Heart First, Work Second

What Dallas Willard taught me about God's priorities

When I look back at my life’s work, a few things stand out.

1. My first act of ministry was in 1976 leading a “home Bible study” as we called them in the Calvary Chapel part of the Jesus Movement in Southern California. I remember how much preparation went into it and how nervous I was about speaking in public for the first time.

2. I started my first church in 1979. We just celebrated its 45^th anniversary. I am pleased beyond measure that it is still a large, thriving, worshipping, serving congregation.

3. I wrote my first book for IVP in 2008, and have continued writing books since.

These are all perfectly fine accomplishments. But 16 years into my ministry experience, I had the joy of befriending Dallas Willard and gaining a new perspective on my work.

Dallas said:

“Your work is not God’s work. You are God’s work. God is calling, shaping, and creating a people. Your work is simply the context in through which you pursue discipleship to Jesus as God is shaping you into the person you will forever be.”

That was a lot for me to take in. My work—and relationships and hobbies—were important, but occurring within a larger narrative with another ultimate goal?

I had to ask: “Dallas, what exactly do you mean?”

He said, “Todd, nothing you do will last forever, but you are a never-ceasing spiritual being with an astonishing future serving with God in the new heavens and new earth. You are God’s focus. Your work—and the other elements of your life—are the context in which you cooperate with God in the transformation of your heart, soul, mind, bodily strength, and will. As you focus your life that way you are setting a trajectory for the kind of person you will eternally be in the perfections of the new heavens and earth.”

Applying this truth over the last 30 years has had a transformative effect on me.

God has called us to work with him—that is true and vital. It is baked into creation:

Genesis 2:15: The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Genesis 12:2,3: I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

Work is a heavenly reality:

Revelation 22:5: …those in heaven will rule and reign with God for ever and ever.

Our work matters. Even work that is not remembered. I’m sure nobody remembers what I talked about at that home Bible study in 1976. The church I started won’t last forever—no church or ministry does. There aren’t many copies of my first book sold at this point, and few people even know about it.

But as Dallas wrote in Renovation of the Heart, meaningful work comes from focusing on something else.

The life we live out in our moments, hours, days and years wells up from a hidden depth. What is in our heart matters more than anything else for who we become and what becomes of us. What we decide to seek in life is the key to our current character and further determines what our character will be.

When I sought the work, God was patient with my limited understanding. He met me where I was and worked with me on that basis. My focus yielded a certain quality of spiritual life.

When I sought him, a whole new spiritual world emerged. The shift in focus made all aspects of my work and life better. Work did not diminish. It took on new vigor and meaning when I gained the imagination that I was not just working for God, but I was working with God in the transformation of my soul.

These insights from Dallas spurred me on to write a paraphrase of Proverbs 4:23 for one of my books:

Put everything you have into the care of your heart—
the hidden, causative, motivational you—
for everything you do flows from it.
It is the real source of your outward life.
It determines what your life and leadership amounts to.

Sometimes I have the wonderful privilege of meeting people who tell me that something I did or said was a help to them. That probably happens to you too, so you know the assurance and godly joy it brings.

But “heart first, work second” is important to keep our life in proper perspective. It gives our work and life a new quality. It is the way to becoming a truly good human being, friend, neighbor, spouse, parent, worker, or supervisor.

Heart work lasts forever, for indeed we are never-ceasing spiritual beings with an astonishing future ahead of us as the cooperative friends of God.