The unity of the Christian life requires holding on to both of its complementary dimensions: sanctifying the world for Christ and perfecting the temporal order through work.
Within the world of work, the temptation to over-spiritualize this dimension is combatted by realizing that the task of perfecting the temporal order is given by Christ and therefore pleasing to him— when we do it with excellence and, above all, in faith, hope, and charity.
This type of excellence is not primarily measured by our good intentions or our personal piety. It is measured by the standards of the work itself.
Good carpentry is measured by the sturdiness of the chair or the joinery of the table. Good computer programming is measured by the effectiveness and elegance of the code.
Good teaching is measured by the growth in knowledge (and virtue) of the student.
Good art is measured by the beauty of the artistic creation and the technique employed in its making.
The examples can be multiplied as many times as there are professions, and what they all have in common is this: excellent work is measured by the standards of the particular profession.
Love of God also loves this type of excellence, for the lover wants to give the best possible gift to his beloved.
And rather than the love itself determining the quality of the gift, we see instead the quality of the gift as a reflection of the magnitude of love.
Cain and Abel manifest this reality: when Cain brings to God a gift that is inferior in quality to that of Abel’s, God, who sees the heart, calls him on it (see Genesis 4:3–7).
Note that the two had different occupations, so the gifts offered were necessarily different.
And there is no one and absolute measure of gifts.
This why a hand-scrawled birthday card from a child might be a tremendous gift of love, while the most elaborate and expensive store-bought card might reflect a lesser love from someone who has invested little time and thought but who has money to spare.
But, all things being equal, love seeks to give an excellent gift, and thus love of God— charity— wants to offer to him the gift of work performed with excellence.
In this way, the excellence of the temporal work is taken up into the spiritual dimension— excellence becomes the gift that charity offers to God.
But the spiritual is also brought into the temporal— excellence becomes the expression of charity in the workplace.
To be sure, it is not the only expression of charity.
Loving our coworkers, speaking the truth, especially about our faith, and maintaining an atmosphere of prayer are all expressions of the same charity.
But not allowing these other expressions to crowd out the excellence of the work means that our work itself can also be taken up into the spiritual.
This way of properly “spiritualizing” our work enables us to avoid the extreme of over-spiritualizing it.
Place yourself in God’s presence and beg him to give you a heart for excellence in all things, all for his glory.
