Being Authentic in the Workplace

Once upon a time, there was a man who owned a little general store on the Main Street of a small town. He was a good man—honest and friendly, and he went out of his way to serve his customers. The people of the town came to trust him and his three sons who helped him in the business. People came from far and wide to shop at his store and his business grew.

He expanded his store and then he opened another store in a nearby town, then another. To make a long story short, in about twenty years, this man had become the owner of a nationwide chain of retail stores.

But one day, he became seriously ill. He had to be hospitalized, and his condition got worse. His doctors told him that he did not have much longer to live. So he called together his three sons and gave them this challenge.

“One of you three boys 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 a special project for you to do. I am going to give each of you one dollar. 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, what you have bought 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 clear 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 clear 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 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 out 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, we must let our light shine. As we have studied the book of Colossians, we have seen that having a relationship with Jesus Christ makes an impact on all of the other relationships of life.

It makes a difference in the way you relate to yourself. It makes a difference in the way you live as husband and wife. It makes a difference in the relationship between parent and child. And today we’re going to see how it makes a difference in the workplace.

Many people today, unfortunately, regard their work-life to be something of a sideline—a distraction—a part of their lives that is really not that important compared with all of the things they’d rather be doing—such as spending time with their family, or recreational activities, or even church involvement.

Many people regard work as a cross they have to bear in order to make a living—to put food on the table. They don’t enjoy their work, they don’t look forward to it, they don’t have a passion for it, so they don’t get much satisfaction out of 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 tremendously 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 the workplace that I can learn no other place. Lessons about responsibility, faithfulness, creativity, patience, perseverance, 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 cooperate with what he is trying to do.

There’s another reason why your work-life is so significant. It has to do with that candle. God has sovereignly placed you into the workplace because there are people there who desperately need to see what an authentic Christian looks like.

People are observing your testimony. They are watching you all the time. They are watching how you work. They are observing how you respond to authority. They are taking note of what you do when you think nobody is watching. They are seeing whether or not your light is shining.

So that makes your 9–5 job, or your 3–11 shift, a lot more important than you think. As a follower of Jesus Christ, you are in full-time Christian service whether you work at the Ford Motors plant, or caring for patients at Trillium Hospital, or in an office on Bay Street. The Lord wants his light to shine through you and me in each of those places.

Now there are some very important 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 an evil practice.”

Historians tell us that anywhere from 33-50% 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 and seemingly endorse this state of affairs?

Well, in fact, in passages like this, 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 setting forth relational principles whereby slaves and slaveowners could begin to relate to each other as human beings—with respect and dignity and love. And those principles made them begin to understand that all human beings 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 in Colosse 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 in v. 22 is that, if you are a worker, if you are under the authority of a manager or a boss, you are to obey in everything. That is your God-given duty as a Christian. Follow instructions. 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 often an amoral place. Many people believe that you have to cut corners and fudge the rules just to stay competitive. What if you 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 few 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 unrealistic. But his boss thought that they would impress the customer enough to win the contract, and then they could just delay 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 integrity.

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

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 a Greek word which means “single”. In other words, in your obedience, have a single heart, not a double heart. Don’t obey with double motives. Don’t make a big show of working hard when the boss is around, just so that you’ll look good in front of him, and then goof off when he’s not around. Let you single motive be to please your employer 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 your soul”.

The Bible says that 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 work with you every morning. Don’t leave your heart at home!

Rachel Montross is a ticket agent for Southwest Airlines. At Christmas 1995, she was feeling rather sorry for herself because she had to work on 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 frail elderly 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 distressed. 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, she 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 value and great service, whatever the cost. And Christians ought to be leading the way in that respect.

Why? Because God says that our earthly work is of eternal consequence—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.”

God is watching. It is the Lord Christ we are serving. He’s the one who’s going to do our performance review. And he doesn’t miss a thing. He cares about the quality of our work.

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 relationship to your work performance.

One of my son’s former high school teachers in Pennsylvania sarcastically told his class 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, He will hold us accountable for how we do it. You can 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.

So far, we have been talking about employees. But in the workplace, many of us are called upon to be in management—supervisors, managers, directors, perhaps owners of businesses. What are the Bible’s principles for management?

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.

Here is the overriding principle for managers: God expects me to treat the people who work for me the same way that He 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. God loves me. And because he loves me, I have learned to trust him.

That is the model he expects me to follow in my relationship with the people who are under my authority as a supervisor—a relationship of love and concern.

As a manager, you can do this in many ways—a gesture of encouragement; a word of appreciation—letting the people who are working for you know that they are valuable and of infinite worth. And people respond to that. They respond by becoming better people—more creative, more productive, more joyful.

One of the great tragedies of modern corporate life is that many companies have lost sight of that fact. Management has lost sight of the fact that a company’s employees are its greatest asset. 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.

I have a brother-in-law in Buffalo, who has worked for 25 years for a pharmaceuticals company. Recently, that company was bought out. And last week, the new management fired everyone. They announced the layoffs on Wed. and gave the employees until noon the next day to clear out their desks and leave the premises.

It’s no wonder that people in today’s workplace are 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 reciprocal relationship. It is a two way street. Their are responsibilities on both sides of the relationship. And God is holding both sides accountable.

Fred Smith is 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 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.

A final thing to think about. As a Christian, you have Jesus living in your life. Ask yourself this question next time you show up for work: How would Jesus do my job?

What we do in here on Sunday isn’t nearly as important as what we do out there the rest of the week. That’s where you really find out how authentic you are as a Christian. That’s where you let your light shine.