Most Christians spend the better part of their day working in some sort of profession. Whether an engineer, nurse, construction work, librarian or countless others, God calls each of us to a specific vocation. Most Christians are not called to full-time ministry, but each of us is still under the obligation to glorify God in whatever we do. So what do you do when you have personal success in your vocation? How can you glorify God with any professional accomplishment you might have?
Glorifying God Defined
I have written in the past on what “glorifying God” means and why glorifying God should be your biggest dream and desire. Jonathan Edwards in his excellent book “The End for Which God Created the World” does a word study of this idea of “God’s glory.” He explains that the Hebrew word for “glory” denotes weight or gravity. Therefore, when the Bible talks about God’s glory it is referring either to His inherent greatness, value, and significance or referring to God externalizing that inherent greatness.
So, when the Bible calls us to glorify God, it is commanding us to delight and display God’s greatness, value, and significance. This seems pretty straightforward and “easy” to do when you are at Church singing worship songs. In that case, you are quite literally praising God with music and lyrics for His infinite value for those around you to hear. But what happens when you go to your day job on a Monday? You and I are equally called to live for God’s glory at work as we are in the home or at Church. More specifically, what happens when you receive recognition from your boss and coworkers for some sort of professional accomplishment?
The Spiritual Dangers of Professional Accomplishment
What is at stake here? I find personally that whenever I have some success at my “secular” vocation it is very easy to allow the attention to stay on me. After all, if you get a promotion or award or other professional accomplishment, chances are at least some of your coworkers will praise and congratulate you. And that no doubt makes you feel pretty good about yourself. Now, there is a proportionate, good recognition for a job well done. However, if you are not careful, professional accomplishment can become a breeding ground for pride and self-exaltation. I know that is a temptation in my own heart.
What is the best way to fight your sinful tendency for self-glorification? By turning yourself back to glorifying God and recognizing you have nothing that you did not receive and you have nothing to boast in but Jesus, and Him crucified. Beyond this, your unsaved coworkers around you know nothing about living for God’s glory. They have nothing better to chase than professional accomplishment. So how can you use your professional accomplishment as a God-given opportunity to turn the attention off of you and to the Lord and Savior you worship?
Professional Accomplishment as a Platform
When God allows you to get recognition for a job well done, His sovereign purpose is likely much bigger than you getting a “pat on the back.”
What if God is giving you attention professionally so that you could then turn that attention back to God?
Easier said than done, I know. But next time you receive recognition for some sort of professional accomplishment, immediately realize that this is God giving you a platform to display His greatness to your coworkers. Don’t let your recognized success terminate on you: use any attention you receive personally to direct other people’s gaze from you to God.
How do you do this practically? There is no “one way” and you will need much wisdom to discern the best words to say. But essentially, you need communicate two realities explicitly to those around you:
The relative insignificance of your professional accomplishment in light of God’s significance
Your relative lack of greatness in light of the greatness of God
In other words, you need to communicate that however great people think you are or however important they consider your professional accomplishment to be, both are infinitely insignificant compared with who God is. You don’t have to be eloquent or long-winded, but you must be explicit that God’s glory, not professional recognition, is what you value the most. Here are some brief ideas:
“I’m grateful for this award but I want to make it clear I don’t work hard for recognition. I work hard because there is a God who saved me through Jesus Christ and has given me this job to do for His honor, not my own.”
“This promotion truly is an honor. I don’t deserve it and I recognize that I didn’t get it because I am great. Rather, I serve a great God who graciously has provided me this promotion only as a way to better serve Him.”
These are simply ideas of what to say. My goal with this post is not to give you a script, but rather to help you and I to recognize the opportunities the Lord gives us every day to glorify Him at our jobs. And I think some of the best, easiest, and clearest opportunities you will get to exclaim God’s worth to your coworkers come in the context of professional accomplishment.
When all eyes are on you, turn everyone’s gaze to Christ.
If glorifying God is truly your life’s goal, success at work will just be another avenue to worship.
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If you are a Christian who regularly attends a Bible-preaching Church, you can easily assume everyone you interact with enjoys the same privileges as you. In particular, you can easily assume when you enter your secular workplace that, to some degree or another, you and your coworkers lead similar lives. After all, you work at the same place and you probably have the same educational background. What makes you so different? One of the most important things you can do as you go off to work is to remember that your coworkers don’t have the Church. And that has several implications that you should keep in mind when you enter the world of your 9 to 5.
They don’t have regular exposure to God’s Word
If you are a member of a solid local Church, chances are week after week one of your Elders opens up God’s word and explains to you what it means and how it should impact your life. When you have regular exposure to the preached Word, whether you are aware of it or not, the Holy Spirit uses that Word to conform your life to the image of Christ. When you hear the Word preached, your worldviews are confronted, your sins are exposed, your heart is encouraged, and your gaze is directed back towards the reality that you are a sinner in a world ruled by a holy God and your one hope is the propitiation provided in Christ’s blood.
Since your coworkers don’t have the Church, they do not have the regular exposure to God’s Word. When you come into the office on Monday morning, you most likely just came off of a blessed day of rest, reflection, and spiritual revival. Your coworkers, on the other hand, are not starting their week with any sort of conviction of sin or encouragement of faith. Many spent their weekend trying to forget about the week, spending time drinking or pursuing worldly pleasure. Whatever they chose to do, if your coworkers don’t attend a faithful local Church, they do not have the same exposure to God’s word as you do.
What does this mean? You need to be a voice of truth in the office. Your coworkers don’t have the luxury of consistently having their life confronted by the truth. In fact, they might never be exposed all week to God’s word. Think of how different you life would be if you weren’t consistently hearing God’s word. Imagine how you would view the world or the wrong things you would prioritize. You would have nothing but self to live for and to serve. Idolatry would reign in your heart unchecked and uncontested.
Be diligent to take every opportunity to share God’s truth with your coworkers. You might be the only avenue they have to hear it.
They aren’t consistently warned about their sin
Sin is deceitful and damning. Not only will sin send you to Hell, it will send you to Hell while convincing you that you are on the path to Heaven. Ever since the fall humans in their natural state choose everything contrary to God’s law and seek to glorify and serve self rather than the living God. The local Church is a place where, as the author of Hebrews says, you are exhorted over the deceitfulness of your personal sin. Through the sermon, discussions, and prayer, every time you go to Church, you are reminded that your biggest problem in life is your sin and that, even though you are saved, indwelling sin threatens to draw you away from Christ.
Since your coworkers don’t have the Church, they aren’t being warned about the eternal danger of sin. Most likely, the word “sin” isn’t in their vocabulary. Your coworkers almost certainly don’t see personal sin as the most destructive and dangerous thing in their life nor do they contemplate that most of their problems come down to living in rebellion to God. Think about who you would be if no one warned you about your sin. You most likely would keep living in ignorance and rebellion, never giving a second thought to the things of God and developing for yourself a host of ideas about the world that are not true.
What does this mean? Don’t be surprised if your coworkers call “good evil and evil good.” Without the word of God to define morality and a loving community of believers to remind you to “pursue holiness, without which no one will see God,” people end up simply doing and believing what feels good to them. “Live your truth” is the creed of our age. Therefore, your coworkers political views, moral views, their work ethic, and a host of other issues are not determined by God’s word. So when you are tempted to follow a coworkers advice or accept an argument they are making, remind yourself that they most likely have no idea of the reality of sin in their own heart or in the world.
Be incredibly discerning and make sure truth is defined by God.
They don’t regularly spend time with Godly people
One of the great blessings of being a part of the body of Christ is the type of people you hang out with weekly. There are certainly difficulties with interactions and relationships within the local Church. At the end of the day, however, your fellow Church members are the godliest people you could choose hang around with. Though there are exceptions, your Church no doubt is full of saints both young and old who love the Lord Jesus Christ and who are seeking to humbly grow in godliness. Not only that, but most of them are willing and desire to help you grow in your knowledge and practice of the Christian faith. Where else can you find such excellent and spiritually profitable company than in the local Church?
Since your coworkers don’t have the Church, they do not have consistent interaction with godly people. Remember what Paul says: “bad company corrupts good morals.” Imagine the type of person you would be if you never spent extended, consistent time with people who served and loved God. No doubt as the years went on, you would become more and more indifferent to spiritual things. In fact, when you actually came in contact with a genuinely godly person, you would likely be indifferent towards them and think them entirely odd, stupid, or evil. That is the life most of your coworkers live week to week. Your coworkers aren’t exposed to people who seek to obey the Lord or who seek to glorify Him in all things.
What does this mean? How you behave at work represents what Christianity is to your coworkers. Don’t assume your coworkers have dozens of godly Christian examples they interact with daily. You interacting with them is likely the only time they get to see what Christianity means “up close and personal.” Your behavior will either “adorn the gospel” or will make the gospel seen powerless. So enter your workplace assuming that you, and no one else, are setting the example for your coworkers of what godliness looks like.
You might be the only Christian your coworkers interact with closely during the week. Therefore, you have the high calling and privilege of representing Christ to them.
Conclusion
If you are a member of a solid local Church, you get consistent exposure to God’s word, your sins are confronted, and you spend time with godly people. Your coworkers, on the other hand, likely have none of those privileges. So pray before you clock in each morning that your conduct would honor the name of Christ, that you would take every opportunity to speak truth, and that you would be protected from any ungodly influence while at work.
View yourself as an “ambassador for Christ” in the workplace and you will start to see more and more opportunities to glorify God in your “secular” vocation.
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“What is my calling?” Is that a question you have ever asked yourself? I am almost certain you have met a Christian who has asked that question at some point or is currently asking it. “What is God calling me to do? Where is God calling me to go?” And probably most important of all: “What is God calling me to do with my life?”
I don’t think I have met a sincere, Christ-loving Christian who wants to waste their life. Christians want to live out God’s will for their life, to spend the time allotted to them in a God-honoring way. But this often is easier said then done, especially when you aren’t clear what God wants you to do.
Recently, I have been reading a book called “Grit” by Angela Duckworth . It is a pretty useful book which focuses on the positive effects of perseverance in life. If you are a Christian who reads your Bible consistently, you almost certainly understand and know all that Duckworth says in her book. But there was a “parable” she gave in one of her chapters which helped me think through what “calling” is and how it connects to the Biblical idea of “renewing your mind”.
Three bricklayers are asked: “What are you doing?”
The first says, “I am laying bricks.”
The second says, “I am building a church.”
And the third says, “I am building the house of God.”
The first bricklayer has a job. The second has a career. The third has a calling.
GRIT by Angela Duckworth
What the quote means
Perspective is everything
What I love about this little story is how memorable it is. You have three people doing the exact same job: laying bricks. On the surface, there is absolutely no difference between them. But when asked what they are doing, their answers could not be more different.
The first is focused merely on the task at hand: laying bricks. It simply is a task; there is no higher calling. This is why the first bricklayer merely has a “job”. You have certainly met people like this: they come to work to get a paycheck, that is all. There is no bigger picture or larger goal. There is simply the task at hand, the task they are paid to accomplish.
The second bricklayer has a bit better perspective. Rather than focusing on the task, the second bricklayer focuses on a larger goal: building a Church. This second person is connecting their work to something bigger than the individual task. They are conscious of what their work means and what goal their individual task contributes to. This bricklayer is said to have a “career.”
But it is the final bricklayer that is the most important for our discussion. This last bricklayer connects their work to something larger than their individual task, and larger than the final “product.” Despite the sketchy theology in this parable (see 2 Samuel 7 for what God thinks about David building a house for Him), I think it is a profound illustration of Biblical truth. This last bricklayer connects his or her work to God, to theology, to a their larger worldview.
And it is this bricklayer which is said to have a “calling.”
I would summarize the three bricklayers as follows:
The first bricklayer is focused on the daily tasks
The second bricklayer is focused on the end goal of the tasks
The third bricklayer is focused on why they are pursuing the goal
Why it is important
Don’t try to figure out God’s will for your whole life. Live faithful today.
“Calling” is a tough word to define. A lot of times, when I hear Christians ask what their calling is, what they mean is “I want to know the specifics of God’s will for my life. I want to know for certain what I am to do now and in the future.” But this certainty is not promised in Scripture.
J. I. Packer in his book “Knowing God” contrasts two views of “knowing God’s will.” What you and I often want is to see the whole picture, like if you were to look at a whole map of a subway system. You want to know exactly and with certainty all the different paths God wants you to take. But knowing God’s will is not like looking at a subway map. It is more like driving a car: you can only see and make decisions based on what is immediately ahead of you.
This parable of the three bricklayers builds on this idea. You don’t “find your calling” by figuring out God’s sovereign plan for your life. You live out a calling by connecting what you are doing in the present with your Theology. The last bricklayer has a calling by connecting his daily tasks and the goal of his job to God. God is not going to write out His sovereign will for your life in the sky for you to read. But He does promise to guide your steps as you trust in Him.
How can you live your calling? Remind yourself each day “this is God’s sovereign will for my life.” And then work for His glory, not your own. I think we need to re-define “calling” to “obeying God commands in all He ordained for you to do while staying conscious of how what you are doing connects to God’s larger plan.” In other words
You turn your tasks into a calling simply by connecting it back to God, the Scripture, and the Gospel
“What does God want me to do with my life?” is an impossible question because God doesn’t promise to answer it in specifics. But I guarantee there are daily tasks you have to accomplish each time you wake up. These tasks are the part of God’s plan for your life that He has revealed. God has prepared good works for you ahead of time so that you can walk in them (see Ephesians 2). Don’t focus on the part of God’s will that you don’t know. Focus on faithfulness today by doing all your daily tasks to God’s glory.
Takeaways
1. The most practical thing you can do each day is renew your mind with Scripture
An implication of all this is to renew your mind each day. The last bricklayer had a theological, God-focused mindset which enabled him to connect what he was doing to why he was doing it. He had a different perspective than the other two. It does not get more practical than this.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2, ESV emphasis added
You aren’t naturally going to wake up with the mindset “all I do today is for God’s glory.” The natural perspective of life when you wake up is that of the first bricklayer: just get done these tasks and be done with it. But as Christians, part of the privilege we have is doing all that we do for God’s glory and to make much of Christ.
Your theology should transform your most mundane daily tasks.
Don’t buy the lie that says Theology is some study of God divorced from anything you actually do during the day. There is absolutely nothing more practical than renewing your mind with the Word. It changes everything. The parable of the bricklayers argues that it is your mindset, your perspective, that matters each day. The Bible makes it more explicit: you must renew your mind or you will be conformed to this world.
2. Ask God to show you what faithfulness looks like today. Let Him work out your long term “calling.”
If God explained to you every single plan He had for your life, do you really think your life would be better? I think God is merciful to allow us to take one day at a time. Your calling is to die to self daily and subject each day’s tasks to the Lordship of Christ. That is hard enough to do without also knowing everything coming tomorrow.
“Sufficient is the day for its worries” Jesus said. You can only be certain of what God is calling you to do moment by moment. So pursue faithfulness and obedience moment by moment. As a Pastor I know once said “Do the next faithful thing.”
You might not know God’s long term plans for your life. But you know today you are called to “glorify God and enjoy Him.”
3. Consciously, through prayer and meditation on Scripture, offer each part of your day up for the glory of God
To get even more practical, doing all things for God’s glory probably means praying a lot. “Without ceasing” as Paul says. The mindset of the third bricklayer is not easy to maintain. There are dozens of distractions and sins each day that cause you to lose sight of why you are doing what you are doing, and for whom you are doing it.
Dedicate time throughout the day to read Scripture. Call out to the Lord before you start a new task. Ask yourself “how does what I am going through connect to any Bible passages I have heard lately?” It is only through focus on God that our tasks become a calling. Why? Because God has called His people to exalt Him in all things.
What tasks do you have to accomplish today at work? At home? For Church? Will you merely check the boxes? Or will you realize everything you do is done before the presence of God?
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”Got Questions” defines a “quiet time” as when a believer goes to “comfortable and rather secluded place in (usually) his own home, where he can draw close to God with no distractions.” Put another way, “A quiet time is a set-aside part of each day for a meeting between a believer and God. It consists of reading a part of the Bible of the believer’s own choosing, and praying.” And I firmly believe most Christians need a second quiet time. Or a third. Or as many as needed.
Certainly one quiet time is better than none. I personally wake up before work to get undistracted time with the Lord. However, as I have continued in my working life, I have become more and more convinced that merely having a morning quiet time is not enough. I find myself longing for a second quiet time in the middle of the day or even another one in the evening. And I think there are some good reasons for this.
A helpful metaphor: coffee
I love coffee. Aero press, V60, espresso, you name it. Every morning I start with making myself a delicious cup to both enjoy and energize me for the day ahead. Now, this enjoyment and energy carries me through the morning and into the afternoon. But something happens after about 1:00 in the afternoon:
The effect of the coffee wears off.
I feel tired again. And if continue the day without making myself another cup, I won’t perform as well at my job. One cup is important and essential in the morning. But to truly get through my day effectively, I might need a second cup. Sometimes, when sleep is lacking and the day is particularly grueling, I might even make a third cup.
I think this is a helpful metaphor for thinking about Bible study and prayer throughout the day.
You might have an amazing morning quiet time with the Lord. But oftentimes, the burdens and distractions of the day cause the sweet effect of communion with the Lord to diminish. The answer: a second quiet time.
If I recognize the importance of multiple cups of coffee to get me through a day physically, how much more do I need multiple times with the Lord to get me through the day spiritually?
Distracted minds that forget easily
I don’t know about you, but it always seems like I have a hundred things going on in my mind. What that practically means is I am a task-driven person. I complete a task. Then I move on to the next. This can be a helpful skill at work and at home, but it often makes me lose sight of the Lord even a few hours after my morning quiet time.
You and I live in a world full of distractions. Email. Social media. An endless list of things to do. And distracted minds tend to forget things. It could be responding to an email or an appointment you made with a friend. But for me, it can become easy to read the Word, have a good time of prayer with the Lord, and then to almost immediately switch into a different mindset when I get to work.
Rather than focusing my mind on the Lord, I immediately go to all the tasks I need to get done at work. As the day goes on, the spiritual encouragement I received from the Lord in the morning becomes further and further away. What is the answer? A second quiet time in the middle of the day can refocus your mind spiritually when you most need it.
Effect of a second quiet time
Work is my “war zone” so to speak. I am among both believers and unbelievers. The temptation to be motivated by wealth or fame or success comes to the forefront of my heart. Fear of man and their opinion of me threatens any boldness I might have to share Christ. It is in the middle of this context that a time with God and in His word refreshes me most deeply.
You don’t just need to start your day with the Lord. You need Him to sustain you wherever you go. Pausing at lunch or for a quick break in the middle of the day gives you that spiritual “boost” you need exactly when you need it. Just like that second cup of coffee allows me to continue to do my work effectively, a second focused time with the Lord can give you the encouragement you need to fight subtle temptations around you and keep your mind fixed on Jesus.
What does a second quiet time at work look like?
1. Pull out your Bible, read it, and think about it
I posted about this last week. Honestly, if you pause for 15 minutes in the middle of your work day, you can read a text for 5 minutes and then let it sit in your mind for the remaining 10. You will be amazed what effects come out of simply stopping at lunch to remind yourself of Jesus, the gospel, and God’s plan for the world. Don’t think a second quiet time needs to be an hour long. Just start with 15 minutes and see what God teaches you.
2. Pause and take 10 minutes (Or more or less) to pray
Sometimes, you won’t get a chance to read and meditate on a Scripture. But I bet during the course of a work day, you walk from one place to another. Why not use that walk to pray to the Lord? Thank Him for the day so far. Ask Him to strengthen you. Remind yourself of His rule over all your affairs. Ask specifically for Christ-honoring responses in the situations you find yourself in. Taking a walk is a great way to give your mind a rest from work, and to give yourself space to pray and re-center yourself on spiritual things.
3. Bring a good Christian book to work to read through
I have a couple books at my desk to pick up and read when I get a chance. Currently, I have one by Piper, one Church history book, a set of Puritan sermons, and a book on manhood. When I get a brief lull from work, I can normally read through a section or a chapter of these books in 15 minutes or so. Choose books that have small, consumable chapters and you have yourself a perfect, bite-sized bit of theology to keep you sustained. Give yourself as many avenues to get to spiritual things as possible. Good Christian books at your desk are great tools to give yourself a second time with the Lord in your workday.
4. Take a walk with another believer and talk about the Lord
I already mentioned walking and praying, but another very sweet and wonderful way to remind yourself of Christ in the middle of your day is to simply take a walk with another believer. I have written before about the amazing potential every interaction with a fellow Christian has. So why not schedule a time to meet up with a Christian in your office? Ask them how their quiet time went, what they are reading, what the Lord is teaching them. Share Scripture. Talk about a Sunday sermon. Simply talking with another Christian can get your mind back on “things above”.
Conclusion: take as many quiet times as you need
On long, tired days, I might have many cups of coffee to get me through. In a similar way, getting through the day spiritually almost certainly will take more than one quiet time. Jesus called Himself the bread of life, living water, the vine in which we abide. In other words, you and I need to stay connected with our savior. Daily. Hourly. Moment by moment.
I highly recommend scheduling a second time in the day to seek the Lord in Scripture and in prayer. If you are like me and brew a couple cups of coffee a day, take some time while drinking that afternoon coffee to read the Bible. Or pray. Read a good book. Find a believer to chat with. You and I need more time with the Lord, not less. I’ll let Paul close this post:
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2 ESV
An easy way to keep your mind renewed and separate from the world at work is to set aside a second quiet time.
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Work. Vocation. Your 9 to 5. Most of us spend a good chunk of our week employed and exerting effort to benefit some company. Work is an ever present reality in most everyone’s lives, including Christians. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that Scripture contains extensive teaching on what work is, how to work, why you should work, and dozens of principles to help you understand how your day job fits into God’s larger plan for the world.
Tackling the Bible’s full teaching on work will take some time. For this post, I want to go through 3 New Testament verses that I think address Christians and their vocations. In particular, these three texts will focus on how God’s plan for the world and the gospel connect to your work.
God is sovereign over where you work
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10, ESV
Like any theology, a New Testament theology of vocation starts with God. Not just “God” in general, but what God has done through the gospel. Before you were saved, work was a way to gain money. Power. Status. Everything you did, including your work, was self-serving and devoid of proper motivation.
But after Christ transforms your life, saves you from your sin, and brings you into newness of life, work does not stop. Paul says in the verse above that God has prepared good works for you to do. Now, certainly this verse is speaking more broadly than your day job when it uses the term “good works”. But I think “good works” certainly includes what you do for 40+ hours every week.
Your vocation is not a distraction from serving God. Where you work is an integral part of God’s sovereign plan for how you are to serve Him.
To have a proper understanding of work, you have to start with answering the question “how did I find myself in my current job?” You can give a number of reasons, but fundamentally you must grasp God had planned your vocation before time began. He prepared the good works ahead of time for you. Your job is to be faithful to where He has placed you.
Christians are not self-sufficient workers
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17, ESV
“Whatever you do” includes a lot of things. It is a broad category that almost certainly includes your vocation. Your work, therefore, is to be done “in the name of the Lord Jesus.” What does this mean? It seems like a very abstract phrase. When the New Testament talks about the “name of Jesus,” it says a number of things:
There is no other name that saves (Acts 4:12)
Jesus has the most exalted name (Philippians 2:9-11)
Believers are to ask things in Jesus name (John 14:13)
Calling upon the name of Jesus saves a person (Romans 10:13)
Signs and wonders in the New Testament were done in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:30)
I believe the last verse give us insight into what Paul might mean in Colossians 3:17. When the apostles performed signs, they did it through the “name of Jesus.” That simply means Jesus was the source, the one who empowered the signs. It was not by their own strength and ability that the apostles acted. How does this apply to normal work?
Dependence on Christ, not self-sufficiency, should characterize your work day.
When you pray in Jesus name, we are acknowledging it is not through our own efforts that you can approach God. Salvation comes through Jesus name because He is the source of salvation. Doing all things in Jesus’ name means acting in constant dependence on Him and His grace.
God’s glory is the goal of your vocation
What is your goal for your job? Climbing the ladder? Making more money? These are all false paths to happiness which will disappoint in the end. Christians have a deeper, unshakeable goal for their work.
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV
If you want to understand how the glory of God relates to everything, I recommend working through “The End for Which God Created the World” by Jonathan Edwards. Essentially, Edwards argues God created the world so that His attributes could be seen by His creation and that His creation should delight in those attributes. As the Westminster confession states, it is mankind’s “chief end”: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
It is easy to slip into the mindset that “glorifying God” takes place outside of work hours. Sure you can glorify God at Church or with your family, but sitting in front of a computer screen in a cubicle? But if Paul can command Christians to display and enjoy God’s attributes in something as mundane as “eating and drinking,” your vocation must also be centered around glorifying the Lord.
Start each new work day asking “how can I show through my work that God is infinitely valuable and glorious?”
Summary of doctrine
These are only three of numerous verses on vocation in the New Testament and the Bible as a whole. But I think they frame any discussion of work. How can we summarize and synthesize the truths given in these passages?
God provides Christians with their vocations and the power to perform their vocations to display His worth.
Christians have a fundamental new perspective of their jobs: they are from God. They have a new goal of working: to exalt and display God not self. And finally, Christians have been given the power of the gospel and of Christ to meet this new goal.
A few brief takeways
1. You are equipped to do your job in all the ways that matter
There is an obsession in America with productivity books. How to become a better worker. Books on successful leadership. How to develop marketable skills. These are all useful in a small way, but the good news of Scripture is “good work” isn’t measured by worldly success. It is measured by obedience to Christ.
You might not get that promotion. Perhaps you will never be the most skilled worker in your office. But if your goal is to display how marvelous and priceless Christ and the gospel are, then you have been given exactly what you need. Christ has given you “everything needed for life and godliness.” So yes, build up skills in your individual job. But always remember that it is Christ who equips you to do your work for God’s glory. No book, other than Scripture, can help you become “successful” in that.
2. Don’t focus on getting your “perfect dream job.” Focus instead on what God would have you do in the job you have now.
There is always a “better job” out there somewhere. The grass is always greener on the other side. A lot of times, how much you enjoy your current job can become the determining factor in how hard you work. For Christians, this should not be the case. You don’t need your perfect dream job to be happy. You need to start focusing on glorifying God in the job you have.
A lot of times, how you talk about your job and how much you enjoy are job is connected solely to yourself. How you feel. What you think of the job. But if you understand that God has chosen to place you in your current job, your perspective changes. Instead of asking God “why do you have me working here?” you ask “how do you want me to serve you today in this job?”
God didn’t mess up in placing you in your current vocation. Pray that He would show you what good works He has for you in your current workplace.
There is a lot more to investigate in Scripture about vocation and God’s purposes in work. But for now, remember that God has a plan for where you are working and has given you power through Jesus to go to your job seeking to display God’s glory. Don’t get caught up in working for yourself only. Pray that God would give you eyes to see how your work is a means by which He blesses the world, displays His attributes, and calls people to faith in Christ.
Read this post if you want more of my thoughts on Christians and work. Check out the “Thoughts” page for more topical reflections on life. Be sure to follow The Average Churchman on Instagram to get post updates and recommended resources.
As hard as it is to believe, I have almost been out of school working at my current job for two years. When I was an engineering student at Cedarville University, I memorized Proverbs 22:29 for a class. It has been in my mind since as a vital verse on what faithfulness in work looks like.
Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
Proverbs 22:29, ESV
I thought about his Proverb many times since memorizing it. I never expected to live it out less than two years into my career.
In a previous post, I talked about my personal struggle with staying an engineering major. I desperately wanted to switch to Biblical studies, or a type of major I would enjoy more. But in God’s providence, I stuck it out and already I seen the opportunities He has given me. Opportunities I would not have gotten if I had not completed my engineering program.
In March 2021, I met and received a coin from General Raymond, the highest-ranking officer in the US Space Force, in recognition of my work. It was a great honor; one I couldn’t imagine receiving as a student. I certainly didn’t have many “goals” for my job right out of college. When you first graduate, you have no idea if you will even like your first job, much less be good at it.
Through this experience and two years of working out of college, the Lord has taught me three lessons about faithfulness in work. I would share these thoughts with any student at my Church or any professional early in his or her career.
Lesson 1: You don’t change the world your first day on the job
Building relationships, respect, & skill takes time
I disliked my job for the first couple months. It was uncomfortable, I had no idea what I was doing, and I clearly knew the least of anyone in my office. I had no idea what faithfulness in work meant for me. Suffice to say, this was wake-up call after being told for four years that I would graduate and “change the world for Jesus.” Certainly I wanted to, but it’s hard to change anything when you know almost nothing about your job and other people don’t know or respect you.
It takes time. My first year was God teaching me to slow down, practice patience, and wait on Him. I came to realize no one hired me to change the world. No one wanted me to change the office culture or lead my first day in the building. They wanted me to build relationships and skills. And it took some time.
Don’t get discouraged your first year or so in your job. Focus on getting to know the people God has you working with and developing the skills necessary to do your job well.
If you start working out of college with unrealistic expectations, it is easy to get discouraged. You start to ask “is it God’s will that I work here? Did I make the right decision?” Don’t think that just because you are uncomfortable that it isn’t God’s will. Stick with it. Faithfulness in work is a long-term goal.
If you honestly want to reflect Christ to your coworkers and have opportunities to speak about Him, focus less on “doing big things for Jesus” and instead get to know everyone in your office. Get to know their names. Practice humility by admitting you don’t know everything and that you need help. Learn from others.
God gives the opportunities. Work hard at them when they come.
There is only so much you can control. A trap I feel into when I first started working is trying to control what opportunities I got. But trying to manipulate situations to get opportunities to prove yourself is exhausting and often ineffective. Two years into my job, I see that every “impactful” opportunity I have been given so far has been from the Lord. I didn’t force my way into them, He sovereignly gave them to me.
But just getting the opportunity wasn’t enough. I also had to work hard when I was given opportunities. You have to be faithful when God gives you opportunities. I think that starts with gratitude: thanking the Lord for giving you the chance to be on a cool project or move up in the company. Then, you have to actually take whatever opportunity and work hard at it with all the skills God has allowed you to develop.
Hold these two truths always in your mind: you are not responsible for the opportunities you receive but you are responsible for how hard you work at those opportunities.
That is why it is so crucial to focus on developing skills and relationships when you first start your job. If you focus on chasing respect or “impact” or opportunities right away, you won’t have time to develop real skill at your job. If you really want to be respected at work, don’t aim at respect. Aim at becoming skilled. If you have not read the famous C. S. Lewis essay “The Inner Ring” I highly recommend it. It is a convincing argument for aiming at developing skill rather than aiming at being known or forcing your way into situations.
Develop a reputation as a teachable person, a hard-working person, and a caring person your first year.
Wait on the Lord. Be patient. Nowhere has God promised that you would change the world your first day at work. So trust Him and develop skill so when He gives you opportunities, you will be ready.
Lesson 2: A Christian work ethic stands out
Christians have a deeper motivation for work
I work with a lot of high-performing, intelligent unbelievers. And quite honestly, I didn’t expect that to be the case based off what I heard at my Christian University. A lot of times, it seems Christians tell young people there are a few simple steps to having impact at work:
Get hired
Out-perform everyone in your office
Wait for unbelievers to ask you “why are you so amazing at your job?”
Share the gospel with them and repeat
Implied in this oversimplified profess is that you as a believer will naturally be better than anyone else at your job. That simply is not true, especially if STEM fields. In fact, it may never be true. There are a lot of incredibly motivated, hardworking, smart unbelievers who you might never match in terms of work performance.
Christians are not guaranteed to outperform every unbeliever in their office. They are called to have a deeper motivation for the work they do.
That is what separates me from the unbelievers are work. Motivation. As a Christian, you are called to work to the glory of God rather than working to elevate self. It is that simple. In an office where unbelievers boast in self, are focused on money or power, and are driven solely by their own goals, Christians are called to boast only in Christ, focus on pleasing God, and are driven by a theology of work that centers on God’s glory.
When you are driven by God’s glory, you will naturally work hard and produce excellent products. Why? Because God’s glory is infinitely worthy and you as a Christian understand your job is to bear that image and display God’s worth in all that you do. Don’t compare your level of success to unbelievers success to stand out. Let your motivation be clear to those around you, then back it up with action.
Work as if you know and worship an infinitely glorious God and you will stand out in your office, even if you never are the smartest or most successful.
Christians have a God-centered perspective of circumstances
Everyone wants recognition for their work. It is natural in many ways. Besides what motivates you, another way the Christian work ethic stands out is how you deal with recognition or the lack of recognition. For the unbeliever, discouragement and bitterness are proper reactions to negative circumstances at work. Working with difficult people. Getting passed up for a promotion. Not enjoying a project. All of these are just a few examples of situation where the unbeliever looks at a situation and sees simply a roadblock to what they want.
Christians, on the other hand, worship a God who works all things together for their good. Not their success or comfort or pleasure. Their good. And what is that good?
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Romans 8:28-29, ESV emphasis added
The greatest good God can give us is to make us more like Jesus. So what will the Christian do when the promotion goes to someone else? Keep working hard for God’s glory.
Christian’s don’t let circumstances affect their work. They trust the Lord and keep being faithful.
If you have a rock-solid view of God’s providence in all areas of life, when you don’t get the results you want at work, you won’t despair. You won’t give up. Simply trust the Lord, and keep working. And if you do get the promotion or recognition, you will see that that too is a gift from the Lord. You won’t boast or obsess with promoting yourself. The Christian humbly thanks the Lord for any recognition, draws attention to the motivation for why they work, and then continues to do what God has called them to.
Lesson 3: Serving God looks like one day of faithfulness in work at a time
Noah building the ark is a good example of faithfulness in work
We all love big acts of faithfulness. Martin Luther nailing the 95 theses to the chapel door. Jonathan Edwards preaching and revival breaking out. I could go on. But I think the best biblical example to set our expectation for what faithfulness looks like is Noah. Noah built an ark and condemned the world. That is a pretty monumental act of faithfulness to God.
But ask yourself: did Noah build that ark in a day? Of course not, it took years. Then what did “every day” faithfulness to God look like for Noah? Cut down a tree, use it to build a little more of the ark. Every day was not a big act of faithfulness for Noah. But everyday the little things Noah did demonstrated his faith in God’s promises and built towards the big memorable act of faithfulness: the ark.
I think this is a powerful metaphor for how the Christians should view work. Serving God takes place one day at a time, one act of faithfulness at a time. Faithfulness in work begins with asking yourself each day “What trees does God want me to chop down today? What larger things has He called me to that this tree will help build?”
As you start each new work day, look for small acts of faithfulness God has called you to for that day specifically. Then, think through what those daily acts of faithfulness could be building towards.
Next time your are tempted to think there isn’t a lot of big ways to glorify God at work today, think of Noah. Remind yourself that for a long time faithfulness looked like daily finding a tree and chopping it down.
Aim at the next act of faithfulness, not big awards
We all want to do “big things” for the Lord. But practically, what does that look like? Waking up each day, committing it to Jesus, then doing the next thing He calls you to. Don’t aim at getting awards, money, or recognition. Aim at giving Jesus your best each and every day at your job.
If you are obsessed with recognition and awards and reputation, it will be very difficult for you to stand out as a Christian in your job. Everyone wants those things. There is nothing naturally Christian about craving success and status. Self-focusedness and self-motivation are the obsessions of the sinful world system, not of Scripture. So if you are not aiming at awards, what should you aim at? Jesus gives us an answer:
One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.
Luke 16:10, ESV
When glorifying God is your aim, no task is unimportant or too small. You don’t cut corners because you can get away with it. Smaller projects aren’t a burden to you. Why? Because as a Christian you see every opportunity, no matter how small, as a way to display Christ and His glory. And there is a further promise and warning Jesus gives:
For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Matthew 13:12, ESV
When you work hard for God’s glory in little things, it has been my personal experience that God gives you more opportunities to glorifying Him. Matthew 13:12 has become real to me these past two years working. If you aim at daily working hard and glorifying God, God will be faithful to give you further opportunities to do so.
Faithfulness in Work: Summary & Conclusion
I opened this post with a Proverb:
Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
Proverbs 22:29, ESV
I have seen this Proverb become a reality in my experience, even within my first two years working. But when I reflect on how God brought me here, it wasn’t the way I expected. “Standing before kings” came from focusing on developing skill rather than having “impact”, trying to be motivated by God’s glory rather than selfish goals, and aiming at daily faithfulness in the small things rather than trying to achieve big awards.
I don’t know what God has called you to work at. But I hope these brief lessons I have learned are an encouragement to you. Not every day at work is easy and I fall short of all these rules practically every week. But as a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit in you, a God who says “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” and a Savior who said “Lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.” Faithfulness in work is only possible because of the faithfulness of God.
Let’s get to work.
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