Serve God In All Things

"Slaves, 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 servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free." (Eph 6:5-9)

You know I've never really thought about these verse as much as I have today after listening to a message on them. It kind of gave me a different perspective on work. You see in my B.C. days I had once made a bit of an idol out of work. Not as much as some, but enough to call it such. That's the kind of thing that happens when one trusts in money and work brings in the money. Praise God for opening my eyes!

But after I came to Christ I had this totally opposite opinion about work. It was this necessary thing I had to do for now to feed my family. Don't get me wrong, I was still very grateful for the very good job I have, but I didn't see the work itself as all that important. I mean, really, what am I doing for the Lord in it? I'm not preaching. I'm not teaching the word of God. I'm not helping the sick, the poor, the lonely, etc. How does what I do serve God?

Then along comes Ephesians and knocks me in the head. Ouch.

But before I go on, one thing must be understood about that word "slaves". Slaves in Biblical times, specifically when Paul penned this letter, were not the same as what we normally think of. When I hear "slave" I think of slavery in the U.S. less than 200 years ago, and some may think of similar slavery in the U.K. Not so back in the day. In fact today's employer-employee relationship is a closer comparison than anything like recent slavery.

So what's Paul saying to us? Quite simply, to do the jobs we've been given and do them well. To be thankful we have them. To respect those above us and below us. And so on. To do everything as if we're serving God, not men.

That comes out of the idea that gets forgotten sometimes -- that all of life is sacred. There is no such thing as this sacred/secular divide where there are the "godly, churchy, things" and the "worldly things". The reformers sought to bring this understanding back to the people. In fact, that is exactly where the work ethic in western culture (that used to exist and is falling off the earth) has its roots. I forgot that sort of thing, and I divided the two in my head. But, no, everything is sacred. Every task we could possibly do, we can do as a service to God.

So know this. You are serving God wherever he placed you. Serving in one capacity is not more important than the other. There are those who are called to serve mainly within the confines of a church building doing "church" things (Bible teaching, preaching, etc), but really most Christians are called to serve outside those walls, even though we don't always want to.

Maybe a lot of us would like to go and hang out at the church or go on missions trips and serve that way, but really can't, but we should realize that we're all still serving. Many are called to be out among unbelievers in an unbelieving world. That's the mission field. That's where the darkness is. That's where the light of the world needs to shine and the salt of the earth needs to preserve. That's the focus we should have and the attitude we should have. I didn't pay much attention to that until today. Shame on me for that and for neglecting my duty far too often.

Now maybe, even knowing this truth, we are discontent with our place. Well, the Lord really may be calling us to move in a different direction. But for those of us that, like me, compartmentalized the sacred and the secular, maybe that discontent feeling is not justified. We must consider prayerfully which is the case. If it is the latter, then we need get back out there with a renewed sense of purpose and the knowledge that the Lord has put us exactly where he wants us to serve him. And the we need to serve him with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, and all our strength!

Grace and Peace