Making Your Job an Act of Worship

How would you best describe your life?

A. A file cabinet, everything organized neatly into separate folders.

B. A junk drawer, everything tossed in, tangled, and tough to pull out when needed.

C. A finely tuned engine, every component working in harmony with the others.

If you chose C, congratulations. You're a rare breed. If you chose A or B, welcome to the club.

I'll start with the file cabinet people. You're the ones who go to church every Sunday, a bible study every Wednesday, devotions at 7am each morning. You go to your job, talk to co-workers about the weather and sports, and do your job well. Your day is laid out and pre-planned as well as any U.S. President's itinerary.

Notice a problem? Yes, your faith and your job are kept apart from one another, just like the files in your file cabinet. Now, there's nothing wrong with doing your job well and bonding with co-workers. In fact, doing your best is a biblical principal. But do you consider your job an act of worship? When you're going about your normal work routine, be it sweeping the floors or putting together a merger with a fortune 500 company, do you glorify God with your work?

Before you answer that, let's talk about the junk drawer people. You're the ones who wake up and have no clue how your day will go. There's no planning, no task list, just plow forward and solve the problems as they arise. Your life is hectic at best. You make it to church a few minutes past the opening hymn and you pray as you go. A dog-eared New Testament travels with you just in case you're struck with the urge to read a verse or two.

No one will argue that the junk drawer people have a tough go of it. But are they really worse off than the file cabinet people? If you're a non-Christian, perhaps. But our Lord told us to keep our eyes on the Kingdom, to make Christ the center of our existence. If there's any part of your life where Christ is not a critical element, then you're short changing yourself and your Lord. He wants all of you all the time, not just between 7am and 8am each morning or when the urge hits you to open a bible.

Your job is your ministry. You can glorify Him by giving your all at work, home, or at play. When you do, He takes the wheel. Take a step back and allow God to work through you.

How do you do that? Here are a few principles to keep in mind:

• Pray for your company, your supervisor, and your co-workers.
• Make all decisions based on God's will.
• Avoid office gossip as much as you'd avoid gossip outside the office.
• Submit to authority. Only go against an order if it conflicts with your biblical principles.
• Make it clear to your boss and co-workers that you are a Christian by your actions and words.
• Give thanks to God for any success you achieve.
• Be humble.
• Treat customers and suppliers with respect and fairness.

Will following these principles mean you will suddenly be blessed in your professional life? Probably not. In fact, when you set yourself to a higher standard, you will likely find friction in the workplace. Your boss will become upset when you refuse to "fudge" a date on a document. Your co-workers may shun you if you won't participate in gossip or lunch outings to Hooters. Remember, you're performing for an audience of One. You glorify God through your actions, not the worldly results.

After all, you're storing up treasure in Heaven, not here on Earth.