More and more our culture seems to value leisure time. The hours spent working are only put in so we can earn a paycheck so we can relax and enjoy the real part of our lives. But is this attitude one God would endorse?
We can take a cue from the example of our Creator. He worked to create all that is seen and unseen. He continues to do good works, and we can see the evidence of His works in creation and in the new creations that are those who put their trust in Him.
The first people He created were given work while they were still in paradise. So work isn’t something that is evil, but rather something God has created us to do.
Why? Scripture tells us we are Christ’s ambassadors. Most people, when they go to their workplace, aren’t going to a place dominated by Christians. Rather, they are more likely going to something more like a foreign country, and the believer is the ambassador who brings the message of the love of Christ to that environment.
What makes an ambassador effective? The way he relates to the people he meets with and works with, the way he communicates whatever message he has been sent to deliver. So the way we do our work will send a powerful message about the One Who sent us.
I think back many years and remember a Jewish man I worked for. Long before it became a management fad, he practiced servant leadership. Walking through the halls of the hospital we worked in, he would stop to pick up litter from the floor. If a poster was crooked, he’d straighten it. He regularly went in on the night shift to talk with the nurses and other workers, just to make sure their voices were heard by someone in management.
This man would have laughed and made a cynical comment if anyone had told him he was a servant leader. In his mind, he was just doing his job well. He didn’t need some management guru to tell him how to care for the people who worked for him. How much more we as Christians should aspire to that level of going the extra mile, to do the right thing, to be concerned about others, and to do little extras things that aren’t “our jobs” but contribute to the whole.
We are also told to work as if we are laboring for the Lord, and not merely for men. When I have a job to do, I am not just accountable to my boss, but also to God, Who sent me to that workplace to bear testimony about Him.
My integrity, honesty and kindness to others will bear living witness to the message of the gospel. Dishonesty, rudeness or gossip will undermine whatever message I try to communicate with words.
God desires to reconcile many to Him, that they may have peace with Him. We, as His ambassadors, are instruments in that process.
That is all very fine, you may think. But what if I hate my job? What if my boss is an ogre? I’ve been there. My feelings about the boss and the job didn’t give me an excuse for sloppy or halfhearted work. Even in the most difficult surroundings, I am still Christ’s ambassador. I am still called to bring glory to God in how I do my work by doing my assigned tasks for God, and not just the ogre over me.
Of course, this doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with looking for another job. The challenge still remains, that whatever we are doing, we do for the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment