Tentmakers (Acts 18:3)

2022-05-29

We often ask people what they do for their career, since that is what we think makes up a part of one’s core identity. Did you know what the apostle Paul’s occupation was?

And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers. (Acts 18:3)

If Paul’s occupation was a tentmaker, why does he not open his epistles, “Paul, a tentmaker for Jesus”? It is because that was not Paul’s primary purpose in life. He was a servant and apostle of the Lord. This was what he lived and died for.

If you belong to Jesus Christ, your purpose is to be a Christian. That identity should be apparent in all that we do, including our occupations. The Bible only once says that Paul was a tentmaker, but how many times does it refer to him as an apostle, or a prisoner of Jesus Christ, or something tied to the faith?

All our jobs are tentmaker jobs. What you do for Jesus Christ is what counts for eternity. Everything else will not be remembered.

Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. (1 Corinthians 3:13)