Hard Boss? Work Hard. Easy Pushover Christian Boss? Work Harder!
1 All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. 2 Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.”
1 Timothy 6:1–2 NASB Read More
Honoring God and Your Boss with a Job Well Done
There is a funny mess of how our culture feels about work. On the one hand, people love stuff, and they have to work to get stuff, so people get themselves into a spot where they have to work. At the same time, we are somehow encouraged to not be generous with out work, and to make sure that whoever benefits from it is paying us fairly for what we do.
These instructions from Paul to Timothy liberate work from the cycle of economic trade and move it into the realm of honor. Honoring your boss so that God will be honored and your teaching won’t be criticized makes digging ditches or filing letters a Holy act. I heard a story about a city clerk that always talked to her boss (the mayor of the city!) about “loving your neighbor.” When a bunch of church leaders came and asked him how they could help the city, he said, “I think the best thing you could do it get all of your congregations to love their neighbors.” The honor that clerk showed to her boss carried over to the honor he showed to her doctrine and teaching!
Who Benefits from My Work?
Whether you are a volunteer at the school media center or a Vice-President of Marketing, there are a ton of people benefiting from the respect and diligence you show in your work. Some of them are believers and they might show you some grace if you do an awful job, but that doesn’t mean it’s ok to stink at it! Honor and respect them and the job they have given you even more, because some of that money they make is probably going to get spent on the Kingdom of God.
Don’t grudge those that benefit from your hard work. Don’t disrespect or dishonor those that are not strict taskmasters by doing lazy work. For the sake of God whom we honor and the teaching that we live by, make something awesome today.
You can get the Daily Bible Readings via email every day by visiting Feedburner and clicking ‘Get Daily Bible Readings delivered by email’ over on the right side of the screen. You can also see them on Facebook or Twitter.