Spirit Filled at Work
Spirit Filled at Work
Ephesians 6:5-9
There is a tendency for us to compartmentalize our lives. We have our church life, our work life, our home life, our school life, our leisure life, our financial life, etc. We have a tendency to separate these aspects into compartments and keep them from mingling. Jesus fits nicely into our church life. We are all about Jesus while we are at church. But we don’t want Him showing up at home or on the lake or in the classroom, or at the bank. We certainly don’t want him showing up at our workplace. I would say that the easiest and most frequent place to compartmentalize is our work life.
Think about this. Now just counting the hours you are awake, the average person will spend about 35% of his or her life at work between ages 20 and 65. That is an average of 90,000 hours. Some people will spend more than that. Now compare that with how much time you will spend at church. Again, this is built on the assumption that you are awake, if you spend four hours a week at church, that is only 3.5% or 9000 hours of your life during the same time frame. The average person will spend 10 times the amount of hours at work than they will at church.
If you compartmentalize your relationship with Christ to your “church life” you are basically saying that 35% of your adult life is off limits to Jesus. This causes me to ask an important question. Is Christ transforming your work or is your work transforming you?
The section of Ephesians which we have been studying explodes the idea of compartmentalization. We are told to be filled with the Spirit and to speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. So far so good. Sounds churchy. I can do that. But then Paul starts telling us that being filled with the Spirit has implications for our marriages. He tells us being filled with the Spirit has implications for our parenting. Now, to top it off, we are told that being filled with the Spirit has implications for our work. What is going on here? You see what all this means is that knowing Jesus as Lord means putting our whole life under His Lordship, including our work. Being filled with the Spirit means demonstrating the influence of the Spirit at work.
Slaves and Masters
You will notice that this paragraph is addressed to slaves and masters. Slavery was everywhere throughout the Roman Empire in Paul’s day. However, it was not the same as the slavery we think of in this country during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was not racially driven. It was economically and politically driven. People could become slaves by being taken captive in war. They could indenture themselves into slavery to pay a debt. They could be born as children of slaves. During the early Christian period it is estimated that 50% of the people in the Roman Empire were slaves. Slaves made up the majority of the labor force in ancient Rome. Slaves were also sometimes professional people like doctors, administrators, and household managers.
The Bible in both OT and NT recognizes and regulates the institution of slavery. However, it never condones it. In fact, it is historically true that wherever the gospel is carried to its logical conclusions, slavery disappears. Now, thank God we do not have slavery in this nation any longer. But the principles addressed by Paul to slaves and masters translate nicely into our modern-day employer/employee framework. So, let’s notice what Scripture teaches us about being Spirit-filled at work.
For Whom Do You Work?
The instruction in this passage is predicated on an ultimate principle. That principle is this: If you are a Christian, you work for Jesus Christ. You’ve probably seen the bumper sticker that says, “My boss is a Jewish Carpenter.” I’m not big on bumper sticker theology, but that one has a ring of truth to it. Whether you are the employee or the employer, the business owner or the independent contractor, as a Christian you are ultimately accountable for your work to Jesus Christ the Lord.
Note the phrases addressed to employees in vv. 5, 6, 7.
· As to Christ
· As slaves of Christ
· As to the Lord
Note the way employers are addressed in v. 9.
- Their Master and yours is in heaven
The significance of these phrases is that you work for the Lord Jesus Christ. If someone says, “who do you work for?” You may say, Spirit or Boeing, or Cessna, or Dillons, or Wal Mart. You may say “I own my own business.” You may say, “I work for Country Acres Baptist Church.” But ultimately, above that earthly employment, you answer to Jesus Christ. As a Christian, you serve Him supremely.
That means that how you relate to your employer, your employees, your company is governed by and influenced by your relationship to your Lord – Jesus Christ. Both your tasks and your relationships at work need to have the marks of Christ on them.
This means that no matter what you are doing, it has eternal significance. There is no unimportant work when you realize that you are working for Christ. The value of your work is not derived by the nature of the task but by the realization that it is done “as to the Lord.”
TS: Now, since that is the case, there are certain qualities which demonstrate a Christ-honoring work ethic. Let’s see what those are for both employees and employers.
I. Spirit-filled employees serve their employers for the glory of Christ.
A. They serve by respectful obedience.
1. This is built on the authority structures displayed in
this section of Ephesians. Employers have authority
that is to be recognized and honored.
2. This means that employees are to do as directed with
a respectful spirit (fear and trembling). Of course,
this authority does not require an employee to do
something illegal, immoral, or blasphemous.
B. They serve with sincere eagerness.
1. Sincerity of the heart = singleness of heart, unmixed
purity of motive. A heart that is not full of ulterior
motives but undivided in its desire to serve.
2. Not with eyeservice as menpleasers = a term which
may have been coined by Paul, eyeservice refers to
working hard when the boss is looking so you will
make a good impression. It is the worker whose
activity and production rises and falls with the level
of supervision. It is the person who is seeking to
please only the earthly boss and the Lord Jesus.
3. With good will…as to the Lord, not men = the term
behind “good will” actually means eagerness. It is
the worker who renders eager and willing service
not just for his employer, but ultimately for His Lord.
Why do you suppose that Paul used all these words which point to the basic reality of sincere eagerness in our work? I think it is because one of the greatest temptations in our work is the temptation to resent our employers or supervisors. Paul was writing to slaves who had no choice in the matter of an employer. They couldn’t quit and walk away. Some of them no doubt had cruel and uncaring masters who treated them harshly. Perhaps you have a boss like that. Probably the greatest temptation for them was to develop a resentful attitude that resulted in less than honest and eager work habits.
I think many of us can identify with that temptation. We may be treated unfairly. Our employers may have unrealistic expectations, poor people skills, and very selfish attitudes toward employees. Those who work beside us may have rotten attitudes toward the company. But the Bible is clear. We must not develop resentful and bitter attitudes toward our employers. Why? Because ultimately your boss isn’t your boss. Jesus is. Remember, you work for Him. Do your work with the attitude that you are working for Christ. How you work reflects on Christ. You may decide to leave that workplace and look for another. But as long as you work there, you must serve with respectful obedience and sincere eagerness.
C. They serve with the certainty of reward.
1. Knowing that their good will be rewarded by the
Lord. That is, their good work for the glory of
Christ will be rewarded by Christ in the future.
2. Note the specificity of the promise. Whatever good
each one does…will be rewarded. Whether the
earthly master sees and rewards it or not.
II. Spirit-filled employers lead their employees for the
glory of Christ.
A. They lead them with the same theological framework.
1. Does not mean that masters serve their slaves.
2. Rather, it means that it is the same framework that
governs both employees and employers. Namely,
both serve Christ.
3. Mutual respect, sincerity, and good will are expected.
B. They lead them with kindness and fairness.
1. Give up threatening = masters threatened their slaves
with beatings, being sold away from loves ones, even
death. This pictures the overbearing, abusive,
demanding employer who uses his authority in a
threatening way.
2. Grant to them justice and fairness (Col. 4:1) = this
requires employers to treat their employees fairly and
justly making sure that they are not mistreated.
Again, I believe Paul selected these issues in dealing with employers because of the frequent problems associated with being in charge. One of the most frequent sins of those who lead is abusing their position and authority. Masters had almost total control over their slaves. Under Roman law, they could beat them, maim them, even execute them. The master was in a position of absolute authority. Those who are in authority can easily abuse that authority in mistreating those under them.
Sometimes people in authority use demeaning and abusive language toward those under them. They may make unreasonable demands and then blame their employees when those demands are not met. They may cause an employee to be disciplined or demoted for purely selfish reasons. They may take financial advantage of their employees for purely selfish benefit.
C. They lead them with a sense of their own accountability.
1. Knowing that both their Master and yours is in
Heaven. In other words, they work for Jesus and so
do you. You have a Master to whom you answer.
Your authority is not ultimate.
2. There is no partiality with Him. Your Master in
Heaven will not give you partial treatment because
you were in charge on earth. He will judge your
work as an employer with the same impartiality by
which He judges your employees.
CONCLUSION
Let me ask the same question I asked in the introduction of this message. Is Christ transforming your work or is your work transforming you? In other words, is Christ shaping the way you think about and conduct your work to the point that your work is being Christianized? Or are you allowing the atmosphere at work to set the agenda to the point that Christ is being squeezed out of your workplace?
Let me challenge you with a quote from Alan Ross, Founder of Kingdom Companies.
Compartmentalizing our lives leads to the disastrous “when I…then I” syndrome. When I accomplish this task, finish this project, build enough wealth, then I will deal with the other issues. This mindset doesn’t work, and is possibly one of the most destructive forces in the body of Christ today. It is destroying the very fiber of our families, our work, and our relationships. (Alan Ross, Unconditional Excellence, p. 141).
Now is the time to bring Christ into our workplace. Now is the time to bring our attitudes and practices regarding work into conformity with God’s design. The outcome of this will be the magnification of Jesus. Christian employers and employees who work for the glory of Christ demonstrate the worth and value of knowing Jesus. Your work has a great opportunity to be a living witness to the worthiness of Jesus.