Leaving a Legacy that Lasts Forever - Teach Them to Work Unto the Lord, Part 1

If there was one thing that you could teach, if you could pass on to your kids, that would ensure their success in school, in their work, in any future job they ever had in life.

Would you want to know what it is? Well, that's today on Living on the Edge. Stay with me. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip's our Bible teacher for this daily discipleship program, motivating Christians to live like Christians.

I'm Dave Fruley. That word work has become so negative. Like, that's going to be a lot of work.

I hate this. Work is just piling up. So how do we change that? Well, as Chip picks up where he left off in our previous program, he unpacks what a healthy biblical view of work looks like. When we understand God's view, it changes everything. Before we get started, let me urge you to stick around after the teaching to hear some extra insight from Chip.

With that, here's his message. Teach them to work unto the Lord. 60 to 80% of a person's waking hours on this planet is consumed with an activity called work. Now, that work can be at home, but it's work.

Now, think of that. If you're not sleeping or eating, 60 to 80% of your waking hours your entire life, you're doing this thing called work. And so I want to ask you to ponder three questions with me before we talk about what we want to pass on to those we love the most. And whether that's who we're discipling or our men's group, our women's group, our kids, our grandkids.

Three questions to really think about when we begin to talk about this area of work. Question number one is how can you help those you love the most live above the daily grind? I mean, let's go back to our little analogy where we say if you knew from this moment right now, 365 days, you're going to die, and you had 365 days, and you knew people that you love. One of your kids, I mean, one of your grandkids, your best friend, someone you led to the Lord, you know, some guys that you're in a Bible study with, these gals that you love and care, and you know that 60 to 80% of their entire life is they're going to keep working after you die. How could you deliver them from the daily grind of get up, go to work, grab a cup of coffee, come in, go to eat some supper, do a drive-thru, watch a couple hours of TV, go to bed, get up, go to, I mean, and then wait for the weekend. It's how most people are living their life.

Can you imagine the gift it would be if you could pass something on where that would not be their experience? Question number two is why are the majority of Americans dissatisfied with their jobs? And I would say probably maybe well beyond America, but all the research is they're bored, they're unfulfilled, it's basically almost a paycheck or a necessary evil.

Now, there's great exceptions. You meet people and they say, I'd do this if they didn't pay me. I love what I do. I was made to do this, but by and large, the research tells us most people go to their job, it's a paycheck, I need the money, but I'm not waking up. There's not a lot of people going, thank God it's Monday. It's Monday, I love it, Monday, ooh, right?

Most people are saying, thank God it's Friday. Question number three, how can the place where we spend the majority of our waking hours be transformed from drudgery to delight? Can you imagine being able to pass that on to people? Now, I'm not saying that every moment of every day as people are working, it's just high-fiving each other in the halls or on the job site, but I mean where they would sense a genuine, I can't believe I get to do this. I was made to do this.

I love to do this. Now, there's pressures with any job. There's demands of any job. We feel overwhelmed at times, but where you could pass on some truth to those you love the most that they would, from this point to the day they die, actually do what God designed them to do, and it would produce a joy in them that's not reserved for the weekends, but would be what they do 24-7, what they look forward to, and it would produce a fruit and an impact in the lives of other people that they would go, I can't believe, you mean other people are positively impacted by me like this? And here's sort of the second core value. The transferable concept is teach them to work unto the Lord, and so to do this, I'm going to jump in and I'm going to go over a theology of work, because I don't think we think very clearly or biblically about work, and it might surprise you. It is not a necessary evil.

It's not bad. God instituted work before sin ever entered the world, and so what I want to do is talk about a theology of work, and then I want to get real practical again and say, how could you pass on this truth in a way to those that you love the most? First of all, then, work is a calling, not a job.

That word calling is kind of interesting. You might hear someone say, well, what's your vocation? The Latin word for vocation is calling. Years ago, 100 years ago or more, when people talked about your vocation, it wasn't what you do to make money. It was what have you been called by God to do? It was Martin Luther who said, you know, a shoemaker making a shoe for the glory of God using his skill is just as holy as a pastor preaching a sermon. And he used that illustration with many trade jobs, but his point was, we all have a calling.

God made us and gifted us differently, and when you do that for the glory of God, it is just as holy as, quote, spiritual activity. In our culture today, there tends to be two motives for a job or for work. And I'll play this out. Let's say you have a nephew or a friend or someone that you're discipling or one of your kids or a grandchild that's ready to go to college, and they're trying to figure out what should they major in, right? This is really big. What should I major in? I feel like I'm either out of high school and they're, you know, what should I do? Should I go to college or should I get a trade job or should I go into business with a family?

What should I do? And here's sort of a parental response that we have learned from our culture. Well, honey, I don't know, but we just want you to be happy. It doesn't really matter to me. I just want you to be happy in whatever you do, because, see, life is really all about you. You see, we live in a narcissistic society, and we want you to know that you are the center of the universe. And the only thing that really matters, know how much money or you change your major seven times or if you figure out how to squeeze that four-year education into six. We just want you to have fun in that dorm room to make lots of friends and grow up and be a wonderful, happy little, because that's how life will be later. Everyone is just going to be coming at the doorstep of your life trying to make your life work out for you. I want to tell you that the answer to the question, though very sincere and in earlier days I've said it myself, saying to our kids when they say, what should I do with my life, the answer, I only want you to be happy, is not biblical, is not smart, is not wise, and will not get them in a good direction. How much does an 18 or 17-year-old know or 19-year-old know about what's really, quote, going to make them happy or what's best?

The other extreme we have, and Christians are more sophisticated in how we communicate this, but so on the one extreme it's we want them to be happy. On the other extreme it's like, you know, in the real roll-up-your-sleeves pagan world it's, well, what pays? Son, you've got to make a living. You want to get ahead? Get a good education.

Or forget that. I'll tell you, here's where the job market is. Here's where you can make money. The goal of a job is money. Make lots of money.

Why? Because you need lots of money. Well, why do you need lots of money? So you can be successful. Well, why do you need to be successful? So you can have a big house. Why do you need a big house? So people will know you're successful. And then you can have another house. And you can buy these kind of cars and have a purse that has this design and wear a watch that says certain things and you've got to have money.

Well, why? So you can be fulfilled. And you can be powerful. And you can have it together. And then you can take vacations. Where?

Wherever you want. Because money's the key to... I mean, you've got to make a lot of money. Well, gosh, dad, I see a lot of people and they have a lot of money.

They don't seem like they're very happy. Hey, just don't give me all that. Quit talking back. You need to get a good job, a good education.

Make a lot of money. Because you're a reflection of me. Don't you understand? I'm vicariously living my life in subtle ways through you. And your SAT scores are a reflection on me. And what college you go to is a reflection on me. And because it's not really all about you, it's all about me.

But I'm going to package this in a different way so you think it's really about you. And so we have communicated that work is about either making a lot of money or really being happy. And I want to suggest that God would say it's about a calling. Those people that you love the most. Kids, disciples, best friends, grandkids, Bible study partners. God has a call of what they should do. And when they do what he made them to do, they will have incredible internal joy and incredible external impact. And with that, then we have to begin to teach again that all work is sacred. All work is sacred. Jot down 1 Corinthians 10, 31. It says, whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God.

All work is sacred. Early when I came to Christ, just right after high school, I went to a college campus and there was a bricklayer with a high school education who was trained by the navigators. And he had his own business and he would lay brick by day and he opened his home and had a discipleship ministry on this campus by night. And after two or three years, he began to help me and I was sort of slow spiritually and it took me a while to get going. And once I started to grow, then I spent a summer there once and I needed a job. He said, why don't you work with me? And then later, he started another campus. His work was a tent making ministry. And so this campus grew from, you know, three of us in the living room to 250 students on that campus.

Then he went to another campus and said, Chip, why don't you come with me and we'll see if God will do this again. I said, okay, so I want to learn. So I didn't have a job, so I'm a hod carrier. And that means you mix the mud and he liked to do it by hand for reasons I never did experience.

Because I'm the guy doing it by hand. And then you had 14 bricks or 12 bricks and then we did a lot of foundations. And so it was really, really hard work. And he was asked, he had a line of people because he was so good. People wanted him to do their work.

And I remember we worked on a foundation and we worked for about a day and a half. And one day he said, Chip, grab that line. I grabbed the line and he took the line down and snapped it and he looked this way. And took the line down this way. And we had it up about this high, three quarters of the way around on three walls. And he looked and with his foot he just started kicking the walls down. I said, Dave, what are you doing, man? He said, it's out.

And I can't remember the exact, it was like out half inch. I said, Dave, I mean, you're the expert, but like a half inch is like, I mean, that is not good enough for my work. He said, Chip, you need to understand, I'm not building this house for these people. I build houses for an audience of one. And when I do my work, it's not about what other people think. I do my work because this is my offering today to Jesus Christ. And I will not give him less than my best. I'm not sure how I did it.

I've done a lot of foundations. I blew it on this one. And he kicked them over. He says, clean this stuff away.

We're starting over. That was worth 10,000 sermons. I learned all work is sacred. And for some of us, especially in that sort of middle to upper class, we have bought a lie that if our kids don't go to college somehow, you know, they're not successful. Some of the best, wealthiest, and most successful people that are in my world right now, none of them went to college. They got bored with college.

They didn't like school. And so they just figured out how to start their own businesses and do what God made them to do and have a lot of fun and be very successful at it. We have sort of this white collar, blue collar, mundane. Tell you what, everyone is made to do something different. And the issue is not this little pecking order of status and money. The issue is helping those you love the most discover what did God make them to do. And what we understand as we get older, we really care about what our kids do when we're like in our 30s and 40s. You get into your 60s and 70s, you don't care what vocation your kids or grandkids have. You care that they love God, they have marriages they stay in, they really care for one another and they still want to talk to you.

Right? It's all about character. But you know how character grows is we need to make sure they do and we help them and coach them not to fulfill our vicarious make me look good, but we want to help them fulfill what God made them to do. The third theology of work is that our work is to flow from God's unique design and purpose for our lives.

Purpose is the key word there. The work I'm called to do, that you're called to do, that those that you want to pass things on to are called to do. God has a unique design. Jot in your notes Ephesians 2 10.

God has a unique design. Your job, we're going to learn a little bit later and we'll talk about how, is to help them discover the unique design or purpose God has for their life. Now Ephesians 2 8 9, many of you have memorized, right? For by grace we're saved through faith and that's not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not a result of works lest any man should boast.

Can I highly suggest that you go to the next step and memorize verse 10? For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God ordained beforehand, like from the foundations of the earth that we should walk in them. We are not saved from our sin by our good works.

We are saved by grace as we put our faith in the work of Christ on the cross. But we're saved for good works and we are his workmanship, that word workmanship, we get our English word poem. It's the picture of craftsmanship, of a tapestry coming together.

It's a picture of a cabinet maker doing his finest work or a sculptor. You are, if you will, and those you love, they're on this sort of little platform of God creating a beautiful work. You are his workmanship, but now you're created in Christ Jesus unto a good work. There's a good work that you're made for, you're gifted for, you're prepared for, you came out of this family for, you have the right height for, you have the right personality for, you have the right spiritual gift deposit in you for, you have some baggage and hurts and pains that you've had to overcome that will fit you for this good work. God is going to use all things working together to fulfill you doing this good work he has prepared for you.

Well, guess what? That's what he has for those we love. That's what he has for that young guy coming over, that group on Monday nights where we did a Bible study of that 20-something people. God has that for my sons, God has that for my grandchildren, God has that for a group of women that you're meeting with and maybe going through a Kay Arthur or a Beth Moore study. God has that for the people that you care about at work that you find out they're a Christian and they're starting to ask you questions.

How do you pass on the things that matter most? Work is a calling, all work is sacred, and our work is to flow from our unique purpose. We are to co-labor with God in this vocation.

And you know what? Jot down if you would under this. I love Paul's testimony. It's 1 Corinthians 15, 10. He really had this one down. He says, I am what I am by the grace of God. He wasn't trying to be anybody else. I am what I am by the grace of God. And his grace did not prove vain toward me, but I labored more than all of them.

There's responsibility. Yet not I, but the grace of God in me. In other words, Paul understood that all my training under Gamaliel, all my baggage even as a Pharisee, all my legalism, all the blindness I had, even my persecuting of the church.

You know what? God is lovingly redeeming, taking the worst of all my past, realigning it, and he had many secular scholars think he was the brightest, really the brightest brain of his century. I am what I am by the grace of God. That's my dream for those I care about most.

I want my kids to look in the mirror and say, you know what? No, I've got a lot of struggles, but I am what I am by the grace of God. And his grace did not prove vain toward me. The Old Testament roots are Genesis 2.15.

You have that in your notes where you see this picture of God placing Adam in the garden and there's no sin. And he says, look, I want you to cultivate. I want you to rule. I want you to work. I want you to be a co-regent. I want you to be a co-creator.

I want you to partner with me. I am a creator. You know what? Didn't God do some work for six days? And he got a lot done. So work's not a dirty word. He says, I want you to get to experience because you're made of my image.

Look, here's this perfect environment. Now you work. I want you to name things. I want you to build things. I want you to create things. I want you to dream things.

That's how we need to see work. It's to express our creativity, to subdue, to rule, to develop, to make beautiful. And the two pictures biblical profiles are Adam that we've talked about and again Paul.

And if you don't mind, I love to read. I love the way Paul says this. It's Acts 20 verse 24 and this is one of those modern translations but I just love the way he says this. He says, but my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus.

Isn't that great? And then he understood his. The work of telling others the good news about God's wonderful kindness and love. Now ultimately that if you're called to be a plumber or a builder or a software engineer or a stay-at-home mom, if you're called to be a professional athlete or an artist or musician or a businessman or businesswoman, then you will tell others about the love of God by actually how you do your work and by what you say. But that calling is different. His was into full-time vocational. He was an apostle.

The New Testament command is Colossians 3, 23, whatever you do. Now let's see, what do you think that would cover? Let me ponder this, whatever. Gosh, would that have to do with my hobbies? Yeah. Okay, would that have to do when I eat? Yeah. Would that have to do with just when I go to church? No. Is this just spiritual stuff, quote?

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men. This is revolutionary. Can you imagine what would happen if you were the president of a company and everyone who showed up said, hey, I really appreciate you. I know God put you in this place. I don't work for you. I work for God. Tell you what, I don't leave early because I work for God. I do my best because I work for God. I submit to authority that I don't agree with because I work for God. I want to keep improving.

I go home and read books about my job because I work for God. I want to develop my gifts because I work for God. Can you imagine the difference that would make? Do you see the impact that has? We want to change the culture and we've tried it in lots of different ways. You want to change the culture?

Show up for work and work for God and be an awesome boss, an awesome supervisor, an awesome employee who loves people and does excellent, excellent work. And I will tell you what, you'll change your world and change your culture. I have a good friend who, we lived in Santa Cruz for many years and it's right on, you know that song? Down by the boardwalk.

Come on with me. Down by the sea. Anyway, the boardwalk, that song comes from there.

There's this huge boardwalk and the big roller coaster and all this. Well, I have a friend who, his family owns all the concessions. So they've got a zillion jobs and every summer, Campus Crusade would come to do ministry. I mean, you know, like 150 students from all over America. And what he learned is, and what a testimony to Campus Crusade, these young college students were very committed Christians. Their work ethic and commitment was of such. Every summer, after about three summers, he said, send all of them to my place.

Okay, what do you like to do? Good. And he would hire them all, all summer. And he said, our prophets went up, the attitudes went up, they did ministry while we were there.

He said it was the greatest win-win in the world. Why? Because they understood they were called by God to be there. Whatever you do, do it with all your heart as unto the Lord. A little application here, and I want to ask you. It says I, and then in my notes I have your name. So, you know, do not write, I, Chip Ingram, commit to discover God's calling for my life so I can impact my world and beyond. That will not work for your notes.

You would probably go with like your name. Because, right? You track with me. Because if this isn't happening, again, if it's not happening in you, you won't pass it on.

You can take these notes and these concepts and you can get into Bible study or you can go out for a coke or a coffee with the son or disciple or grandchild and tell them this and if it's not in you, you won't pass it on. And I don't care. You know what? Your work never ends. Don't say, well, I'm retired.

Okay? From some vocation for a season, but if you're breathing, you're working. You're doing things that are making, creating, modifying, developing, bringing beauty to life.

And so you do that unto the Lord. Now let me give you four kind of specific ways that are real practical in general to develop this and those that you love to pass it on and then what I want to do is I want to take this very specifically in the second half of our time about how do you help those you love discover God's calling for their life. So before we do, let me give you four quick things that especially for those of you that might have kids that are still at home or, you know, you're in those earlier years. Number one, give them a lot of jobs growing up. We have too many parents working too hard, too long that are very tired with children in front of television sets and video games going, Mom, when's supper ready? They need to learn to cook and help out at 11 and 12. Everyone needs to be able to make their own bed by age five or six. Everyone needs to be able to handle and do their own laundry, you know, by the early teen or preteen years. Oh, that's my job. Look, here's your job is to impart and impact and develop your child to be responsible and learn to do work with a good. And the only way you do that is you got to give them jobs.

And guess what? It's a fallen world and they have flesh. They don't like to do it, right? They don't want to feed the dog. They don't want to take out the garbage. They don't want to clean up the room. You start from young, you give them jobs. And by the way, it takes more time and it is a hassle. That's why you're the mature one and they're the non-mature one.

Of course it's easier to tuck them in bed and clean up the whole thing yourself. You want them to learn to work at an early age. You've been listening to part one of Chip's message, Teach Them to Work Unto the Lord.

He'll be right back with his application on this teaching from his series, Leaving a Legacy That Lasts Forever. You know, kids today are experiencing a real crisis of character. So many young adults don't know how to properly handle hardships or make wise choices. They're also lost when it comes to managing money or finding meaning in their work. For those of you with teenagers or adult children, you understand the struggle I'm talking about.

But don't lose hope. The Bible has the answers. Stick with us for this entire series as Chip unpacks five key biblical lessons that will equip you to pour into the kids you care about. To find all the resources for Leaving a Legacy That Lasts Forever, go to livingontheedge.org or call 888-333-6003.

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It doesn't have to be a large amount. So let me ask you, would you please pray about becoming a monthly partner? Thanks so much in advance for whatever God leads you to do. Well if partnering with Living on the Edge is an idea that makes sense to you, we'd love to have you join us. Helping Christians live like Christians will change the world we live in. Now to give a gift, just give us a call at 888-333-6003.

Or if you prefer to give online, you can donate securely by going to livingontheedge.org. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. Well now here's Chip with a final thought about today's message. As we talked about work today, let me do a very brief review because what I understand is we said some things that are diametrically opposed to what you've heard most of your life. Number one, we are to work unto God. I mean whether you are a plumber, a construction worker, a software engineer, or a stay-at-home mom, or a doctor, you show up for work and your boss is God. There may be a human person that's your supervisor, but your real boss is God. Second is that all work is sacred. When I prepare a message for God's people or you complete a business deal or make a cell or diaper a baby or finish some plumbing on a construction project, when I do it unto the Lord and you do it unto the Lord, before God they are both sacred. Now what I understand is that even if you can get your mind around that, we have been so trained to think of sacred kind of over here in this world and then the secular over here, you know, it's just a job, just a paycheck, get it done.

Here's the deal. If you think about work as a necessary evil, the enemy has robbed you of eight to ten hours of every day of your life that you will absolutely squander because the goal will be to simply get it done. If you change and by the grace of God realize this is a gift from God, I may not want to do this exact job all my life, but for today, this is my job, I'm going to do it unto Him. It's a sacred calling that changes your attitude, that changes your perspective, and it will change your performance. And then you go to work and say, God, give me the grace, give me the strength to literally be a light at the workplace. And I will tell you what, that change of thinking and that change of attitude and that change of performance will impact deeply those you work with. And you know what? He can give you joy in the mundane work of life.

Now you may say, I'm not sure I'm supposed to do this. Our next broadcast will talk about how to find the job you can love. Thanks.

Looking forward to it. You know, a couple points that Chip just made are right off his message notes. They're a great resource to help you get the most out of the teaching. His notes provide his outline, all of the scripture references, and lots of fill-ins to help you remember what you're learning. Chip's message notes are a quick download at livingontheedge.org under the broadcasts tab. App listeners, tap fill-in notes and you're set. Well, be sure to join us next time. Until then, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.