Best Christian Books on Work and Service: 11 Classics to Read Free
Start with James Hamilton's Life in Earnest. It is a short book, about two hours, built on one verse: "Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord" (Romans 12:11). It covers both halves of this subject at once: doing your daily work well, and doing all of it for Christ. Then read Andrew Murray's Working for God!, one short chapter a day for a month, on the work every believer is given to do.
The old writers did not split life into sacred and secular. A farmer, a clerk, a mother and a merchant serve God in their callings as truly as a preacher does, if they work honestly and for His sake. But they also believed every Christian has a part in Christ's work in the world: praying, speaking of Him, caring for the poor and serving in the church. And they agreed on where the strength for both comes from. We serve because we have been healed and loved, and fruit comes from abiding in Christ, not from straining.
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.
Colossians 3:23
Here are eleven of the best in TheWay Library, in three groups: your daily work, serving Christ, and serving the poor.
Start here
1. Life in Earnest, by James Hamilton
Hamilton takes the three phrases of Romans 12:11 in turn. Be diligent in your calling and don't be lazy in it. Keep your eye on the Lord Jesus as the reason for your work and the Master you answer to. And bring a fervent spirit to it, since a cold heart makes for dull work. He binds the three into a "threefold cord."
You cannot pray too much, though you should pray without ceasing, if your prayer take a practical direction, and lead you to do good without ceasing.
Life in Earnest, chapter 5
Read Life in Earnest. See also who James Hamilton was.
2. Working for God!, by Andrew Murray
Thirty-one short meditations on the call of every believer to work for God. Murray keeps two things together that we tend to pull apart: waiting on God and working for Him. Work done without Him wears us out. Work that flows from His life in us bears fruit.
Let all your work be fruit; let all your willing and working be inspired by the life of God.
Working for God!, chapter 12
Read Working for God!, and see Andrew Murray's books.
Your daily work
3. The Application of Christianity to the Commercial and Ordinary Affairs of Life, by Thomas Chalmers
Chalmers preached these sermons to the merchants of Glasgow in 1820. He asks what difference the gospel makes to buying and selling. His answer: more than honesty, which unbelievers can have too. The gospel reaches the motive, the small dishonesties no one else sees and the love of money.
It is evangelizing human life, by impregnating its minutest transactions with the spirit of the gospel.
The Application of Christianity to the Commercial and Ordinary Affairs of Life, Discourse IV
Read Chalmers on Christianity and business, and see who Thomas Chalmers was.
4. John M. Whitall: The Story of His Life, by Hannah Whitall Smith
If Chalmers gives the principles, this memoir shows a life. Hannah Whitall Smith's father went to sea as a boy, became captain of an East Indiaman, then prospered in the glass business near Philadelphia while seeking God's guidance in everything. Drawn from his journals and letters, it shows a Christian businessman at work, at home and in giving.
His life was really a … life hid with Christ in God, … and all its springs were drawn from this divine source.
John M. Whitall: The Story of His Life, chapter 4
Read John M. Whitall. See Hannah Whitall Smith's books.
5. Talks to Farmers, by C. H. Spurgeon
Nineteen sermons on farming texts, from the sluggard's field full of nettles to ploughing, sowing, harvest and the barn. Spurgeon preaches the gospel through the farmer's work and shows ordinary labor full of spiritual lessons. A good book for anyone who works with their hands.
To a spiritual mind nettles have their use, and weeds have their doctrine.
Talks to Farmers, talk 1
Serving Christ
6. First Healing and Then Service, by C. H. Spurgeon
The title sermon is on Peter's mother-in-law, whom Jesus healed of a fever, and who "arose, and ministered unto them." Spurgeon draws a simple order from it. You can't serve Christ until He has healed you, and once He has, you rise to serve.
Healing must come before serving.
First Healing and Then Service, chapter I
Read First Healing and Then Service. See Spurgeon's books.
7. To The Work! To The Work!, by D. L. Moody
Nine rousing addresses to church members. Moody tells them to roll away the stone as Christ's helpers, to bring their friends to Jesus, to do what they can as Mary of Bethany did, and not to despise small things.
If we cannot all be lighthouses, any one of us can at any rate be a tallow candle.
To The Work! To The Work!, Chapter IX
Read To The Work! To The Work!, and see D. L. Moody's books.
8. Quiet Talks on Service, by S. D. Gordon
Gordon describes a threefold life of prayer, purity and service, and says the life others see depends on the life only the Master sees. His last talk, on Gideon's three hundred, is about how God sifts His workers.
God reckons our service not by our ability but by our willingness.
Quiet Talks on Service, Gideon's Band Sifted for Service
Read Quiet Talks on Service. See S. D. Gordon's books.
9. The Fruit of the Vine, by Andrew Murray
Six short chapters on John 15: fruit, no fruit, more fruit, much fruit, abiding fruit, and fruit and prayer. Murray says the fruit Christ wants is a life of love poured out for others, and that abiding is the only way to bear it. Under an hour. Read The Fruit of the Vine.
A life of love and beneficence, a life given up to the welfare of others, is to be, not the end, but the beginning of our Christian crusade.
The Fruit of the Vine, chapter 2
10. Elijah the Tishbite and other papers, by C. H. Mackintosh
This volume of Mackintosh's shorter writings includes papers on Christian service, among them "The True Workman," on how even the best of Christ's servants meet discouragement, as John the Baptist did in prison. The long study of Elijah that follows shows a servant of God hidden, used, discouraged and restored.
There never yet was one who stood as a workman for God in this world, that had not to encounter rebuffs in some shape or form, and the only perfect Workman is no exception to the general rule.
Elijah the Tishbite, Miscellaneous Writings Vol. V, The True Workman
Read it here. See C. H. Mackintosh's books.
Serving the poor
11. In Darkest England, and the Way Out, by William Booth
The founder of the Salvation Army wrote this in 1890. The first half describes the homeless, the out-of-work and the desperate of England's cities. The second half lays out a plan to lift them through work, shelter and the gospel. It is a reminder that service to Christ includes the people the rest of the world walks past.
A man's labour is not only his capital but his life.
In Darkest England, and the Way Out, chapter 4
Read In Darkest England. See also who Catherine Booth was, William's wife and co-founder.
Where to begin
If your question is "does my job matter to God?", read Hamilton and then Chalmers. If it is "what does God want me to do for Him?", read Murray and Moody. For sharing your faith in particular, see our guide to the best Christian books on evangelism, and for giving, the best books on money and giving.