I was reading "God on Monday" by Benny Tabalujan, and he made a great point about early views on sacred and secular work. An early church leader, Eusebius, wrote about work in two tiers--religious work was at a higher tier and secular work was at a lower tier. Thus, the truly "good" Christians would leave secular jobs (or never enter them to begin with) and seek out religious work in monastic orders and convents. This was the dominant view until the Reformation (and still persists today).
Martin Luther and other Reformation leaders went to the other extreme. Perhaps you've heard of the "Protestant Work Ethic." They emphasized that all work glorified God. That wasn't inherently bad. The problem was that work became an end in itself, rather than a means to honor God. The truly "good" Christians were those that worked harder and longer than everyone else and thus achieved material success. That attitude is also prevalent today.
The truth is somewhere in between these two positions. There is no distinction between secular and sacred work--both are opportunities to honor God. But work itself isn't the goal. Neither is career success, wealth, or acclaim. The goal of everything in our lives, including work, should be God.
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