~ Working as a Jesus Follower

This is probably a strange subject for me to undertake, not having been in “proper” work for over thirty years. Proper being described as working in the commercial or service industries, as distinct from the “professional Christian workplaces” but I believe that I may have something to contribute
There are certain principles that pertain to a follower of Christ’s behavior, regardless of his occupation, and they come from of all places the Word of God. As a “new creature” a Christian has an obligation to one level higher than his, or her, employer expects, and a job performance that is above the workplace standard.
This may be a little bit of a stretch but it comes from a combination of scriptures. First of which is “let your yes be yes.” We are not bound by vows and the threat of non compliance. Second is the comment about “paying to Caesar what is due to Caesar”. The implication in the statement is that our work should be performed in full, just as our taxation should be paid in full.
Whatever you do, do it with a good temperament remember to, as Paul put it, “count it all joy” and do “all that you do in love.” These passages point to your testimony as a Christ follower, as does the way in which you perform your job.
You see if you are loving toward you fellow workers and your superiors you create an environment for that testimony to flourish and in the process the general environment will become more productive. There are other things to keep in mind as well. Do not be a whisperer, gossips, lose the trust of others and lose the right to speak into another’s life. Do be trustworthy. Do not fib. Even white lies are lies and detract from your trustworthiness.
You are in your position to keep skin and bone together as well as for some other reasons; Christ Jesus has a mandate for you in that place. The distinction between secular work and the work of a church professional is at best artificial. We are all meant to be involved in a spiritual battle. I remember in one mission job that we were involved, that the expected standard weekly hours were 50 hours at a minimum.
“This is your reasonable spiritual service that all that you do you do it as unto Him,” Paul of Tarsus reminds us in one of the letters. In our disjointed life and fragmented city it is probably too easy to hive off a part of our daily life or even 5 days of a week as non church work, separate to our spiritual work but this is not the way that our Master spoke.
Fellow Christian we are in a battle for the lives for those around us and it is everyone’s mandate to GO, MAKE DISCIPLES, AND TO TEACH OBEDIENCE. Not all can make disciples, not all can teach but we can all go and reach out to the people we work with in love and compassion.