The Protestant Work Ethic and You

"Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ. Don’t work only while being watched, in order to please men, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart. Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord." -Ephesians 6:5-8, HCSB

I have issues with authority. Anyone who knows me will tell you that while I generally do as I have to, it isn't always with a good attitude or in the exact manner that my superior wanted it done. I am independent, stubborn and tend to think that I know the right way to do things. I find trivial tasks stupid, and dislike being put in a box, given parameters in which I must accomplish my goal. In a sentence, I like to be my own boss.

Yet, I am not. I have a job at Kroger, a grocery store chain in the United States. I am often responsible to do certain tasks, and do them with a smile. Yet, menial tasks (which are common in a grocery store) irritate me. I don't like to do them, and if I have to do them, it will be in my own way or I will dislike that. I'm guessing many of you probably feel the same way in your jobs-- you do you job because you have to, but it isn't because you want to.

This is not how Paul says one should work in Ephesians. The context is that of a slave and a master, but if a slave should reflect this attitude, how much more should a paid employee?! Colossians 3:17 talks of doing everything as if for Christ, which is almost the same message here: we work as if for Christ Himself. Think about your job: if we did our jobs for Christ, what would that look like? If Christ wanted me to clean the floors, how would I clean the floors? How would I cashier or push carts or stock milk? I'd wager my work ethic would look much different.

There's an old phrase called the "Protestant work ethic." This concept probably came from people living out this passage. They served with a good attitude. They didn't work only when watched, but even harder when not watched. They did everything out of an overflow of their heart, a heart that loved Christ and wished to do the will of God.

We must bring this back. We must, as representatives of Christ in this world, show His heart in the workplace. We must work with a good attitude. There is no qualifier; we don't do this "if our boss doesn't suck." No, we do this as evidence of the new heart Christ has given us. Let us show this! Let us prove our remade selves in the workplace!

Our Silence Makes No Sense

"Then He touched their eyes, saying, 'Let it be done for you according to your faith!' And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus warned them sternly, 'Be sure that no one finds out!' But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout that whole area." -Matthew 9:29-31, HCSB

So, one day Jesus was walking around when a pair of blind guys walk up to Him, wanting to be healed. They had heard, no doubt, of His healing abilities. Perhaps they even heard that He had healed other blind people. Regardless, they walked up behind Him and yelled for Jesus to have mercy on them.

His response? "Do you believe that I can do this?"

Their answer: "yes."

A repeating theme in the Gospels is faith. Almost anytime that Jesus healed someone, it was a result of their having faith in Him to do what they believed He could do. And really, the same should be true for Christians.

We were once blind when Jesus, by grace through faith, opened our eyes to Him and our salvation in Him. When we are awakened from our sin-induced death and brought into the new birth in Christ, we are healed by Him, like the blind men here, "according to our faith." With that, our eyes are opened.

 For both us and the blind men, Jesus made a command and that command was/is disobeyed. And that's when the similarities disappear.

In the case of the blind men, Jesus told them not tell anyone of what He had done for them, as the time had not come for His awesomeness to be revealed. Yet, overcome with gratefulness and excitement, these men could not keep the news of their Healer to themselves. They felt an overpowering compulsion to share about Jesus with everyone that they came in contact with.

Inversely, Jesus has commanded us to "go, therefore, and make disciples," telling them all about Him and what He has done for us. Yet, we respond in the exact opposite fashion of the blind men. We hold in the news of Christ to ourselves.

Imagine if the blind men were healed, and then ran to an entire group of blind men and women. Upon their arrival at the group, they then proceed to act as though they are blind and refrain from telling anyone how they gained their sight. They have the same mannerisms, actions, words and everything that they had when they were blind. It wouldn't make sense!

And yet, this is us. We are healed of our spiritual blindness, and yet continue on in our lives as though we are still blind, keeping the news of our healing to ourselves.

It must not be this way. We must run to any and all the people that we know, proclaiming the name of Jesus! He has healed us; are we not filled with joy at this truth?! Are we content with our healing so much so that we ignore the blindness of others?!

We have had our eyes opened. It is now our job to do the same with our mouths.

Leave Your Life Behind

"If you died with the Messiah to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world?" -Colossians 2:20, HCSB

Solid question, right? Why do we act as though we aren't in Christ?

I'm not even talking about living a "sinner's lifestyle;" many of us jump immediately to that. We think,

"Well, I'm not living as if I belong to the world! I don't cuss, I attend church most weeks, I lead a bible study, and I don't smoke. I'm doing what I am supposed to do."

But, are you really living a life of Christ? Are you really doing what your salvation saved you to do? I mean, what did Jesus say upon His ascension?

"Go, therefore, and do not smoke weed. Attend church regularly, read Max Lucado books and stay away from alcohol in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

What?! That isn't what He said?! Oh my. Well, what did Jesus command?

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you." -Matthew 28:19-20, HCSB

Are we making disciples, teaching and baptizing, or are we living the same kind of "personal religion" that the rest of the world prescribes to? Most of the United States, whether they admit it, have a self-centered religion.

The reason people go to church/mosque or not is based on their spirituality. What makes your spiritual life complete is what you should go for, says the world. Pray to whomever you please. If you're into burning sage, go for it. If you're into worshipping a cactus blossom, great. Whatever pleases you. Just make sure not to try to get anyone else to do it. I mean, we don't want to be pushy and force our religion on others!

I'm not insinuating that Christians should be annoying, leaving a tract instead of a tip at restaurants or anything like that. I'm asking seriously: are you following Christ in a worldly, self-glorifying way that is built around you and your feelings of "religiousness," or are you striving for a walk with Christ that is founded on Him and His greatness?

We are to stay pure, yes. It is a good thing if you don't cuss or smoke pot. However, if you are doing nothing with your salvation beyond yourself, if you aren't sharing the life-changing truth that has been revealed to you, what good is it? We aren't saved for ourselves; we're saved for the glory of God!

We are to live lives that reject the philosophies and such of this world, and follow only after Christ. This means that we will have to go against the grain of culture and step out of our religious box. We must leave the temple behind and be the church, living lives for the advancement of the Kingdom. That's what it means to be dead to the world. We leave behind all trace of life from the old way of doing it and follow after Him.

Are we willing to pick up our cross and die to a life of personal religion? Are we willing to go against the grain and spread the gospel to those around us? Are we truly dead to the ways of this world and culture, willing to go wherever God sends us? These are questions we all must ask.

A Letter to You, Self-Centered Christian

Dear Christian,

Should you go to church? Should you be in a bible study (or two or three)? Should you give money, or fast, or put the Jesus fish on your car? It depends. Are you going through the motions, doing it all for yourself?

In Zechariah 7, the prophet Zechariah is talking to God about Israel, wanting to know if a certain period of fasting should continue. God's response was as follows:

"Say to all the people of the land and the priests, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?" -Zechariah 7:5-6, ESV

God ain't interested in us just doing stuff for our benefit. Sure, He wants us to find pleasure in Him. If the point, however, behind your prayers and church attendance and tithes is getting a warm and fuzzy feeling, a pat on the back or a check off on your cultural Churchianity checklist, then don't bother. Don't go through the motions just to benefit you; instead, your Christian walk should be God-focused.

When you pray, is God the center of your prayers? If not, make Him the center.

When you go to church, is it to truly worship the holy Lord of all, or is it to give you a "Jesus energy boost," like chugging an energy drink of religion to get you through the week?

We must keep our focus on Him, not on ourselves. He's Creator; we're creation. He's master; we're slaves.

As my friend Won Kwak posted on Twitter yesterday (as a quote from another person),

"To me, Christianity was more about being a good person and a means to seek comfort... I knew a lot about Jesus, but I didn't know Jesus."

We must know the Lord, not just know about Him in an effort to seek comfort. We must make the goal to know and praise Him. All of the comfort and behavior change will naturally flow out from that.

Sincerely,
A Self-centered, Wanting-to-know-God-more Disciple