Who is your Real Boss?
Maybe you are working today at the drive-thru of a popular fast food restaurant. Perhaps you are a carpenter’s helper or an emergency response worker or a custodian or an accountant or a lifeguard at the civic swimming pool. Regardless of where you are working, you most likely have some kind of a boss.
Ephesians 6 is a most instructive chapter. Perhaps it is best known for the ‘armour of God’ verses. Speaking of that set of verses, are you fully protected today with the armour of God or are there some exposed spots – some missing pieces? But there is something else in Ephesians chapter six you should think about just now.
As employees in the workplace we should work as –
“the servants of Christ,
doing the will of God from the heart;
with good will
doing service as unto the Lord and not to men.”
Ephesians 6:6-7
Or as Eugene Peterson paraphrased it: “Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real master, Christ. Don’t just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ’s servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you’re really serving God.”
The context here is the Master/Slave relationship which was a part of the social norms of that day but today we call it the employer/employee relationship. If ever there should be a good employee, even under difficult circumstances it should be the Christian.
Even in the roughest days, when we feel overworked and underpaid, a Christian’s thinking should be: “If this is where God wants me to be right now, then I am going to get my eyes off the mean-spirited boss in the office next to me and focus on Christ. I am going to think of my work as working for Christ.”
Regardless of where a Christian is found on the earth, we must remember we are the servants of Christ. We are His servants whether we’re on the mission field or in the auto body shop or in a Government bureaucracy or passing out burgers at a busy drive-thru. Perhaps you should wear an elastic band around your wrist. Snap it when you catch yourself complaining about your job. Every time your attitude begins to spiral downward and you feel like taking a longer coffee break, or doing the bare minimum or reporting for work late or slipping out the door 60 seconds before your shift finishes — snap the elastic band against your wrist to jog your memory of Colossians 3:23: “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”
Memorize Ephesians 6:6-7 and Colossians 3:23. Keeping these verses in your mind will be a big help in improving your attitude and performance on the job. These verses will help you through some horribly rough spots on the job when the going gets tough. At any cost, be a good witness for Jesus Christ on the job. Be faithful, consistent, honest, diligent, eager and positive – a bright light on the job! Remember you are a Christian and your real boss is Christ. Serve Him faithfully on the job.
Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today.
Warmly in Christ
Peter Ramsay