TAKE THIS JOB AND LOVE IT (2007)

TAKE THIS JOB AND LOVE IT Colossians 3:17, 22-25 August 26, 2007 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction Poll-taker George Gallup has demonstrated that well over half the employees of America have no enthusiasm for their work. The report was based on several criteria, including job loyalty and the desire to improve job performance. A full twenty percent are so uninterested or negative about their jobs that they poison their workplace to the point that companies might be better off if they called in sick. Why is this so? In an incisive observation author John Ruskin noted that a major shift in attitude took place during the Industrial Revolution. This was the period when factory production began being paramount, overshadowing such worker motivations as craftsmanship, the pride of accomplishment and the employee’s overall sense of mission and identification with the mission of his company. He wrote, “It is not that men are ill-fed, but that they have no pleasure in the work by which they make their living, and therefore look to wealth as the only means of pleasure.” No longer was one’s employment satisfying because workers could not see any good they were serving. Their job was no longer building a fine car, but putting on left rear fenders or painting 200 trunk lids per day. The assembly line and mass production had robbed them of a sense of purpose. And this erosion of purpose gradually crept into most areas of the culture addicted to production and quotas. Spencer Johnson, the author of the classic 30-minute read entitled Who Moved My Cheese?, that getting a paycheck, in any amount, is for most people simply not enough of a motivation to do things well on the job, and consequently, to gain any meaningful satisfaction on the job. The sad truth is that most people have jobs, but no “calling”. The brilliant philosopher and theologian, Dorothy Sayers, said, “Doctors practice medicine not primarily to relieve suffering, but to make a living . . . Lawyers accept briefs no because they have a passion for justice, but because the law is the profession that [makes them rich].” Unfortunately, work is no longer ennobling—it is only utilitarian. From a biblical point of view, man is made in the image of God, and there is in him a craving for meaning in what he does. He has a God-given desire to do something more than fill his wallet with pay, but to give to his family, his world and his God something of quality, full of real value. We long to stand at the end of the day, and certainly at the end of our lives and say of what we have done, “It is good.” This morning in our study of Colossians 3, we are handling an extremely important spiritual truth. Within the truth found here there is the principle that gives genuine meaning to all that we do, including our jobs. Whether you make huge investments for a corporate board or sweep floors for the man, whether you drive a truck or a computer all day, whether you build, invest, heal or invent, God can give you a sense of purpose and meaning that will make all you do a rewarding and satisfying. Colossians 3:17 - And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:22-25 – Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you ad to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all you 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. What I think emerges from these texts is an exciting concept —that the Christian is uniquely free to excel in all he does, including, and perhaps especially, on the job. What is clear in our text this morning is that the Christian is called to a higher level of service in the area of work. While others are expected to do what is spelled out on their job descriptions, not get out of line behaviorally and obey the company rules and policies, the Christian is instructed to go far beyond this “getting by”. Followers of Christ don’t just do the minimum; they are committed to living lives of excellence. And, of course, because of their redeemed relationship with God, they are empowered to live such lives. The Christian employee is free to excel because he has a superior boss Verses 23 says that when we believers work we are working for the Lord, not for men. And verse 24 punctuates this truth, saying, “It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” They key to being an excellent employee is to recognize who your real boss is. It’s not the guy who signs your paycheck, it is the Lord Jesus! Probably none of you has ever felt his boss was not all he should be or ever said anything untoward about him, right? Well listen to some good news: the Bible says that you have a new career if you’ve been saved by Jesus Christ. Your new vocation is to glorify God in all you do, and your new boss is the Lord Jesus Himself. What kind of boss is He and how does He compare to your earthly employer? How about in the area of GRACE? Does anyone here have a boss who graciously forgives every time you mess up, even paying for your mistakes himself? Does he pledge to keep on forgiving you no matter how many times you say you’re sorry? Let me ask you this: can your boss instill in you supernatural power to work well? Jesus can and does! Your boss—let’s dispense with that term and call Him what He is, your Lord—has placed His own Spirit inside you for the express purpose of making you a better servant of His. The superior boss is not the man, it’s Jesus! Your divine Lord is not only gracious, but he is just. He never misunderstands who does things right and who does them wrong. He is perfect in wisdom and justice. He is never swayed by bootlickers and apple-polishers, never fooled by the games and lies of one-upsmanship and He plays fair all the time. Verse 25 reassures us that in His kingdom, anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong and there is no favoritism. Jesus the Lord is perfectly gracious and perfectly just. But He is also perfectly faithful. I have a friend who worked tirelessly and dutifully for a family owned company for nearly 25 years, with the understanding that he could grow into management. The owner’s children grew up and one by one took over all the management roles, leaving the 50-year old employee with no room to advance and little prospect for finding a job anywhere else. Let me assure you that the Lord is faithful to His Word. This boss never breaks a promise and we are reminded in verse 24 that we can know we will receive our inheritance as a reward from Him. Now you need to understand that, no matter who signs your checks, as a Christian it is the Lord Christ you are serving. And when you serve Jesus well you will always please any earthly boss worth pleasing. With rare exception, if you will serve Christ well on the job, your supervisors will be pleased with you as well. And if you are walking in the Spirit, bearing the fruit of the Spirit, in fellowship with the Lord, and trusting Him to lead you, doing right by God and doing right by man, any ogre of a boss who would fire you is someone you shouldn’t be working for anyway! The Christian employee is free to excel because he has superior boss and superior motivation. First, I want to point out that the primary and most natural response of a saved person to the one who saved him is gratitude. The Christian is a grateful person—grateful to God. God’s grace makes him grateful, and a thankful person is a motivated, and happy and contented person. And such a person is always a great employee. Paul urges believers in verse 17 to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thank to God the Father through Him. My Christian friend, the day you stop being thankful, that’s the day you forfeit your highest motivation in life. The morning you wake up and fail to thank God that you even have a job, that’s the morning you start hating your job. And I guarantee you that you will not be the kind of employee that brings the name of Jesus credit through his work. Dostoevsky said that only an idiot could not love and be grateful to God. If you say to me, Pastor if you knew my boss and my job you would understand how hard it is. Brother or sister in Christ, I know your Lord, and I know how deeply He saved you, and I know that He has in store for you eternal rewards the joy of which you cannot even estimate. Jesus died to free you from the dark, negative perspective on such things. If you’ll get your mind focused on that instead of your stinking thinking things can turn around for you in a heartbeat. Hope revolutionizes the human spirit! What God wills for you is a positive life that sees God’s good in every event and every opportunity. He not only wills it—He provides it for you. And He promises such contentment to anyone who will devote himself to doing everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Start living for Him, with absolute abandon, complete with mistakes. Let Him bless you. The world longs for this notion and makes fruitless stabs at it with trying to gain a Positive Mental Attitude. But they never really get it because the key ingredient is missing: God! Only God can infuse a life with that kind of joy and victory and fulfillment. What is God’s method? It’s very simple and it’s restated in a dozen ways in the scripture, including: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. That strange character, Curly, in the film City Slickers said it well—you have to find the one thing. The Bible tells you what that one thing is that brings human beings the soul satisfaction we desire: it is living for God. We’re all focused on ourselves and our sin-mangled ideas of what our lives ought to be. But God has the wisdom we need and the grace and power to deliver us from ourselves. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6) Colossians 3 reminds Christians that we have in our Christian career a superior boss and superior motivation. I believe we should also be reminded that The Christian employee is also free to excel because he works from a superior ethic As Proverbs 3 showed us, and as we studied last week, we are called to a singular focus—to center our lives on Christ. When we sincerely try to please Him in all we think, say and do, life comes into proper focus. He is our living ethic. When our children were small they would come home from nursery school and kindergarten with drawings, collages colored construction paper and other projects. At the teacher’s suggestion they would always scrawl the name of Mom or Dad on the top of the sheet and proudly hand it to us, saying “I did it for you!” Once, when Heather returned from kindergarten class expecting Charlotte to be there as she normally was, I was home and mom was gone somewhere. She burst in the door, papers in hand and when she realized the change in parents present, she called an audible, ran into her room and came out a minute later with a gift for me—a drawing of a dog and a cat. I knew it was for me, because across the top of the paper was the word “mom,” hastily marked out with a black crayon, and then with the same crayon she squeezed in d-a-d in the upper right corner. Whatever you do, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus… If Heather could so delightedly dedicate her school projects to mom and dad, I can certainly do all of my life’s projects for the Lord. Sometimes I honestly ask myself, “Have I written my Lord’s name on all I have done today?” Worship is co-extensive with life. Everything we say and do is our grateful worship of God through Christ. Nowhere is that summarized so well as in Colossians 3:17. Beyond verse 17, Paul specifically speaks of work in verses 22-25. Whatever you do work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. Please don’t miss that “not for men” part. We never feel completely human when we are doing things we wouldn’t normally do just to get brownie points with the boss, to get noticed, to make ourselves look good. It’s demeaning. If you will humble yourself before the Lord, He will deliver you from the need to defend, promote and advertise yourself through such prostitution of your dignity. Wouldn’t you rather do what is RIGHT and not have to worry about who notices? That, my friends, is freedom. That’s what working for the Lord will bring you. He and His perfect will are all you have to please. And remember: please God and you will please any boss worth pleasing. On the job, Jesus wants, and deserves, to be Lord. Gerard Hopkins said it this way a long time ago: “Glory be to God for dappled things…to lift up the hands in prayer gives God glory, but a man with a pitchfork in his had, a woman with a slop pail, give him glory too. He is so great that all things give him glory if you mean they should.” Christian friend, you have the distinct honor and unique opportunity to glorify God in the workplace. And I’m not talking about becoming one of those loud-mouth Christians who charge at people, Bible in hand, but no sense in brain. They make a lot of noise about how their fellow employees ought to give their lives to Christ, but their lifestyle is so repugnant that their ill-advised evangelistic rampages do more harm than good. Listen, being a good witness won’t make you a better employee, but being a better employee will make you a much better witness. Lou Holtz used to tell the story of when he was a referee in pro football. During one game he noticed the Notre Dame quarterback was playing exceptionally well. He also noticed that this good catholic boy would, before every play, perform the sign of the cross. At half time, Holtz stopped the young quarterback and said, “I notice you sign yourself before every play, and you’re calling some great plays. Do you think if I did that it would help me make better calls?” “No,” he said. “Really? Why not?” “Because you’re a lousy referee!” Dorothy Sayers wrote some sage words: “Teach newly converted carpenters to make good tables. What use is his piety if he insults God with bad carpentry?” The holy will of God for you on your job = DO IT WELL! Dr. Carl Henry once said the work of the Christian “ought not to be of such questionable caliber that it disgraces God, discredits one’s employer, and affronts one’s society.” If you want to glorify God in your workplace—and you should—work hard, work well and do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus!     [Back to Top]