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Working by Jesus Rules—that’s what I’m examining. If you and I are truly Christ-followers, people who have accepted him as our Savior, then we need to understand Jesus gave us rules and guidelines for our attitudes and actions on our jobs. We need to know the Jesus rules.
In Matthew 21, Jesus tells the parable of the two sons. The father told the first son to go work in the vineyard, and that son refused to go, but later he changed his mind and went. The second son agreed to go, but then he didn’t go. Jesus asked, “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” Obviously the first son did what his father asked.
One of the things this parable teaches us is we should walk our talk. The second son gave the right answer, he looked and sounded good, but he failed to deliver. He was all talk and no walk. A good rule of thumb is under promise and over deliver. That’s what the first son did. He delivered more than he promised. His talk wasn’t very impressive, but he went out and got the work done.
Have you known people who could talk a good game but never put the elbow-grease behind their talk? They were lazy and just loved to hear themselves talk. I think many times they actually believe their own talk, but somehow, they never produce. I’d rather have a quiet, hard-working, no-nonsense worker any day than a smooth talker.
Are you a reliable person in your job? Does your boss know you can be depended on to do the job and do it right? That’s working by Jesus rules. You may not be the smartest or the fastest person on the job, but you can always be the most dependable and the hardest working. One way to make a lasting good impression is to be the kind of person who doesn’t have to be watched or reminded. It’s a joy to have workers who are so dependable you never have to follow-up and stay on their case. You just know they will do what you asked, and they’ll do it as quickly as they can.
We represent Jesus Christ on our jobs, and one of our trademarks should be we walk our talk.