Over the years I’ve had countless conversations with people on the impact they can make for Jesus in the workplace, but I’ve noticed over time that many just don’t believe it. Sometimes the work of ministry is still chalked up to “the pastors” or “the ministers” of the church, but nothing could be furthest from the truth. Give me a chance to explain.
The latest bureau of labor statistics have pastors making up 1.8% of the workforce in our country. Can you then see the danger if we leave ministry up to just “the pastors” in the workforce? There’s still 98.2% of people out there, all called to ministry, who God has equipped and enabled, for His good work.
Here are 3 reasons why your job matters and how you can glorify God each day you go to work:
1. All Christians are saints and are called to ministry, working for the glory of God, regardless of their specific job title.
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” – 1 Peter 2:9
If you follow Jesus, you are part of a chosen race. You are part of the priesthood, the holy nation, and in the royal family. That being said, we are all on the same playing field and are all in need of the same savior, Jesus Christ, every single day. Some will be pastors, some will be school teachers, some will be accountants, some will be engineers, and the list goes on…
Regardless of our job titles, we are all called to ministry and to proclaim the excellencies of Him because we are all a people for His own possession.
2. Our work has great value, significance, and the Gospel mission advances when we are faithful in whatever job we have, wherever we are.
Sometimes we think doing ministry in the workforce equates to how many times did I share the Gospel with my co-worker in the cubicle next to me each day, so after we tried it one time, “doing ministry” in the workplace just fades away. While sharing the Gospel will always be important of course, there’s much more that can still be done at work that still glorifies God in the process.
Our jobs themselves honor God.
As a plumber, doing great work and avoiding leaks and damages for people and for organizations is important. It benefits others, allows things to operate the way they should, benefit the city, and benefit the community. We typically don’t think all of that is involved when being a plumber, but imagine what takes place when pipes don’t work correctly?
Or as an accountant, imagine if you didn’t work with numbers correctly or mislead people with wrong information…companies and individuals would be in major trouble and stressed out because of finances.
Or a school teacher, need I even say anything more about them? Thank God for them and for what they do for our children.
I think you get the idea, the very work we do itself, any day of the week, any time of the week, is itself important, benefits others, and can glorify God.
3. When we strive for excellence in our work, we point to the excellence that Christ has shown us and gives us the opportunity to share that with others.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” – Colossians 3:23-24
I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this lately, but sometimes people just don’t do their jobs well. Have you had a customer service experience lately where as the customer you were treated unfairly or not important? Whatever the case may be, it’s getting to the point where people stick out like a sore thumb these days when they do their job well.
As Christians we have a great opportunity with this. We are called to strive for excellence in everything we do since in reality we are serving The Lord first and foremost before we are serving man. People take notice quickly when you work hard and get along well with others. Those are the moments that you can explain why you do what you do and why you are who you are.
As we are faithful in our work striving for excellence, and as we take advantage of opportunities to share with others why we work so hard and who we are, the Gospel naturally starts to spread like wildfire in the workplace. Imagine with how much time we spend in our workplaces, if the Gospel kept going out from us over and over again, week after week, just think about how many people could be impacted.
When these things come together, people start to change, businesses start to change, the community changes, the city changes, and the world is impacted. It’s all one step and one day at a time.
Questions: Do you see your job this way? How in your workplace can you glorify God? What do you think your next steps are? Please comment and join the discussion.
