Garden City: Work, Rest, and the Art of Being Human.

by John Mark Comer

My point is that for those of you who are parents — especially if you parent full-time — what you do is at the focal point of God’s vision for the world. Well done. Keep it up.

Which leads to the second part of human’s job description: “Subdue it.” Meaning, harness the raw, uncut potential of the earth itself. Make something of the world you’ve been dropped into. You have a forest — do something with it. You have a river — make it work for you. You have metal deep in the earth’s crust — get it out. You have sun and wind and soil and rain — do something with it. Plant crops, build houses, invent solar power, design computers, make music, shape art, come up with technology — fill the earth and subdue it.

But once again, that doesn’t mean trash the environment, pollute the atmosphere, stockpile nuclear weapons, strip-mine for ore, farm away the topsoil, or any other stupid thing that we’ve done in the name of “the Bible says.” No, there is a very specific kind of world we are to make. It’s called Eden.

We’re called to a very specific kind of work. To make a Garden-like world where image bearers can flourish and thrive, where people can experience and enjoy God’s generous love. A kingdom where God’s will is done “on earth as it is in heaven,” where the glass wall between earth and heaven is so thin and clear and translucent that you don’t even remember it’s there. That’s the kind of world we’re called to make.

The Garden was designed to go somewhere.9 God’s vision was for the order and artistry and beauty of Eden to spread out over the whole earth — and human was the one entrusted with that job, to “fill the earth” with the Garden’s reality.

Think of a violent, untamed wilderness teeming with beauty, but no infrastructure, no roads, no bridges, no cities, no civilization, and God says, Go make a world. Adam wasn’t a landscape-maintenance employee. He was an explorer, a cartographer, a gardener, a designer, an architect, a builder, an urban planner, a city-maker.

But if we’re God’s coworkers, that means we’re not only working for God, we’re also working with God. He’s back to the imagery of partners. What’s the difference between an employee and a partner? In one word — ownership.

When you go to work tomorrow, remember, you’re not just a designer with a clothing label; you’re a partner with God, taking the human project forward.

You are a modern day Adam or Eve. This world is what’s left of the Garden. And your job is to take all the raw materials that are spread out in front of you, to work it, to take care of it, to rule, to subdue, to wrestle, to fight, to explore, and to take the creation project forward as an act of service and worship to the God who made you.

He found the best musicians were not those with the most raw, innate talent; they were those who practiced way, way more than all the other students.

God is looking for people he can give more “grace” to. People who can handle grace, with grace. After all, God is looking for people he can rule the world with. And you just might be one.

But in spite of all this exponential growth, we’re as unhappy as ever. In fact, we’re worse. We spend about 250 billion dollars a year on prescription drugs. Antidepressants are the second most popular prescription in the US, after cholesterol medication. One in 10 people are on antidepressants at any given time. More like 1 in 4 over a lifetime.15 Mental illness is exploding. Bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD — they are up by a staggering amount.16

So, to sum up . . . We work more than ever before, we have more than ever before, and we’re miserable. It’s Egypt all over again.

The striking thing about a servant is that they exist to make others’ lives better.

Just remember one last thing: if your dreams are all about you, then your dreams are way too small. You need to dream larger. Larger than your job or career or net worth or name or body. You need dreams as large as Jesus’ vision of the kingdom.