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Putting the Whistle Back into Your Work (Colossians 3:22-4:1)
10 Plays27 days ago
Let’s look at five verses in the book of Colossians that are addressing the theme of glorifying the Lord at work. How do we know this? Out of five verses there are 5 references to the Lord in the context of how we behave in the workplace. If the theme of Colossians is the supremacy of Christ, then it makes sense that we should exalt Him on the job not just on Sunday mornings.
Some people, however, don’t like their job. A Gallup Poll in January of 2023 noted that out of 15,000 responses, 50% said that they were “not engaged’ with their work while an additional 18% went so far as to say that they are “actively disengaged” at work, meaning that they are disgruntled and disloyal toward the company. These sing a song of frustration on their way into work, “Oh, no! Oh, not! It’s off to work I go!”
I think it can be better than that for the follower of Jesus Christ. He can restore the whistle in our work if we will play seven notes found within this text.
First note, Do Your Work Conscientiously, 3:22
Second note, Do Your Work Sincerely, 3:22
Third note, Do Your Work Heartily, 3:23
Fourth note, Do Your Work Expectantly, 3:24
Fifth note, Do Your Work Cautiously, 3:25
Sixth note, Do Your Work Justly (Fairly), 4:1
Seventh note, Do Your Work Humbly, 4:1
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Growing in Grace Devotions and Inspirations
Hosted by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam Street
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Resources
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message. If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, FBCColumbusTX.org. And now take your copy of God's timeless word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace.
Motivation Beyond Work: Faith in Christ
00:00:45
Speaker
I pray that you're growing in grace as we started this new year. How's 2025 going for you? I hope it's going well. you know um A lot of people do not enjoy the work that they do every day of the year. Perhaps we should say every work day of the year. But they're not like the little cartoon where they would say, hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go. But the statistics from the Gallup poll are telling us it's something along the lines of, oh no, oh no, it's off to work I go.
00:01:23
Speaker
They dreaded, and I'm thinking why? What would we need to do to put the whistle back into our work? That Gallup poll was taken um in twenty twenty three January of 2023, but it indicated something's going wrong. It said that out of 15,000 people that were interviewed, 50% said, you know, when I go to work, I'm just simply not engaged. Another 18% on top of them said, I'm not just not engaged, I'm actively disengaged.
00:02:02
Speaker
I don't like going to work. Do you like what you do? I think that we can, and I think that ah the problem is we need a motivation that is beyond the workplace. And I think the motivation we're looking for is found in Christ. So I want to point you to Colossians, which is written all about the supremacy of Jesus Christ, and point you to five little verses that are found in Colossians chapter 3.
00:02:33
Speaker
verse 22, and it runs over into chapter 4 by one verse. So Colossians 3, 22 through Colossians 4, verse 1, but you'll be Fascinated to hear ah how often, since it's talking about our work, our occupation, five times it brings up the Lord's name, the Lord, like fearing the Lord, working for the Lord, being rewarded by the Lord, ah serving the Lord, being under the Lord. All of these concepts are mentioned over and over again.
00:03:08
Speaker
So I think that these verses I'm about to read, they will tell us how to put the whistle back into our work. Listen to this.
Working for the Lord vs. Human Approval
00:03:18
Speaker
Bond servants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.
00:03:31
Speaker
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, for the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master in heaven.
00:04:01
Speaker
So let's consider how can we restore the whistle so that we can enjoy our work and have ah just a real excitement when we're headed to work. Well, I believe it's when we glorify Christ at work. So let's see what that would involve.
Sincere Work Leads to Opportunities
00:04:19
Speaker
You know, since a ah lot of music that is composed here in the West is from the heptatonic scales, let me give you seven notes to glorify Christ at work.
00:04:30
Speaker
The first note, do your work conscientiously like it speaks of in verse 22. Proverbs contrasts diligence and laziness. As a matter of fact, Proverbs goes on to say that when we do our work diligently, Proverbs 12.24 says it will most likely lead to greater authority. And then Proverbs 22.29 says it can even give us amazing opportunities. So if you would like more authority, if you would like greater opportunity, then why don't you say, Lord help me be conscientious, help me be diligent in what I'm doing.
00:05:13
Speaker
I think it's interesting how the identity here that is given, we would probably say like an employee, but he uses the word bondservant. But it's interesting how that word means to hear from under. So if we say that Jesus is our Lord, then we're going to say, Lord, I'm your bondservant. I want to do my work as unto you.
00:05:37
Speaker
And I like it how it's comprehensive so that I'm not picking and choosing on my work assignments that I'm issued at work. But it says, obey in everything. And so I'm saying, OK, everything I do, I'm going to do it the best that I can.
00:05:54
Speaker
And I'm not going to do it just to please others or just for eye service. So that's what we call integrity. Can you think about Old Testament Bible characters like Joseph who were promoted because of their diligence?
00:06:10
Speaker
Joseph was promoted at least three times. Daniel worked in the Persian government. It says of him that he distinguished himself above all the other high officials because an excellent spirit was in him. You see, integrity is something that's on the inside. And so I should say, Lord, help me be conscientious in what I do. Do you know that that word conscientious actually comes from the noun conscience? It means to be controlled by the conscience. It means that I'm governed by what I know is right and what I know is wrong. That's a conscientious person. So why don't we say, Lord, I'm going to look forward to going to work today because I'm going to be doing my work conscientiously
00:06:59
Speaker
with diligence to you.
Transforming Workplace Culture with Integrity
00:07:01
Speaker
But the second note that we could play at work, if we're gonna whistle, would be to say, I'm not only gonna do my work conscientiously, I'm gonna do my work sincerely.
00:07:12
Speaker
You know, the word sincere comes from the Greek. It means without a fold. So in other words, there's nothing folded underneath where people can't see it. Everything is out there. I'm singlehearted. I have no mixed motive. I'm giving honest craftsmanship, like that described in Ephesians 4.28, where it says that the thief should no longer steal, but here's what the thief should do.
00:07:41
Speaker
doing honest work with his own hands. That is working sincerely. That is being real. But I think also along with being real, we should say, I'm going to also be reverent. Because it tells us in this verse 22 that we should not only do it with sincerity of heart, but we should be fearing the Lord.
00:08:04
Speaker
You know, Proverbs speaks 20 times of fearing the Lord. The Bible speaks over 100 times of fearing the Lord. I think it just means I'm going to be aware that while I'm at work, when I'm doing my work, God's watching. So I want to honor Him. I want to please Him.
00:08:24
Speaker
the same way that, let's say, a Christian businessman from New Zealand, back in 1914, he wrote a book called The Reasons Why. His name was Robert Layden. And here's what he wrote in his book on his vision for his business. So if you're a businessman, think about this. He said, our aim is to build the greatest business in New Zealand.
00:08:50
Speaker
to serve the farmers in the best possible manner, with the best possible merchandise, to simplify every detail of the transaction, to absolutely satisfy every customer with every purchase, to eliminate all delays, to sell only goods it will pay our customer to buy,
00:09:13
Speaker
to treat our comrades with kindness and our competitors with respect, to work as a co cooperative whole because all at at it always at it wins success. Wow, I like that guy. You know his book was translated, I mean we're talking 1914, right? It was translated into 30 languages And it's estimated that 50 million copies were printed. It was one of the most widely printed Christian gospel tracts of all times.
00:09:46
Speaker
But in our day, maybe someone like Douglas Sherman and William Hendricks, who wrote another excellent book called Your Work Matters to God, here's what they wrote, the key to bringing the culture and the church back together to renewing the workplace and reforming the church may well be a movement of people who are known for their hard work.
00:10:09
Speaker
for the excellence of their effort, for their honesty and unswerving integrity, for their concern for the rights and welfare of people, for the quality of the goods and services produced, for their leadership among co-workers. In short,
00:10:25
Speaker
for their Christ-likeness own and off the job. What can an army of such workers accomplish? Wow, I think that's incredible. That's what I wanna be. That's how I wanna do my
Remedy for Toxic Work Environments
00:10:38
Speaker
work. How about you? You wanna do your work sincerely and conscientiously? How about verse 23? We move on to yet a third note, the note that would say, I'm gonna do my work heartily.
00:10:53
Speaker
You know, the MIT Sloan School of Management said that a worker works 10 times more likely to leave their job over toxic work culture than over their compensation.
00:11:08
Speaker
Isn't that amazing? We tend to think it's all about the salary, but it's not. It's not for what they found to be true. You see, the signs of a toxic workplace, they say, are low enthusiasm and negativity, role and responsibility, confusion, chronic and excessive stress,
00:11:29
Speaker
office gossip and bullying, high turnover rates. That's what it's like when you're working in a toxic workplace. But what would it be like if everyone simply implemented verse 23?
00:11:44
Speaker
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for man." Think about the diversity of the types of work that this could apply to. He says, whatever you do, so whatever your kind of work is, and then think about the dynamo that's referred to in those words, work heartily.
00:12:05
Speaker
You know, it means your whole heart is into it. And then the direction of the work, as for the Lord. So I'm not working for my boss now. I'm doing everything I do for Christ because he's my Savior and he's my Lord. He's the one that's watching. He's the one I'm ultimately accountable to.
00:12:26
Speaker
I read about one man who took his whole family to SeaWorld. He saw these parrots that were trained on roller skates. And he said, yeah, I was kind of impressed that the parrots could be trained to actually move their their little claws and so forth to make the skates go forward. But he said, I could tell that a parrot, his heart just simply didn't seem to be in it.
00:12:52
Speaker
Is your heart in your work? You know, he says, parents were made to fly, not to coast along on the ground. You know that God made you for a reason? There's something that when you do that, your heart is going to be zipping through, and you're going to be whistling as you do your work. I like the fourth note that's mentioned for us in verse 24.
00:13:17
Speaker
Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward, you are serving the Lord Christ.
Working Expectantly and Cautiously
00:13:25
Speaker
The context is how we are in the workplace. So the fourth note is to do your work expect expectantly.
00:13:35
Speaker
You know, I think one of the most satisfying things about work, not the main thing, but one thing is payday. Do you like it when payday rolls around? I would say most people do. Well, Nehemiah, in Nehemiah chapter 3, he lists 38 names of individuals and 42 different groups. And you know why I think God put that in there?
00:13:58
Speaker
I think God put that in there because God wants us to know that heaven keeps a record. Heaven keeps a record of everything that's done for Him and in His name.
00:14:10
Speaker
So, when it talks about verse 24, that we have this inheritance, hey, we have an eternal reward. But we also have this opportunity to serve the Lord with whatever gifts He's given to us so that we can say, okay, I want to use my my gifts and my skills, my talents and abilities to honor Christ in the workplace.
00:14:35
Speaker
You know, Proverbs 12, 11 says that if we'll work the land, we'll always have plenty bread. Proverbs 12, 14 goes on to say, the work of our hands will come back to us. Proverbs 13, 11 says, the one who gathers little by little, it's going to eventually increase for that person.
00:14:58
Speaker
You know, probably Matthew 5, verses 10 through 12 says, you know what? Others may revile you. Others may persecute you. They may say false things against you. and But you know what? If you're doing your work as into Christ, if you're living for Him on the job, your reward, it says in Matthew 5, 10, 11, and 12, your reward is great in heaven.
00:15:26
Speaker
Someday you might want to spend some time in 1 Corinthians 3, verses 10 through 15. It charges me up to think about how the Lord wants to honor and reward all of those who serve Him.
00:15:42
Speaker
Are you playing that note of saying, you know what? I'm doing my work expectantly. I'm also going to do my work cautiously, though, because verse 25 says, for the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.
00:16:00
Speaker
you know There was a man and in the New Testament named Onesimus, and Onesimus learned the hard way. You steal from the one that you work for, it'll catch up with you. And so he ran away. And then when he ran away, thankfully he met a guy in prison named Paul, and Paul led him to Christ. And Paul said, you know what, Onesimus, you need to make things right with your master, because the one you were working for,
00:16:28
Speaker
I know that guy. He's a Christian man. And so he introduced them, and so they were able to make amends and to make things right. But we have to do our work cautiously, realizing, wait a minute, there will be accountability for wrong conduct, either in this life or in the next, because it says quite clearly, the wrongdoer will be paid back.
00:16:52
Speaker
But notice also, it says, he will be paid back paid back for what he has done. And so there there are consequences that are just, that are right. Whenever we do the wrong thing, it's right that we be held accountable. But then the other thing about accountability is accountability with the right character.
00:17:16
Speaker
In other words, it says, and there is no partiality. Do you know the same thing is written in the same context in Ephesians 6, 9? The Apostle Paul once again is talking about how should a Christian do their work? Well, he's talking about how that those who are in charge, let's say supervisors, should do their work with no partiality because of who we have in Christ. I love that.
00:17:45
Speaker
You know, I think that the Bible shines the light on those who misuse their position in life for evil. Take, for example, the book of Esther in the Old Testament. There was a man in there named Haman, and he used his position in government, the government of Persia, to plan and plot the destruction of the Jews. But you know what happened by the seventh chapter of Esther? That same man, Haman,
00:18:11
Speaker
He was hanged from the gallows for his crimes. It's right whenever someone breaks the law, someone steals from a company, and then they're held accountable for that. That's right. That's why we must do our work cautiously, expectantly, heartily, sincerely, conscientiously.
Fair Management: Lessons from the Bible
00:18:33
Speaker
But then I think as we go into chapter 4, verse 1,
00:18:37
Speaker
We're gonna be looking at management. And so we should also do our work justly and fairly. If you're in management, I think there are several Bible characters that you could study in Scripture. For example, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Daniel, Nehemiah, all of these were supervisors. These were men who had others working under them. If you have people working under you, you should listen closely.
00:19:06
Speaker
to ah Colossians chapter 4 verse 1. It says, masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly. So all of our employees need to be treated justly and fairly. I think justly would be, we need to treat them with by doing what is right, but we also need to treat them fairly by doing what is impartial, what is honest. I'll never forget being with some men in Bangladesh. I was leading a seminar on work, and these men were telling me
00:19:42
Speaker
that they face some tremendous trials in their work there in the tea gardens. And I said, what do you mean you ah face troubles and struggles? Tell me about them. They said, well, here's the problem. We need our job in the tea gardens. There's nothing else where we can make a living to feed our families.
00:20:04
Speaker
We can't survive without this job, and yet our wives also have to work. We have to both work in the tea gardens in order for us to be able to cover our expenses. Yet those precious men told me with tears in their eyes,
00:20:20
Speaker
Our supervisors are evil because while we are working in the fields, they abuse our wives. What should we do? They told me that the courts favor the tea gardens because the tea gardens are very powerful in their country. And so it's so hard to know what to say to men who ask you things like that that are not make-believe. It's like real life.
00:20:47
Speaker
So how do those men treat their wives? How do how do those ah ah supervisors treat the wives of other men? He says, if we're in authority, we should be treating others justly and fairly.
00:21:04
Speaker
I think James 5, verses 4 through 6, even in into verse 7 tells us that if we hold back the wages of workers when those wages are due, if we live in luxury off of what should have been paid to someone else, if we are unjust in trials and we murder those who are righteous, he says ah later in that same chapter, in James chapter 5,
00:21:30
Speaker
You better be ready but because the judge is standing at the door. So we must say, if I have people under me, I want to do my work justly and fairly. But let me close with one last thing. I think this is important for those of us that are in authority who have a team that works under us. We should say, Lord, help me to remember. It says, knowing that you also have a master in heaven.
00:22:00
Speaker
those didn't Those in authority should remember that they are also under the Lord's authority. Did you pick up on the the difference there? It says, ah masters, plural, treat your bond servants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master singular in heaven. Wow, I think he's definitely reminding us that we will one day,
00:22:25
Speaker
be held accountable to those who are in authority over us, like the Lord Himself. So we have to say, okay, God, help me be the best worker that I can be. Have you ever enjoyed eating at a Chick-fil-A? I love eating at Chick-fil-A. It's one of my favorites. Did you know that the founder was a man named Truett Cathy? He was known for being godly and for being generous.
00:22:52
Speaker
If you've ever known anyone that worked for Chick-fil-A, I think they'll tell you that they often invest in college education of those who work for them. There's so many things that they do that are above and beyond what you would think that a supervisor or an employee and employer should be doing for employees. And yet, the Lord Jesus Christ changed Truett Cathy's whole life to the degree that it says in a biography written by Larry Julian about Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A.
00:23:30
Speaker
the The book is called God Is My CEO. Do you realize that you have a CEO? Because God was true at Kathy's CEO, he said one of our core values in our company will be people are more important than profits. Oh, for sure. They've made lots of money through the years, but they didn't sacrifice people in order to reach those profits.
00:23:57
Speaker
They made profits by remembering it's the people that we serve. They're the ones that are more important than how much money we're making. Well, you know, I think that the more I've read this passage, the more I have thought about somebody that I have known in my life who was Christ honoring with their their work ethic. They were a diligent factory worker.
00:24:23
Speaker
They became a Christian while they were on the job. They were actually promoted to be over quality control because of how well they did their job. But you know they actually wound up giving up their position when asked to compromise on the quality.
Integrating Christian Values into Work Life
00:24:42
Speaker
And the quality that they were asked to compromise on was brake pads that were going to be sold in factories and installed into cars.
00:24:52
Speaker
And this man said, i I do not believe that these meet the quality, so I am not going to sign off on these um this these brake pads. So they said, if you don't sign off on it, you're going to lose your job as a quality control man.
00:25:11
Speaker
He said, put me back on the assembly line so that I can make sure the quality is up to snuff. So they did it. They they gave they demoted him. They gave him a lower pay. They put him back on the line. And so he began to make brake pads that were more dependable. That man was my father.
00:25:34
Speaker
I can't tell you how much I've always appreciated him telling me that story that he did. You know, I think that we really need to say, Lord, help me to be a good Christian man, a good Christian woman, a student who lives for Christ, or ah a young a young man, a young ah young woman. Be someone who lives for Christ in whatever you do.
00:26:01
Speaker
I think one of my favorite songs is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman, Everything You Do. I love that song. And if you haven't heard it before, you are to listen to that when we finish, when you finish ah this or when you finish listening to this. I think it'll be a blessing to you. But we are to say, Lord, in everything I do, I want to do it to the best. I want to pursue excellence because you're worthy of excellence.
00:26:29
Speaker
So why don't I close us in prayer and let's pray that God would help us to ah live and work for the Lord Jesus Christ, that everything we do would be in honor of Him. Let's pray together. Lord, I thank you so much for those who are listening today. ah Lord, I pray that you would help them to find the whistle that they can ah put back into the work that they do.
00:26:56
Speaker
Lord, I know that listening to me today may be people from all across different kinds of occupations, different ways of life, different ah kinds of work that they do. But no matter what it is, I pray they do it for you. And I pray that because they do it for you,
00:27:14
Speaker
They would be able to do it conscientiously, to do it sincerely, to do it heartily, to do it expectantly, knowing that you will reward them, to do it cautiously, knowing that they will be held accountable someday, to do it justly and fairly, and to do their work humbly. I do believe that these simple truths, these principles will help change ah any country and our country. It will change our company where we are working. And so Lord, please put within all of us a desire to honor You in all that we say, in all that we do, in every attitude that we have when we go to work. And may others see in us Christ. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
00:28:05
Speaker
Well, thank you so much for listening today. Pray that God's blessed you as you've remembered and run across all of these biblical principles. They'll they'll change your life. I pray that you'll do these things as you go through this week. God bless you.
00:28:34
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.