people working at table with computer

February 6, 2024

How To Make Your Work Spiritual

Kingdom of God, Parenting

Filed In

Choosing to make your work spiritual, or a ministry of sorts, is a wonderful goal.

When we step out of our first ministry- parenting- to begin a day of work in the world, we must ask ourselves, do others know I am a Christian? Our role as a Christ follower is to influence the spiritual climate of our circle of influence at home, and in the community, including the work place.

When we open the Bible to read, it doesn’t take long to find a faithful man who worked in a secular job. For instance in Genesis, Joseph was head of Pharoah’s estate. In the book of Samuel, David was a shepherd, a warrior and then a king. And Lydia who is mentioned in the book of Acts, was a successful merchant of expensive purple cloth. Therefore, we can surmise from these few examples, that secular work can be a form of ministry.

The key words are “can be,” because if we hide the light of the Lord and simply work, doing nothing to reveal that we follow the teachings of Christ, our light from God will be wasted.

“No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.…(Matt 5:15-16)

Stepping out to share our faith or pray with others can be very uncomfortable in the beginning. We may be afraid of how others will react to us. We may be afraid we will be rejected by our current friends and coworkers. It’s much easier to shrink into the world’s philosophy of keeping our beliefs to ourselves. But this is not what the Lord teaches. All Christians have a part to play in the Great Commission- spreading the Good News to the ends of the earth. It is actually our God given responsibility. In fact, Scripture goes so far as to say, even if our family members pressure us to leave our faith in the closet and simply go with the flow, we must walk away.

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake and the sake of the Gospel, will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”(Matt 19:29)

This verse also mentions “fields” which is an example of a work environment. If by chance, we come to the Lord after we have established a career and the career is something the Lord abhors, or we hear the Lord leading us to a different career, we need to leave it.  Pleasing the Lord should be our primary purpose above everything and everyone else.

Jesus Calls Peter and Andrew

“Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee. He saw two brothers. They were Simon (his other name was Peter) and Andrew, his brother. They were putting a net into the sea for they were fishermen.  Jesus said to them, “Follow Me. I will make you fish for men!”  At once they left their nets and followed Him.

” Going from there, Jesus saw two other brothers. They were James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were sitting in a boat with their father, mending their nets. Jesus called them. “At once they left the boat and their father and followed Jesus.”(Matthew 14:18-22)

How To Approach Work As A Christ Follower

 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Col 3:23-24)

Therefore, if we take this attitude into our secular work environment, we have the foundation of our ministry- a basis on which to build.

How Should We Behave As Christ Followers In The Workplace?

In order to use our workplace as a form of ministry, where ordinary moments in a day are used for God’s glory, we all need to pay attention to our behavior.

 There are many verses of Scripture explaining that Christ followers should be set apart and act differently. We should have the desire to become more sanctified with each passing week. We can accomplish this by asking the Holy Spirit to empower us to live lives full of the Fruit of The Spirit. Human effort is ineffectual- only the Spirit can cause the changes necessary to have these beautiful qualities.

The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Gal 5:22-23)

It is the Holy Spirit that has the power to draw these qualities out of us, but it is a process so we must remember to be gentle with ourselves. We will fail over and over again, but everyday is a new day to repent and ask for strength to be more like Jesus.

We also learn from Scripture that our behavior at work- especially our conversations and those we choose to listen to- should be pleasing to the Lord- if not, it is our responsibility to walk away. In doing this, we will be blessed.

“For the Lord’s eyes move to and fro throughout the earth to help those whose hearts are completely His.” (2 Chron 16:9)

“Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.” (James 1;26)

“You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.”(Leviticus 19:60)

Knowing these things, we can stay in the “light” and avoid stepping back into the Kingdom of darkness ruled by Satan. In fact, it is a life long process for the Holy Spirit to remove aspects of our personality that come from the Kingdom of darkness. Any behavior in opposition to the teachings of the Lord, could destroy our testimony and be a poor example for a secular person we could have won over for Christ. This cleansing process is vitally important for the increase of God’s Kingdom.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”(Ez 36:26)

In conclusion, we should use our job as a form of ministry.  When we ask the Holy Spirit to empower us, we can push past feelings of inadequacy, fear and perhaps embarrassment, to boldly share both the love of God and the Gospel to coworkers and those we serve every chance we get.

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark 16:15-16)

Food For Thought,

Lisa

This is a link to my favorite Bible with excellent teaching points. Click here.

Share
Reply...