Where I work is not as important as how…

The first time I joined a social networking site, I accepted almost all “friend” requests and tried to read everything that was posted. It didn’t take long to be tired of the trivia about “what I ate for breakfast” and the bold self-promotion of some who had home businesses. I also began getting requests from total strangers and invitations to business networks. Then the ads… asking they be hidden gets rid of them, but all of this took too much time. 

However, I did appreciate the connections to family and a few close friends. So I deleted my old account and created one under a different email address and using a variation of my name. Today, this network is changing their format to a timeline. I’m not sure why, but since I’ve no choice in the matter, I’m considering all the options. 

One option is putting in personal information, such as where I went to school and where I have worked. As I look at these options about work, my flippant thoughts included that I am a “kept woman” that has never needed to work outside the home, and variations of “domestic engineer” and “chief cook and bottle washer.” However, what I really want to put in that line is not my work places, but my working goal. It is expressed by today’s devotional verses…

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. (Colossians 3:23–24)

The “whatever” part makes this more about attitude and motivation than actual workplaces. I could scrub bathrooms and cook meals at home, or file reports and balance ledgers at an office and still be “working heartily as for the Lord.” While this isn’t what that network has in mind, it is on my mind. 

One day, while out for a walk and praying through my list of requests and burdens, I complained about the time it takes to pray and how much work I had to do. The Lord spoke to my heart as clearly as if He had shouted. He said, “Prayer is your work.”

I still struggle with that task, but His rebuke changes the way I think about prayer. Instead of an important spiritual discipline, this is God-given work that goes beyond everything else. He is my employer, my Master. I serve Him in prayer. 

Today, I also found the following verse. It will go on my social network page in that place asking for information about my work.

I thank God whom I serve… with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. (2 Timothy 1:3)

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Lord, I am thankful, first of all to be able to serve You. No one could be a better boss. I’m also thankful that as long as I do what You ask, my conscience is clear. Guilt hinders, even destroys lives. Having forgiveness and cleansing from sin and guilt is freedom and puts a spring in my step. New life in Christ motivates me to think about others and pray for them. This is work, but it is work that blesses lives and brings eternal rewards. You also bless the workplace environment with others who pray for the same things, and bless me with joy as I do my job!

A good work ethic in a booming economy

The very young clerk in a high-end women’s clothing store completes a sale while continuing a personal call on her cell phone. A bank teller, who is a bit older, makes a customer stand and wait while she finishes wrapping a Christmas gift. Two clerks totally ignore a customer standing at the till with a purchase. After waiting a long time, she gives up, puts the item on the counter, and leaves the store.

Our part of the world is experiencing an economic boom plus a huge shortage of labor. My husband’s place of work is expanding so fast that they are out of space every week, looking for floors of empty offices anywhere they can find them. The fast-food chains are importing workers from Mexico and other countries. We’ve had debates about the ethics of hiring pre-teens to work some of those jobs.

Jobs are easy to find, wages are high, and getting fired is almost impossible. My daughter is worried that this boom is going to produce an entire generation of young people without a work ethic.

I’ve been thinking about the source of the ‘work ethic’ she is talking about. People can do a good job out of a genuine concern about the customer, respect for the boss and the business they work for, and a basic honesty and desire to do a good job, OR it can be from a fear of losing their job because they need the money and have to support themselves and their family. For some, their work ethic might be a combination of both, but remove any threat to job security, and I’m sure an employee’s motivations for working will soon show up!

I opened my Bible this morning to Ephesians 4. It begins with, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called . . . .”

Paul lived out what he believed. He is the highest example, other than Christ, of someone who practiced what he preached, who lived out his code of conduct. By doing his job the way his Employer wanted him to do it, he didn’t get a raise in salary (which was zero in the first place), or a cushy retirement package. Instead, he was put in prison for his faith.

Yet Paul urged others to do the same as he did, to walk worthy of their calling, to live out their position in Christ. He exalted the ‘job’ far above any reward or remuneration, at least on this earth.

He had reasons for his work ethic. First, God told him to “spend and be spent” for the sake of the Gospel. He loved and believed in his Boss, and trusted Him to supply all his needs. He knew that his term of employment was short compared to eternity, and if he did his job well, many others might join him there, with Christ, forever.

Second, eternal rewards were more important for him than temporary ones. He knew what lasted and what did not. He kept his eyes on Christ, and focused on what was going to last. He didn’t consider short-term gain a priority.

Third, as this passage says, he saw the reality of what Christ does for people who walk with Him. He didn’t want that to be diminished but perpetuated through the obedience of His people. When I walk worthy of my position in Christ, I am adding strength to the entire Body of Christ. Each person’s contribution to our Employer is important to the entire kingdom of God.

The most important reason I can think of for Paul’s work ethic is that it was part of his new nature in Christ. When Jesus saved him, He filled this man with Himself. The nature of Christ is to give, to be honest, to care about others, to do what He is called to do without complaint or slacking off. Paul’s work ethic was part of his character as a believer in Jesus Christ and he consistently urged others to ignore the desires of their old sinful nature, and live in the incredible power of the Holy Spirit.

Today’s slacking off in the workplace is partly the result of this booming economy, but it is also a manifestation of what is going on in people’s hearts. If a person lacks integrity and a heart for others, it doesn’t matter if jobs are scarce or not—that attitude will come out. If they have a good attitude toward people, their boss, and working, that will be seen.

The bottom line for me is that because I am a saved, sanctified, and transformed child of God, I’m supposed to act like it. I’m not out there in the current workforce, but I’m still ‘employed.’ My Boss expects me to be on time, ready and willing to take on any assignment He gives me. He expects me to deeply care about the people that He asks me to serve, to be quick to do His bidding, and to remember always that He is the boss, that the pay comes later, and that my retirement package is out of this world!

Express gratitude with renewed attitude

Gratitude usually brings with it a sense of wanting to do something in return, from saying thanks to giving back. Those of us who know the free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, have this huge sense of gratitude. We want to do something in return, not to pay for the gift we have received, but to express our overwhelming sense of gratitude with more than words. However, because He is not physically here, doing something directly for Him becomes a challenge.

This morning I’m reading about Mary, sister of Martha, who “took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.”

Judas and the other disciples criticized her for this, saying if she wanted to give away her oil, she should have sold it and given the money to the poor. Jesus rebuked them. He said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

He was right; the world always has poor people and we need to help them whenever we can, as He says in another passage, but He would not always be here. We can no longer offer something directly to Him to express our gratitude and devotion.

The phrase “as unto the Lord” pops to mind. It refers to three different situations, but I know most women resist the first one. How can it be an expression of devotion to Christ?

Ephesians 5 says, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.”

The human mind associates submission with words like “unequal” and “doormat” but that is not at all what the Bible means. Instead, try: Freedom from the tyranny of always needing to have my own way.

Mary could have selfishly kept her oil and spent it on herself, but she offered it freely to the one she loved. Rejecting my selfish desires to support my husband is an expression of love for him and for Jesus, but it is more than that; it forms a visual picture of the relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and His church. When I insist on my own way, I’m messing up that image, never mind what other damage my selfishness might do.

On the other hand, “as unto the Lord” gives me the opportunity to show Jesus how much I love Him. God wants me to be like Mary, willing to give up what is valuable to me (my own way), regardless that others might misinterpret and criticize what I’m doing.

The second situation suing this expression concerns the relationship between workers and their boss. In those days, slaves pretty much took the place of employees. The boss took care of all their needs and they performed their duties. The Bible says, “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”

It’s the same idea. Serve your master as if you are serving Jesus. One advantage is with this attitude, no one would ever resent their jobs if they do it for the One who died for them. But not only that, my wages from any boss can’t even be compared with the rewards that I will receive from Him.

There is one more area of life where I can do things “as unto the Lord.” It is very practical—I encounter it every time I see a speed limit sign! 1 Peter 2 says, “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.”

God puts governments in place; that’s clear from the Old Testament, but the NT reinforces the idea. Romans 13 says “There is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resist the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” Simply put, whenever I obey the laws of my country, I can consider this an act of devotion to Jesus.

I’ve been a Christian many years and am still trying to wrap my mind around this way of thinking. Whenever I need to give up my ‘rights’ or yield to the wishes of my husband, or do what someone in authority over me asks, I usually do it to keep peace, or out of a sense of obligation. Learning to respond to my partner, or to an authority figure “as unto the Lord” is difficult, foreign to my thinking.

In Matthew, Jesus said, “Wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” Mary’s example is vital, timeless, and transcends cultures. She reminds me that no matter what I am doing, I can show Jesus how much I love Him just by changing my motivation for doing it, and her simple, selfless act of devotion can be repeated by Christian people regardless of who they are, or when and where they live.