By Os Hillman
"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" Colossians 3:16,17
Jonathon was a twenty-five year old son of a pastor who was working in his local Christian bookstore. He started seminary but was unable to finish because of a lack of finances. He was OK with working in the store, but felt it was second-best. In fact, sometimes he felt he had "missed his calling."
Then one day a young woman wondered into the store. She was distressed. She was not a believer. Her husband had just left her and she did not know where to turn. She was walking through the mall when she noticed the store. She decided to walk in, not knowing why.
"Hello, may I help you?" said Jonathon. "Well... I don't know. I saw your sign and just came in." Right then, she began to cry. She told Jonathon about her plight, not knowing why she would do such a thing with a perfect stranger. Jonathon listened and began to talk with her. Before the conversation was over, Jonathon had prayed with the woman and led her to faith in Christ.
That night Jonathon pondered what had happened that day. He realized he had personally led a woman into eternity by being available in his workplace. He felt a new sense of purpose behind what he thought was simply a job to put food on the table until he could get to his real ministry. He confessed to the Lord his wrong view of his work. For the first time, he realized it was ministry too.
We have incorrectly elevated the roll of the vocational Christian worker to be more holy and committed than the person who is serving in other arenas. Yet the call to any workplace is as important as any other calling. God has to have His people in every sphere of life. Otherwise, many would never come to know Him because they would be separated from society.
Wherever you are called, serve the Lord in that place. Let Him demonstrate His power through your life so that others might experience Him through you today.
6 comments:
Posted this just for the last paragraph - Wherever you are called, serve the Lord in that place. Let Him demonstrate His power through your life so that others might experience Him through you today.
Amen
cas
I could not agree more.PTL for all those who choose these occupations. But the responsibility lies more squarely on the shoulders of those of us who rub elbows with the world all day everyday. Lord, help me be faithfful to this calling.
And the follow-on verses in Colossians are often encouraging to me, especially in a workplace that does not offer much affirmation: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." (Col 3:23-24)
tba
CAS, excellent line you quoted. JMB, I echo your prayer and thoughts. TBA nice add-on verse.
We definitely need to be examples of excellence and life-balance in the workplace. It's tough not to use work as a means to fulfill the ego.
great comments by everyone. i love the concept of work place ministry. i tell myself that my work is my ministry. but i admit i dont always think i am doing much to support God's message. maybe subtley i am doing some good but tough for me to see it. actually, i think i need to be careful and not say "work is my place of ministry" and then not really do anything. kind of like an excuse. or kind of like a justification. but am i just talk? marketplace ministry is tough. cas- may be neat idea to lead some sort of blog on clever ways we can implement marketplace ministry
There are two kinds of people at work. There's the "here I am" and the "there u are" types. Be a "there u are" person and love people by being truly nterested in them. Its the best way I know of to love.
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