The High Calling of Work November 13, 2015 |
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This is the first Rest Stop I've had time to share since late September. I really do learn to rest in the Lord as He leads me to grapple with wonderful biblical truths through writing these Rest Stops. So, writing this Rest Stop has been a welcome rest for me -- and I hope will be for you too!
Writing this Rest Stop helped more firmly establish my heart in God's Word for discipling Christians in the workplace, which includes home as the workplace of the homemaker. We Christians have the privilege of modelling the biblical truths in this Rest Stop to so many people in our country who
are becoming entrenched in entitlement thinking.
Be encouraged regarding the high calling of work!
CONSIDER THE SPIRIT Ephesians 5:18-21 says: Be filled with the Spirit…making melody in your heart to the Lord…giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…submitting to one another in the fear (reverence) of God.
To be filled with the Spirit does not refer to “quantity” but to “control.” As
Christians, we are already full of the Holy Spirit. Christ indwells us completely through the Spirit. Now, by faith, we can choose to allow the Holy Spirit to control our walk as we learn to submit to others in our relationships each day.
Ephesians 5:22-6:9 present three key relationships for learning to walk in these truths: (1) husband-wife, (2) parent-child, and (3)
employer-employee. This Rest Stop focuses on the employee aspect of the employer-employee relationship, as shown in the following verses. The bold phrases emphasize that true work is Christ-centered.
Ephesians 6:5-9 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according
to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
Although we do not have slaves in our
modern culture, the master-slave relationship clearly parallels the employer-employee relationship in our day. In all of the three key relationships, Paul is emphasizing to the Ephesians that authority and submission is a manifestation of a person who is filled with (controlled by) the Holy Spirit.
The next section focuses on employees who work because their ultimate submission is to the
Lord. I am indebted to Dudley Hall of Kerygma Ventures for mentoring me in these encouraging biblical truths.
CONSIDER THE ANT! Citizens in the ancient Roman empire considered it beneath his or her dignity to work. As
a result, practically all work in the empire was done by slaves. However, there is great dignity in working in partnership with Jesus Christ! First, consider the ant!
Proverbs 6:6-11 Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider
her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?
The emphasis for many in
affluent societies is less work and more play. It seems we only work when we absolutely must. Why does the sluggard avoid work if at all possible? It is the effect of the fall of Adam and Eve on the human race.
Everything was marred with Adam and Eve’s choice. Their rebellious children don’t see the privilege of being God’s partner in managing the earth. They believe the lie that provision is
their right. They scoff that God would ask them to exert themselves to do anything. They want to eat of the trees without tending to them.
When they do work they actually work for the god of mammon. Money is the reason and reward for their labor. If they can get the benefits of working without actually doing it, they congratulate themselves on being shrewd.
The little ant doesn’t make the choice that Adam and Eve made. Though she is affected by the fall of creation as a result of their choice, she retains the divine imprint for her nature and assignment. She works when it is time to work so that when the seasons change she has enough for her family.
The ant does not need
a boss to demand her work. She works because she was created to work, and nothing can fill the place of fulfillment that her work was designed to provide.
In one sense the little ant worships the God who created her just by doing what she was designed to do. She works to the glory of God.
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CONSIDER THE LORD Jesus, the final Adam, has restored the
dignity of work to us, His new race of people. He Himself worked while on earth in partnership with the Father.
It's humbling to think about the hands of our Lord working to drive nails as a carpenter all of his life...and then giving His life for us with nails being driven by others into His hands.
As long as the Father was working, Jesus was working. He worked all the way to the cross for you and for me. He knew His vocation as a carpenter did not define Him, but it did provide Him great dignity in relating with others for whom His primary call was to die for.
Now that we have been given His risen life,
we, too, can now work in partnership (relationship) with the Father. We, too, can live sacrificially for others. We glorify the Father by doing the assignment we are given by Him with the empowerment of His Son through His Spirit, while trusting Him to provide everything we need.
When we realize we are
working with, and for, the Lord Jesus Christ, we realize He is our ultimate Paymaster. As a result, we truly are free to bless our employer and coworkers because we have been equipped with everything we need to honor our Lord.
So, we shouldn’t let the little ant mock us. It is time to wake up and go to work – for the glory of
God! It's also humbling to realize that the hands of Christ that sweated and worked so hard also tenderly washed His disciples' feet. There was no work beneath our Lord. Jesus said, The Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give His lie a ransom to many (Matthew 20:28).
Oh, how the world needs to see the true humility of Christ in us as God's children! It's also humbling to realize the hands of our risen Lord still retain the marks of the nails from His cross. And it is in and through those strong hands that He promises to give us life and to hold us forever. Jesus
said in John 10:28, And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. Beautiful!
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Look at your own hands. See them as instruments of God. See them as the very hands of Christ as you work each day to the glory of God. Lift up your hands during your work breaks to worship God and to praise Him for the finished work of His beloved Son.
Work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12b-13).
Gregg
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God did a special work in the teaching of our Grace Life Conference November 6-7 (photo above). It was a blessing to witness our newest and youngest staff member, David (far right), teach portions of the
conference. David trained with Journey in Christ for nearly two years before joining the staff full-time.
I don't want to be busy "working" according to the flesh by striving to do ministry on my own. The heart of each staff member of Journey in Christ is
to work in the Spirit partnering wit, and training, others to grow in knowing Christ and in proclaiming His glorious gospel.
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Journey in Christ, Inc. is a biblical, Christ-centered discipleship counseling, teaching, and training ministry with a heart to come alongside local churches in the Greenville SC area.
I am a member of Holly Ridge Baptist Church in Simpsonville SC.
We have four full-time staff members, seven board members, one ministry assistant, and a multitude of ministry and prayer partners.
I would love to hear from you!
Contact me at (864) 483-3201 and/or [email protected] if you would like to know more how I can support you in your journey and ministry with Christ.
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