Thank you everyone, thanks very much to Fiona and the band for leading us so well in our worship.
As Fiona said, we're continuing our series on work this evening,
and it's maybe worth beginning by reminding ourselves what we mean when we talk about work.
Work for me has always been in office, I spend most of my life doing pensions,
and I've spent my time doing church management, whatever that means, in the office through the back.
And that is my environment, and what I talk about this evening will be based on that,
and based on my experience of it.
That probably translates reasonably easily to those of you who work in a hospital or a school or even in a church.
But in a way, that is not everybody here.
And work for you could be at university or college.
It could be volunteering that you do in various ways.
It could be at home if you're a homemaker looking after family.
I hope a lot of what we have to say will also be relevant for you.
So whatever work means to you, whatever you do to contribute towards society or towards the good of others,
please think of that this evening, and hopefully a lot of what we say will be of help.
We're going to refer to quite a number of pastors as we go through this evening,
but I want to read to begin with from Ephesians chapter 6, and it will come up on the screen.
There's a few verses from Ephesians 6.
This is talking about slaves and masters, which is obviously a slightly different environment from what most of us are in,
but it translates reasonably well to the world of work today as well.
So it's Ephesians chapter 6, and reading from verse 5.
And Paul writes,
I'm sure God will bless his word as we consider it together.
I want to start by thinking about a house with two rooms.
It might look a bit like that, might not, but the key thing is it's got two rooms.
And if we move on to the next slide, we can see what the rooms are.
The rooms are called faith and work.
And as you can see in that picture, it's two separate rooms.
And there are lots of different ways in which people might look at these rooms.
Some people are very comfortable in the room of faith.
They find they come to church and have fellowship with other Christians.
That gives them a great joy as they worship God and enjoy him together.
There's the security that comes from knowing that our eternal future is secure and that we're in God's hands.
And churches are places where, by and large, there is great love and concern and support for one another.
And many people are very comfortable in the world of faith, as we would look at it as being among Christians, perhaps in church.
But some people who find that real comfort and joy and security and love and faith,
they have a very different experience and attitude towards work.
Work for them might be a place where there's tedium, where it's not very exciting.
They're doing things that are repetitive and they really don't enjoy it very much.
It might be a place where there's stress, where there is constant pressure on them to produce more or to do things differently,
and they find that really difficult.
And perhaps even there's hostility towards them as Christians.
If they're trying to live for the Lord Jesus, there are those who just don't understand or don't want to understand
and are actively hostile to them.
And to someone who has that feeling, these feelings about faith and work,
work becomes something that you have to do because you need to earn a living,
but it's not anything that has any joy to it,
and it really isn't something that they would associate as being connected with their faith.
Work is something that's a chore, that is difficult, that they go to out of necessity,
but they'll come back as quickly as they can to the security of their faith and to life in church.
So that's one potential way of looking at it.
Second group of people, in some ways, are the opposite.
A lot of people find that work is a really good place to be.
They have jobs that they enjoy and they like being in them.
So they get some fulfillment out of what they do.
All of us, if we're working, if we're employment,
hopefully what we do is some kind of purpose,
and if we fulfill that purpose, then there should be fulfillment for us as well.
For some people, work means status.
Having a bit of importance, perhaps particularly if you're in a fairly senior position,
and the status is important to them.
And some people really enjoy the company of work.
Being among people who are from different backgrounds, different environments,
a bit of banter going on that maybe you don't get so much in a church environment,
and it's something they really enjoy.
For when work is somewhere where they're really quite comfortable.
And perhaps for them, faith, church, whatever you want to think of it as,
is almost the opposite.
They feel that their life as a Christian is a bit of a duty.
I should go to church on Sundays.
I should get involved in things.
But it's not something that gives them great joy,
and something they really want to do.
Perhaps they find that faith is demanding.
They're being told lots of things that they should do,
and they find that difficult.
And maybe they even question the relevance of what happens on Sunday
to what happens the rest of the week.
They're quite comfortable with what they do at work.
It's something they feel is suitable for them,
but they don't see the relevance of faith to that.
One final group.
And this group of people you might look at and say,
well, they've got the best of both worlds.
They enjoy faith, they enjoy church and being part of it,
and they also enjoy work.
So both of them are places where they are comfortable.
But there's a wall between them.
They're separate rooms.
So they come to church on a Sunday,
and they enjoy the worship,
and they enjoy the fellowship,
and the teaching.
And then they go to work on a Monday,
and they enjoy doing that,
and whatever they're involved in.
But they really don't link the two together.
They are living effectively two separate lives.
Both good, both fulfilling,
but largely separate.
I guess that's where it becomes relevant as we ask,
who are we working for?
When we go into the world of work,
what is it we're trying to achieve?
What is our ambition?
That was the other kind of subheading
for this evening,
work's ambition.
What is our ambition?
What relevance does our Christian faith have to our work?
I want to try to answer the question,
who are we working for,
with four separate answers.
And I think they're all true.
Now, you'll be waiting for the last one,
which will be quite predictable,
but let's not lose focus
as we look at the other ones as well.
Who am I working for?
And the answer, first of all,
is I am working to some extent for myself.
And that sounds very selfish,
so let's talk a little bit more about it.
Paul writes to the Thessalonians,
he says,
the one who is unwilling to work
shall not eat.
So work is very much about breadwinning.
Not everyone's able to work.
Not everyone can get a job.
And they're hopefully reasonably well provided for
by the state, not always.
But for many people,
going to work,
one of the key things for it
is that we can have enough
for ourselves to live on,
and usually quite a bit more as well.
So going to work is about breadwinning.
It's about getting the wages
that come at the end of the week
or the month or the fees
or whatever it is that we get from work.
And that is important.
We work so that we can earn a living,
so that we can look after ourselves.
Something that I suggest
is that work is about fulfillment for ourselves.
God doesn't intend that our work
should be all tedium
and something that we dread.
Now we thought a couple of weeks ago
about the fall.
And yes, as a result of the fall,
many aspects of work
aren't what we might ideally want.
But God wants us,
through what we do,
to get a sense of fulfillment
and to bring about the fulfillment
of our gifts,
our abilities in the workplace.
I put Nehemiah 3 to 6 up there
as a reference.
We've been looking at Nehemiah
in the staff team
over the last month or two.
And it's a great example of work,
of the people building,
rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem.
And you get the list
in Nehemiah 3
of all the different groups of people
and all the things that they did
to build the wall.
One of the key things there
is they tended to be building
near where they lived.
So the building they did
had a real benefit to them personally.
You then have the account
of all those who would come out
and would try to destroy the work
and to do away what Nehemiah
was trying to build
and the people were trying to build.
But then in chapter 6,
it says they finished the wall.
They built it right around
the city of Jerusalem again.
It was restored to what it should be.
And you can think that people then
must have a real sense of fulfillment,
of achievement,
of having done something
that was really worthwhile.
And for many of us,
when we go to work,
there is the opportunity
to do something
that is really worthwhile.
It makes a difference to others
and we can come away thinking,
what I've done
has been God working through me
to fulfill his will in me.
And it helps us with our self-esteem
and our understanding
of how we can serve God
and live for him.
So work can be a place of fulfillment.
And then Paul says in Ephesians
that work also can bring us God's reward.
This is part of the passage we read.
It said,
you know that the Lord will reward
each one of you
for whatever good they do.
So if we are good workers,
if we go into the workplace
and we do what God has planned for us to do,
and we do it well,
and we do it in a way that serves others,
then God will reward that.
God sees us just as much
when we're at work
and what we do there
as when we're in church
and when we're more consciously
serving him.
There is a reward from God
for those who work well.
Now each of my fours,
who am I working for?
I've got kind of one negative,
just something for us to think about
and to ponder on.
And one of the great dangers
for many of us at work
is what I've called selfish ambition.
In the NIV,
the word ambition appears eight times
in the New Testament.
And on six of these eight occasions,
the word before it is selfish.
People who are doing things
out of selfish ambition
to benefit themselves
and as a consequence,
to do down others.
So is ambition a bad thing?
I would suggest not.
There are two occasions
in the New Testament
when the word ambition
is used positively.
One is about Paul's ambition
to preach the gospel
to those who haven't heard it yet.
And the other is that
our ambition should be
to lead quiet and peaceable lives.
Very striking.
These and the other uses
of the word ambition,
they're to do with relationships
and are dealing with other people.
And so ambition, I think,
is not in itself wrong.
And indeed, I think most of us,
as we set out in life,
as we set out for work,
it's not unrealistic
to have some ambition
in terms of where we get to.
For many of us,
before we start paid work,
we spent a period studying,
perhaps at university or college,
or we've been through
an apprenticeship of some kind,
and we know that we are able
to do more than perhaps we are
as we begin in our workplace.
As we gain experience,
as we gain extra knowledge,
there is an expectation
that we should be able to progress.
And I think that is right and proper.
We're able more,
better to fulfill
what God has planned for us
if we are conscientious workers
and if through that
we are able to make progress.
But there does come a point
for many of us
where we have to say,
well, is my ambition
now good ambition?
Am I only really wanting
more for myself
or am I concerned about others?
And for many people,
I think there's a point
where they have to take that call
and to say,
well, where is my ambition?
Leading me,
what is my ambition for?
Now, I'm not holding myself up
as a great example.
I've made many, many mistakes
over my career,
but let me talk a little bit
about how my career went.
I started off,
I trained as an actuary,
and when I qualified an actuary,
I happened to have a list
of all the actuaries
who work in my office,
and I looked at that
and the level each of them was at,
and I looked and thought
a reasonable level for me
possibly to get to
would be such and such.
Not chief executive,
not anywhere near chief executive,
but above the basic level,
somewhere where I felt
my gifts,
the abilities that God had given me
could appropriately be used.
And over a period of time,
I wouldn't say deliberately set out
along that
with a determination to get there,
but over a period of time,
I got to broadly the level
that I thought I might
at the beginning.
There was then a decision to be made.
I'd reached a level,
I had a good job,
I had a job that I'd really enjoyed
and that I felt I was reasonably good at,
and the question would then be,
well, what about the next level?
Because that's what people do ask.
People are looking at the next level up.
And for me,
it wasn't right to aim for the next level.
I don't think I would have enjoyed it,
it wouldn't have been just fulfilling for me,
and my motivation for doing it
just wouldn't be right.
I had physically, financially,
all that I needed,
I had a job that was really good for me
and where I could,
I believed,
serve the Lord,
and I didn't believe it would be right
for me to move further.
Let's go forward a few years
and I reached the point
where I thought,
actually,
what I should be doing
is maybe easing back a bit
in terms of my work.
The children were more or less grown up,
and financially,
we didn't need as much
as I might have been earning at that time,
and at that point,
I started reining back
my working life.
Went to work four days a week,
four long days a week,
and then gradually went down
until last year I retired
from secular employment.
And for me,
that was the right way,
I think,
overall to go.
Now,
for others,
it would be different.
Others are capable
of going far further
than I could
in their employment
and using their gifts
at a higher level.
But what I would say
is we need to be,
if we're in the workplace,
if we're thinking about the future,
we need to be realistic
about what it is
that we can sensibly aim for,
and we need to make sure
that our motivation
for doing it is right
and that we're not motivated
by selfish ambition.
We don't just want
to get more money
or more status
or more power.
We want to do what it is
that God has called us to do.
So we need to be careful
about ambition,
but ambition itself,
trying to do the best you can
and to make the biggest contribution
you can,
that in itself
is not wrong.
Let's move on.
Kind of struggle
with what the heading
for the second thing should be.
I've ended up just saying others.
So others is people
who might be affected
by the work that I do.
And three groups
I've come up with in that.
I've called them customers,
colleagues,
and juniors.
Juniors are kind of funny term.
I mean people
who you're responsible for.
People who are junior to you
in whatever organization you are.
And some people
do manage others.
So most of us,
in fact,
all of us,
if we're doing some kind of work,
there are people
who benefit from it.
There are people
who are the end users,
if you like,
of what we do.
And whether it is customers
in the traditional sense,
or it might be patients,
or it might be pupils,
or it might be children,
whatever it is,
there are people
who benefit
from what we do.
And we are working
in a real sense
for them.
We are working
so that we can serve them
and that we can improve
things for them.
The two verses
I put up there
from Luke chapter 6
are from quite a long discourse
from Lord Jesus,
particularly looking at
relationships
with others.
Verse 31,
very familiar words,
do to others
as you would have them
do to you.
And then verse 39,
38 rather,
where the Lord says,
given it will be given
to you,
and what will you receive,
what you would want to receive,
what you should be giving others,
a good measure,
pressed down,
shaken together,
and running over,
will be poured
into your lap.
I think that's a great picture.
A good measure,
pressed down,
shaken together,
and running over.
In other words,
God will give you
abundantly
what it is that you need
and what you want.
And it is the measure
that we give to others
that we will be given.
So,
God's desire for us
is that if we are serving others
in whatever sense
they are customers of us,
we should go the extra mile.
We should be generous
with our time
and with the talents
that God has given us.
And we should seek
to glorify Him
by giving the maximum benefit
to those
who are depending
on us.
Very important
if we're at work
that we recognize
that there are people
who depend on us
and we do our best
we can for them
because that is a way
in which we glorify God.
Then there's our colleagues,
people we work with.
Now,
as I said,
in an office environment.
In an office environment,
you typically have
two kinds of colleagues.
You've got people
who work with you
in your team
and you've got people
who are in the kind
of wider team,
different teams
around the office
who you interact with.
And sometimes
the relationships
within them
are a little bit different.
My company used to do
fairly regular surveys
of staff
and the results
tended to say
that people felt
they worked really well
with the team,
their immediate team,
but less well so
with the wider team
with other departments.
I was struck thinking
of this by the chapters
in Exodus
I put up there.
This was a huge project
for the Israelites
as they were in the desert.
It was building
the tabernacle
and it required
everyone to come together
and to work together
and to use the gifts
that God had given them
for his glory.
And there are some
really special people
in that.
There's a guy
called Bezalel.
Bezalel,
it says in the scripture,
Moses says
that God has filled him
with the spirit of God,
with wisdom,
with understanding,
with knowledge
and with all kinds
of skills.
To make artistic designs
for works in gold,
silver and bronze
and he goes on and on.
And then
at the end of that
he talks about
how he has also
given them the gift
to teach others.
What a great person
to have
as part of
your team.
Someone who really
understands what
they're doing,
they're an expert
in what they're doing
but they're also there
to teach others
and to help
and develop them.
That's the kind
of people
that we want
to be
in our workplace,
whatever it is.
To show real
consideration
and help
for others,
to use the gifts
that God has given us
but also to help
to develop others
and to bring them on.
And you go right
through Exodus
35 to 39
and you see
so many examples
of people
using the gifts
that God has given them
to produce
this wonderful thing
which would be
the tabernacle
which would be
the centre
of their worship
for many generations.
We need
to have a real
respect and regard
for our colleagues
whoever they may be
and to seek
the best
for them.
And that's not always
the case in offices.
Very easy
to become political
and to trade
one department
off against
another department
and full of
suspicion
and other things.
I'm sure it's not
just offices
but other places
of work
are similar.
That's not how
we should be
as Christians.
We are working
for our colleagues
for their best,
for their good,
for their support.
And then finally
what I've called
juniors,
some might call
them subordinates
or staff,
people who work
for you.
Now some of us
are entrusted
with those
who work under
us,
whom we manage,
some of us
aren't.
But it's quite
striking at the
end of the passage
in Ephesians
that Paul
addresses
masters.
And he says
to them,
treat your slaves
in the same way,
do not threaten
them,
since you know
that he who is
both their master
and yours is in
heaven and there
is no favoritism
with them.
Two key things
for bosses there,
one is don't
threaten,
don't be a bully,
and the second
is don't show
favoritism.
And these,
if any of us
are involved
in looking after
others,
these are very
good principles.
And I'm not
able to go
into great detail
this evening
of what it means
to be a good
boss,
but let's just
recognize if we
are in a position
of managing
others,
that is a position
of responsibility
before God.
We have to have
a real concern
for them
and seek the
best for them
and it needs
particular training
and particular
skills to do
that and to
ensure that
we can please
God in that
work.
So what about
difficulties?
Well I guess
in any of these
groups you will
get some people
who it is really
difficult to get
on with.
Customers who
are awkward
or colleagues
who do engage
in that politicking
and they're trying
to do things
their way and
to do you down
and staff who
are having
difficulties perhaps
in work or
not quite up to
the job or
who are a bit
awkward with you.
And that is
when our
Christian grace
and our
attitudes towards
others can
really be
tested.
We are still
working for
these people
and we should
still be seeking
the best for
them.
And there's no
excuse if we're
in a work
situation for
saying well
that person
is a bit awkward
let's just
ignore them
and do nothing
for them.
They are still
people whom
Christ loved
and whom he
died for
and we
should have
the same
regard and
concern for
them.
But let's
move on.
Our time's
gone quite
quickly.
So let's
move on to
number three.
Number three
is the
boss.
And not all
of us have
a boss but
many of us
do.
The person
who is
responsible for
us.
And of course
in Ephesians
6 that was
exactly what
Paul was
writing to
as he
wrote to
people who
were slaves
and said
well here's
how you
should behave
towards your
boss.
Three things
I think I
would say
about that.
The first
Paul says
is we
should be
obedient.
Says slaves
obey your
earthly masters
with respect
and fear
and with
sincerity of
heart just
as you
would obey
Christ.
Sometimes
our bosses
aren't very
easy to get
on with.
I was
thinking back
I think I
had about
25 bosses
over my
period working
in the
commercial
world.
Some of
them were
very good
but I
think of
one or
two who
were
bullies
or who
were very
lazy and
took credit
for other
things they
didn't do.
I think of
at least one
who showed
a great deal
of favouritism
to some
groups and
not to
others.
And it
can be
difficult
working with
a boss
as it
could be
for a
slave working
with a
master.
Paul says
your duty
if you're
in a work
environment
however
difficult
your boss
is to
be obedient
to them
because you
are obeying
them
just as
you would
obey
Christ.
He then
says we
should be
conscientious.
So we
obey them
not only to
win favour
when their
eyes
is on us
but also
when their
eye is not
on us.
We are to
serve
wholeheartedly.
And it's
not just a
case of doing
the minimum
we can get
away with
for our
boss and
trying to
please them,
trying to do
what we
think they
will like
but actually
to do
the minimum
that is
feasible
for them.
We are
to serve
wholeheartedly
and we are
to serve
wholeheartedly
says Paul
as if you
were serving
the Lord
not people.
Again
you look at
your boss
and you
think I
need to
serve that
person and
work for
them in
the same
way as
if I was
serving
Christ.
because God
has chosen
to put
them over
me in
the situation
I am
in just
now and
I need
to work
for them
in the
same way
as if I
was working
for Christ.
And then
the final
thing I'd
suggest is
that we
should be
uncomplaining.
Titus 2
again talking
to slaves
he says
teach the
slaves to
be subject
to their
masters and
everything
to try to
please them
not to
talk back
to them.
For me
one of the
key things
in terms
of serving
God and
of being
a witness
if you like
to my
bosses was
to be
someone who
was obedient
who was
conscientious
and who
didn't argue
if I was
given something
I didn't
really fancy
or that I
felt I
shouldn't be
doing.
It was to
be uncomplaining
and here's the
difficult bit
it wasn't just
to be uncomplaining
to my boss
it was also
not to go
back and
complain to
others about
what my boss
had told me
to do.
A lot of that
goes on in the
offices and they're
complaining about
the boss.
I'd suggest
by and
large as
Christians it's
not our
place to
complain about
those whom
God has put
over us
whom we
should be
serving as
if they
were the
Lord.
We should
work in a
way that
is uncomplaining.
people
but there
can be
difficulties with
bosses.
I've called
it ethical
dilemmas.
There are
situations
which you
might come
across in
the workplace
where we're
asked to do
something and
we think that
is absolutely
wrong.
As a
Christian I
don't think I
should be doing
that.
So the boss
might say
let's just
change these
figures a little
bit to make
them look
better.
Or let's
discharge this
customer a bit
more because
we can and
they probably
won't notice
that we've
overcharged
them.
And lots of
other examples
we could give
like that.
And in these
situations I
suggest we're
not called to
be obedient to
our boss.
There is the
higher calling
that we need
to obey God
rather than
men.
For most of
us there are
very rare
situations that
we do need
to be aware
of them.
It's not
uncritical
obedience to
a human
boss.
it is
seeing them
as God's
representer
and serving
them as if
they were
the Lord
by and
large.
But if
they ask
us to
do things
we know
are wrong
then we
need to
opt out
of that
and say
no that's
not for
me.
And hopefully
they will
respect us
for it and
if they don't
they're probably
the wrong
boss for us
to begin
with.
Very difficult
sometimes but
we need to
have that
distinction
as well.
Very quickly
I suppose this
is in many
ways the
biggest point
but we're
going to
cover it
reasonably
quickly because
we do have
an interview
coming up
in a few
minutes.
Who am I
working for?
Ultimately I
am working
for my
Lord.
And how
am I
working for
the Lord?
Well in
Colossians 3
which is a
kind of
parallel passage
to what Paul
talks about
in Ephesians
he says very
clearly it is
the Lord
Christ you
are serving.
That's the
context of
works of
slaves and
masters.
So he's
not just
saying here
you should
treat them
as if they
were the
Lord but
you're working
for someone
else.
Ultimately you
are working
for the
Lord.
Colossians 3
verse 24.
And what
does that
affect in
our workplace
if we say
I am
working for
the Lord?
Well it
affects first
of all our
attitudes.
What is my
attitude towards
work?
And more
importantly
perhaps what
is my
attitude towards
others?
passage from
Philippians
will be
very familiar
just let me
read these
two verses
to you.
Do nothing
out of selfish
ambition,
their selfish
ambition or
being conceit
rather than
humility value
others above
yourselves not
looking to
your own
interests but
each of you
looking to
the interests
of others.
In a work
environment where
very much often
people are looking
to their own
interests, looking
at their own
ambitions and
how they can
further their
own careers.
We can really
stand out as
Christians if
we are there
to serve the
Lord and we
come with the
attitude I am
also there to
serve others and
to look after
their interests
even more than
my own.
And then there is
the actions.
There is what we
do and how we
do it.
So in 1 Timothy
6 Paul is
talking essentially
to people who
are wealthy but
I think the
verse here would
apply to others
as well.
1 Timothy 6
verse 18 he
says command
them to do
good, to be
rich in good
deeds and to
be generous and
willing to
share.
So what we
do in our
work, whatever
work means for
us, should be
doing good,
doing good
deeds.
Not doing
things which
are under
hand or
which are
lazy or
which are
sloppy or
which we're
doing the
minimum we can
get away with.
It is doing
good deeds
and being
generous, being
rich in what
we do towards
others.
Our actions
should reflect
the fact that
we are serving
the Lord and
that we are
living for
him.
And then
finally there's
my word.
Now I think a
couple of weeks
time Graham will
be talking in a
bit more about
the witness that
we have at
work but let me
just talk briefly
about that just
now.
1 Peter 3
and verse 15
he says,
In your heart
revere Christ
as Lord.
Always be
prepared to
give an answer
to everyone
who asks you
to give the
reason for the
hope that you
have but do
this with
gentleness and
respect.
For me in many
ways in the
office environment
this was the
most difficult
one.
By and large
I felt that I
worked with
integrity and
I was reasonably
conscientious and
so on but
actually being
able to talk
and to witness
to others was
something that I
found really
difficult.
And in some
ways it is
difficult because
in many work
environments it
wouldn't really
be encouraged or
might be actively
discouraged and
we need to be
careful what we
do and how we
say it but also
there's the fear
of what people
will think of us
what they will
say about us if
we say anything
to them.
But for many of
us our workplace
wherever that
workplace is it
is the main
place where we
come in contact
with people who
aren't yet
Christians.
It is therefore
our main mission
field and is
where we should
be talking to
people about
the Lord Jesus
about the hope
that is in us.
But doing it
with gentleness
and with respect
and doing it
within as far
as we can
whatever parameters
our workplace
may set for it.
And that for
many of us can
be one of the
difficulties with
serving God
at work.
But by and
large employers
these days
wouldn't encourage
us to talk
about faith
or to seek
for each other
for the Lord
Jesus.
There can be
restrictions placed
on us.
And in general
as long as
there are not
total restrictions
in general
it's good to
go along with
them.
But ultimately
if the employer
says you can't
possibly share
your Christian
faith in the
workplace then
we have to say
well I'm here to
obey God
rather than
men might
be a different
employer and
might have
consequences for
us but we
can't be
totally silenced.
In my office
I for the last
10 years or so
before I retired
was the leader
of a Christian
fellowship.
I have to say
I was dragged
kicking and
screaming into
leading the
Christian fellowship
a guy called
Ian Archibald
bugged me
until I got
right to doing
it.
But it was
in many ways
quite a fulfilling
thing to do.
But it was
also quite a
difficult thing
to do in
terms of
letting people
know we were
there and
being able to
reach out to
others.
And essentially
my office and
things were
slightly changing
as I left.
My office were
happy for us to
meet together as
Christians and
to pray and to
study the Bible
but not happy for
us to advertise
it and certainly
not happy for us
to have any kind
of evangelistic
element to it.
And I felt it was
right to honour
that and we did
things by word of
mouth and we got
involved in business
alpha and encouraged
people to go there
and so on.
But your employer if
you're in an
employment may place
restrictions on
what you can do
by and large
these should be
respected but
there may be
situations where
you have to say
well I'm a
Christian I can't
be totally silent
about my faith
in the Lord
Jesus and in
seeking to win
others for him.
So four groups
of people we're
working for.
I'm working for
myself, I'm
working for others
whom I'm serving
through my work,
I'm working for my
boss if I have
one and above
all I'm working
for the Lord.
Let's return to
the rooms as we
finish and our
two rooms have
become one room
and this is how it
should be for us
if we're Christians
and we're at work
and again I say
work is as wide
as we need to
make it.
There should be
one room that
covers our faith
and our work.
We don't move
from one to the
other and leave
our faith behind
on a Monday
and have
different attitudes
and different
thoughts on the
Monday than we
do on a Sunday.
And if someone
asks us what
do you do?
Well here's a
possible answer.
What do I do?
I am a servant
of Jesus Christ.
That includes
being a doctor,
a teacher,
an actuary,
whatever it is
that you are.
Primarily serving
Christ.
He is the one
ultimately whom
we work for.
But as part of
that, part of
his calling for
us, we have
a job and in
that job we
seek to glorify
him and to
live for him.
Let's go out
and try and do
that in whatever
situation we are
this week and
to be good
servants of
Jesus Christ.
Let's pray.
Our Father,
we thank you
that you have
placed all of
us in a
situation
where we
can serve
others.
Whether it
is paid
employment or
voluntary work
or in a
home or
whatever else
it is that
you have for
us and
studying as
well.
We thank you
that these
are where
you have
placed us.
These are
in a real
sense our
workplaces.
We pray
that you
will help
us in
them to
show love
and concern
for others.
That we
may recognize
the high
value that
you place
on work
and that
we may
recognize
that ultimately
we serve
the Lord
Christ.
Help us
this week
in whatever
our work
is to
glorify him
and to
live for him.
We ask
in his
name.
Amen.