Working to Please Christ and Not People

1 Cor 7:21 – “Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that.”

Philemon 15-16 – “For perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother”

4 aspects of a Christian work ethic that pleases God.

I. Obey with an attitude of reverence as to Christ (v. 5)

It is important for us to notice this command to obey in the context of what has already been laid out her in Ephesians.

Look at chapter 5 verse 21 with me for a moment. This verse concludes the previous section of Ephesians and what does it say?

“Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ”

What this transition statement is doing is it is setting up the sections on the marriage, parenting, and working and how submission to one another is played out in each of those scenarios.

So, in verse 22 what does he say? “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.”

And then you get to verse 1 of chapter 6 and it says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord.”

Now what Paul is done is that he has followed the sequence to the point that he says submission is not just found in the family, but it should also be seen in the relationship between masters and slaves.

And this obedience is ultimately obedience to Christ Himself which is why he says…

v. 5 – “with fear and trembling”

Col 3:22 – “fearing the Lord.”

You know, it’s funny because some people in the world believe that a pastor is someone that has dedicated his life to working for God in some hyper spiritual sense.

They do God’s work, their work has an impact on the kingdom of God, and they have ultimately set their lives apart to have God as their boss.

Now, many people in the world who don’t know much about Christianity believe this but as we read this text it should be obvious that the pastor’s boss is Christ not because the pastor works for the church but because Jesus is everyone’s boss.

Quite frankly, we talk about pastors being called to full-time ministry and there is a sense in which that is true but there is just as much of a sense in that every Christian has been called to full-time ministry because Christ is their boss and Christ has called them to do ministry wherever they are.

And one of the most obvious implications that has for us today that we can see in this text is that we are called to obey our earthly bosses knowing that God, our heavenly boss, is ultimately the one that has place our manager or employer in the position they have.

And that is why your obedience should be in fear and trembling. Not because you are afraid of your earthly boss, no you shouldn’t be afraid of that person, but because you are ultimately reporting to God on how you live your life in the workplace.

All of our obedience to God should be done in fear and trembling.

Just look at what Paul wrote in Philippians chapter 2...

Phil 2:12 – So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling…

Psalm 130:4 – But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.

Now it is important to note as we have already in this series of Ephesians, that the authority given to our bosses is not ultimate.

Meaning, you are commanded to obey your earthly master unless what he is giving you to do goes directly against what your heavenly master has commanded of you.

So, the obedience here stops if your boss tells you to lie, because you have been commanded by God to not lie and to tell the truth.

Or if your employer asks you to steal or commit fraud in some way when it comes to the finances of your workplace, you are called to still do business with honesty and integrity even if your boss tells you otherwise because God requires that you live righteously.

II. Don’t perform just to please people when they are looking (v. 6a)

v. 6a – “not by way of eyeservice, as man-pleasers.”

Col 3:22– “Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men”

It is important to note that having fear is often not the problem but rather the problem is that you fear the wrong person.

Instead of fearing God, it is easy to fear the one that physically hands you your paycheck or the one that writes up your performance report for this quarter.

Give an example of fearing God and not men at work.

If you are wondering whether or not you are struggling to fear man or God in the workplace, here are a few questions you can ask yourself.

1. How does my work change if I know my boss is on vacation for the next week?
2. If you want to do a good job at work, what is the number one thing you want to come from your hard work?
   1. Reward from your earthly boss?
   2. Reward from your heavenly Father?
3. How often do I consider the truths of this passage, that I am working for Christ when I’m at work?

III. Do God’s will wholeheartedly as slaves of Christ (v. 5, 6b)

v. 5 – “in the sincerity of your heart”

v. 6b – “as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart”

Col 3:23 – “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.”

And like so many other truths we have talked about here in Ephesians, Paul ties this idea of the master-slave relationship back to the Gospel.

GOSPEL CALL

As we consider what it looks like to have a Christian work ethic that pleases God, I want to give you six practical ways you can represent Christ well in the workplace.

1. Work hard at work, but never worship your work

Everyone in this room is going to naturally be in one ditch or the other on a given day of work.

Some people naturally do not want to work hard because of their sinful nature. They would rather look at their phone at work, get on Facebook, or if you are under the age of 20 you get on Tik Tak or some other social media platform.

That kind of work is not a good representation of Christ because God has made you to work, and you don’t want to do what He’s made you to do.

The other swing of the pendulum is the person that can’t stop working.

It’s the person who sees work as their life goal, it is what brings them the most joy, and other things in their life like their family suffer because of how much time and energy they dedicate to their work.

This person isn’t pleasing Christ because God’s glory is not the driving motivator, but it appears to be their own glory that gets them out of bed so to speak.

Now if you are here today there is a good chance you have probably spent at least a little bit of time in both of those camps. Sometimes you are tempted to be lazy and other times you are tempted to idolize your job.

One of the best ways you can represent Christ well in the workplace is by always evaluating your heart to make sure work has its proper place in your life.

If you are a person like me that likes things pretty clear cut this is how we were taught to think about priorities in seminary.

1. God

2. Marriage and family

3. Church family

4. Work

When you begin to put work above any of those other categories or drop it down even lower on your priority list, you will find that you will have trouble representing Christ well in the workplace.

1. Memorize Scripture

Memorize Scripture? Now maybe you are thinking that that came out of nowhere but listen closely.

Not every job has the privilege of being able to crack open your Bible whenever you need to be encouraged or challenged in some way. Some folks sit at a desk where they have the freedom to open their Bible and read it for a few minutes if they are at a rough spot in their day but some people but not everyone works that kind of job.

Maybe you are a carpenter that carries tools around all day and you’re working out in the sun and the rain. Carpenters simply don’t have the time to sit their and open the word for a moment because of the nature of their work.

Or maybe you work on the line in one of the factories in town. You could be lifting heavy machinery all day long and you might have grease all over your hands. Walking around with an ESV in a canvas Bible case isn’t exactly and option in that environment.

Whether or not you are able to occasionally read your Bible at work or not, having God’s word cemented in your mind will help you do God’s will at work.

Take for example this passage in Ephesians. What if you memorized Ephesians 6:5-9 over the next week or two and then you could take it with you wherever you went. You don’t need a Bible in order to meditate on God’s word because you could meditate on it at any time!

If you are in a moment where you are tempted to be lazy, you could reminder yourself that Christ is your ultimate Master and the nails that you are hammering you are hammering for the glory of God. Or you are assembling a car to bring Christ honor and praise.

Memorizing Scripture will give you a toolset you can use whenever you need your mind renewed.

1. Build meaningful relationships with your coworkers

Some people come very naturally at this while for others this can be some work.

Either way, I would encourage you to intentionally develop and build deep and meaningful relationships with your coworkers.

You may have some other brothers and sisters in Christ at your workplace you can befriend. There are multiple healthy and good Bible believing churches in this town so it wouldn’t be shocking if you worked with multiple other Christians.

But more important than just meeting other Christians, your relationship with someone else at work may be the means God uses to make someone else a Christian.

Your work is a unique place because people often have 8-10 hours where they can intentionally build a relationship with someone for the purpose of sharing the gospel with that person.

There are many people in church and people here today that either became a Christian or ended up at Faith Church because someone else at work loved them in the name of Christ.

1. Respond righteously when you are presented with temptation
2. Cultivate the mindset of a servant
3. Talk about Christ

IV. Serve willingly and eagerly as to the Lord (v. 7)

v. 7 – “With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men”

Col 3:24 – “It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

Knowing the Lord sees and rewards whatever good thing each one does. (v.8)

“knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.”

Col 3:24– “knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance”

Elaborate on this point…

B. Remembering God is everyone’s Master (v. 9)

v. 9 – “And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven”

Elaborate on this point…

C. Understanding God shows no favoritism (v. 9)

v. 9 – “there is no partiality with Him.”

Col 3:25 – “For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.”