The Book of Colossians Pt. 48 The Christian Work Ethic

Our study through the book of Colossians began by teaching us two chapters full of doctrinal truth, followed by two chapters of spiritual responsibilities. 

We have studied God's will for a Christian wife, a Christian husband and for children in the home. Now we come to the servant master relationship.

Historians estimate that as much as 40% of the population in the Roman empire were slaves. That would amount to about 20 million people!

The Anti-Slavery International organization estimates that there are about 50 million people enslaved today through forced marriages or forced labor. 

What Paul teaches about the slave and master relationship would apply to those who are enslaved today.

What about America and other free nations? Most of us will not have to deal with slavery at all. We do not wake up in the morning wondering if people from another tribe will attempt to capture us and sell us into slavery, as happened in Africa. 

However, the teaching Paul provides on this subject is very relevant to the modern workplace. Thus, we could use the words employee and employer in thinking about this topic. 

God tells Christians how they should work. 

Colossians 3:22,23  Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: 23)  And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 

Ephesians 6:5-7  Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; 6)  Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; 7)  With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: 

I included the parallel passage that Paul wrote to the Christians at Ephesus addressing the same topic. It is good to see both passages together as it provides a more complete picture of what God is telling us. 

Servants must perform their assigned duties and obey their master's commands, in a manner that is consistent with their duty to God their heavenly Master.

Each Christian employee should work in a manner that makes them a valued member of the organization because of their work ethic. 

The idea of "eyeservice" is that the employee attempts to appear productive and busy when their supervisor is watching. However, as soon as the supervisor walks away, they slow down and are lazy. 

A Christian employee must never do work with "eyeservice", for God sees our actions, knows our thoughts and hears our words. 

If a Christian is a chronic complainer on the job, God hears that murmuring. If a Christian only looks busy while the boss is near, but is otherwise a lazy employee, God sees that. 

What is the antidote to being a lazy Christian worker? Learning to serve God with singleness of heart. This means serving your employer with the mental integrity of one who is free from pretence and hypocrisy. 

Having the fear of God ruling in our heart will make a Christian good in every respect. Christian workers who fear God will perform their jobs in the right way and a timely manner. 

Christian workers will be dependable and reliable, even when their supervisor is not observing them, because they know they are under the eye of God.

A Christian employee should have an open heart to do whatever tasks are assigned on any given day. 

Being the best worker that you possibly can be is only possible when a believer does his or her work as if it was being done for the Lord Jesus Christ. 

This is why God gave us the imperative showing us that whatever we do at work must be done heartily, for the Lord.   

The word "heartily" essentially means that a Christian employee gives his very best effort at work all the time. Working diligently, accurately, and properly. Not ever being a lazy or slothful worker.  

Each Christian worker should be a cheerful worker because he or she is working for the Lord in that occupation. When believer's work in this fashion, the work that they do is sanctified because it is done for God. 

Christians who are faithful to complete their duties to employers are also faithful in their duties to God.

The idea of serving our employer with "fear and trembling" connects our work for an employer, with daily working out our salvation with fear and trembling (See Philippians 2:12). 

In that text, Paul exhorted those believers to keep following hard after Jesus Christ and to honor Him with their thoughts, words and deeds even when the apostle was not present with them. 

God provides proper motivation for our work. 

Colossians 3:24,25  Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. 25)  But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons. 

Eph 6:8  Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. 

This is where serving our employer on the job with fear and trembling is connected. A Christian employee must not lose sight of the fact that God will reward us when we work for Him. 

We must learn to treat our occupation without any regard to how lofty or lowly society views our work. 

Rather, we must view our position at work as something that God has given to us and that our work is dedicated to Him.  

God will reward Christians who faithfully discharge their occupational duties. 

However, if a Christian is a complaining worker, a lazy worker, an unreliable worker, that person can expect chastisement from God. Why? Because the work was not completed heartily as unto the Lord. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

God has spelled out the right heart attitude that a Christian worker must have. 

I was a middle manager before I retired and I supervised 21 staff, two of whom were professing believers. 

I prepared attendance reports for all staff and discovered that they both had attendance that was worse than the average for the group. 

I documented this in an understandable chart, and shared my observations during the annual performance review. 

I challenged each of them to improve their attendance because they were believers in Christ, and I shared Colossians 3:23 with them.

The following year at the annual review, each person made dramatic improvements in attendance and I was able to commend them for their efforts. 

Let me just list a few things that a Christian worker should never do.

Do not be late when reporting to work, but be punctual.

Do not call off work when you are not ill.

Do not be a complainer, but be cheerful in disposition.

Do not be a constant critic of your supervisor or the organization, but offer constructive comments. 

Do not be lazy on the job, but give your best as to the Lord.

If there are problems, seek to help solve the problems instead of complaining about your supervisor. 

Do not overstay your breaks as that is cheating your employer and God takes note of this. 

Be known as a reliable, willing, cheerful, and productive worker who always does the right thing. Doing so glorifies God in your work. 

I pray that each Christian who is working today, will give careful thought to the doctrine of work that Paul has laid out for us. May we glorify God in all that we do.

Bob