Christianity in the Workplace

Are there certain jobs that Christians shouldn't take? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with my good friend Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE. We'd love to hear from you. That's 833-843-2673.

And if you're on social media, you can post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts, or email us your question at questions at COREChristianity.com. First up today, we have a good news story to share with you. An 87-year-old man who was denied his master's degree 51 years ago because of racial discrimination has finally earned it. A student, Harold Franklin, stepped onto Auburn University's campus as the first black student to integrate their campus in pursuit of his master's degree. The university denied Harold admission and wouldn't give him a dorm room, so he filed a lawsuit against the school. At that point, a federal judge ruled that Auburn had to allow Harold to enroll, but his master's thesis was repeatedly rejected until 1969, preventing him from earning his degree. After that, he attended the University of Denver, where he earned a master's degree in international studies. Well, in 2001, Auburn awarded Harold an honorary doctor of arts degree, but he said there was still an incompleteness in his educational accomplishments. So 50 years after he was first rejected, the university finally invited him back to defend his original thesis. Harold was able to defend his master's thesis successfully. He was awarded his master's. He was also issued a formal apology from Auburn for their delay in awarding his degree.

Isn't that cool? Yeah, I mean, well, one, obviously heartbreaking, just the whole story and that that even happened to begin with. I mean, there's so many deep wounds in our in our nation, and we see it all around us. But I'm glad to hear how that story ended up at least sounds like the guy's brilliant to just all these degrees. Well, you just have to admire him for his hard work and his perseverance in the face of that type of discrimination to just keep hanging in there and say, you know, the honorary doctor, it's one thing, but I did the work. And so they finally acknowledged it.

And man, good for Harold at 87 years old. That's just beautiful. Well, let's get to our first question of the day. This one's a Facebook post from Kathy. She says, I'm confused about what John's gospel is trying to say about people who sort of believe in Jesus, but don't truly believe. For example, in John 2 23 to 25 and John 8 31 to 32, it seems like some people seem to have believed but really didn't, according to Jesus. How do we understand this, particularly in reference to ourselves or friends who may believe but might not be saved?

How can we discern whether someone is in that state, or is that something that only Jesus can see? Kathy, one, let me just read these passages that you've referred to, because not everyone is going to be familiar with them. So the one that you mentioned in John 2, John 2, verse 23, now when Jesus was in Jerusalem, at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them.

You have a sort of a play on words there. You know, they believed in him because of his signs, but he didn't believe in them. Because he knew all people, John said, and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. And then the later passage in John chapter 8, verses 31 and 32 says this. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. So you have two instances here where you have individuals who it seems like they believe in.

I think you're right, Kathy, each of us, we could probably list people who we know at one point were in the church and at least claim to believe in Jesus, or maybe still do claim to believe in Jesus, but aren't walking with the Lord, and they've stopped going to church and maybe have even completely turned away from what it means to be a follower of Christ. And so how do we deal with this? Well, first, I think we want to be careful that we're not all consumed with being professional fruit inspectors. Jesus does say that false teachers will be known by their fruits. It's one of the ways we discern and avoid them. But sometimes we take that to mean we should go around examining the fruit of everyone in our church, seeing if they're living up to the standard. And sometimes the standard isn't even God's standard, it's our own standard.

And I think we have to be really careful with that. At the same time, there is such a thing as false faith. And I think that's what John is referring to. You need to understand that there are three elements to saving faith. One, there's a level of knowledge that an individual has to have. They understand, they know the content of the faith, if you will, in this case, who Jesus is, who he claimed to be. And number two, there's an assent to that knowledge. You're, in one sense, embracing it cognitively.

You're saying yes to it. The third element of faith, and I think that this is the key element that a lot of times people miss, Kathy, is trust. You see, a lot of people have a knowledge about Jesus, but they aren't personally trusting in him, resting in and receiving the grace that he gives for their own lives. And so let me ask you, you believe that Jesus existed?

Yes, okay. You assent to the fact that he is who he says he is? You know, God the Son, the Savior of humanity?

Yes, oh great. Well, do you trust in him personally for your forgiveness? That's faith, knowledge, assent, and trust.

There's this personal element to it. You see, it's really easy to believe that God is gracious to people out there, you know, that God is loving, that God is kind. The question is, do you know that he's gracious to you through Jesus Christ? Have you personally received his grace? And I wonder if, for these people here in John 2 and in John 8, while there was a certain knowledge about Jesus, right, like, we know that he's a miracle worker, we believe in him.

Were they receiving him for themselves? Were they trusting in him? That's the key element of faith, and I think that's what a lot of people today are missing. It's not enough to just say, oh yeah, I understand some of the historical realities about Jesus. Most Americans will say that they believe Jesus existed, but that doesn't mean that they're saved. The question is, are you trusting in him for the forgiveness of your sins? And I think that's at the heart of genuine saving faith, and that's, frankly and sadly, what I think these people were missing, Cathy. Cathy, thanks so much for your question.

We appreciate you being one of our regular listeners. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and Adriel, here's a question that came in through our Instagram account from Trevor. He says, I'm thinking a lot about how Christians should relate to their jobs and work roles. It seems like in every job, there's some form of complicity we share with unethical practices, whether it's selling products made in sweatshops or being in politics or the armed forces where, for better or worse, you have other people's lives or livelihoods in your hands. Are there some jobs that Christians should avoid entirely, and how should we practice wisdom when choosing what career we pursue? There are some jobs that a Christian, I think, is forbidden to have.

One clear example of this would be jobs in the sex industry. I mean, sadly, it's a huge industry in our country and throughout the world, but it's obviously something that followers of Jesus Christ need to avoid. And so it'd be wrong for a Christian to have that kind of a job, obviously.

I'm sure there are other jobs as well, but there are a lot of jobs, however, where Christians can be a shining light in a profession that's simply looked down upon. When Jesus healed the centurion's servant, he didn't say, hey, by the way, quit your job too. Now, I'm sure that there were all sorts of ethical questions about how centurions lived and raises the question about just being a soldier or enlisted in the army, that kind of a thing, but Jesus didn't ever tell the centurion or other people in similar positions that they couldn't have that job. When Jesus called Zacchaeus, he didn't say, hey, by the way, tax collecting is a corrupt gig, you should ditch it. Look at what Jesus said to Zacchaeus.

The account is in Luke 19, beginning in verse 19, it says this. He sent her Jericho and was passing through, and behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich, and he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd, he could not because he was small in stature. So he went and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way, and when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today. And Zacchaeus came down and received him joyfully, and when they saw it, they all grumbled. He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold. Jesus said to him, today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham, for the son of man came to seek and save the lost.

Did you see that? Zacchaeus had the opportunity to honor Jesus by giving to the poor and restoring what he had defrauded. There are some professions that are looked down on today. A lot of people look down on lawyers or politicians, businessmen or women, and the fact is there is corruption and greed that can attach itself to these professions, but that doesn't mean Christians have to avoid them. Here's the question you have to ask yourself, is Jesus receiving glory by how I'm working? Am I doing my job with integrity?

You want to shine as a bright light for Jesus, work hard and with integrity in a world that often doesn't see those two things come together. So I think, brother, that it's important that Christians do these kinds of jobs, even jobs that people might think, oh, you know, he's a lawyer, that kind of a thing. No, that we do them in a way that honors the Lord with integrity. Yes, you know, at times, you know, there can be people who use these kinds of jobs and these kinds of positions to do evil things. And that's heartbreaking, but that's where we as followers of Jesus have to be different to serve as unto the Lord.

And I think that's where the difference lies. You know, Adriel, there are some people I think that get hung up with this whole sacred spiritual dichotomy. They think, well, if I'm not working in ministry, then I'm not really serving God.

Can you address that? Yeah, I'm glad that you brought that up, because this was something that was really big during the time of the Reformation is helping people to understand that whatever their vocation was, God was using them, that God is feeding people through you. You know, think of people who work in the food industry, that kind of a thing. These are just the ways that God is at work in the world today in whatever we do. I mean, when Paul in the book of Ephesians is writing to people who were servants there in Ephesus, he says, do your work as unto the Lord as if God himself is watching. And when you do it in that way, in one sense, it becomes an act of worship, doesn't it? Because you're thinking about pleasing the Lord in whatever you do. And boy, if we could do that in our jobs, in our callings, calling as a mother raising children or as a dad going to the nine to five job, whatever it is, saying, God, I want to do this to honor you.

It really transforms, I think, the way that we work, and that's the mindset that we want to have. And it isn't just, as you say, Bill, people who are missionaries and pastors who are really serving the Lord. No, each of us, in whatever calling it is that we've been given, are serving the Lord and serving each other, and that is pleasing to the Lord.

Amen. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and today we are really excited about offering our new 100-page softcover workbook for the Gospel of John. Adriel, can you talk about what makes this particular Bible study so special? Well, one, you know, the book of John is just such a wonderful gospel.

It's the book that I encourage people to read when they say, hey, I want to start reading the Bible, where should I begin? I typically point them to the book of John because there's so much there about getting to know Jesus better and who Jesus truly is. I mean, John even says that the reason he's writing his gospel is so that we would believe in Jesus.

He wants you to know Jesus and to believe in him, and we were just talking earlier about what faith is, knowledge, ascent, and trust. Well, you can't trust in Jesus if you don't know who he is, and so that's why I think this study is really helpful, because it's going to help you to grow in your understanding of who Jesus is. You know, each weekly lesson includes select passages from John's gospel, reflection questions, and explanations of some of the key lessons every Christian should know about this gospel in particular. And so it's also going to help you gain a deeper understanding of the whole drama of scripture, the relevant historic Christian doctrines, the key themes in John's gospel and in the Bible. So for a donation, one donation of $20 or more, you can get your hands on this study, the Gospel of John. Head over to corechristianity.com forward slash gospel of John to get your copy of this new Bible study today.

It is so solid, and you could use it in your small group, you could recommend it to your pastor, and feel free to give us a call for that or any one of our resources. Here's the number, 833-843-2673. That's 833-THE-CORE.

Hi, my name is Shamin and I want to ask you a question. In the book of Genesis, when after the flood Noah was drunk and sleeping, he awoke from his drunkenness and recognized that his son had uncovered his nakedness. Why didn't he curse his son?

Why didn't he curse Canaan? And it wasn't Canaan that uncovered at the time Noah's nakedness. And what is the meaning of uncovering this nakedness? Would you explain this for me? Thank you very much.

Hey Shamin, thank you for that question. You're calling about Genesis 9, and I mean there are a couple of different things here. One, Noah got drunk, he's naked in his tent, and we're told that Ham uncovered his nakedness. He saw him in this vulnerable position, and it sounds like you're curious about why it was that God cursed his son, Ham's son Canaan, instead of just cursing Ham.

Well, in one sense it was a curse on his whole line. Ham saw his father in a vulnerable position, shameful, and his nakedness was uncovered. And instead of helping his father, he went and gabbed about it to his brothers, Shem and Japheth.

And so he didn't do the right thing. Now Shem and Japheth, what they did was they covered their father's nakedness. They take a blanket of sorts, and they walk in, eyes covered, and they cover their father. Now I wonder if there isn't a theme that we're seeing here in Genesis, because you remember earlier there was another couple in the book of Genesis that needed to have their nakedness covered, and you remember their names?

Adam and Eve. God made them coverings of skin. So you have this theme here of the covering of nakedness, and nakedness in the Bible sometimes is metaphorically used to describe shame or even sin. There's debate about what it means specifically here, but whatever it was, it wasn't a good thing, it was a shameful thing. And Ham doesn't do the right thing. He doesn't cover his father, instead he goes and talks about it.

And so there was this curse that was placed upon him and upon his line. Now because I'm a pastor, I'm going to do something here and try to draw out a practical application. What do you do with the nakedness of the people around you? I mean, not literally of course, but the shame, the sin, the stuff that's embarrassing. Do you laugh? Do you poke fun? Do you gossip about it?

Or do you seek and love to cover it? Now of course only the Lord can cover our sin in shame, but we should be a people who don't delight in the nakedness of others but seek to help them, and Ham saw his father's nakedness and did nothing. And so his line there under the old covenant was cursed.

I think that you have this theme here that we're seeing throughout the book of Genesis, the need for the covering of nakedness, and it's what Ham's brothers do but what Ham didn't do, and so that's why he was cursed here in this passage, and also his offspring. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Just a reminder that we are listener supported. We count on people just like you to keep this program on the air.

If you can make a gift to help us, we'd appreciate that so much. Our website is corechristianity.com. Here's a question that came in through the website from Caleb. He says, I recently was having a discussion with my brother who used to attend church but has since stopped. He asked me what I thought of the state of the church. Is it good, bad, in danger of compromise, etc.? I fumbled through my answer, but I said it depends largely on what church you're looking at since each church and denomination has its own sets of strengths and weaknesses.

How would you answer this question? What do you think about the state of the church right now? Hey Bill, why don't we take just a minute to pray for Caleb's brother and for Caleb as he has these conversations with his brother. Father, what a fad thing it is, Lord, when people who were in the church who were walking with you perhaps at one time have decided to turn back, to turn away.

Our hearts break when we think about our family members and others who perhaps we were close with, friends who that is the case for them. And God, we want to pray specifically right now for Caleb's brother. We ask Lord Jesus that you as the Good Shepherd would continue to pursue him.

I thank you that you're the one who leaves the 99 and goes after the one and brings the one home. And would you do that for Caleb's brother? Would you bless Caleb also? Would you give him wisdom as he has conversations with his brother and is able to encourage his brother with your word to be a light in his life? But we do ask, Lord, for your mercy to be poured out on his brother and that you would bring him back to the church and to yourself, Lord. In true faith we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. Well, Caleb, let me give you the bad news first and then I'll give you the good news. The bad news is that the church is filled with sinners who can't get their act together. I mean, I don't care what church or denomination you're a part of, there is no perfect church. There are healthy churches and there are unhealthy churches, but even the healthiest church has its warts and wounds and areas where it needs to grow, where it can do better, where it can be more faithful. And just read the New Testament. The letters to the churches reveal to us that the churches planted by the apostles themselves struggled with divisions, sexual immorality, greed, legalism, false teaching. The list goes on and on, yet Christians who were defrauding one another, it was just terrible. Now, this isn't an excuse for unhealthy churches. I'm not saying it's all bad, so what can you do? You know, just let it be what it is?

No. We have a calling to love and to lead the church faithfully, to teach the scriptures, to walk in integrity as pastors, but every church has difficult stories. And if it was true in the days of the apostles, it's certainly going to be true today in our day. And when I ask a pastor, how's your church?

And he says to me, oh, it's all great, you know, not one problem. I think, well, you must not know your church very well, because our churches are filled with hurting people. Hurting because of sin, hurting because of sickness, abuse, infertility, growing old, losing a loved one, losing a job. The church is a place for broken people, and the church a lot of times feels broken.

It's hard, but here's the good news. It's still Jesus' church, and he will never leave her nor forsake her, and he has promised that he is going to build his church, and the gates of hell are never going to prevail against her. One day, Jesus is going to present the church to himself like a pure and spotless bride. You see, if the burden for building the church was on my shoulders or on your shoulders, then it would be completely hopeless.

It wouldn't happen. The church is this supernatural entity. It's built by the power of God's Spirit. Only Jesus can do the work that he's called us to do, really. And so we look to him, and we trust in him. And from that perspective, I think that you can tell your brother the church is A-OK, not because she's perfect, but because the one who keeps her is perfect, and he doesn't give up on her, and he will sustain her to the very end. And I think the beautiful thing about this is we can understand that corporately for the church, but you know what? If you believe in Jesus Christ, if you have faith in him, you can understand that personally for yourself as well. In fact, that promise that we read about in the book of Hebrews, where we're told that he will never leave us or forsake us, that's a personal promise to all those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ.

He will not leave you or forsake you. In our individual lives, we can feel broken, if it's ever going to get better. Well, the good news is Jesus keeps us, and he will sustain us. And as Paul said to the Philippians, the one who began a good work in us is going to be faithful to complete it. And so even though, Caleb, at times we look around us at the church, and we can be discouraged, and we can look at our own lives and feel even despairing in moments, we look up to Jesus, and there is reason for hope, because he's all powerful, because he's good, because from his blood we receive the forgiveness of all of our sins. And frankly, I think that's what we have to cling to in these difficult days, in these days where a lot of people are suffering, when you think of all the things that we've been going through in 2020. I mean, it's been a challenging year, but boy, let's finish strong and with the confidence that Jesus is still on the throne, and that we can trust him, and that even though we look around us and at times things don't seem good, he is good, and that he's able to make all things work together for the good of those who believe in him.

And are called according to his purpose. You're listening to CORE Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE.

We'd love to hear from you. And if you're on social media, you can post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts, or email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. Thanks for listening to CORE Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-THE-CORE. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this podcast. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.