Labor Day - Taking Christ With You

I am convinced that that is what Paul means when he wrote in Romans 12:1, "Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy & pleasing to God - which is your spiritual service or worship."

We can serve God in the way we work & where we work every day!

II. YOU CAN SERVE GOD WHERE YOU WORK

A. You say, "You don’t know where I work. You don’t know my boss. You don’t know the kind of people I have to work with. You don’t know the power struggles that go on, the flirtations, the cursing. You don’t know the dirty stories that are told, the pornography that is passed around."

Let me share a scripture with you. In Ephesians 6, beginning in vs. 5, is a passage that I think is very appropriate today. It is addressed to slaves, but the closest thing to them today are workers like you & me. So let’s substitute the word, "worker," for "slave" & listen to what God has to say.

"Workers, obey your earthly masters with respect & fear, & with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart." [5-6]

Now that’s interesting. He’s saying, "Even though your boss is a two-legged monster who is about as pagan as anyone you’ve ever seen, do your work for him as though you are doing it for Christ."

You say, "You don’t know my boss or you’d never suggest that. I work in a pagan office in a pagan company. There is no way that Christian principles will ever change that."

B. I want to take you back to the O.T. for a moment & remind you of Daniel. You’ve heard about him ever since you were children in Sunday School. Daniel was carried away captive to Babylon, taken from Jerusalem where he was surrounded by people who believed what he believed, who believed in one God.

But now he is in a totally pagan environment in Babylon. As time passed, King Nebuchadnezzar appointed him a government official. He became a government bureaucrat.

Now if a lot of what we hear is true, if you want to get as far away from God as you can, become a government bureaucrat. Serve in that kind of environment & you’ll be about as far away from God as you can possibly be.

But as Daniel worked in his government office, sitting behind his government desk, doing all his duties as a government bureaucrat, he was able to serve God. And King Nebuchadnezzar respected his faithfulness to God as Daniel rose higher & higher among the leaders of the country.

But when King Nebuchadnezzar died, the Babylonian Empire began to disintegrate, & finally it was conquered by King Darius. Once again Daniel’s outstanding qualities were recognized, & he was soon appointed one of the highest officials in all the land.

But there came a time when pressures were put on him to do things that were against God. So Daniel said, "That’s enough. That’s as far as I can go." And King Darius, who had become his friend, was forced to have Daniel thrown into the lion’s den.