The Bible says that although we are employed by men, we are to act as if we are working for the Lord. Because, as Christians, we do work for the Lord. Colossians 3:23 says, "And whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men."
Look at Ephesians 6:5-8. This is a key portion of Scripture: "Servants be obedient to your masters." If that's true for a servant and master relationship, it's also true for an employee/employer relationship (even if your boss acts more like an master than your employer).
Paul continues in Ephesians:
Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.If a servant can serve Christ in his endeavors, how much more can you at your job?
(vv. 6-8)
Let's examine the word "knowing" in verse eight. It comes from the same Greek word as the word "know" in 1 John 5:13:
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.The most important question of all in life is this: "If you were to die tonight, do you know for sure that you would go to heaven?" Once a person receives Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, based on the authority of the Scripture, they can say, "Yes, absolutely."
If they were to die tonight, they know they would go to heaven. It is great to have the peace of mind and assurance of eternal life.
If you know you are going to heaven, you can also know that you will receive of the Lord at your job—if you will see the Lord as your boss. If you see yourself as working only for your earthly boss, then you limit yourself.
However, once you discern that whatever job you have you are actually working for the Lord, then He is the one who will reward you. I've got good news for you. The scripture says, "If any man serve me, him will my father honor" (John 12:26).
I used to apply that scripture only to church work. Now I know it applies to any work done as unto the Lord. Praise the Lord! As you go to work each day and walk into your workplace, say to yourself, "Jesus, here I come."
Think of the results if each Christian had their thinking changed to see themselves as working not for "the boss" (who often is unfair), but for Jesus Christ, the King of Kings. Whether you or I view it that way or not, guess what? That's the way it really is.
Every day, when God's people go to work, the Lord is watching them. He's not watching us to catch us doing something wrong, but to catch us doing our jobs in a Christian manner.
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.Our right attitude and excellent work will eventually cause non-Christians to notice the difference Jesus makes in our lives.
(2 Chron. 16:9)
From 1976-1982 I worked in the hotel and restaurant business before entering the full-time ministry. My employment was at a private athletic club, which was one of the busiest in the United States. I started out as a banquet set-up person, and I doubled as a banquet waiter.
On occasion, I would receive mail from former friends who were "in the mission field" doing great things for God. It was very tempting to get depressed as I compared what I was doing with what they were doing.
By the way, the Bible says that comparison is a very unwise thing to do (see 2 Cor. 10:12). It is unwise because if you compare yourself to someone below your level, you will most likely feel proud.
On the other hand, if you compare yourself to someone above you, you will most likely feel inferior. Pride and inferiority are two things we can get along fine without.
Someone once said that you can reduce a person to nothing by taking away the value of what they do. Many times Satan lied to me and told me that what I was doing was so very unimportant. At times like that, you must know, without any question, that Satan is a liar (John 8:44).
In my heart, since I was a child, I've known that I was "called" to be in the ministry as a pastor. In preparation for that, I had gone to Bible college, and now here I was setting up meeting rooms and serving food.
As far as I could discern, I hadn't missed God's leading to go to the mission field or wherever. This job just fell into place and seemed to be the right thing for me at the time. Yet, I felt so useless at times and so trapped.
However, in hindsight, I am so grateful for those years of my life. Let me share some of the good things that happened.
I set my hand to the plow, so to speak, and decided to give that job my best effort. After initial disappointment over doing the same thing I had done before Bible college, I endeavored to have the right attitude. I said to myself, "I'm doing this for Jesus. It may not be pastoring, but this is where I am at right now, and I'm going to treat this job as if it's as important as pastoring."
Over the course of time, I was promoted to Assistant Banquet Manager and then Banquet Manager at my place of employment.
As Banquet Manager, I had a staff of about fifteen people that I directly supervised. I learned much concerning organization while working with and supervising other people. During my time there, we kept getting busier and busier.
In addition to daily opportunities to share with people, eventually weekly bible studies were started in the lunchroom, which I had the privilege to lead. Over the years, I was able to have some of the best times of sharing about the Lord with people I worked with.
To this day, I miss those people. Those times did not happen at the expense of getting my job done. It was typical to have some "quiet time" of waiting in the food business, and those times I would have good discussions with people.
I know that if I had been a pastor at the time, some of those I worked with would not have felt at ease talking with me about their problems.
So, in doing my job "as unto the Lord," and seeing my boss as the Lord Jesus Himself, I was promoted to a position where I could have a positive influence on my coworkers. In addition, I learned great lessons about management and organization.
If I had seen my years at the athletic club as merely "a job," I would not have taken as much away from that experience as I did.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Pastor Nate Belkstrom graduated from Christ for the Nations Bible College in 1976, and he spent the next six years in the workplace where he experienced a difficult time connecting his work with his Christianity. It was there that his heart was touched to help other Christians in their workplace experience.
