Equipped - wk 2 - Ministry

My Ministry

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Last week we started a new series about work we are calling “Equipped.” This study is based on a series by Christ’s Church of the Valley titled “Made for Mondays.” In this study we are exploring what God thinks about work. Last week we talked about the work that God did when He showed up on Monday. When He showed up on the very first Monday, God poured excellence into His work. He created with exceptional detail and He went above and beyond, literally, as He created the skies, worlds, and galaxies. He didn’t stop at good enough, instead He created more than we would ever be able to discover in an eternity.

Thinking about the huge galaxies that God created down to the smallest atom reminds me of a joke. “Why can’t you trust atoms? Because they make up everything.”

Last week we looked at some of God’s work and saw how important it is to Him. He created humanity and the first thing He told us to do was to work.

Genesis 2:15 NIV

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Later, when Adam and Eve messed up, God didn’t punish them by cursing their work, He cursed the environment in which they worked. He cursed the ground and said their work would be tough. The work was still important to Him. One of the key thoughts we focused on last week was the truth that…

Your work is WORSHIP.

God designed work to be an act of worship. That doesn’t mean that we should all be workaholics, but what it does mean is that we should view our work as one of the ways that we worship and honor God. We should change the way we think about work on Monday morning and view our job as an opportunity to worship God and serve other’s. When that is the way we view our work, God will work through us. What job we have doesn’t even matter, God wants to work through us whether we are police officers, construction workers, music ministers, janitors, stay-at-home mom’s, or whatever.

That’s what we talked about last week. Today, let’s dive into your job, your ministry, by asking this question…

How do I live my faith where I make my living?

Just as your work is worship, your job is your ministry. The place where you work is your mission field. For a lot of people that thought could be a turn off because when we think of living our faith at work we feel some kind of pressure to tell people to “repent before it’s too late” or hide bible tracts in people’s desks. You don’t have to do that. In fact, you shouldn’t do that. There is no reason to preach, be weird, or come at people like a high pressure salesman. It is just as uncomfortable for them as it is you.

Being a follower of Christ is about relationships. Your ministry at work is all about living in a way that reflects God’s heart and His values while building and developing relationships with the people around you. In Genesis chapter two, God put Adam in the Garden to work it and take care of it. In the same way, He has put you in your garden to work it and take care of it.

When you go to work you are serving the company and the customers. In God’s mind, your greatest work is when you serve other people. You are where God wants you to be so that you can serve other people. Adam took care of the Garden. Part of taking care of something is protecting it and making it better. Our work attitude in our garden should be to take care of it and create a better world for people to be a part of.

God created this amazing universe and everything in it. Then He partnered with us to continue creating. Look around at the world we live in today. The art, the cultures, the buildings, cars, and so on. We partnered with God and have created the world we currently live in. What kind of world to we want to leave to the next care takers? It all starts by plugging more people into the source of creativity and generosity. It all starts with me and you being the pastors of our workplaces. Taking care of the people in our gardens. Our ministry is our workplace.

Mark Moore from CCV says it this way, and I love this thought…

“Care for the people in the garden where you live.”

- Mark Moore, Christ’s Church of the Valley

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul said that being raised to new life with Christ changes everything. Having new life means that you have a new focus, new goals, a new way of treating people, and a new way of thinking. Everything is new! This new way of life should fill our lives and fill our hearts with thankfulness. Then in verse 17 he says…

Colossians 3:17 NLT

17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Whatever you do! No matter what it is. Whether you are at home, at work, at church, on vacation, or stuck on the side of the highway with a flat tire. You are always a representative of Jesus. For the next few verses, Paul describes what this looks like at home. He describes how this plays out inside of the family structure. He says, “Wives, if you love your husbands you need to honor them. Husbands if you honor your wives you need to love them. Children, if Jesus is your authority you need to obey your parents. Fathers, if Jesus is your leader you need to lead your children well.”

Then in verse 22 he takes the focus out of the home and back to the workplace.

Colossians 3:22–23 NLT

22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. 23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

In Paul’s day, 60% of the Roman population were slaves. A fraction of 1% of the population were Christians. There was no way that Paul or the Christian movement would be able to stand up against slavery, but the work ethic Paul taught the slaves was the first step in freedom for those who followed Christ. He taught them to work for their owners as though they were working for the Lord.

Eventually what happened was that by working to please their masters as if they were working to please God, their masters were so satisfied with them that they would continue to give them more and more latitude and freedom until eventually it made no sense to keep them in bondage. They were already living as free men as citizens in the master’s household serving him well.

What kind of a difference could that make for you at your job? Have you ever showed up to work and felt like you were in bondage to that job or that boss? How much would working for your boss as though you were working for Jesus change your job? How much would it change your employer’s appreciation for you?

The principle Paul is teaching here is simple. Your work is worship. I’ve been repeating that thought from last week a lot today. If you are taking notes, Paul is adding to that thought here. Paul is showing us that our work is worship, but only when Jesus is our boss.

Your work is WORSHIP when Jesus is your BOSS.

This principle is the same for employers and employees today. What boss wouldn’t be proud of an employee who went above and beyond? God will for sure be pleased because it is His desire for us to serve others. Paul's reminder is that, in the end, the work isn’t the important part. The paycheck isn’t even the important part. What is important to remember is that Jesus is our true boss and He is signing the only truly important paycheck. In verse 24 Paul says…

Colossians 3:24 NLT

24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.

We are serving Christ and it is the people that are important to Him. Your work is important to Him BECAUSE the people you serve are important to Him. If you are taking notes you could write it this way…

Your work is MINISTRY when people are PRIORITY.

When CCV did this study they asked some of their church family how they live this principle at their workplace. Specifically, they asked, “What is one thing that you do that is simple and repeatable to make Jesus famous where you work?” With the answers they got they came up with 4 ideas that people could put into practice at work in order to transform their job into their ministry. 4 ideas for making Jesus famous at work.

With each of these 4 ideas they give 3 illustrations of the idea being put into practice. For the rest of our time this morning, I want to share these ideas with you and I would encourage you to try a couple of them at work this week. Don’t get over zealous and try all 12 of the actions and burn yourself out on day 1, just pick 2 or 3 and make them your thing at work. If you would rather come up with your own, go for it.

I know most of you are probably already doing these things and that is great. Maybe you have been wanting to shake things up a little and do something new. Hopefully you will get a good idea here. The first idea they came up with after interviewing people was that it is important to model integrity…

1. Model INTEGRITY

Integrity is important. If you don’t have integrity, you don’t have influence. Without integrity, people don’t hold any value to the things you say or do. I once heard someone describe a claim made by another person and then they said, “Do I believe this claim? No. Unfortunately I can’t because that person has a proven track record of lying over and over again in order to gain something from other people.” Integrity is important. If building integrity is something that you think would be important in your job, here are some ideas for you to do at work…

Pick up trash

Model Integrity

Pick up trash

Be salt & light

Honor all

The first thing you could do is pick up trash. Part of taking care of a garden is doing things like picking up trash. If you care about your work environment, you take care of it.

There is a man named Manny who works for the University of Phoenix who believes in taking care of his work environment. One day, while walking into his building, he saw a piece of trash on the ground so he reached down, grabbed it, then simply threw it away. When he opened the door to go into the building the president of the college was behind him, so he held the door for him.

As he walked in he asked his name and why he picked up the trash and Manny responded, “Well, at the church I go to all of the pastors pick up trash because they like taking care of the place where they work. This is where I work, so I like taking care of it.”

The president immediately sent out a bulletin telling the story of what Manny had done. It was something super simple that made a big impact at his workplace.

Salt & Light

To model integrity we can pick up trash and we can be salt and light. Jesus told us to represent Him like a city on a hill and like salt of the earth. In other words, rather than working for a living work to make life worth living.

Gabriel Gutierrez rebuilds homes that have been damaged or destroyed by floods or other natural disasters. Everybody that he serves is living through a nightmare. Gabriel knows this and that is why he says that his job is not to rebuild a house, but to bring peace to a home. To quote Gabriel, he says, “Understand your alignment and you will understand your assignment.”

Once you know who your real boss is, it is a whole lot easier to serve the people in your garden. A whole lot easier to know how to serve people. “Understand your alignment and you will understand your assignment.”

Honor all

Another thing you can do is Honor all people. I may have shared this story once before, but a few months ago I realized that I needed to work on this one. My friend, Chris, works with me now and I was helping him learn how to do service calls and work on fireplaces and we came to a name on the list that wasn’t typically one that I looked forward to. I warned him that this person wasn’t very nice and to be prepared to be yelled at. Chris looked at me and said, “Actually we are good friends, he just doesn’t know it yet.”

There is an officer who has a good reputation in his town. People will often ask him, “As an officer, I bet you meet a lot of really bad people.” His response speaks volumes about his integrity. He says, “I really don’t. I meet a lot of normal people who have made a lot of really bad decisions.” Even when he is arresting people he treats them with dignity. Because of that, other officers are beginning to model his behavior.

As the pastor of your workplace, one thing you could do is model integrity. Another idea is to start a conversation…

2. Start a CONVERSATION

You don’t have to be weird, preach to people, or put other people on the spot and make everyone feel awkward. Just start a conversation. Like you would with any of your friends. You could do something as simple as telling a story…

Tell a Story

Start a Conversation

Tell a story

Ask a question

Be vulnerable

Just talk about your own life. Tell someone about how Jesus has made a difference in your life. You can brag about Jesus in a natural way. If He has made a difference in your marriage, you can talk about that at work. If a specific scripture has impacted your life, you can talk about that at work.

If you find it hard to talk about yourself, start asking questions…

Ask a question

As a pilot, Ron gets a fair amount of time to sit and stare out a window at clouds with people. His wife calls it his “cockpit ministry.” If you are stuck in a cockpit with someone for a few hours, why not have a conversation that is more important than the weather? Ron has 3 questions that he asks that always give him an opportunity to brag about Jesus. He always asks:

What is the most courageous thing you have ever done?

If you could go back and change something about your life, what would it be and why?

What is the most extravagant gift you have ever received?

What are a few questions you can ask people you work with that would give you an opportunity to tell them about Jesus? The third thing you could do to start a conversation is to be vulnerable.

Be vulnerable

Be open about mistakes that you have made in the past. Be approachable with people. Just because we are Christians doesn’t mean we have everything figured out and we think we are better than everyone else. Sometimes it is important for other people to see that.

Model integrity, start a conversation, the third thing you can do is care for people…

3. Care for PEOPLE

You are the pastor of your workplace. The caretaker of your garden. Here are some ways that you can work in your ministry. First, you could pray for the people you work with…

Pray for peers

Care for People

Pray for peers

Gift a book

Write a note

If people are open to it, you could pray with them right then and there. You could have a notebook you keep with you or in your desk just for prayer requests. If you have the faithlife app, you could add prayer requests directly to our prayer list here at church.

Gift a book

If you are uncomfortable praying in public, here is another idea. Maybe you could give that person a book that is relevant to their situation. In the entry we have a stack of donated books that are there for that exact reason. Make a note and grab one to give to that person the following Monday.

Write a note

Another thing you could do is write them a note. Sometimes I will find notes in random places at home that Amy writes for me. She knows how sad I am when she goes on trips, so she will leave me little notes to remind me that she loves me. When I was a kid going to church camp or mission trips, our youth minister would put envelopes on a wall with our names on them. Then we could fill out little flash cards with short encouraging notes to fellow campers. He called them “Encour-a-grams.” It is amazing how much an encouraging word can make a difference when you are going through a tough time.

Model integrity, start a conversation, care for people, and the fourth idea to spread Jesus’ love at work is to support each other…

4. Support EACH OTHER

There are so many ways that you can support people at work. Let’s just start with the simplest thing that you could do.

Christian gear

Support Each Other

Christian gear

Start a bible study

Speak up

I know this one sounds silly, but it really isn’t. Sometimes people will find the most random things to be encouraged by. Especially when they feel alone and defeated. Even though it may not mean anything to you at that moment or even seem goofy, walking by and seeing a bumper sticker or noticing someone wearing a Christian t-shirt may be all that someone needs to feel encouraged. To suddenly realize that they aren’t alone. It might even be a catalyst for conversation.

Start a bible study

Another thing you could do is start a bible study. Some of the most life changing moments of my life haven’t come from mission trips or messages at church. They happened at a bible study with 3 or 4 people. I have met most of my closest friends at bible studies. I met my wife at one. I have seen new believers grow by being a part of a small bible study. I have seen bible studies turn into a support group of love and trust for each other.

Speak up

It might be time to simply speak up. How can we support anyone if they don’t even know we care? How will another Christ follower at your work know they are not alone if we stay silent about our faith? When speaking about the salt and light, Jesus said this...

Matthew 5:14–16 NLT

14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Your work is worship. Let the good work that worships the Father be seen so that everyone will turn to Him. We don’t work to be seen, we work so that the Father will be seen.

I encourage you to pick something from the list to do this week at work. Do one thing this week to live your faith where you make your living. Instead of working for a paycheck, work for people. Minister to people so that they will see Jesus.