Various Passages
Below is a sermon manuscript from October 9, 2025. Watch the sermon here.
Introduction
The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays—not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors.
The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.
There are a lot of things that are falsely attributed to the Reformer Martin Luther. Because he wrote a lot on work and the Christian life, some of them have to do with work. While competence in work matters and we will discuss this later on, it doesn’t matter as much as an end in itself, as these quotes imply, but as a way to serve God and neighbor. Clean floors matter because we are seeking to serve God and our neighbor well. This morning, we will look at three aspects of Living for Jesus at Work. As with every other week, this will not be comprehensive, but hopefully, this series starts to turn the wheels in your mind for how to approach your work and other callings.
Let’s read Colossians 3:23-24 as we continue to look at these callings this morning.
Review
Before we jump in, let’s review where we’ve been in this series.
We spent the first couple of weeks of this series placing work within the Christian worldview of creation and fall. God created work good, but the fall has introduced elements of fruitlessness and futility to our work. Work is also now done by sinful people and with sinful people. But God still is at work through our work. This is true for Christians who are aware of this reality and even those who aren’t, as we have previously discussed. But today, we will look specifically at what it means to live for Jesus in the workplace.
Christians in the workplace are people of character.
Our Character shouldn’t be formed by the culture
Work Ethic
Next week, we will look at one way our character can be misaligned with God’s purposes. One way is that we give in to the temptation of slothfulness. We live in a culture that wants to know how they can get paid the most by doing the least. This counters the good value of doing work. It’s a mentality that says, “everybody’s working for the weekend.” Here work is a means to an end. The end is laziness and sloth. This isn’t to say that rest is unimportant, or leisure is wrong. Those are good gifts, but so is work. There is value in work itself. Maybe we could sing “everybody’s resting and relaxing for the workweek” right alongside.
Sinful means to a better end
Another trap can be when the means justify the end. If we desire to be better workers and benefit society through our work, does that mean that we can cut corners to get the result we want? We might think of Allen Iverson’s famous line, “Practice, we’re talking about practice.” What really matters is the end result, right? It doesn’t matter how we get there. A W is a W.
What about you? Training videos that you need to watch to do your job, should you just skip them and do the real work that matters? Or what about safety checklists or HR training that you mindlessly click through so you can do the real work? Our culture has trained us as pragmatists who believe that the end always justifies the means. Just watch a crime show and see how the ones who are the best at what they do and get all the honor are the ones who cut corners, bend the law to get the results they want.
We can’t fall for this trap as Christians. This is like Moses striking the rock – because it worked last time, I should do it again. He was rebuked because he didn’t listen to God. The way that things are done is as important as what gets accomplished. We can lie to a client to get a better commission or improve the bottom line. Then we can justify it by saying we are providing for our family or, hey, I’m able to put more coin in the offering plate!
Living as Christians in all spheres of life.
So what does that mean? How do we work faithfully in a way that brings God honor? First, we are to work as people of character. Our character is not to be shaped by the workplace but by Scripture. This is crucial for us as people who value Scripture highly – be in the Word.
At a previous ministry, we would meet with various pastors from different denominations to partner for a food pantry. One of the pastors would wear a clerical collar. One person asked him about the importance of the collar. He responded, When I am wearing the collar, then I am a priest. When I am not, then I am not a priest. Sometimes this is how we can live as Christians. We put our Sunday clothes on, and a new character and ethic come with it. We take them off, and we are someone else. These are my work clothes, and this informs the way that I live here. But, as Christians, we are clothed with Christ. We don’t remove our union with him when we walk into work. Christianity is a way of life, and our relationship with Christ affects all of life.
We live as Christians in all spheres of life by applying God’s law to our work. God’s law can be summarized by Jesus’ answer to “What is the greatest commandment?” he says this in Matt. 22:37-40, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
While loving God and our neighbor is a summary of the law, a description of love can be the ten commandments. The first four commandments give us instructions on loving God, and the last six provide us with instructions on loving our neighbor. These can be applied to our work as well. We are not stealing from our work, either in money or in time owed. We are not coveting after things; we are promoting life by adhering to the safety protocols or implementing them if we have the authority. We are not objectifying our co-workers with crude remarks but protecting them from such things.
The Gospels Addressing Character Issues
We have a specific teaching on this in the Gospels. As John is preparing the way for Jesus, many are coming to him to be baptized, and they ask what they should do. Listen to his instruction,
12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
(Luke 3:12-14)
He doesn’t tell them to leave their jobs, but he points out the specific temptations that are associated with each and calls them to live differently. When God calls people to Christ, he doesn’t necessarily call them out of their work. But a relationship with Jesus will change the way they work.
What about you? What are the specific temptations that are part of where you work?
Character May Bring Consequences
Working according to God’s law may bring challenges. We should be willing to face the consequences of the decision to be people of character. Think of Daniel and his decision to follow God’s laws in his diet. In Daniel Chapter 1, he was willing to face the consequences in his obedience. He pleaded his case with respect and with clarity and left the rest in God’s hands.
My brother faced an ethical dilemma at his work. He worked in an environment that objectified women co-workers; it was seen as just part of the culture. He got tired of it and spoke out – much to his own ridicule. But he wouldn’t take it, so he brought it up with people higher in management. Ultimately, no one wanted to deal with it, so he left and told his women co-workers to do the same. Could there have been additional measures taken, perhaps, but he did what he believed he had to do.
Much of our faithfulness in this fallen world is marked by seeking to be faithful and facing the consequences when they come our way. Often, we can look for different options and appeal in a respectful way to our superiors, but there may be times when faithfulness will drive a wedge between our work and us.
If you are caught between compromising your character and facing the consequences, where do you land? Are you looking for respectful ways to be faithful or easy ways to blend in?
Transition
We are called to be both people of character and people of conviction. That is where we turn now for our second trait.
Christians in the workplace are people of conviction.
Conviction that you are called to your work to serve
Wherever you are, work for God
The first conviction has been one that we have said throughout the series that you are called to your work to serve God and others. There is value and dignity in your work, and it is an opportunity to image God by what you do. This conviction gives drive and motivation even when we might lack it. It in this mentality that Paul can say to the Colossians, “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). What is interesting is that this passage immediately follows Paul talking about the various callings that they had. Whether you are a husband, or wife, or servant, wherever God has called you understand that you can glorify him in that role.
God called you there
An essential part of this is knowing that God has called you where you are right now. A.W. Pink, writing on God’s sovereignty in 1930, said something that has always stood with me. He writes this,
“Take for example farmers and their crops. Suppose God left them to themselves: what would then prevent them, one and all, from grassing their arable lands and devoting themselves exclusively to the rearing of cattle and dairying? In such a case there would be a world-famine of wheat and corn! Take the work of the post-office. Suppose that everybody decided to write letters on Mondays only, could the authorities cope with the mail on Tuesdays? And how would they occupy their time for the balance of the week? So again, storekeepers. What would happen if every housewife did her shopping on Wednesday and stayed home the rest of the week? But instead of such things happening, farmers in different countries both raise sufficient cattle and grow enough grain of various kinds to supply the almost incalculable needs of the human race; the mails are almost evenly distributed over the six days of the week; and some women shop on Monday, some of Tuesday, and so on. Do not these things clearly evidence the… hand of God!”[1]
Do you get the beauty in that applied to work? You are in the work you are right now, not by accident but by the providence of a good God who governs this world with wisdom. You chose it, yes, but many of the circumstances that led there were out of your control.
Be Committed Where Called – at least for now
This has a major implication for us – the rootedness and beauty of being called and committed to where we are. That doesn’t mean you can’t change work, but it does mean that you are committed to it, and its good. It means that you don’t view every challenge as an opportunity to cut and run but as opportunities to respond in faith. You are called not only to the work you have but as a faithful witness to Christ in that workplace. Mordecai’s words to Esther ring in your ear from time to time, maybe you are here for such a time as this?
I remember working in a warehouse in Pennsylvania. It was not my favorite job, no air conditioning in hot summers unloading trucks filled with motorcycle and ATV tires all day because no one else wanted to. I was finishing college and saw myself called into ministry, but during that time I was called there. God made it clear to me during, giving opportunities to work faithfully that led to conversations with co-workers.
Be careful of looking so far out in front with your plans and goals that you miss the beauty of faithfully serving Jesus where he has you right now.
Conviction that You are There to Serve King Jesus.
Related to the passage in Colossians is also the idea that we are ultimately serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul mentions this in 1 Corinthians 10:31 as well when he writes, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” This is a way to reduce the futility of what we are doing. There is worth in doing things well for God.
Impact for Viewing Our Bosses
It will also affect the way that we view our earthly bosses. Too often, pettiness can creep into the workplace. Our diligence can wane because lack of motivation to work well for a particular boss. While this can still be a temptation for Christians, we also need to recognize that we are serving a higher boss.
Scripture addresses this in Ephesians 6:5-7, “Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.”
Do you get that when you are obedient to your boss, you are recognizing God’s kingship in placing them there? Understanding this will helps us see how God has placed bosses in our life for particular purposes. This will mean submitting to them, celebrating the good, and respectfully influencing their leadership for the good of them and others when we are able.
Impact for Bosses Themselves
If you are in a leadership position, it will mean that ultimately you are a steward of that influence and accountable to God for how you use it. Are power and authority used to promote yourself or as an opportunity to serve others?
Ephesians 6:9 speaks to those who are bosses, “9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.”
This passage is saying that if you are a boss, you are one who has authority, but you are also under authority. You are a steward of the power and authority that God has given you in the workplace. How are you using it? Are you exercising as He would, or are you using it in a way that doesn’t value those who are made in God’s image? There is a heavy weight that goes with leadership positions, and bosses shouldn’t take it lightly.
Conviction that God uses Believers and Unbelievers to do His work
Here is another conviction that is important for us to understand. We have the conviction to know that God is at work through various callings, even if people reject that truth. Even though our Christianity should impact specific ways we go about our work, everyone who contributes is important and valuable for the job at hand. We are not called to separate and have separate Christian versions of work. We don’t have Apple and Sanctified Apple. We don’t have Amazon and Amazon Grace. We don’t have Cosco and Crossco. Instead, we work our jobs in their sphere and seek to work well as we are able. This is also a recognition that business is distinct from the church and citizen, and even education in its purpose, methods, and aim. Take the distinction between the church and business. The church is a called-out people, but business is all people. God works differently in each.
Jesus, in his high priestly prayer, prayed for us. He said, “14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”
With this prayer, we see that we are not called out of this world completely, though we do gather together as the church. Instead, we are called to remain here. Unfortunately, sometimes we default to fleeing certain callings. We see them as irredeemably lost. Christians can poke fun at the entertainment industry or politics, all but ensuring their kids think, “I can never go into that field.” The world needs more faithful and capable people of conviction and integrity in every field. However, each is not without its temptations, as we touched on a couple of weeks ago.
Limits Pride and Superiority
Knowing that God calls believers and unbelievers should limit pride or superiority. God works through all people who faithfully work in their lawful callings. We are called to serve and serve faithfully in our given area. We could ask who did more to advance the kingdom of God, Billy Graham or Steve Jobs? While Billy Graham did it with faith, and there is more eternal reward, we can’t help but wonder about the impact that phones and smart devices have on getting the gospel into people’s hands. Many keep up to date on sermons and read their Bible on an Apple device. Knowing that God works in various fields and with various people should slow our arrogance and thoughts of superiority. Remember, if you are a Christian, it is not because of you, but because of God’s grace. Arrogance has no place among the people of God.
Limits Kinds of Work
If this is what God is doing, working through believers and unbelievers as they faithfully live out their callings, then Martin Luther was right. He said that through the vocation of the milkmaid, God milks his cows. That gives honor and dignity to our work, but it also should limit the kinds of work we do. There is some work that is not honorable, and that all participants are not in the hands of God, but the hands of Satan. For instance, all workers in the porn industry are workers not of God but are furthering others’ entrapment in sin. They are not working in a way that loves and liberates their neighbor but enslaves their neighbor to sin.
Some vocations are more difficult because they are further removed from sin, and wisdom will be needed in those situations. A safe approach is that when a job either forces you to sin or directly causes sin, then it is time to put the brakes on. Some jobs, such as the video game industry, can lead to addiction. But that is an abuse of the product, not the main aim of the product. Another thing to think about is how close or far removed your industry is to sin. The closer you are to giving direct approval to sin, the more Christians need to stop and think about their calling.
Transition
Stopping and thinking about our calling is a healthy practice, and so is growing in our competence for good and lawful callings. That brings us to our third trait for Christians in the workplace.
Christians in the workplace are people of competence.
If we are not careful, we can stop right there. We have character – we understand that God’s laws matter, and the way we do work matters. We seek to have integrity and to love others in our work. That is good and right. We are also people of conviction, convinced that we are working for the Lord, who is the creator of good work, and that our co-workers are his agents as well in this world. But we can’t stop there. To stop there is to relegate our work to how we do it and who we do it for. We also need to focus on what we contribute, how we are doing at the work we do. This is where competence comes into play.
All Christians Should Pursue Competence in Their Workplace
By competence, I mean our ability to work well. This involves training, skill development, and tangible benchmarks of productivity.
One mistake that can be made is confusing competence with comparison. We look at how we are doing compared to others in our field or at work, and that becomes the determining factor for if we feel competent. This mentality replaces true competence with the appearance of competence. If we appear to be as capable as those around us, then we’re good to go. But we can’t settle for that mentality as Christians of conviction. We are called to work for God’s glory and our neighbors’ good. Competence isn’t something that helps us and gets us promoted; it is something that we are called to pursue as those whom God has placed in that particular calling. If God has called you somewhere, he has called you to be trained and equipped to do it well.
This is clear in Scripture when God called and equipped people for specific tasks. We see in supernatural equipping the base truth for the need for training. When it comes to the disciples, God called everything to their minds. He uniquely gifted apostles with unique authority. But we see that Paul’s instruction to Timothy was to hold fast to the Word of God. Paul’s ministry was unique; Timothy’s was ordinary in that he needed to hold fast to the apostolic teaching in his ministry. Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:13-14, “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” We see the need for equipping with Priscilla and Aquilla pulling aside Apollos and instructing him in Acts 18:24-28.
Preparation and development is part of following a call on your life.
This doesn’t just apply to ministry calls but to wherever God has called you. God equipped those who were building the tabernacle with unique gifts to complete the project.
Exodus 28:3 – You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood
Exodus 31:3 – and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship,
Exodus 35:31 – 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship,
Competence matters in all callings; we see that with God supernaturally equipping people for some tasks in Scripture. Just as pastors shouldn’t expect the same type of equipping as an apostle, masons shouldn’t expect the same equipping as those working on the tabernacle. Yet, both are called to be equipped as they fulfill God’s work in the world through their various callings today.
Competence Leads to Conversation
We don’t pursue competence simply for spiritual conversations; remember, we are called to our workplace to work. In that sphere, simply working well is good and honorable. We love our neighbors by doing so. But it is often in the midst of excellent work that conversations take place. You are pulling together with your co-workers towards a common goal, and that camaraderie leads to natural conversations.
I mentioned that I worked at a warehouse, and it gave me opportunities. That wasn’t always the case. I remember other people from by Bible college working there and the little opportunities they had for heartfelt conversations. Those around them could tell they were just punching the clock and didn’t care about doing the work well. This lackadaisical attitude towards work limited their opportunities in spiritual conversations. But doing work well and respecting bosses gave the rest of us opportunities to talk with the boss about his marriage troubles.
We don’t do good work only for those conversations as a kind of bait and switch. Instead, as we are doing our work well, conversations and opportunities will find us.
The Sliding Scale of Faithfulness to Fruitfulness
All Christians should be faithful in their vocations, and that includes pursuing competence, but some may have the opportunity for increased fruitfulness. We will talk about this more at the end of the series, but we do need to recognize that we have various circles that all fit within our lives. We don’t have unlimited time available, and while some of our callings may complement each other or overlap, others can compete for time, energy, and commitment. With this in mind, wisdom is necessary to balance our lives. We must be faithful in the calling, which means we should do our work as devoted employees and give the time and energy necessary to do the job well. But there are often opportunities to go above and beyond. To research outside of logged hours, to spend more time developing skills. This is where we start to move beyond faithfulness to being more and more fruitful in our callings.
Christians can simply put their head down, work faithfully, earn a paycheck, give to bless others, and that is a good and acceptable way to look at their calling in the workplace. This is what Paul talks about in Ephesians 4:28. They don’t need to advance in position, but they can, and for some, this is a good and honorable pursuit. For others, it might be infringing on other callings and, as Proverbs 23:4 says, “wearing themselves out to get rich” instead of “showing restraint.”
All of this, again, brings us back to the idea of wisdom. Much of our life is wisely applying Biblical principles to our various callings, and the calling of work is no different. Having godly people in your life, spending time in the Word, and being reoriented to Biblical truth through worship are important to living wisely in this world.
Conclusion
We follow after the King, who was the perfect model of all three. Jesus Christ is the perfect reflection of Godly character – the embodiment of God’s desire for humanity. He lived perfectly – completely sinless. He was the combination of justice and love. He was also driven by conviction – His desire was to do his Father’s will above his own. He understood that his mission was for the glory of God. Finally, Jesus was fully competent in his calling. He was raised as proof of success and seated in victory at the Father’s right hand. We go out this week, following after our King, who was successful where we fail. We go out praying that we might have the privilege of being a dim reflection of his brilliance. We go out to serve our King. Let’s pray.
[1] Arthur Walkington Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1984), 35.
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