How to Be a Christian at Work

Does your work matter to God?

In this sermon, Pastor Blake helps us see the workplace as a place where we can glorify God, honor those in authority, work with integrity, represent the gospel well, and serve fellow believers as beloved family.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Well, I hope you all had a great Fourth of July with a good uh barbecue, maybe cookouts. I hope you all had a great time. If you have your Bible, turn with me to First Timothy. You know, thinking about America, it's funny, and I'm sure that you will be stunned to hear this this morning, but throughout the world, we Americans have a very mixed reputation. I heard about somebody who went over to Britain and speaking with somebody in Britain, talking about their perspective of Americans, and a person looked at them and said, Americans are loud and obnoxious and arrogant. That's what Americans are, all 350 million of you. Isn't it funny how reputations can can get take place? How easy it is. You know, you go travel across the world and you go for the first time ever to Madagascar, let's say. However, we are in that place is how people will view all Americans, right? It's how we're viewed. And so thinking about that idea of reputation today, we know that as Christians, uh, we, first of all, we care much more. Not about our reputation, not even about the reputation of America, but first and foremost, what we just sang about, about God's reputation, about his name. That is what we're looking at this morning today. And as we've been walking through 1 Timothy, we find ourselves in chapter 6, 1 and 2, and we're looking this morning at the topic of being a Christian at work. Being a Christian at work, and specifically, how can we as Christians glorify God? How can we give God a good reputation in the workplace? You know, I read this past week, this is amazing, that for someone who starts working roughly at age 25 and all the way into retirement, 90,000 hours will have been spent in the workplace. Isn't that amazing? 90,000 hours, which equates to about 10 whole years of continuous time. That's a long time. The workplace matters to God. You know, a lot of times we as Christians we can think to ourselves, you know, Sunday, Sunday is the Lord's day, but Wednesday is my day. Or Saturday is my day. You know, I want you to know this. God has a vested interest in every minute of our day. And of every day of the week. And in every single place of your life that you spend time, God cares about it. He sees it, and his desire is that we as Christians would live to glorify him in all of these places. Specifically today, looking at the workplace. In 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 1 and 2, we're looking at this in the context here where Paul is writing to Timothy about how slaves or bondservants are to relate to their masters. Now, in first century Greco-Roman culture, slavery was very common in that day. It was similar, but also very different to what we think of as American slavery. Slavery back in the day, it was not based on race. And in many ways, oftentimes it was more like how we would think of as indentured servitude, where somebody would go and they would spend seven years under total authority of a master, and after seven years of work, whether that was a small job or whether that was being like a doctor, they would work under the authority of a master, and then after the seven years' time, that they would then be freed. And so we know, just to clarify this, the New Testament does not condone slavery. So as we read this passage, don't think that it does. Paul is merely recognizing the reality of the lifestyle of the environment that Christians found themselves in, and he's writing to them about how they can glorify the Lord, make much of God's name in the environment that they're at. And so, even though today that we don't have bondservants and masters, praise the Lord for that, even though this applies, the principle that we see in this passage, it applies very closely to the workplace. And so we're seeing how we as Christians can glorify the Lord. And my hope for us this morning is that no matter what workplace you find yourself in, even if you're a stay-at-home mom working a full-time job, amen, that we'll see and leave here today with a change by God's grace and according to his word, a changed perspective on work. A perspective that I pray tomorrow morning on Monday that we would get up with a new excitement and a new purpose to go into the workplace. Whether you're going to base or whether you're going to the store you work at or your office or the department, that we would have a new perspective of that place. There's three things I want us to see, three new perspectives about the workplace that I want us to see from this passage. The first, as we look at 1 Timothy 6, looking at verse 1, we need to see our leaders as worthy of honor. See those leaders as worthy of honor. Look with me. 1 Timothy 6, 1 says, Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. I want you to imagine in that environment when somebody would come to know Christ, a slave coming to know Jesus, or a bondservant coming to know Jesus, and now they're saved by God's grace and they have freedom in Christ Jesus, and now they find themselves worshiping the Lord in the same fellowship with the one that they have to call Master. That's confusing, right? Or even how should a Christian in that day think about how being in Christ Jesus, following after him now, having the freedom that we have in him, the redemption, the joy of the Lord, and now having to go back into a secular environment. This is what Paul is writing about. How they should carry themselves even with this new freedom that they have in Jesus. He says, Let all who are under a yoke, that is, everybody who is under the authority in some way of someone else. Specifically here, under a yoke as bondservants. What is this command? He says, Let all who are under a yoke in this way regard, regard their own masters as worthy of all honor. To regard is to lead the way in something, in the original language. In other words, Christians are to be the lead honorers in the workplace, the leaders of it. Now notice he doesn't say here that if the person in charge is worthy of honor, he doesn't say that. No matter what place they are in, no matter how they act, he is calling for them to honor them. Now, this idea of honoring has been a common theme. Look back in chapter five. We've been writing and seeing and studying this idea of honoring the whole time in the last couple chapters. Chapter 5, verse 3, he's talking about honoring widows. About honoring widows. Then he gets in to chapter 5, 17. He's talking about honoring the elders. And now in chapter 6, same thing. Honoring those who are in authority, honoring masters in the workplace, leaders for our context in the workplace. And just like we read in chapter 5, this idea of honoring is not merely this inward disposition of respect. It is that. But if we read in the last chapter, it always comes with action. Just like when we think of love, love biblically is this holy affection. It's an affection, but it's an affection that leads to action. It has action behind it. Likewise, the idea of honoring is the idea of showing respect for, the idea of valuing, the idea of treating as special. And the fruit that comes from that. I want you to see what Paul wrote in Colossians chapter 3. Writing to Christians, in Colossians chapter 3, verse 23 and 24, look what he says here about work. About how Christians are to carry themselves in their work. He says this Whatever you do, whatever you do, I want you to hear that for yourself today. Whatever you do, whatever work you carry out, whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Isn't that amazing? That is a perspective change on work, isn't it? You are serving the Lord Christ, he says. And so what does this mean for us as Christians? Well, first of all, it means that when we work as Christians, we are to work hard. We are to carry ourselves in a hard work ethic just as if we are working for Christ. This is one of the practical ways that we as Christians can honor those in the workplace just the way that the Lord has called us to honor them, whether they are in themselves worthy of it or not. He says, regard them as worthy. Regard them as worthy. That can be hard, can't it? Anybody who has had a job for one month long in their whole life knows it can be hard to honor those above us and regard them as worthy of honor, especially if they are not worthy of honor. And yet, this is exactly what God is calling us to be, as those who have been changed by the gospel, as those who are different from the world. And so, how practically can you honor those in your workplace? Look what he says. First, you see that word in Colossians, work heartily. That if we want to honor Christ in the workplace, we as Christians should be the most hardworking people in the place. Amen. We should be the hardest working ones. We should have atheists banging down the doors trying to find Christians to hire. Because of how hardworking we are. A lazy worker, listen, a lazy worker who cuts corners should not make known the fact that he's a Christian. Take the necklace off. Why? Because it is affecting the reputation of the whole. And worse than just us, of God's name himself. We're to work hard. Just as if we are working for Christ Jesus, we should be the hardest working people in the place. Now I want to clarify something. This does not mean that we should work so hard, so much overtime that we are neglecting our family. I have seen people, I have seen men in particular, fall into that very common trap of the devil. I need more. I need more. I want to give them a comfortable life. I want to give them a comfortable life. And next thing you know, in the name of providing, they have completely pulled themselves out of the presence of their own family. And so this does not mean that we're to fall into that trap. It also does not mean that we as Christians are to obey sinful orders, sinful commands from a boss. Being told to lie, being told to say something isn't true, we're not. We have an even higher authority above that. But insofar as we are not being told to sin against the Lord, we should follow. We should fulfill to the best of our ability, by the grace of God, everything that we are told to do, that we are commanded to do, that it lists out in our job description. To the best of our ability. We need to follow Christ and honor him in the workplace by working hard. We need to honor Christ in the workplace also by having a good attitude. I think about David and Saul. If you know the story of David, you know David killed Goliath, and then as soon as that happened, David rose to power. And David worked under King Saul. And David became very successful. He was a great worker. He did well working under Saul. He was faithful. And yet, in that moment, King Saul grew jealous of David. So much so that King Saul sought to kill David. He was looking for ways to destroy him. In 1 Samuel chapter 24, verses 6 and 7. David is with his friends and the men that he is around. They are telling David, Look, God has given you an opportunity to strike Saul down. He deserves it, right? He's done wrong to you, right? I want you to see what David says, though. In 1 Samuel 24, verse 6. It says, David said to his men, The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, or lay my hand on him, for he is the Lord's, the anointed of the Lord. With these words, David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way. Saul was an unworthy man. He didn't deserve honor. And yet, David, recognizing the sovereign God who put Saul in that place, regardless of whether Saul was the right person for it or whether he was doing a faithful job in the eyes of the Lord. David recognized this is how things are by the hand of God. How dare I do such a thing? Now that is regarding a leader as worthy of honor. And this here is a picture of what we as Christians are called to do to those around us. You know, we as Christians, I'm convinced one of the things that we as Christians, especially younger Christians, that we need to have thick skin. We need to have thick skin. And what I mean by that is that we as Christians should not crumble at an insult. What does the Bible say? Overlook an insult. That we as Christians should not crumble when we get criticized. But take it with godliness, with humility, with respect. He says, regard them as worthy of all honor. Now here's where we get into the second point. You get the reason as we go on in verse one. You have the command that he lays out, but then he has the reason behind the command. And this is the second thing I want us to see, the second shift of mind that we should have about work and about the workplace. And that is this number two, that we should see our workplace as a mission field. See it as a mission field. Verse 1, and we'll read it all the way through. He says, Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor. But why? What's the grounding for this? So that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Why should we do that? For the sake of God's reputation. For the sake of God's name. Well, he says, for the sake of his name, do this. Carry yourself with godliness, with hard work, working as unto the Lord with respect to those around you. For the sake of his name, that is his reputation, but not only that, but for the teaching. What he's saying is, do this for the sake of God's reputation and for the sake of the gospel. We as Christians, we make the gospel attractive when we walk in holiness. We make it attractive. Even if people hate the content, they might just lean in to hear what we have to say by the way we carry ourselves, by the way you talk, by the things you do not laugh at in the workplace. How we carry ourselves. It affects the receptivity of the gospel itself. He says that it would not be reviled. To be reviled, if something is reviled, it's slandered. I want you to see here the definition of slander. To slander is to make false statements that damage a person's reputation. This is what we can do. This is why, if we want to adorn the gospel, we know the gospel is beautiful. The gospel itself is perfect. But if we want people to see it as perfect, we have to carry ourselves in Christ likeness by the grace of God, recognizing that no one in this room, none of us are perfect, but by the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are being changed. We are walking out in true repentance in our life. We are not the same person today that we were a year ago. And so this here is how we carry ourselves to adorn the gospel so that we don't slander the gospel, so that we don't give a false reputation of the gospel. Have you ever heard of a man proposed to a woman? And before, I'm sure you've heard of that. But before he proposed, he took the diamond and he dipped it in mud and then he proposed to her? Neither have I. But that's what we're doing. When we as Christians live like the world, and then we say, Here, look at this treasure of Christ that I have. Look at it. You want it? Will you receive it? And if we're not careful, we can dip it in mud. The gospel's there, it's beautiful. The diamond is precious and beautiful. But they don't see it. All they're looking at is the mud that is hiding it. And so this is why how we carry ourselves affects God's reputation. John Stott, a preacher, a theologian who passed away a number of years ago, he said these words about us as Christians. He said, We should be jealous for the honor of his name, that is God's name. Troubled when it remains unknown, hurt when it is ignored, indignant when it is blasphemed. We should long and pray that God's name should receive the honor and glory which are due it. You know, there's a question that I want to run through my mind on a daily basis. A question that I would encourage you to let this run through your mind on a daily basis, especially Monday through Friday. How will this impact God's reputation? How does this impact God's reputation? When people hear me speak, how does it impact, in their perspective, God's reputation? For good or for bad, who we are in the workplace, it does affect his reputation. It does affect people's understanding of the gospel. This is why tomorrow morning, get up with a sense of urgency and joy and purpose in whatever context that looks like for you. To be respectful, to live holy, to be different than those around us for the sake of Christ, for the sake of the gospel, and then proclaim the gospel. This is why, this is why we should see the workplace as a mission field, as a place where we want to bring a good reputation of God's name and a receptiveness to the gospel, to the teaching of the gospel. And this is really the motive of all of missions. Why should we want to go to the ends of the earth to do what Christ commanded in Matthew 28 to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth? What is the main motive of that? Listen, the main motive is not a love for people. That is a motive, a burden for the lost. Amen. We should have that. But there is an even higher motive. The glory of his name. That his name is not known in this place. That should grieve us. The fact that his name isn't known should first and foremost lead us then to want to go to the ends of the earth. That should be our motive for every aspect of the Christian life. It should be our motive in discipling our children. It should be our motive in loving our spouse, the glory of his name, to please him and to make much of his name. And so in the workplace, and this would apply to students in the room as well. To work hard, but remember the reason for that, so that we can tell them of the gospel, so that we can tell them that God created them, that they're fearfully and wonderfully made, and that the God who rules over them and all of us is a holy God, righteous in all his ways. He's eternal and he's good and he's sovereign. And you should tell them that we all, they included, have sinned against this God, that we have gone our own way, that the God who created us has given us his word to follow, and we've rebelled against it. That we've turned aside from it. And God, being holy, has separated us from himself. We have been separated from God because of our sin. And apart from his redeemer, apart from Christ, we're under his judgment. And then you give them and you tell them the most wonderful news in the world. That God does love us. And to prove his love, he sent his only son. He sent Christ, the Redeemer, the Messiah, the anointed one, and he lived a perfect life in our stead. And he went to the cross and suffered and died on the cross to bear the punishment for sin that we deserved, that him, her deserved. And three days later, to prove he is the Son of God, so that we don't sit here as those who have no hope, but we sit here today, 2,000 years later, with confidence and hope rooted in the fact that Jesus Christ walked out of the grave, that he's alive. And you tell them that they too, no matter what they've done, no matter what brokenness or shame or guilt fills their heart, you can tell them that freedom is available, that God made a way, that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. You tell them that. And you tell them what Jesus said. Repent and believe in the gospel. Proclaim the gospel. We see our workplace as a mission field. You know, this room alone, and just this 8 a.m. service, we have people scattered throughout Hampton Roads. Scattered throughout Hampton Roads and Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, in Moyok, in Norfolk, and Suffolk, all over. Imagine if we carried ourselves in light of this text today, in our workplaces. For the sake of his name, we see the workplace as a mission field, recognizing this, that all of us in this room, that you in this room, there are people that you are around that nobody else in here is around. That nobody else in this room has access to. Think about that. That's an amazing opportunity, isn't it? Whether that's family or grandchildren, that's an amazing opportunity that you have. We are to proclaim Christ to them. Even if you're not in the workplace. This is our motive. The glory of God's name to our family. Living like Christ and proclaiming his message for the glory of God's name, even if we're retired. You know, you may be wondering here today, well, what if I am retired? Well, think of it like this you may be retired from a career, but nobody ever retires from serving God. Nobody retires from doing the Lord's work. As soon as our work is done, he takes us. That's how we know we're retired. You know, thinking about this passage, I thought of you, Harvey. Thinking about how Harvey in a wheelchair will go out on a Sunday afternoon and share the gospel with people. Door to door. There is no retiring. Thank you for that example. We're to see our workplace as a mission field. Lastly, number three, we need to see fellow believers as beloved family. See fellow believers as beloved family. You know, when we spend enough time in darkness, you may be in the military and it may feel like a dark environment. When you spend enough time in darkness and you happen to come across a candle of light, how pleasant is that candle, isn't it? So when we see fellow believers, oh, we should rejoice and treat them with a higher respect. See them as beloved family. Look at verse 2 of our text. He says, those who have believing masters. And what about those who've come to know Christ and their masters happen to be in the same worship service with them? Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers. Rather, they must serve all the better. Circle those words in your Bible. All the better. Serve all the better. Since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. You know, the Bible, I mean, the gospel comes in, and the gospel does amazing things, doesn't it? In Christ Jesus, the Bible tells us in Galatians, for example, that there's neither Jew nor Gentile. Think about how radical of a statement that is being written in that day. These two different groups had nothing in common and did not fellowship with each other. In Christ, though, there's neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female. For you are all, look at the unity of this. You are all one in Christ Jesus. We are all one. What that is essentially saying is that we as God's people, no matter what role or position somebody has in society, in Christ, we are one. That in Christ, the slave is equal to the master. Now that doesn't mean, though, that there's not in the workplace or in that environment for them that you just tear down that structure. It's not what he is saying, but there's an equality in this. And how should a Christian today look at or view or treat a believer among them? A believing leader. It shouldn't decrease zeal to serve them. You may think like, well, we're so one, we're a family, right? And that familiarity may, you may have the temptation to lessen the honor. He's saying, don't lessen that honor. Increase it. Ramp it up. Don't be disrespectful because they're brothers, they're family, but instead serve all the better. In Galatians chapter 6, verse 10, he writes, So then, as we have opportunity, as we have opportunity, Christians, let us do good to everyone. But look what he says. And especially to those who are of the household of faith, especially to the believer. Do good to all, but especially to the fellow Christian. Why is that? Because they are beloved. They are loved by God. Literally, that word beloved means dearly loved. This is our identity as Christians. If you're a Christian in this room, understand that your identity, how you should wake up in the morning and go about your day, you should recognize that you are beloved by God. You are dearly loved in his eyes. How amazing is the gospel. We are messy, aren't we? And yet, despite that, because of Christ, he looks at us as his beloved. And this too is not just, we often stop there. It's not just how we should view ourselves, our own personal identity before Christ, but it's how we should view our fellow Christians around us. She too is beloved by God. He is beloved by God. It changes that relationship. It changes how we treat those around us, especially again, those in the workplace. I want you to think this morning before we take communion. I want you to think do you know any Christians in your workplace? And by Christian, I mean a true follower of Jesus Christ. By Christian, I mean somebody who has repented and believes in the gospel. Somebody who recognizes that salvation is by grace through faith. It is not of works. And believes that and clings to Christ alone. Somebody, by definition of Christian, I mean who has embraced Jesus' call to take his yoke upon us. Somebody who is surrendered to Jesus as their authority. Do you know any Christians around you? Serve them all the better, is what the Bible says. All the better. If one who is beloved by God, especially loved by God, asks you to walk a mile, go three. Go however long they need. Serve all the better, is what the word says. That idea of beloved is only possible for us because of Christ. That we could be called beloved, that those around us in this room and those outside of this place could be called beloved is only possible through Christ's sacrifice on the cross. And this is why we take communion. This is why we do this, we practice this on a monthly basis. And so if you're in this room and you did not grab your cup, the ushers should walk around and you can wave them down and grab one for you. They'll find you. But I want you to think about that. I want you to think about the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for us. And that because of what he has done for us, we can be called beloved. Literally, the picture of us being in Christ is this that Jesus has taken our filthy rags on himself, and in exchange for that, he has given us as a free gift his righteousness. That's the beauty of the gospel. Communion or the Lord's Supple. This is the time of celebration. We do this because we are forgetful people and we are prone to forget the major victory. The major victory that was won for us, just like we celebrate 4th of July every year. We celebrate a victory, right? Well, we take the Lord's Supper to celebrate a victory, a bigger victory that was won for us at the cross. And so we take this with celebration, with joy in our hearts, but we are also told, according to God's word, that we take this in a very reverent and serious manner. That this is not a light thing for us to take it. And so if you're in this room and if you do not follow Jesus, this would be a time that we would just ask you just to observe, just to watch. And likewise with children. This is a great opportunity to go home today and teach your children what this means, but also just to let them watch in this time. It's a time of self-examination. It's also a time of repentance. Before we take of the bread and the drink, this is what we are called to do is to go before the Lord. And so right now, what I want to do is just as always, give us a minute, give you a minute to go before the Lord on your own. To confess sin, to reconcile where you need to reconcile on your own. Go ahead. Days go by, weeks go by, Lord. Opportunity comes across our path to make much of you, to be a faithful representative of Christ with our words, with our attitudes, with our actions, the things that we should do or the things that we don't. And Father, we fail to make much of your name. We fail to give you an excellent reputation that you are worthy of. Lord, please forgive us. Your word promises that if we confess our sins, that you are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Father, we rest in that today with joy. We thank you, Lord Jesus, for dying in our place on the cross. We thank you for the hope that we can have now because of that, for the forgiveness of sin that is available because of that. Father, thank you for removing our sins as far as the east is from the west. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 23, we read that the Lord Jesus, on the night that he was betrayed, he took the bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In verse 25, he goes on and he says, That in the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Amen, right? Let's pray. Father, we worship you and we thank you. Thank you for your goodness. Thank you for your love that is steadfast. Father, thank you so much that you look at us, messy as we are, even still, and you dearly love us. God, we worship you. May we sing with whole hearts now. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Hey, we are glad you could join us this morning. We pray that this message speaks life into your walk with Jesus. If you don't have a home church, we'd love to see you in person. And don't forget to subscribe for all of our content.