The Gospel and My Work

We are going to talk about work

When we think of work, we often think about our jobs

When you meet another guy and you aren’t sure what to say… what do you ask?

“What do you do for work?” - Meaning, “What is your job?”

We often find our identity in our work - Part of who I am is what I do for my job

I AM a pastor

I AM a welder

I AM a lawyer

I AM a ______

[Hook] But if we think that is all that is meant by work…

What are we to think when we don’t have a job?

If you are unemployed for a season

If you are retired

We have an identity crisis…

As Gospel men, men who have been transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ…

What we need is a vision for work that is more than just our jobs

We need to have a vision for work that motivates us to live each moment with intentionality and focus

And Paul is going to help us to see that vision in Eph. 5:15-21

Ephesians 5:15–21 ESV

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

In these verses, Paul helps us to see that our work is not just what we do for our job, but what we do with our lives

Big idea: Gospel men make the most of their lives by living intentionally under the rule of Christ [4:00]

In Genesis 2, we are told that God “put the man in the garden to work it and to keep it”

The word put is the Hebrew word for “rest” - God rested the man in the garden to work it and to keep it

Work, by God’s design, is a reality for our existence that should come naturally to us

It is not something to be avoided

Because of sin, work is now hard and our lives work against us

But that does not change the fact that work is part of God’s design for our lives

We work in our jobs

We work in our homes

We work in our church

We work in every area of our lives

And here is the deal: Every man is working toward something...

The question is…

Are we working toward the glory of God in our lives and in the lives of others by building the life God wants for us?

Or are we working against the glory of God by trying to build the life we want?

And we will have a right view of our work when we intentionally use our lives to work under the rule of Christ

[Bridge] What does intentional living under Christ look like for a gospel man?

And we are going to see 4 things that must mark our lives as Gospel men, as we work under the rule of Christ

Gospel men…

Live carefully (15-16) [6:00]

Ephesians 5:15–16 “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”

When Paul says “The days are evil”, he is saying that the age in which we live is against the will of God

So if you just go along with the thinking of the age, you will find yourself living just like the world

Prioritizing the same things

Doing the same things

So as Gospel men, we have to “Look carefully how we walk”

Not as unwise, but wise

Throughout the Bible, wisdom means “living in a manner devoted to God”

To be unwise is to “live according to your own thinking”

So Paul is essentially saying that we will be living as gospel men when we are careful to use the time that we have in a manner that is devoted to God rather than using the time that we have to live according to what comes naturally to us

When we live carelessly, we give our time in our energy to things that don’t matter and we neglect the things that do

God has placed in every one of our lives responsibilities and people that we should be careful to steward in a way that God would approve of

Just look back over the last 24 hours

Did you spend your time in a way that looked more like how the world says you should be spending your time?

Or did you spend your time in a way that shows that your life is devoted to God?

How we use our time says a great deal about what has our hearts

And gospel men don’t merely spend time, they invest their time for God’s purposes

Second… Gospel men…

Prioritize biblically (17) [10:00]

Ephesians 5:17 “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

In Scripture, the “Will of God” is not about what job you will take or who you will marry

The will of God is how you should live and who you should be

To understand what the will of the Lord is to have a clear vision for the kind of man you are called to be and to intentionally pursue that vision

It is is to have the right values, the right priorities, and to flee those things that would get in the way of living as a Gospel man

Often, our priorities match the priorities of the rest of the world around us

We pursue success

We pursue money

We pursue comfort

We pursue vanity

And all of those things have the potential to get in the way of who God is called us to be

When I pursue success more than godliness, I am living foolishly

When I pursue comfort to the neglect of difficult, but good things, I am living foolishly

And you may be wondering, “how can I know if my priorities are in the right place?”

What is first to claim your attention and your energy?

If you have a family, is your energy spent in leading them toward Christ? Or is your energy spent trying to satisfy their preferences and desires?

If I can be so bold… There is a serious problem in our kids’ activities taking first priority in our homes

Abigail - Club softball - Can’t play on Sundays

If you are single, there are all kinds of things outside of your home and on your phone that will compete for your attention

Gospel men do not organize life around preference, but around being the kind of men he has called them to be.

Gospel men…

Consume intentionally (18) [14:00]

Ephesians 5:18 “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,”

I want you to notice what Paul does here

He does not say “do not drink wine because the consumption of wine in and of itself is sinful”

He says “do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery”

Debauchery means overindulgence in a pleasure

And drunkeness is an altered state of mind

You don’t think, talk, or act the same when you have had too much

So he is saying, “Do not overindulge in something that alters your state of mind.”

Men, There are many things that seem pleasurable, but an overindulgence in them will alter your state of mind so that you think, talk, and act differently

Alcohol is certainly one of them

But too much time on your phones is debauchery as well

Too much time in front of the TV is debauchery as well

Anything that we consume in excess because we enjoy it becomes a form of debauchery

And alters our state of mind

I was talking with a friend recently about the psychological effect of having too much time on social media - My mood is different when I am consuming too much digital content

So pause and ask yourself: What have I been consuming this last week in excess?

Alcohol? Food? Screen time?

And the antidote is not to just will yourself to stop… but to replace those things with time spent consuming what is good for us

We should be consuming those things that promote godliness in our lives

Every man is filling himself with something… and what you fill yourself with will ultimately shape you.

Gospel men will seek to be filled with the Spirit of God

Walking in step with God’s will

Not neglecting the reading of God’s word, prayer, time with other men who are also following Christ

And it will have an impact on how we work… in our jobs, in our homes, and throughout our lives.

Lastly, Gospel men…

Cultivate relationally (19-21) [19:00]

In Genesis 2:15, when God put the man in the garden to work it and to keep it

That word “work” is a Hebrew word for cultivating

That word “keep” is a Hebrew word for protecting

God’s design for men is that we would cultivate and protect what he has given us to steward

To cultivate is to work intentionally for good things to flourish

To protect is to work intentionally for bad things to not be able to get in

Your role in your home, in your job, and in this church is to cultivate so that good things flourish and to protect against those things that would get in the way

And notice how Paul says we will cultivate and protect

Ephesians 5:19–21 “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

The image he gives here is of a person who is submitted to God’s will in their life so that it overflows in how they interact with the people around them.

The Gospel man is submitted to Christ in a way that pours out into how he engages those who God has placed in his life.

With a heart of praise, joy, thanksgiving, and reverence for Christ

And you might be wondering what that looks like

Well consider this question: What kind of response and what kind of environment does your presence produce?

When you are with your family or your friends, what kind of environment is being cultivated by nature of the fact that you are there?

The man who is pursuing things outside of the will of God will produce an environment of fear, anxiety, control, anger

Because he will see the people around him as nothing more than a means of getting what he wants.

The man whon is pursuing the will of God will produce an environment of love, peace, and humble service

Because he sees the people around him as a responsibility to steward.

Gospel men don’t just steward responsibility, they cultivate people

Men, your greatest work is not the thing that brings home a paycheck

Your greatest work is the cultivation of the hearts and lives of the people that God has placed before you

If you are married, the holiest work that you could pursue is the cultivation of the heart of your wife toward Christ

If you have kids, it is holy work to cultivate their hearts toward Christ

If you’re not married and don’t have kids, there are still people in your life for whom it is holy work for you to intentionally cultivate their lives toward Christ

We have to do a way with this idea that our work is the thing that we do from 8 AM to 5 PM

That is simply the thing that we do to make possible the real work of relationally cultivating the people that God has put in our lives

We are Gospel men

And Gospel men make the most of their lives by living intentionally under the rule of Christ

Living carefully

Prioritizing biblically

Consuming intentionally

Cultivating relationally

Let’s seek to be Gospel men who work in every areas of our lives by intentionally living under the rule of Christ

Now, you have some questions at your tables… and we are going to take some time for you talk about what this will look like in your lives