Work, it’s something we do a lot of. I am not sure if you have ever figured it up, but on a 40 hour work week, you will spend over 2,000 hours a year working. Over 30 years that amounts to roughly 62,000 hours or 2,600 straight days at work. I think it is safe to say that work is a big part of our lives.
Work is also a necessary part of our lives because without work we wouldn’t survive. We have to pay for the place live, the food we eat, the car we drive, the clothes we wear, and the things we do. So work is not only a big part of our lives, it’s a necessity.
Since we work so much, and retirement is far away for most of us, it’s important we have a biblical understanding of work.
How Should Christians Work?
(1) As Christians, our work should always be genuine
One of the first long-term jobs I had out of college was at a staffing company. I began working for them in Atlanta and ended up moving to Dallas to help open a satellite office. I didn’t move to Dallas alone. Four other people from the corporate office moved with me. Everyone who moved to Dallas had done really well in the Atlanta office, which only makes sense, after all, you aren’t going to trust your brand new satellite office to those who are having a hard time with sales or recruiting at the Corporate office.
Our new office looked promising. There, however, was just one problem, no one was appointed as the head of the office. Instead, a bunch of twenty-somethings was thrown in an office half-way across the country and told to work without any oversight. While it wasn’t a total bust, most of us worked hard, there was one guy in our office who didn’t. It is not that he didn’t do anything. He made a few obligatory calls, participated in our daily office meetings, made sure I was working on the few jobs he had pulled in, but the rest of the day he watched videos on his computer, talked to his friends on the phone, and joked around with people in the office. That was his daily routine until one of the executives from the Atlanta office came out to check on things.
When the executives were there, his work ethic picked up 100%. He was on the phone all day setting meetings, pulling in jobs for me to work on, as well as he made it a point to talk up all that he had done in the office, or was supposed to be doing. You see, his goal was to be head of the office in Dallas. He knew if he wanted that position, he had to impress the executives, which is exactly what he set out to do, but only when they were there and they could see him.
Now, the way he worked is the exact opposite of how Paul calls Christians to work in Colossians 3. In verse 22 he says,
“Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.” (Col 3:22)
According to Paul, we aren’t just to work hard when our bosses are watching. Instead, we are to work with “sincerity of heart“. In other words, what our boss sees when in the office should be what they can expect when they are out of the office. Our work, then, should always be genuine.
Our genuine work should be driven by our fear of the Lord. When the Bible talks about fearing God what it means is that we are to live in awe and wonder of Him, that we are to have an intense love and respect for Him. Those things should be what drives us to work well.
When we allow the fear of the Lord to drive our work, people will see a difference in the way we work. They won’t just see us doing things for attention, accolade, or promotion, like many of their co-workers, or even themselves. Rather they will see us as genuine. People appreciate people who are genuine, even if they aren’t genuine themselves.
Being genuine not only pleases God, but it also opens up a conversation with others about why we work the way we work. It gives us an opportunity to tell other people about Jesus. How He has changed our heart, and how that has affected our work.
So as Christians, our work should always be genuine. We shouldn’t seek to please man, but God.
(2) As Christians, our work must be done with a dependence on God
When we truly depend on God, trusting Him to supply our needs, we don’t have to be people pleasers. We can not only be genuine, but we can also keep our hands clean. We don’t need sketchy side deals to make things happen or take care of our family because we know that the Lord will provide.
Nor do we have to work ourselves to death. When we depend on the Lord, we can enjoy a work-life balance. Which means we can actually take a Sabbath, spend time with our family, and enjoy a vacation.
As well as depending on the Lord means we can pick a career that suits our God-given gifts. A lot of times people don’t do this. Instead, they pick a career based on the money they can potentially make.
That is why I chose sales as a career right out of college. But there was only one problem with the career I had chosen, I wasn’t all that great at it. While I like talking to and meeting new people, I don’t like to impose upon people’s day. As well as I am not all that great at small talk. I do it from time to time because it allows me to get to know people, but I don’t really like it. In sales, you have to do both of those things a lot — you have to impose upon people and you have to be a good small talker.
So while sales promised me the potential to make a lot of money, it didn’t work for me because it didn’t play to my strengths. It didn’t play to my God-given gifts. As you can imagine, I wasn’t really good at it, and I was miserable doing it.
But here is the thing, when we depend on God to meet our needs, we are free to take positions that allow us to use our gifts, even if they aren’t lucrative careers.
As you all know, pastors don’t make a lot of money, but I have to tell you, our family doesn’t want for anything. All our basic needs and more are taken care of. I attribute that 100% to the Lord. He has worked things out in ways that only He could so that we are taken care of and are able to serve Him in the way that He desires.
God taking care of you doesn’t just hold true for pastors, but everyone. I believe if we depend on the Lord, answering His call for our lives, the Lord will provide for us so that we can use the gifts He has given us. Now that doesn’t mean that you are going to be rich, just because you answer the Lord’s call. The gifts the Lord has given you may not amount to a lucrative career. So you might need to rethink your standard of living. But even if a lucrative career isn’t in store for you, I believe you will be happier, and I believe you can count on the Lord to provide for your basic needs.
(3) As Christians, our work must be done wholeheartedly
Look at what Paul says in verses 23-25,
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.” (Col 3:23–25)
What Paul tells us here is that we must give the work we do our all. That idea reminds me of a book that Camden had around Christmas time. It was entitled Pete the Cat Saves Christmas. There is a consistent refrain in the book that goes like this: Give it your all; Give it your all; At Christmas we give, so give it your all.
While it is good to teach our kids that they are to give it their all, that is something we have to remember as well. We are to give it our all. We aren’t to slack off. We aren’t to cut corners. We aren’t to do sloppy work as a way to get back at our company. We are to give it our all 100% of the time because we aren’t working for men; we are working for the Lord. So no matter how things are going at work. How the company is treating us. We are to give our all at all times.
We can give it our all no matter the situation because our ultimate reward and inheritance come from the Lord. We can count on God paying us our inheritance, instead of withholding it from us like an employer might do. As well as we can count on God paying the wrongdoer back for the way they have treated us. We, then, don’t have to seek vengeance. Vengeance is the Lord’s.
So no matter the situation, we are to give it our all, working wholeheartedly for the Lord.
Question for Reflection
- Are you working from a Christian perspective?
Resources
Post adapted from my sermon How Should We Work from a Christian Perspective?
