Lisa Sheffler, author
This week we’re talking about how we can be Christ’s ambassadors in our homes and work places. We want to reflect Christ’s character in our words and actions, and share his love with those around us.
Many of us spend considerable time each week working at our jobs. How we do our jobs and interact with our bosses and co-workers can be part of our mission to help people find and follow Christ.
Read
Colossians 3:23-24
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving
What is Paul’s point in these verses?
Reflect
The average adult spends a lot of time working. Whether you are a CEO, a sales person, an auto mechanic, a stay-at-home mom, or a booster club president, you are using your abilities and efforts to get things done. (Some of you even get paid for it.) Unfortunately, a lot of people view their work as a drudgery. They often find their minds drifting to visions of icy cold drinks consumed on white sand beaches. If only life could be an endless vacation!
While vacations are wonderful, and rest is necessary, God created us to do meaningful work. Before sin entered the world and our work became toil, God’s image-bearers were designed to use their gifts and abilities to create and cultivate. We are to honor God and bless one another with our efforts. Although sin can corrupt our motivations and frustrate our efforts, God’s purpose for work has not changed. Our work is supposed to matter!
Martin Luther said that when we pray for our “daily bread,” we are praying for everything and everyone involved in the making of that bread. Stop and think about that for a moment. Consider all the people that contributed to the food in your cupboard. Recognizing how God’s provision comes through other people impacts our view of our work and theirs, and it helps us appreciate our fellow image-bearers.
While many of us are working for a paycheck so we can support ourselves and our families, Colossians 3:23–24 teaches us that our ultimate boss is not the person who signs that check, but the Lord. God is the primary audience for our work. That should shape not only the quality of our work, but how we respond to our boss, and treat our co-workers. In everything we do we are ultimately serving the Lord, and while we are grateful for the pay we receive, our ultimate inheritance will come from our heavenly Father. We are accountable to him in the work we do and the relationships we cultivate through our work.
As Christians, we want to live a fully integrated life where we are just as much a Christian at work as we are on Sundays at church. We want our words and actions to reflect the image of Jesus as we perform our daily tasks and interact with people. We can demonstrate the grace and love of God in how we serve others at work, do our jobs with integrity, and treat people with kindness. Let’s share credit, and resist throwing co-workers under the bus when something goes wrong. Let’s speak encouraging words and stop complaining or gossiping. And if we have employees who report to us, let’s honor them and treat them with respect.
There are temptations in any job. Whether that temptation is to take the credit for someone else’s work, take some inventory home for ourselves, or to put in the minimal effort required to keep the paycheck coming, we need the Spirit at work. He will help us not only avoid those temptations, but see our work in a fresh way and help us make the most of every opportunity to share Christ’s love with those around us.
Respond
Thank God for the gifts and abilities he’s given you and the circumstances in which he’s placed you to use them. Whether you are currently working at your “dream job” or not, God has you in a place where you can glorify him and serve others.
Think about your co-workers. How can you show them the love of Christ through the way you do your job? The way you treat them? The conversations you have with them?
Did you know that Christ Fellowship has a Career and Coaching ministry? This is for people who are looking for a job, or who are looking to make a career change. There is a six week course starting October 26, 2020! Find out more at the CF website.
Ministry Partner Spotlight
Belle and Sparrows
“Many women in our community, nation, and world are facing insurmountable odds to not only keep their families together, but to do that in a way that is uplifting and not demeaning. Belle and Sparrows is a by women/for women non-profit that reaches women both locally and globally. One way we stand in the gap for marginalized women around the world is by teaching them skills that allow them to provide for themselves and their families. You can be part of a team that actively comes alongside these women to lift them up and help them with support and skills they need while also sharing with them about the redeeming love of Christ!”
Visit their website to find out more about the work Belle and Sparrows is doing here in North Texas and around the world.
