How to Glorify God with Professional Accomplishment
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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