Welcome to this weekend's In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley. How do you feel about your job? Do you love it?
Hate it? Somewhere in between? The Book of Colossians describes the attitude Christians should have so that you can get the most out of your work. Do you complain about your work?
In fact, if somebody were to say about you that you are Christian, would the people who work with you be surprised? Do you give your best in your work, or you sort of get by with as little as you can? That is, what is your real attitude about your work? You see, the truth is the Bible says a lot about work, a great deal about work, and I believe that the Bible says a lot about work. And I believe that God's people ought to understand what God says about work, and we ought to get ourselves in a position to be compatible with what he teaches.
Now, when you and I think about work, we all think probably something different. But he says in his Word, for example, six days shalt their labor, and the seventh day is the day of rest. That is, work is commanded of God. In fact, he says work brings prosperity.
And he says the man who works is prosperous, and the man who plays around will gain poverty. So when you and I look at the Word of God and ask the question, what does God say about work? The one thing I want us to talk about today primarily is how to get the most out of your work.
Now, you're going to work. The question is, how do you get the most out of it? That is, what do we do to get the most out of our work, just like in your life? If you're going to live 50 or 60 years or 70 or 100, how do you squeeze everything you can out of life? How do you enjoy it to the fullest? How do you glorify God in your life? How do you make the most of it? Or rather, how do you waste it? That's the way some people seem to be thinking about life. So how do you get the most out of your work?
Well, before we turn to the Scripture, I want us to answer that question and think about it for a moment. Because for some people, if you ask them, how do you get the most out of your work? What do you want to get out of your work, first of all? What do you want to get out of the work? First thing, money. I want to get paid.
I want you to think about something. If all you want out of your work is money, that is a very short-sighted viewpoint. For example, you mean to tell me that you want to work eight hours a day, five days a week, or maybe six, and you want to work 20, 30, 40, 50 years, whatever it might be, and the only thing you want out of your work is money. You mean you want to invest all of that time, all of that energy, all of your skills, and the only thing you want is money? Then that's the very short-sighted view of what you want to get out of your work.
So I'm not belittling that. One of the things we want to get out of work, of course, is finances, so we can provide for our families, do the things we want to do, supply our needs, and whatever desires we may have. But the second thing we ought to want out of our work, and that is to develop our skills. All of us have been given particular skills in different areas of our life, and so to develop the God-given skills and talents and abilities and gifts that God has given us. A third thing is we should be desires to develop our character. It is in the difficulties, the hardships, the trials, the tribulations, the persecutions, the challenges, the things that are hard for us at first, all of these help develop our character. So we certainly should want a stronger character as a result of our work. Likewise, we should want out of our work a sense of accomplishment and achievement that we're going somewhere. Something is taking place that we are progressing. No one wants to feel stagnant, and sometimes we feel stagnant in our work because of our attitude rather than because the nature of the work itself. And then, of course, there ought to be that sense of joy that comes when feeling in our own spirit that we've made a contribution, that is, that something we're doing is either making life easier for someone else or contributing to them. So the question is, how do we get the most out of our work? And so that is the title of the message. That's the theme. And under that title, I'm going to give you five answers, but I want you to turn, if you will, to Colossians chapter three, because this is where we are in our series on Colossians.
And now he comes to talk about how to get the most out of our work. Now, when it begins in verse 22 with slaves, let me remind you of something. I understand that you're not a slave.
And so you say, well, how in the world is that going to apply to me if I'm not a slave? Well, let me remind you that in the days in which this was written in the Roman world, over half the people who walked the streets in the great Roman world were slaves. Now, some of these were doctors and some of them were teachers in other professions, but they were slaves.
They belong to someone. And so that was their mentality. That was where they were at that particular time. And so slavery was not as we see it today. And oftentimes those slaves were treated well.
Sometimes they were not. But I want you to remember what Paul is writing here. Now, he's writing the people who are slaves and also to the masters.
Now, he begins in verse 22. Slaves, in all things, obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of inheritance.
It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the recompense or the consequence of the wrong which he has done and that without partiality. Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a master in heaven. Now, I want you to think about one work of a slave and a home.
So when you begin to think about yourself in light of this passage, you won't say to me, well, but you don't know what I do. One of the responsibilities of a slave in a household was to greet every person who came as a guest and to take their sandals off of them. And with a basin of water, wash their dusty, smelly feet and clean their sandals and put them back on. That was their responsibility. That person was a bond slave. That was the lowest form of work in the household to that person and to all of the slaves.
The apostle Paul says slaves in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, pleasing men out of the sincerity of your heart, fearing the Lord now. So the question is, how do you get the most out of your work? So I'm going to make this statement and then I'm going to complete it with five statements. We get the most out of our work when?
So if you're taking notes, jot that down. We get the most out of our work when? And beginning with number one, we get the most out of our work when? We view ourselves as servants. When we view ourselves as servants. So where you work, the average person says me, a servant to this crowd, to this guy. No way. That is his attitude.
That's her attitude. You mean you talk about slavery and servitude. You must have come out of the ancients. No, Jesus says we are to be a servant wherever we are. And notice he says in this particular passage, slaves or employees or whoever, in all things, obey those who you are masters. And the truth is, we have the responsibility in our work to be obedient to those who are in authority over us. I know what you're saying. Wait a minute.
You say you don't know who I work for. It doesn't make any difference. You haven't finished the passage. Don't get ahead of me.
Don't ask a bunch of questions till we get there, because here's what will happen if you get ahead. Here's what you do. You already rationalize away what God says. This verse of scripture says we are to obey those in authority over us. Wherever you and I work, there is somebody who has authority over us. And the scriptural admonition is we are to be obedient. I may not like what I'm required to do, but there is only one limitation. Whenever you and I are required to violate our God-given conscience or to violate a principle of the word of God, then you and I have a right to say no. But let me tell you how you ought to say it.
You don't walk into your employer with a big old Bible in your hand and say, no way am I going to do this. But rather, you may say, I appreciate the opportunity of working here. I certainly want to do my best. I try to do my best.
But let me ask you a question. While I intend to do my best, would you want me to violate my Christian conviction based on the principles of scripture? And what you do is you throw the responsibility back upon that person. And then they have to decide either to say, yes, I want you to disobey God or not disobey God. Whenever you and I are required to do anything that is a violation of the scripture, we have a right to say, no, I cannot do that for this reason. But we should approach it in a way to win the person and to change their attitude. Now, he says we're to be obedient in whatever we're required to do. Now, what I want you to think about here for a moment is this.
Turn to Philippians chapter two back one book and notice what Paul said about the Lord Jesus Christ in verse five. And he says, now, this is the attitude you and I ought to have. What's that attitude? The attitude is this. He says, verse five, have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God because he was God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but entered himself, taking the form of a bondservant, the lowest kind and being made in the likeness of men.
Now, think about this. If Jesus Christ was willing to come to earth and take upon himself the form of a servant, which he did, and he served as the apostles and you remember he washed their feet. He gave them himself day after day, teaching and preaching and serving and loving all these people. He did not consider it a thing unwise to be a servant. That is, Jesus came into this world, the son of God, God incarnate in the flesh, viewing himself as a servant of mankind who would mistreat him, persecute him and ultimately crucify him.
But he came in the spirit of a servant. How can you and I go to our work and say, I'm no servant, I'm no slave. You know, I want my rights.
My friend is a Christian. You and I gave up our rights in order to be what God wants us to be. And God is the one who will take care of our rights. He says we're to be obedient to those who are in authority over us. Now, I want you to turn to another passage, Matthew chapter 20, because in this particular passage of scripture, what Jesus gives us here is the pathway to promotion. When you are willing to go to your work, and you're willing to work in your area with the spirit of a servant, that is not degrading. Anytime a child of God works at a work that is legitimate, you dignify the work, you dignify the labor, you dignify the job.
He says, here's the pathway to promotion in your area of work. Verse 26 of chapter 20 of Matthew, it is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your what? Your servant. And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
You know what he's saying? Whoever wants to be leader among you must first of all adopt the attitude of a servant and work as a servant. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. There's no way for us to justify an attitude other than that of a servant, no matter where we are working. Because many of you would say, well, I'm at my particular work because that's where the Lord has led me to work at this particular time. Somebody else says, I couldn't get a job anywhere else.
This is the only thing I could find. And so I'm here. Then let's agree that God has allowed you to be there for a particular time, for particular reasons. So accept it as the will of God at this present time, because he could change it at any moment. He says, our approach is to be, we are to go to that work as a servant. That is the spirit of a servant, like Jesus did, like the Apostle Paul did, and like Jesus admonished us to do. He says, if you want promotion, then work at your work in the attitude of being a servant. And what's going to happen is this. Your whole attitude towards your work is going to change because you're going to begin to see yourself as one who is helping other people.
You see, here's the difference. When you go to that work as a servant, what are you doing? You're encouraging the people around you. You're reaching out to help them. You're looking out for their good because you want to be sure that they succeed. And whenever you give yourself to the success of someone else, I'm here to tell you, don't ever forget it.
You'll never be able to do that without being rewarded by God himself. So when you begin to create that kind of atmosphere around you, what happens? Those who are jealous and competitive in an unhealthy fashion and those who would be critical and backbiting and all the rest, after a while, they're going to sense something in you because, you see, here's something about it. When you act in the form of a servant, even those who don't like you, ultimately you defeat them.
Ultimately, you break down their stubborn rebellion. And so when you and I go to our work in the form of a servant, we're going to prosper as a result of it and everybody around us is going to be affected by it. So how do you get the most out of your work? First of all, you get the most out of your work when you view yourself as a servant. Secondly, if you'll notice in this passage, the second way we get the most out of our work is when we view our work as for the Lord. Now listen, he says in verse 22, Slaves in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service as those who please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, enthusiastically, as for the Lord rather than for men. He says now, one of the ways you get the most out of your work is when you recognize that you're doing the work, that the work is for the Lord, as he says here, and not for men. Now, here's one of the mistakes we make as Christians. We segment our life, we say, well now, over here is Sunday, that's when I worship the Lord.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday is when I work, Saturday is my play day or whatever it might be. The truth is God never, he has never seen life that way. When you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you can't separate anything in your life. You say, well now here's my work and here's the church work and here's my finances and here's my this, here's my that. What part of any of that do you want to exclude God from?
Not any of it. Do you want God in on your finances? I certainly hope you're wise enough to. You want God in on your work? You certainly ought to. You want God in on your family?
Necessary, absolutely. The truth is you can't separate and divide your life up into say, well now, work over here, pleasure here, God here. You can't do that. And so to go to work and decide, well now, boy on Sunday I'm going to teach Sunday school or whatever God wants me to do on Sunday, I'm going to give it my best. But this crowd that I work for all during the week, no way. But I want you to listen to what God said. Now he's talking to slaves. Listen, if a slave is to do this, what in the world are we to do? He says you're to work as if your work is work unto the Lord. Now notice what he says, slaves in all things. Obey those who your masters on earth, not with external service as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.
Now what is he saying? He says now when you do your work, remember, this is the Lord's work. You say, but my work isn't the church, doesn't make any difference what it is. If it's what God has called you to do or is allowing you to do, you feel it's your vocation at this time, it is the Lord's work for you. He says now not with external service to please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. That is my motivation is my love for Jesus. You mean to tell me that I'm to do this as if this is the Lord's work as if it's the Lord's work.
He says not with external service. You're not doing this just to get by. You're not watching the clock.
You're not checking in and out and being sure you get over the last second and do as little as you can. But the best you can because it is the Lord's work. We get the most out of our work when we stop trying to segment what we're doing and view all of this work as work unto the Lord. That is, it is done for him.
It is not half done. It is done our very best because it is done for him. It's his work. You say, but wait a minute, you mean to tell me that that my mundane Monday morning job is the Lord's work in your life? It is God's work because what are you gleaning from that?
Not only your finances, but the opportunity to developing your character, building a sense of self-esteem, developing your skills and your talents and your abilities. Those things that God has given to you, building relationships, bearing a strong testimony, glorifying God where you are. Friend, that's ministry. The idea that ministry is what you do at church is totally unscriptural. Ministry is what we are and what we do seven days a week.
Sunday happens to be a day set apart for worship. But the truth is we ought to be worshiping God every single day. We ought to be praising him every day and giving our best at whatever he's called us to do. We as believers, as Christians, we can't expect to do less.
The truth is we've got more going for us. Our reward is far greater than those who are just working for a paycheck Monday through Friday, week after week. How do you get the most out of your work? Not only you view yourself as a servant, but you do the work. You view the work as the Lord's work. This is the Lord's work because he's called you to do it. You
