Taking God to Work

Many years ago there was a man who started his own business. He opened a little dry goods store at the corner of two streets in a small town. He was a good man—honest and friendly, and the townspeople came to trust him. They bought his merchandise and they told all their friends about him.

The man’s business grew and he expanded his store. Pretty soon, he opened another store in a nearby town, then another. To make a long story short, in just a few years, this man found himself the owner of a nationwide chain of retail outlets.

But one day, he was taken seriously ill. He had to be hospitalized, and his condition got worse. Fearing that he had not much longer to live, the man called together his three adult sons and gave them this challenge.

“One of the three of you will become the president of this great company that I have built over the years, but I don’t know which one. So in order to help me decide, here is what I am going to do. I am going to give each of you a one dollar bill. I want you to go today and buy whatever you can with that one dollar. The only stipulation is that when you get back here to my hospital room this evening, whatever you have bought with your dollar must fill this room from corner to corner.

Well, the man’s sons were excited at the possibility of being chosen to take over the reins of their father’s great company. So they immediately left the hospital to find a way to spend that special dollar their father had given them.

That night, they returned to the hospital and their father asked his first son: “What have you done with your dollar?” The young man replied “Well, I went to a friend’s farm and with my dollar I bought two bales of hay.” And with that, he dragged the two great bales of hay into the room, untied them, and began throwing hay up into the air. For a moment, the room was filled with hay. But when the pieces of hay settled, it became obvious that it did not fill the room from corner to corner.

“So. What have you done with your dollar?” he asked his second son. “Well father, I went to one of our stores and purchased two of our deluxe feather pillows.” And with that, he tore open the pillows and threw the feathers all over the room. But when the feathers settled to the ground, it became obvious that the room was still not filled.

“And what have you done with your dollar?” he asked his third son. “Well father, first I went to the bank and asked for change for the dollar. I used 50¢ to open a savings account so that there would be money for future needs. Then I took 25¢ down to the rescue mission and gave it to them to help rebuild some people’s lives. And with the remaining 25¢, I bought two small items which I have right here in my pocket.”

And with that, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a book of matches and a little candle. He struck a match and lit the candle, and turned off the lights in his father’s room. And the light from the candle filled the room from corner to corner.

The father smiled and said “You have done well, my son. You will become the president of my company, for I see that you understand a great lesson about life. You have learned that you must let your light shine.”

As Christians who live in a non-Christian world, we must let our light shine. We have been examining the book of Colossians to see how that might take place. And we have seen that being a follower of Jesus Christ makes an impact on all of the key relationships of life.

It makes a difference in the way you live as husband and wife. It makes a difference in how you live as parent and child. And today we want to see how it makes a difference in your work relationships.

When you talk about work, I’m afraid that many people regard their work-life to be a sideline—a distraction—a part of their lives that is really not that important compared with things they’d rather be doing such as church, or family, or leisure time activities.

Many people regard work to be simply the cross they have to bear to make a living—to put food on the table. They don’t enjoy it, they don’t look forward to it, they don’t put much into it, and so they don’t get much satisfaction from it.

But this is not a biblical view of work. The Bible says that if I am a follower of Jesus Christ, my work-life is significant. It is significant for two reasons: God wants to use that great chunk of time—that 40+ hours per week that I spend at work—to shape my character.

There are lessons He has for me to learn in my work that I can learn no other place. Lessons about responsibility, faithfulness, creativity, patience, learning how to respond to authority—lessons which, if I don’t learn them at work, I’m not going to learn anywhere else.

You say “Wait a minute. You don’t know my job. You don’t know what I have to put up with at work.” Well, maybe I don’t. But ask yourself this question: “If I say that I believe in the sovereignty of God, and I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a child of God, that must mean that God has sovereignly placed me in my present job, right? Why has he placed me there?”

The answer is simple. He has placed me there because he has some things for me to learn. He wants to shape my character through my work situation. And I can either rebel against that and fight him every inch of the way, or I can get with the program.

There’s another reason why your work-life is significant. It has to do with that candle. God has sovereignly put you into your present job situation because there are people there who desperately need to see what a real Christian looks like.

People are observing your testimony. They are watching you all the time. They are watching how you work. They are watching how you respond to authority. They are watching what you do when you think nobody is watching. They are seeing your light shine.

So that makes that 9–5 job, or that 3–11 shift, a lot more important than you think. As a follower of Jesus Christ, you are in full-time Christian work wherever you work.

Now we want to look at the biblical principles that tell us how to conduct ourselves as followers of Jesus Christ in the workplace. Those principles are found in Colossians 3, so please turn there now. Let’s begin at verse 22…

Colossians 3:22-25 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.

Now the first thing you’re probably wondering is why the Bible doesn’t speak out here against the institution of slavery. Why doesn’t this passage say “Slaves, try to escape from your masters and win your freedom, because slavery is wrong; it is one of the great evils of mankind.”

Historians tell us that upwards of 50% of the population of the Roman Empire in the 1st century were slaves. They had no rights; they owned no property; they were often treated cruelly and unfairly. How could the Bible simply accept this and seem to endorse this state of affairs?

Well, in fact, Christianity sowed the seeds for the downfall of slavery. But it didn’t do it by frontal assault. It didn’t do it through rebellion and protest and political activism. It did it by simply creating relational rules whereby slaves and slaveowners began to treat each other as human beings—with respect and dignity and love. And that made them begin to understand that all men are created equal. And ultimately, in the face of those Christian truths, slavery withered and died as an institution.

But in the meantime, Paul said to the slaves who had become Christians: “You are still under the authority of your master. How should you respond to that authority?” And as we look at this passage, let’s substitute the word “employee” for the word “slave”, because an employee is also under authority, and the principles for living under authority as a Christian still apply.

Well, the first thing you see there in v. 22 is that, if you are a worker, if you are under the authority of a master or a boss, you are to obey in everything. That is your God-given duty as a Christian. Follow orders. Obey your supervisor.

Now I can just hear you saying “Wait a minute. What if my boss tells me to do something that is wrong, that is unethical?” After all, the workplace nowadays is cutthroat place. With downsizing and cutbacks, sometimes you have to cut corners and fudge the rules a little bit just to stay competitive. What if I get caught in the middle of a situation like that.

A good friend of mine is a systems analyst for a software company in New York City. A couple of years ago, he was in charge of putting together a proposal to design a software system for a major bank. The contract was going to be worth millions of dollars to his company and they were facing some stiff competition to get that contract, so the pressure was on.

And under that pressure, my friend’s supervisor reviewed his final proposal and ordered him to change some of the promised delivery dates for various components of the system. Now my friend knew that the delivery dates that his boss was suggesting were simply impossible. But the boss was thinking that they would impress the customer enough to win the contract, and then they could just slip the schedule later on.

Well, to make a long story short, my friend said “No. I am not going to put my name to a proposal that is basically dishonest.” And he wouldn’t budge. Well, interestingly enough, the boss caved in, they submitted the proposal the way that my friend had originally written it, and they won the contract because the bank said that theirs was the only proposal that had realistic delivery dates in it.

If you are asked by your boss to do something that goes against God’s principles of honesty and integrity, you have to refuse. And you have to be ready to accept the consequences. That’s where God’s sovereignty comes in. You may end up losing your job, but keeping your character.

But let’s be realistic. So much of our obedience has nothing to do with situations like that. Colossians 3 is talking about your general day-to-day obedience as a worker. How well are you carrying out your responsibilities? To what degree are you fulfilling your job description? Are you measuring up to what your employer expects from you? Are you giving him a reason to be glad he hired you?

That gets us to the HOW of obedience. Look at verse 22 again: “obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.”

The expression “sincerity of heart” comes from the Greek word “haplotes” which means “single”. In other words, in your obedience, have a single heart. Don’t obey with double motives. Don’t make a big show of working hard when the boss is around, just to make yourself look good, and then goofing off when he’s not around. Let you single motive be to please your boss whether he’s around or not.

1. Obey with a single heart… 2. Obey with a whole heart.

Look at verse 23: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…”

The expression “with all your heart” is a Greek expression “ek psukes”. The word “ek” means “from” and the word “psukes” means “soul”. It’s where we get our English word psyche, and psychology. So the Greek expression here means literally “from the soul”.

The Bible says that a Christian ought to be a soul-full worker. If you are a Christian, your work ought to be coming from your soul. Your work ought to be characterized by wholeheartedness. Enthusiasm. Drive. Passion. You ought to bringing your whole heart to the office or to the plant with you every morning. Don’t leave your heart at home! Be a worker like Rachel Montross.

Rachel Montross is a ticket agent for Southwest Airlines. At Christmas 1995, she was feeling rather sorry for herself because she was scheduled to work Christmas Eve. That meant that she’d miss her family’s annual Christmas party. Turns out she had to work a double shift that day and to top it all off, she felt like she was coming down with the flu. She just felt miserable.

The last minute Christmas rush of passengers had pretty much come and gone, when about 9 o’clock that evening, Rachel looked up from the check-in counter to see a sweet-looking frail old man standing in front of her with a cane. He told her in a faint and quavering voice that he had to go to New Orleans, but he didn’t have a ticket.

Rachel explained to him that there were no more flights to New Orleans that evening and that he would have to wait until morning. The man looked confused and worried. Rachel asked him if he had a reservation, or if he could remember when it was that he supposed to travel, but he just became more and more disoriented. All he could say was “She told me that I had to go to New Orleans.”

After some gentle questioning, Rachel was able to find out that the old man’s name was Clarence MacDonald. He had been dropped off at the terminal by his sister-in-law, who told him to go to New Orleans, where he had some other family. She told him to just go inside and buy a ticket. Then she had left.

Rachel asked him if he had a place to stay but he said No, he would just stay at the airport until morning. That’s when she noticed that he was looking very tired and pale. She stepped around the counter, and she saw that his leg was wrapped in a bandage, and there was some blood on it. She also noticed that he didn’t have any luggage—just a plastic bag full of clothes.

She called for a wheelchair and asked Clarence how he had hurt his leg. He explained to her that he had just had heart bypass surgery and that an artery had been taken from his leg. Here was this elderly man, who had just had heart surgery and then shortly afterward, was dropped off at the curb to buy a ticket with no reservation to fly to New Orleans, alone!

Rachel’s heart broke. She felt so ashamed for feeling sorry for herself earlier. This man—Clarence MacDonald—was the one who was really alone on Christmas Eve.

Rachel called her supervisor, and in the next hour, they found a hotel for Clarence, gave him a meal ticket for dinner and breakfast, found a porter to escort him to the hotel shuttle bus, and issued a first class ticket for him to travel to New Orleans the next morning.

As he was leaving, Rachel bent down to hug Clarence and she heard him say in his frail voice “Thank you so much.” And he put his head down and started to cry. Through her own tears, Rachel watched the porter wheel Clarence MacDonald away.

Rachel is a good example of what it means to take your heart to work. The workplace has enough slackers, complainers, and clock-watchers. What it needs is more people who are courageous enough to stop thinking about themselves and their own self-preservation and be people who are willing to go out of their way to provide great products and great service, whatever the cost. And as Christians, we ought to be in the forefront of that movement.

Why? Because God says that our earthly work brings heavenly reward. Look at verses 24–25…”since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.”

Every couple of weeks, you pick up a paycheck. But that paycheck doesn’t even begin to represent the reward for what you’ve done. In fact, that paycheck may not have any bearing on what you’ve really done.

Just last week, one of my son’s high school teachers sarcastically told his class of students that the only reason he was there in that classroom, putting in his time, was to pick up a paycheck. Can you imagine a teacher saying such a thing to a class full of impressionable young people?

He’ll get his paycheck alright. But it won’t be his reward. Because our heavenly father watches what we do and one day will hold us accountable for how we do it. You may get away with a slipshod performance on the job and still pick up your paycheck. But God is watching. And anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism. So work with integrity; with passion; with initiative. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Your real boss is Jesus.

Some of you may be called upon to be supervisors, or managers, or directors. In many ways, we all have people that we supervise in some fashion. What are the Bible’s principles for supervisors?

Colossians 4:1 Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

Ephesians 6:9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

God expects me to treat the people under me the same way that God treats me. God has always been fair with me. God always does what is right for me. God never tries to intimidate me, even though he’s much more powerful than I am. In short, God loves me. And that is the model for me as a supervisor in my relationship with the people under my authority.

Psychologist Karl Menninger said “Love cures people, both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it.”

A supervisor can show love in many ways—a gesture of encouragement; a word of appreciation. Love is when you let the people who are working for you know that they are valuable and of infinite worth. And people respond to love. They respond by becoming better people—more creative, more productive, more joyful.

One of the great tragedies of American corporate life is that companies have often lost sight of that fact. Management has lost sight of the fact that a company’s employees are its greatest resource. In a misguided preoccupation with the bottom line, many companies have treated employees as though they are disposable—like pieces of equipment that, if found to be outmoded, can be be simply thrown away.

It’s no wonder that the worker of today finds himself to be wary, and not quick to trust the promises of an employer. You see, the Bible says that the relationship between labor and management, is a two way street. Their are responsibilities on both sides of the relationship. And God is holding both sides accountable.

Fred Smith is a Christian. He also happens to be the CEO of Federal Express - the parcel delivery giant. A few years ago, FedEx bought out an air cargo company called Flying Tiger Lines. Normally, a buyout like that would mean that many of the Flying Tiger employees would lose their jobs. Perhaps a few lucky ones would have to to transfer to new locations, disrupting their families and homes. One of the Flying Tiger employees caught in the squeeze was a man named Forrest King.

As the takeover date approached, Forrest King and his wife were invited to fly to FedEx headquarters—all expenses paid—along with all the other Flying Tiger employees. The purpose of the trip was to give them an opportunity to see Memphis and consider relocating there.

When they arrived in Memphis, they stepped out of the chartered Boeing 747 onto a red carpet. The mayor of Memphis was there to greet them, as was Fred Smith, the CEO of FedEx. Every one of the Flying Tiger employees was offered a job with FedEx. Forrest King and his family moved to Memphis, eager to work for his new company.

Why were they treated with such respect? Because Fred Smith’s motto for his company is P-S-P: People, Service, Profit—and in that order. He says “We take care of our people; they, in turn, will be motivated to provide the great service demanded by our customers; and our customers, in turn, will reward us with the profitability necessary to secure our future.”

Sounds like the recipe for success in business, but it comes right out of the Bible. If you are in charge, treat people the way God treats you. Why? Because God is going to hold you accountable for the way you treat people.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

And that applies nowhere more importantly than in the workplace.

A final thing to think about. As a Christian, you have Jesus living in your life. Ask yourself this question next time you punch in at the factory, or sit down to your desk at the office: How would Jesus do my job?