as places where we go to evangelise to our colleagues, or to "be a light in our workplace". This reduces our work to nothing, and that's exactly how I'd felt about my job. He begged to differ with this view, however; he said our work has intrinsic value. God cares about our work. Because through our work, we are participating in God's mandate to rule over the earth in His stead. What a lightbulb moment!