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Scripture Reading: 2 Thes. 3:10-12
Occupation is very important to a Christian. If one chooses a wrong occupation, he will not be able to go on in a positive way. A Christian must pay attention to the matter of choosing an occupation.
After God created man, He prepared an occupation for him. God assigned Adam and Eve the job of guarding and keeping the garden. The matter of occupation existed before man sinned. Adam and Eve’s occupation in the beginning was that of a gardener; they guarded and kept the garden of Eden which God had created.
After Adam and Eve sinned, the earth no longer rendered service to them. They had to eat in the sweat of their face and till the ground so they could eat (Gen. 3:17-19). This shows us clearly that after man’s fall, his God-ordained occupation was to be a farmer and to till the ground. Man has to till the ground in the sweat of his face in order for the earth to yield food to him. To this day farmers are still the most honest kind of people. In the beginning God ordained man to till the ground.
In Genesis 4 Cain was a tiller of the ground and Abel was a keeper of sheep. Here sheep farming came in. This shows us that shepherding is also an occupation that is acceptable to God.
After this, when men began to multiply on the earth, there arose all kinds of craftsmen. There were blacksmiths, coppersmiths, makers of musical instruments, and artificers in brass and iron (4:21-22). By the time of the tower of Babel, there were bricklayers and carpenters (11:3-4). (Although building the tower of Babel was wrong, men were nevertheless learning to build. Hence the coppersmith, blacksmith, maker of musical instruments, and craftsman are all proper occupations.)
In Genesis 12 God chose Abraham. He was a herdsman. He had many cattle and sheep. Jacob also had flocks of cattle and sheep. This shows that their main occupation was animal husbandry.
When the Israelites were in Egypt, they worked as craftsmen, burning bricks for Pharaoh. But after they came out of Egypt, God promised them a land flowing with milk and honey. Clearly, we see two occupations: raising livestock and farming. The grapes of the land required two people to carry them. This proves that there was farming. God said that if the Israelites disobeyed Him and worshipped idols, He would cause the heavens to be as brass and the earth to be as iron; the heavens and the earth would not work for the Israelites. This shows clearly that the occupations in the promised land of Canaan consisted of tilling the earth and raising livestock. These were the occupations in the Old Testament.
The Lord Jesus’ parables in the Gospel of Matthew show us that farming is a basic occupation in the New Testament age. For example, in chapter thirteen we have the parable of the sower, and in chapter twenty we have the parable of the vineyard. Luke 17 speaks of a slave coming back from plowing or tending sheep in the field. In John 10 the Lord said that the good Shepherd laid down His life for the sheep. Therefore, raising livestock and farming are the basic God-ordained occupations for men.
The Lord called twelve apostles, most of whom were fishermen. The one who was a tax collector was told by the Lord to drop his occupation. But it was as if He said to the fishermen, “Once you were fishermen. But from now on, I will make you fishers of men.” This shows that fishing is also an acceptable occupation.
Luke was a physician, and Paul was a tentmaker. Tentmaking is different from fishing. With tentmaking, labor is added to basic raw material. Tilling the ground produces material directly. Making fabrics, tailoring, or making tents add labor to raw material to manufacture finished goods.
I can only say that from the Old Testament to the New Testament, God has arranged certain occupations. The Lord’s disciples were either farmers, shepherds, craftsmen, fishermen, or manufacturers. If there were any other occupations at all, the most we can include is “workmen” (not the workers who do spiritual work), because the New Testament says, “The workman is worthy of his pay” (1 Tim 5:18). A workman is one who labors manually or who sells his labor. Obtaining wages by manual labor is also an acceptable occupation in the Bible.
From these God-approved occupations in the Bible, we can see a basic principle: Man must receive or take from nature, or he must earn his wages in exchange for his time and labor. These are the principles of occupation outlined in the Bible.
The sower sows a grain of wheat into the ground. After some time it bears many grains, a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold (Matt. 13:3, 8). One grain becomes a hundred, sixty, or thirty grains. One seed is sown into the ground, but it grows and bears many grains. This is to receive from nature. Nature is rich in its supply, and anyone can extract from it. God causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust (5:45). This clearly hints that God sends these things for the purpose of farming. God intends for man to obtain his supply from nature. The same principle applies to livestock farming. One raises sheep which give milk or bear many lambs. This is an increase of production. It is something supplied by nature, not something acquired by other means.
In the New Testament we see fishing as an occupation. Fishing takes something from the rivers and seas. This again is to receive from nature. We do not make anyone poorer by fishing from the rivers and the seas. We can become rich by taking something from the rivers, and these riches will not make anyone poor. When my sheep bears six lambs or my cow bears two calves, no family becomes poorer because of this. When I till the ground, no one is hungry or suffers loss because my field has brought forth grain a hundredfold. The basic principle of a God-approved occupation is to gain without incurring loss to anyone. This is the kind of noble occupation that God ordains.
The same principle applies to Paul’s tentmaking. He did not receive directly from nature. Fishing, raising livestock, and farming receive from nature directly. But Paul manufactured something by adding value to his raw material. This increases the value of goods. A piece of fabric may cost one dollar. When I cut it, sew it, and make a tent out of it, it costs two dollars. Its value has increased, and my wage is the increased value of the good. I do not make anyone poorer by receiving money from the increased value. No one became poorer or suffered loss through Paul’s tentmaking. When I increase the value of a piece of fabric, it is only proper that I receive my wages because I have put in time and skill. Therefore, another principle of a God-approved occupation is that it increases the value of goods.
Another principle can be found in hired laborers, craftsmen, and medical doctors. In such cases one earns his money and wages through his own labor. This neither takes from nature nor adds value to raw materials, but one puts in his labor, pays a price, and provides a service to receive his income. The reward that comes as a result of one’s labor is also acceptable to God.
There is one occupation of which the Bible particularly disapproves. Please pay special attention to this matter. If a new believer has the ability to choose his profession, I hope that he will not take trading as his occupation. Why? We should consider this matter from a broader perspective. Perhaps that will give us a clearer picture. Suppose there are one hundred persons here and each one has a million dollars. If we put them all together, we will have a hundred million dollars. Suppose I begin to trade as one of them. Naturally, I would want to make money. I would like my one million dollars to become two million dollars. Forget for a moment how I handle my business, whether it is done righteously or unrighteously. After a month I have two million dollars. This means that someone must have less money. This must be the case because there are only one hundred persons, each of whom had only one million dollars. Even if I conducted my business in the most righteous way, I would still have caused someone to lose money when I increased my money to two million.
I am a Christian, and let us say that you are a Christian also. You are my brother. Does it look good for me to make money and become richer by making you poorer? Certainly not. Even if you are a Gentile and a heathen, I am a Christian. I am a child of God, and I have my standing and status as a child of God. God’s children should not cause an unbeliever to become poorer by increasing their own money. I would feel bad even if I employed righteous means to gain other believers’ money. I would feel equally bad if I used righteous means to gain an unbeliever’s money. This is what it is like to engage in trade. You cannot take money from another’s pocket and put it into your own pocket. It does not matter how you do it. As long as you turn the money in another’s pocket into your money, you are causing a loss to others. This is a fact.
Of course, the basic God-approved occupations in the Bible pose no such problem. Suppose I am a tiller of the ground, and I have harvested a hundred loads of rice. This will not cause another brother’s possession to be reduced from ten loads down to nine loads. I cannot cause him to have any reduction. My hundred loads of rice will not reduce anything from anyone or cause anyone to become poorer. This is not making money; this is increasing the abundance of the land. We must completely differentiate between the two: Making money and increasing the abundance are two different things altogether. God does not want His children to make money just for the sake of making money. God wants our occupation to increase the abundance. This basic principle is quite clear. A new believer should not have his mind occupied with money day and night. Do not try to constantly consider how you can make money. Please remember that as long as you have made some money, others have lost money. The principle of trade is that when one’s money increases, the money of others decreases.
Here we see three different kinds of occupations. One is to trade, another is to work, and the third is to produce. The highest occupation God has ordained in the Bible is the one that produces. Since Adam, God’s eyes have been on occupations that produce, because production increases the abundance of the earth rather than imposing poverty on others. If I raise a hundred sheep and after a certain number of years they have become four hundred, I have increased by three hundred sheep. This increase does not decrease a single dollar from any brother’s or sister’s pocket. How much money you have at home will not change. You will not have less just because my sheep has brought forth lambs. This is the basic scriptural principle of occupation. I should always be increasing and should always be adding to riches. I may sell my sheep and receive money. But in so doing, I have not made anyone poorer.
If a new believer has the chance to choose his own occupation, I hope he will choose one that will increase goods rather than increase his money. To increase money but not goods is very selfish. We need to learn to increase the things of the earth, not to increase our personal wealth. There is a great difference between the two.
Paul’s tentmaking shows us another principle. He did not increase the amount of cotton, silk, or fabric. But because of his cutting, sewing, effort, and energy, he increased the value of the raw material. According to Bible scholars, tents at that time had to be dyed. Dean Alford told us that when Paul said, “These hands,” in Acts 20:34, he was referring to the unavoidable stain of the dye of the tents on his hands. Paul’s tentmaking was something that increased the value of goods.
It is good to increase the riches of the earth. It is also good to increase the value of goods. Suppose I make a chair from a piece of wood. This is good, because by doing so, I have increased the value of the wood. Although I have not increased the abundance in nature, the world has one more chair through me. The world had one more tent when Paul made a tent. This does not benefit oneself at the expense of others. One can make a tent; he can turn a cheap fabric into a valuable tent. Turning fabric into a tent increases the goods of this world. This is also an occupation that is acceptable to God.
A new believer must see that there are two criteria to a proper occupation. One must either increase the abundance of the earth or increase the value of goods. Actually, when one makes a tent, he is also increasing the abundance of the world. Because of the work of one’s hands, the number of tents in this world has increased. Therefore, it is also right to say that this increases the abundance of the world. This is the basic principle of God’s ordained occupations for men.
I have studied economics a little. I know that there is the need for commerce. But I am a Christian; I am not an economist. While the Lord Jesus did say that we needed to do business until He comes (Luke 19:13), that verse means that we should give ourselves to our work like a businessman giving himself to his business. We know that a businessman has to devote himself to his business. He will get into any situation as long as there is money in it for him. The Lord meant that we should grasp every opportunity. We must give ourselves to our work in such a way.
Commerce began with Tyre, and it ends up in Babylon. We find this from Ezekiel 28 to Revelation 18. The one who invented commerce is the prince of Tyre. Ezekiel 28 shows us that the prince of Tyre represents Satan. “By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned” (v. 16). Bear in mind that commerce always makes money for oneself at the expense of others and at the expense of decreasing the riches of the world. This is not the kind of occupation that God wants. This is the occupation which belongs to Satan. The principle behind such an occupation is wrong.
The principle of commerce is to increase the money in one’s pocket by decreasing the money in another’s pocket. Once the idea of making money comes into a person’s mind, the result is very simple — one will get more money while another will have less. Once someone’s money increases, there must be others whose money decreases. Suppose there are only twenty-one billion dollars in the whole world. Whether you are rich or poor, the total amount of money remains the same. The total amount of money in the world is limited. For my money to increase, I have to take it from others. This is pure commerce. I am not saying that after catching some fish, one cannot sell it. Neither am I saying that after harvesting a crop, producing a lamb, or making a tent, one cannot sell it. I am saying that making tents, raising lambs, harvesting crops, and catching fish are not pure commerce. Those occupations exchange production for money. I derive my benefit from nature. The abundance I receive comes from nature. It is nature that gives me the abundance; I do not become richer by making others poorer.
Christians must not try to make money from other people. Never harbor any thought of taking advantage of others. As God’s children, we have a high standard. It does not look good for us to try to rack up the lowly money of the world. Suppose the president of a foreign nation comes to Kuling and finds a local native infected with malaria. Suppose he tries to sell him some quinine pills, saying, “I bought them for five dollars per pill. Now I am selling them to you for six dollars per pill.” What kind of story would that be? It does not match the status of a nation’s president to earn a dollar from a coolie. For a Christian to earn someone else’s money is even worse than a president taking money from a coolie. Our status is different. We cannot make money from anyone.
Christians are noble people; we have our dignity, our standing, and our principles. It is a shame for us to make money from anyone. We cannot increase our wealth this way. I would rather be a farmer who tills and plants. This is more glorious than making money from others. God has prepared nature to work for us, and we will be more noble if we do not try to make money from others. Christians must have the thought that they will not earn money at the expense of other human beings.
Any occupation that increases the quantity and value of goods is acceptable to God. But pure commerce is not acceptable to God. Please pay special attention to Ezekiel 28. The principle of aggrandizement through trade began with the prince of Tyre. God rebuked him, saying, “By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence.” In Revelation 18 the world has come to an end and the kingdom is about to begin. There we see Babylon being judged. Commerce continues throughout history until the end of Babylon. All the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for Babylon. There we also see all the goods of the earth. The first is gold and the last are the souls of men. Everything is open for purchase and for sale, from gold to the souls of men. Man always thinks of making money and becoming rich. But brothers and sisters, we must flee from this low occupation.
I hope you can differentiate between pure commerce and production. Wheat, cows, sheep, tents, and fish can be sold. This is not the commerce we are talking about. The so-called commerce in the world means that today I buy one hundred sacks of flour from another person. I store them until the price goes up and then I sell them. Or I buy fifty tins of oil and put them away until the price goes up and then sell them. The wheat or oil has not increased its volume because of me. The oil has not increased, neither has the wheat. But my money has increased. I have not increased the goods of the world, yet my wealth has increased. This is a shameful thing. This is one thing that believers should try to avoid at all cost.
It is all right to buy and sell for the sake of taking care of our production. But it is wrong to buy and sell for the sake of buying and selling. It is right for a brother to sell products from his farm. But it is wrong for the same brother to buy rice and then sell it again. Although both are selling, the principles are altogether different. If a brother buys ten tents and resells them, he does not have the same occupation as Paul’s. If I make tents at night and then sell them in the morning, I have the same occupation as Paul’s. The two are absolutely different. If you labor on something and then sell what you have labored on, this is something that can be blessed by God. But if you buy something and then sell it, hoping in your heart that you will make money in the process, you are engaging in the lowest occupation, not only from a Christian’s point of view, but also from a Gentile’s as well.
No brother engaging in pure commerce can be a responsible brother, for such a person can never be fully delivered from money. Our way is becoming clearer and clearer. God’s children must be fully delivered from the power of mammon. This is the only way for them to serve God and for the church to have a way to go on.
Both shepherds and farmers are producers. Merchants belong to another category. There is a third kind of people who come in between these two. They are workers, like doctors and teachers, who work with their skills. These are also good occupations according to the Bible. Although they are not producing anything, they are not extorting anything from others either. They do not receive anything from nature, but they do not take anything from people either. They maintain their livelihood by utilizing their own contribution of time, energy, and mental power. The workman is worthy of his pay. This is one scriptural occupation that is acceptable to God. We can say that the highest occupation is the occupation which produces. The second highest is the occupation that works with skills and that receives rewards by contributing intellectual or physical strength.
The producer takes from nature and receives nothing from men. The worker takes nothing from nature and receives nothing from men. The merchant receives nothing from nature but takes things from men. These are three totally different kinds of occupations. The producer obtains something from nature while taking nothing from men. This is the highest occupation in the Bible. The worker puts in his energy, whether mental or physical. He puts in his time and energy to earn what he deserves. He does not make others poorer. Others pay him for the service he renders, and the interests of both parties balance out each other. This is an occupation acceptable to God. The merchant who deals with pure commerce receives nothing from nature but receives something from men. He has no other motive than to make money. This is the lowest occupation according to the Bible.
Today the way is clear, and the principle is also clear. We hope that all the brothers would try to have a turn in their occupations.
I do not wish to see anyone taking the extreme way. Do not condemn those who are engaged in commerce as soon as you meet them. They did not have the opportunity to choose their occupation. I knew a brother who was quite pure when he left school. After he went into business, his heart gradually became corrupt. He tried to make money day and night. If you wanted him to buy something for you, he would try to make some money in the process. He always tried to make some money from others. This is too poor. I believe such a person has been corrupted in his heart. We hope that anyone who can choose his own occupation will not go into pure commerce. We must open the eyes of those who are already in it and help them to have a change. Do not embarrass them, but at least show them the way clearly.
Pure commerce is never a good thing. We hope that ten or twenty years from now, it will be a tradition among us that no one goes into pure commerce. Hopefully, in the future all the brothers and sisters among us will build up the habit of shunning pure commerce. As God’s children, we would rather be teachers or manual laborers; we would not go into pure commerce. We would till the land and harvest wheat, barley, or rice and then sell the harvest. We would raise lambs from our sheep and then sell them. We would have our hen lay eggs and then sell them. We would have our cow produce milk and then sell it. We would make fabric and then sell it. We can do all these things. The more we work and produce, the more God will bless. The worst thing that can happen to us is that our brothers and sisters simply make a great deal of money. Nothing could be worse than this.
Today our brothers and sisters are the poorest among all those in the other denominations. If we are not careful, we could become the richest. Because we are more honest, diligent, and frugal than others, and because we do not lie, smoke, drink, or live in big mansions, it is possible that within a short time, all of the brothers and sisters will become wealthy. John Wesley once said before he died, “I am concerned for our people in the Methodist assembly. They are honest, diligent, and frugal. Soon they will become the richest people in the world.” Such a word has indeed come true today. The Methodists are the richest people in the world. But their testimony has been lost as a result.
We hope that all the new believers will earn their living by their own labor. We hope that they will not make money by taking in with one hand and taking out with the other. Our principle is to increase the abundance of the land, not the money in the world. If we do this, the money we receive will be clean, and when we offer it to God, it will be acceptable to Him. Every dollar will end up in a good place. Suppose a brother makes a basket and sells it and then offers the money to the Lord. This is much better than another brother who buys ten baskets, sells them, and then offers up his profit to the Lord. The amount of money offered may be the same, but the nature of the money is different. We hope that many brothers and sisters will see this principle. We must either labor with our hands or we must produce something. Both are according to the proper principles. I cannot forbid anyone from going into the business of pure commerce, but I would advise everyone to try his best to avoid pure commerce. This occupation will always drag a Christian down. We hope that the new believers among us will please the Lord in their choice of occupations.
