Is It Sinful to Leave a Job God Gave Us?

A story of two men, both seeking to honor God with their money and their work…

Story #1

At 18 he dropped out of school to serve in WWII.

He’d been doing the same job ever since he got home from the war, because that’s where God had put him.

They had offered him a promotion.  He told them he’d think about it.  But he already knew his answer.

“Bill”, they’d said, “Jim is retiring as warehouse foreman. We’d like you to take his job.  You’d be in charge of the entire warehouse crew, all the drivers and the customer deliveries.  It’s a big job. It pays three times as much as you earn now.”

His family did struggle a bit.  His wife worked overnight shifts so somebody could always be home with the kids.  They had to be really careful at the grocery store.  But his family never went hungry.

He wasn’t going to dishonor God by leaving the job God had given him just to make more money.

 Story #2

At 14 he dropped out of school.

He served in WWI and came home to a business ruined by his partner.  He closed it, ending up in a lot of debt.

Next he opened an earth moving company, but it was always on the edge of bankruptcy.

Wanting to serve God, he visited his pastor, convinced that the only way to serve God was to become a full time minister.

“God”, said the pastor “needs businessmen too”.

He changed company direction and focused on selling the earth moving equipment he had invented for his own use, earning millions a year.

His wife suggested they live on 10% and give 90% to God.

“It’s not how much of my money I give to God, he explained, but how much of God’s money I keep for myself.”

You may have heard his story.  He was R.G. LeTourneau. He built earth moving equipment in a day when most construction companies moved the earth with picks and shovels.

There are so many questions from these stories:

• Who best served God?  The man who stayed “where God had put him” or R.G. LeTourneau?
• Was God trying to move the first man into positions where he could serve God in new ways?
• Do we stay where we are out of obedience to God or fear or both?
• How do we discern the difference?

What does the Bible say about all these questions?

In Genesis God tells Abram to move to new circumstance…

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. Genesis 12:1

In 1 Corinthians 7: 21-24 Paul seems to be saying to stay in the position you were found at the time of your salvation.  Or does he?

Would the context of the passage lead in another direction?  (Note:  I was reminded of this passage by Patrick Harris in a Google+ comment another post.) 

²¹ Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so.²² For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave. ²³ You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. ²⁴ Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. 1 Corinthians 7:21-24

So what do you think?

How do we discern God’s will about how he wants us to serve him?

Share your thoughts with others…