“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters , since you know you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  ~Colossians 3:23-24

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RE-ENGAGE

 

Many of us felt called to serve God at a younger age. We thought that perhaps it meant that we would be sent overseas to a destination that was foreign to us as missionaries. For a few that took shape in the form of short-term missions. For others it was local volunteer service in our community or at our church. These are all wonderful expressions of faith in God and service to Christ. 

 

But if I understand the scriptures correctly ALL of life is meant to be lived in service to God not just the times that involve travel or volunteerism. If that understanding is true, then compartmentalized thinking about what qualifies as “mission” is faulty. If you are a parent when you wake up in the morning and get the kids ready for school, that is part of your mission and your purpose. When we go to work, that too is our mission, purpose, and service to God. 

 

Paul, one of the leaders of the early church who started many missional communities of Christians between Jerusalem and Rome, said this in his letter called Colossians: When you work, do it wholeheartedly, not just when your supervisor is watching you, but at all times, realizing that it is the Lord Christ that you are serving! 

 

Did you catch that? 

 

When we are working we are serving Jesus! 

 

I realize that it often doesn’t feel that way. Paul realized it too. That’s why he had to write this in his letter. Some of the people in the church of Colossae had the lowest jobs on the planet, and on top of that, some of them had the most horrible supervisors on the face of the earth! Of course Paul didn’t call them bosses or supervisors. He called them “masters” because the people whom he said were serving Christ with their work were slaves and bondservants. 

 

In spite of the low status of their work and the deplorable work conditions that they faced, Paul exalted their work from being mere slavery to being work that was a form of worship and service to Christ. He elevated that which was seen as mundane to a heavenly mandate of service and calling to Jesus. The once lowly servant is now a royal servant because he sees his service as work done for the King of the Universe. 

 

Now, before anyone assumes that Paul is (or I am) serving a dose of religion as “the opiate of the people,” let me be clear. This is not a passage that condones slavery, lack of self-autonomy, or indebted servitude. The verses that follow this one, show that the Lord sees the predicament of the marginalized. That’s why he issues a strong admonition towards that wrongdoer who will be paid back for any wrongdoing that he has done - pointing out the accountability that the masters have to treat their bondservants justly and fairly - because they too have a master in heaven to whom they are ultimately accountable. 

 

Paul is not condoning the slavery, (in another letter, he encouraged a slave to seek freedom and wrote a letter asking Philemon to treat his runaway slave as a brother), but He loves His children and will honor the work that his children engage in as unto Him. 

 

His message to them is the same as it is to us: engage your work as your mission. Do your work as one who works for the Lord! 

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Reflection:

Take a moment to come before the Lord about your work and workplace. Be still and know He cares more about your work and workplace than you do. Ask Him what He wants to reveal to you. 

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By Roy Tinklenberg

 

We know that we are all inundated with info and content. Our intention in these words that you took precious time to read is simply to encourage you. We invite you to pause a moment from your daily grind and consider God’s great resource of Himself to you and your work. Our hope is that if these thoughts resonate with you, we will have the privilege to have further conversation and to build relationship with you. We gladly invite you into this global alliance of fellowships among marketplace believers that our Lord is building in every corner of the world.

 

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