The Transformed Career

Biblical Perspectives for Managing the Privileges & Challenges of Working in the Christ-Centered Organization
David J. Gyertson, Ph.D. | posted 11/02/2007

This article provided by the Engstrom Institute

Part One: Welcome to the Front Lines!

Many people I have met across my four decades of work long to be employed in a setting where their Christian faith can be openly expressed and talents fully utilized. For the few who are given that opportunity, the unique challenges, privileges, and demands of such service reach far beyond anything they anticipated. I have spent my entire professional career in Christ-centered organizations and ministries including several Christian Colleges, senior pastoral assignments, broadcast ministries and other missionary and human service outreaches.

The two most important sustaining resources for that service have been a compelling, inescapable sense of divine calling and an unshakable confidence in the Scripture's provisions, corrections and promises. As you read this article, it is my prayer that the experiences and insights I have gained, and tested with many others, will help you to use your abilities faithfully and effectively so that God's purposes are accomplished through your Christ-centered ministry.

A Unique Place of Ministry: Spiritual Warfare, Accountability & Expectations

Christian organizations are different than any other place that you have worked. Given the calling of these organizations to be God's instruments for fulfilling the Great Commission, you have the privilege and the challenge of being on the front lines of what God is doing through the Kingdom of Jesus Christ around the world. Here are some realities that make Christ-centered organizations different.

• Spiritual Warfare: From a spiritual perspective, Christ-centered organizations do battle in the "heavenlies" on a daily basis. The Bible reminds us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph. 6:12). In Scripture, Satan is described as the prince of the power of the air. Every day Christian organizations invade that prince's territories boldly declaring the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. Through your work in the Christ-centered organization, you are promoting and celebrating a spiritual hope that Satan hates. As a result, you have now joined the "front lines" of a battle that has been raging since the dawn of time and will only be over when our Lord declares, a second and final time, "It is finished!"
  
  
• Personal Accountability to Partners: Another dimension that makes employment in a Christ-centered organization unique is the accountability we have to the faithful partners of our organizations. Not only are we responsible to God for what we do, but also to the supporters who pray for and stand with us every day.
  
  A good exercise to help remind you of this responsibility is to take your paycheck and calculate how many financial partners are needed just to support your ministry in this organization. It requires, for example, fifty partners averaging $20 per month to cover each $1000 of your annual salary. A $50,000 annual salary then would need over 200 monthly contributors. When you add the additional funds to cover fringe benefits plus underwrite your operating budget including office supplies, travel, technical support and related items, that number can more than double. It is a sobering reminder of the sacrificial commitment others make to make your ministry possible.
  
  Let me encourage you, each payday, to give God thanks for those people who support you both in prayer and with their sacrificial financial gifts. The founder of a well known- ministry stated it well, "Dave, when you go out to rent a car or stay in a hotel or buy a desk, remember some dear little lady is sacrificing her lunch money to be one of our supporting partners." I have never forgotten that admonition!
  
  
• Unrealistic Expectations: A third challenge for those working in Christ-centered organizations is unrealistic expectations. Most leave their secular positions anticipating a "heaven on earth" place to work where conflicts, difficult people, demanding workloads, ego needs and "office politics" are less likely to be found. The reality is that Christian organizations have all of the challenges faced in the secular work environment. While the commitment to a common set of core values and a compelling mission help mediate many of these challenges, the spiritual warfare component, coupled with limited resources, intensifies the pressure and magnifies our human flaws. Paul reminded the early church that we have this treasure in earthen vessels 2 Cor. 4:7). Failure to understand and prepare for the reality of inbred sin, both in others and ourselves, can be a disappointing and potentially embittering reality for those with unrealistic expectations.

A "Different" View of Work

To prepare for the privileges and responsibilities of your new role, as well as help you navigate the challenges noted above, I want to share a perspective on employment that may be different from anything you have thought about before. It is my prayer that what follows will transform your attitudes about employment, equipping you for the sacred privilege of being a part of what God plans next for the ministries of your Christ-centered organization.

"Just the Facts" About Work

Let's begin with four interesting facts about employment.

1. Employment will be the primary source of the resources needed to provide the essentials for life and living. In a lifetime, the average worker will earn close to two million dollars!
2. As employees, we spend more hours working than at any other single activity including leisure, time with family, at church, and even sleeping.
3. Work often will be the greatest competitor for our attention. Work is a significant source of marital and family conflicts. For those who work in Christ-centered organizations, work can be an even greater contributor to family stress since the work is so closely related to our serving God. Balancing the demands of work with life's other priorities is a lifelong challenge.
4. For many, the work we do and how we think others value that work, shapes our sense of worth and identity. People often change jobs more to find fulfillment and meaning than for additional income.

Given these facts it is not surprising that most employees find themselves bouncing between two extremes.

• "TGIM"—work as the "end" by whatever "means"—the workaholics who cannot wait for Monday because what they do at their employment is the most important thing in their lives.
• "TGIF"—work is a "means" to another "end"—the job is a necessary evil so that resources are available for what they really want to do with their lives.

Searching for a Different View of Work

If neither of these views is correct, then where do we turn for a better approach to our work? As Christians, we believe that God is deeply concerned about every dimension of our lives and that includes the world of work. Is there a "God-view" of work that we can discover in the Scriptures? By embracing that view, can the extremes of the contemporary world of work be balanced and transformed? Can we really "Thank God" for our employment whether it's Monday or Friday? The answer to all three of these questions is "Yes!" so lets begin our search.

What's God Really Up to With You and Me?

God's purposes and plans for our employment can only be understood in the context of His overall plan for each of us. Across the centuries, Christians have come to understand that the "chief end of humanity" is to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ so that we might love God and enjoy Him forever. In Genesis we discover that humanity was made separate from creation for purposes that none of the rest of creation can fulfill.

1. To reflect the image of God fully (Gen. 1:26-28)
2. To be in full fellowship and communion with God (Gen. 2:18)
3. To partner with God in achieving His ultimate purposes for creation (Gen. 2:15).

• Christ-likeness. The New Testament gives a clearer image of the end God has in mind for each of us. Paul teaches in Ephesians 4:13 that we are to attain to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The chief end of humanity, His plan for you and me, is Christ-likeness! To be like Jesus in:
1. personality —the profile is found in Gal 5:22-23—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control.
2. purpose—to do the will of the Father and be about His business ministering hope and help to the hurting disenfranchised and needy—being His hands and heart extended to the least, the left and the lost!
   
   
• The Furnace of Christ-likeness—Relationships. How does God most effectively work this transformation in us? His primary way of forming Christ's character in us and achieving Christ's purposes through us is in the context of personal relationships:
1. Between God and humanity through salvation (John 3:16) For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.
2. Between and among humanity (Eph. 5 & 6) where Paul lays out detailed instruction for the relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children and between employers and employees (see Eph. 6:5-9).

God's Purpose for Employment

Taken in the larger context, God's ultimate goal for humanity is to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ so that we become increasingly like Jesus in personality and purpose. This transformation begins with a right relationship to God and then with one other, particularly in the contexts of family, employment and the Church.

The primary reason then for employment, from God's perspective, is two-fold:

1. To be a tool whereby the life of Christ is formed in us (the Fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22-23)—a furnace for the Christ-like character and
2. To be a platform for the Christ-like mission described in Luke 4:18-19—bringing good news to the poor, freedom for the bound, healing for the sick, deliverance for the oppressed, and proclaim the Lord's favor.

In the next segment, we will look at seven important principles from Scripture that help us achieve these divine purposes for our employment.

Part Two: Scriptural Perspectives on Employment

God created us with the capacity for meaningful and productive labor that can produce the Christ-like character and fulfill the Christ-like mission. The Scriptures provide seven perspectives that guide the purpose and nature of work.

I. Work is Essential to a Fulfilled Life

1. The Work as a Curse Misconception
   God made us with the ability for three dimensions of labor:
• Manual Labor—cultivate and keep the creation (Gen. 2:15)
• Mental Labor—name creation (Gen. 2:19)
• Mentoring Labor—dominion to steward and advance (Gen. 1:29-30)
• Note that the curse of disobedience is not that Adam and Eve had to work but that their labors produced minimal results outside the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:17-19).
  
  
2. The Sabbath Rest Concept
   Most of us are familiar with the command in Exodus 34:21; however, we tend to focus on the Sabbath rest phrase. It is important to note that the weight of the command is that we are to work six days and then rest. Throughout Scripture, we find the principle of working productively and responsibly. While we are to rest, it must be in the context of giving a full day's work for a full day's pay. Proverbs warns against laziness and suggests we use the industrious ant as our model.
   
   
3. 3. The Image of God Model
   Since we are made in the image of God, we can only be fulfilled as we work like He worked.
• We have been made for meaningful work. Ps. 121:4 says that God never slumbers or sleeps because His eye is moving to and fro throughout the earth watching, guiding, and guarding His creation.
• Work is so bred into our DNA because of God's image in us that laziness mars and destroys that image. Failure to be productive in our work not only produces laziness and hunger (Prov. 19:15) but contributes to the ultimate destruction of the human personality—He who is slack in His work is a brother to Him that destroys (Proverbs 18:9).

The first biblical perspective is that work is essential to our fulfillment. We have been created in the image of God for meaningful and productive work using our hands, heads, and hearts to tend to God's purpose for all of His creation.

II. We Must Be Involved in a "Higher Cause"

God has created us not only to reflect His image through work but also to achieve His ultimate purposes for creation. We have been called to work in the family business of God's highest causes. Labor becomes disappointing and disillusioning when we feel our work has no lasting significance. Whatever the nature of the work God calls us to, we must see it from God's point of view.

Our work contributes to God's greater purposes when we are:

• Living and working for the purpose of doing it for our heavenly Father—If anyone speaks let them speak as the messenger of God, if they serve let them serve with the abilities God has given them so that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ (I Peter 4:11)
• Whether we are eating or drinking or whatever we are doing, we are instructed to do all for the glory of God. (I Cor. 10:31)
• Jesus brought the work of His disciples to the highest levels when He told them that they were no longer just His workers (servants) but His friends. (John 15:15)
• What joy it must have been for the disciples to realize that their faithfulness to do their work as the friends of Christ sent them out to serve even as Jesus was sent to serve—As the Father has sent me so I am sending you! (John 20:21)

There is great fulfillment when we see our employment as a means to partner with Christ and bring glory to the Father through all that we do.

III. All Work is Honorable.

The secular person sees work as mastery—a place to climb the ladder in order to make more money and achieve more power and influence. The biblical view of work is one of ministry—a place and position, no matter where it falls on the organizational chart, which God can use for His purposes. King David valued all positions when he said that he would rather be a doorkeeper in God's house than to dwell in the tents of wickedness for a season (Psalm 84:10).

With this perspective, all legitimate work is honorable. We must be careful never to despise our own position or covet another's place of service.

It is appropriate to have Christ-centered ambition. The little book by Bruce Wilkinson based on the prayer of Jabez in I. Chron. 4:10 is a wonderful look into a heart that desires larger opportunities not for self enhancement, but to give greater opportunities to do God's work God's way for His ultimate glory. Your work, whether as a doorkeeper or a king, is honorable when done for the glory of God rather than self.

IV. Faithfulness is a Prerequisite to Blessing

A fourth biblical perspective connected to the conviction that all work is honorable is that we must be faithful in the work that God has provided for us if that work is to be a blessing. Many have the desire to be their own boss. However, from God's perspective, we must first be faithful in that which belongs to another before God can trust us with something of our own (Luke 16:12).

In Jesus' encounter with the Roman Centurion who wanted his servant healed (Matt. 8:5-13), Jesus presented the principle that we first must be willing to be under authority before we can be given authority. The parable of the talents in Matt. 25 reminds us that if we are faithful in what God has given us then we will be ready to handle properly anything additional He chooses to give.

Too often in the search for our own ministry, we miss the privilege of being involved in something greater. For most of us, we will spend a lifetime tending someone else's garden. To be content with caring for that which belongs to another can give us the greatest blessing when we hear from God the Father, Well done, good and faithful servant—enter into the joy of your reward.

V. Provide for Your Family

The next scriptural perspective regarding work is that employment must be subservient to our family responsibilities. Paul taught that any one who did not care for the family is worse than a pagan (I Tim. 5:8). These sobering words remind us that if we are in a family, this is our primary ministry. Work must be seen as a means for meeting the needs of our family—materially, emotionally, and spiritually.

God will never ask us to sacrifice the well being of our families for our work. Note that this priority is difficult to keep the more we see our work as our ministry. However, great discredit has come to work done for Christ when those who have done it neglected their families. King Solomon is a good example of a man who lost his family even though he had done great things for God. We must never forget, as Solomon realized too late, that children are an inheritance from the Lord (Psalm 127).

VI. Work as a Means to Bless Others

In Ephesians 4:28, the Apostle Paul says Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor doing honest work with his hands so that he may be able to give those in need. Our next biblical perspective is that we are to see work as means to bless others.

We need to clarify the concept of tithing. Too often, the practice of giving 10% to God detracts from the larger principle of stewardship. The tithe is a means to remind us that all we have belongs to God. This helps us overcome the keeping up with the Jones' materialism that is so much a part of our consumer-oriented society. Tithing is a reminder that all that we have belongs to God and is entrusted to us for His purposes.

We need to be obedient to the spirit of tithing so that we are more willing to give as He directs to meet the needs of others. What we have is given in trust as a means to bless others rather than fatten ourselves. Rather than building bigger barns, we need to share the wealth with those less fortunate so that all have enough.

We also need to be cautious about our motivations for giving. We are to cast our bread on the waters with no thought of return. We do not give to get but give to bless whether we are advantaged or not. God does bless those who give but we must give out of a pure heart of service and sacrifice rather than to receive more. Our paycheck will become a reminder of the privilege God has given us to have our needs met and meet the needs of others.

VII. Work as Unto the Lord

One final scriptural perspective on work is the command to do all of our work as unto the Lord. This biblical insight reminds us of whom we are really working for—God and not for man. Paul gives detailed instructions in Eph. 6:5-9 and Col. 3:22—4:1 to both employers and employees that we work and supervise as agents of and for God. Verse 23 of Col. 3 summarizes it clearly—Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men. By embracing this scriptural perspective, God becomes our employment manager and we discover that promotion comes from the Lord (Ps. 75:5-7).

Summary on Scriptural Perspectives of Work

What a difference it will make in our work when we see:

• That work is essential to our fulfillment since we have been made in the image of the God who works.
• That our employment allows us to serve the higher causes of God's work in the world.
• That all legitimate work is honorable and important—whether a doorkeeper or a King.
• That our work will be blessed, as we are faithful in the work at hand.
• That work must always be seen in the context of our higher calling to family.
• That our jobs are given to us as a means to bless others.
• That we are to work as unto the Lord!

With such a view, our workstation is transformed into a place where we can truly practice the presence and accomplish the purposes of the Lord.

Part Three: Principles for a Transformed Career

In this final section, I share five simple principles that help me transform my work and give God thanks for the privileges of Christ-centered employment. These principles are an easy way to remember all that we have discussed in searching the Scriptures for God's perspective on the world of work.

I. Partnership—The Need for Christ-Centered Cooperation

God's work in and through our lives is too big and complex for us to achieve on our own. We are made for each other because God Himself is more a we than a me. In Genesis God said Let us make humanity in our image. The Apostle Paul describes Christians as members of the body of Christ—each one in need of and dependent upon another. Christianity has been and remains a team sport. This ministry position you hold is not just yours but also ours and ultimately His.

II. Perfection—The Need for Christ-Centered Excellence

Since we are to work together for the ultimate glory of God, we must work to the best of our abilities and do our work for the highest of motivations. Do your best for Christ and be ready to do it with Jesus' spirit of agape—self-sacrificing love. If you will give your service selflessly and sacrificially, you will discover that, in God's value system, who you are becoming (conformed into the image of Christ) is the key reason for all that He has you doing.

III. Persistence—The need for Christ-Centered Discipline

Our instant gratification and results-now driven society makes it difficult for us to be still and know that He is God. In music, observing the rests and pauses is just as important as playing the notes. God's involvement in our work and lives always has a long-term perspective. He is growing us into oaks not sunflowers or corn stocks. To be patient and persevere when things are confusing and difficult is what is meant in Psalm 1:3 by trees planted by rivers of water that give forth fruit in due season.

IV. Perspective—The Need for a Christ-Centered Vision

The Bible says that Jesus was able to endure the cross because of the vision that was set before Him—the vision of a journey completed and humanity redeemed. We need to remember four basic truths about our job in order to maintain a Christ-like perspective.

1. God controls our employment not us or even our employer.
2. God orders each day for an eternal purpose that works in us the person and purposes of Christ.
3. God is the source of promotion so let us seek to glorify and please Him.
4. God wants to meet our personal and spiritual needs and those of others through our employment.

V. Platform—The Need for a Christ-Centered Mission

Never forget that our job is more a means than an end. God has given us our employment as means for:

1. Compassion—to receive and demonstrate the love of Christ.
2. Conversion—to present the hope of Christ.
3. Community—to allow the fellowship of the body of Christ to be at work in every dimension of our lives including the wondrous world of employment.

Summary on Transformed Employment

What a privilege you and I have to reflect God's image and achieve His eternal purposes through the work He has given us. May the God who is at work in you, both to will and do of His good pleasure, transform your world of work in your Christ-centered organization. And may you be conformed through that work into the image of Christ so that you might serve His purposes and His people in this special place! God bless you and your ministry of Christ-centered work in your current position and wherever He may lead you in the future!

David Gyertson, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Leadership Formation and Renewal at Regent University in Virginia Beach. Formerly, he served as president of Taylor University (IN), Asbury College (KY), and Regent University (VA). He is an ordained minister and has served senior pastoral appointments in Methodist and Presbyterian denominations. He can be reached at djgyertson@charter.net.