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The good news is that we, as believers in Jesus Christ, have been set free from the curse of sin and our attitude toward work and toward our jobs can be redeemed from that curse. Here’s how:
We must work at the job God has given us and carry the Kingdom of God to our jobs every day.
Let’s look at the first part: Work at the job God has given us:
- Work is assigned by God.
In Genesis 1 and 2 we see the first work assignment given by God to Adam. Genesis 2:15 tells us “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Work had a central place, even in paradise. It was intended as a gift and a blessing before sin and punishment entered the picture.
And keep this in mind: Adam’s job was not secular; it was a sacred trust from God, and it was meant to bring purpose and fulfillment to Adam. The same is true today. The nature of the work we do does not determine if it is sacred or not. It does not depend upon who signs our paycheck. Work is sacred when it is assigned by God.
Now, I ask you to think of your own work situation, whether you’re in the work force or working without a paycheck! Has your work been assigned to you by God? Are you confident that you are in the job God wants you to be in? God doesn’t ask us what we want to do. He assigns us work.
Ephesians 2:10 tells us: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
In our humanistic society we have some convoluted ideas about our rights. It is quite common for people to assume that they have a right to pursue whatever makes them happy, whatever interests them, whatever brings fulfillment into their lives, and if they think about God at all, they see him in heaven to enhance and accelerate their progress. It may come as a surprise to hear that God is not here to make you feel fulfilled in the career or work that you choose. As a believer, you are here to do the good work that he has prepared for you to do.
So, when you go to God for your work assignment, you should not ask for the easy place, the nice place, the well-paying place. Rather you should ask for the job that he has chosen in advance for you to do; the place where he plans to use you in his Kingdom work.
Now, keep in mind that God may have you in a job in order to do his work. The job itself may simply be the vehicle he has chosen to put you in the place to do the good works he has planned for you to do. The actual job duties may not always be the meaningful part of your work—frequently they are not. Instead, that job opens a door for you to be a part of a world where God wants to use you.
- God is the Universal Business Owner and Manager
The authority lines are also clearly drawn in this working relationship with God. He’s the boss and as his worker, you are to be submissive to his authority. He is a benevolent dictator; it’s not a democracy. Democracies, in case you haven’t noticed, don’t work all that well. But in a working relationship with God, you don’t have to worry about your authority figure. He is the perfect manager and can be totally trusted. Everything he does is for your good.
- You are a coworker with God.
As originally intended by God, you are to be engaged in your work as a partner with him. Look again at the first work assignment as given to Adam; God never left him alone. God was always there with him. It was a partnership.
God intended for us to be coworkers with him. He is a “hands-on” manager; he never leaves you or forsakes you. What a deal! He assigns you the work, works beside you all the way, and carries you through to completion. What more could you ask for in a working relationship with your Boss?
Now, let’s look at the second part: We are to work at the job God has given us and carry the Kingdom of God to our jobs every day.
We pray: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” Why did Jesus teach us to pray that way? Because he wants us to learn this principle, that we can have the Kingdom of God in any area of our lives where we give God complete rule and we commit ourselves to doing his will here on this earth, just like it’s done in heaven.
This world is now in universal rebellion against God. It is not God’s Kingdom yet, though someday he will reign on the earth. Meanwhile, God’s Kingdom is any sphere in which, at any given time, his rule is acknowledged.
Therefore, when you give God rule over you, you are his Kingdom. And when you are the Kingdom of God, you carry that Kingdom with you to work every day. And when you carry the Kingdom of God to work with you every day, you sanctify that workplace and you redeem it from the curse of work.
I know—the people you work with don’t recognize God’s sovereignty. I know—the company you work for doesn’t recognize God’s sovereignty. I know—your boss doesn’t recognize God’s sovereignty. But if you will daily recognize the sovereignty of God over your life, over your job, over your workplace, you can still know freedom from the curse of work, because your spirit will be free regardless of what goes on around you.
Just try to grasp the incredible privilege you have and the marvelous influence you can be on your job if you take the Kingdom with you every day. The next question is:
How can we bring the Kingdom to work every day?
The only way that your workplace will be changed is when the individual hearts of people are changed. And God may have you there for that very reason—to help some of those people see their need for God through the way you work. Pretty exciting, don’t you think?
So, my challenge to you is to make a decision that you are going to reclaim your workplace, your job, for Christ. Here’s how you do that:
- Work for the Lord, not for people.
Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”
Change employers. Every day, Monday through Friday, before you get to your job, repeat out loud something like this:
Today I work for Jesus. I will be accountable to him for my performance, my attitude, and my relationships with those I work with and for. Therefore, I will keep this thought in my mind all day long, and regardless of what is going on around me, I will take the Kingdom of God to my job today as I let God have complete rule in my life on my job this day.
Put Colossians 3:23 on your screen saver. Type it on a card and stick in on your desk or wherever you can see it all day. Learn to practice this simple directive and you will make your job a place where you are doing God’s work.
- Do your work well.
Ecclesiastes 9:10: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. . .”
Perform the duties of your job with excellence, thoroughness, dependability, accuracy and extra-mile effort. Remember, you are working for the Lord, not man, and he will reward your good work effort. Besides, he deserves the best.
- Overflow with thankfulness.
1 Thessalonians 5:18: “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Colossians 2:6-7: “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”
If you and I overflowed with thankfulness, we would bring the Kingdom of God to our jobs in amazing ways. It would end our negativity; we wouldn’t be jealous of others; we would be joyful, attractive people; we would have more energy and less stress; we wouldn’t compare ourselves or our lives to others.
- Become an ambassador for Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:20: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”
An ambassador, according to Webster, is a person sent by one sovereign to another as its resident representative.
If you go to your job each day as an ambassador for the sovereign God, the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be the resident representative on your job for God. And through you God can make his appeal to those in your marketplace to be reconciled to God.
How does that happen? Not through sermons preached, but through a life lived. Not through condemnation or judgment of the corruption around you, but through compassion and love and caring and integrity of life.
You may not be aware of how God is using you to make his appeal through you. Often when we are living out our role as ambassadors, we are not aware of how God is using us. But you don’t have to worry about how you are received as an ambassador. You just go to that job each day focused on your role as Christ’s ambassador, and believe me, God will make his appeal through you, in many different ways.
By practicing these four simple Bible principles (simple, not always easy), you will redeem your workplace for Jesus.
- Work for God not for people.
- Do your work well.
- Overflow with thankfulness and
- Be an ambassador for Christ.
Whether the people around you ever change, you still can have the joy and privilege of working with God as his coworker. You will enjoy the original purpose of work as God intended it, because you have been set free from the curse of work, through Jesus.
You can honestly say, “Thank God, it’s Monday!”