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Worship in the Workplace

How long has it been since someone told you you're special? Whether it was an hour ago or a decade ago, it's true! Even without knowing your name or your personal history, I know that you're special.

How do I know? The Bible tells me so. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that we each are a special "work of art" - handmade by God Himself. Here's what that verse says:

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Think of it: Your life is like a superbly written poem. You are a unique work of art-and that not of just any old artist. God Himself crafted you!

The Old Testament bears witness to this same reality. For example, Psalm 139:16 tells us He knew you before you were even formed. He had your design in mind before you were even a twinkle in your mother's eyes. Listen to Psalm 139:16 -

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.

Now think of this: If God gave special attention to forming you, making you a unique and masterful work of art, and planning good work for you to do with your life, it makes sense, as a way of making your life an act of worship, for you to fulfill that design. In fact, can you possibly be fulfilled in life if you don't fulfill your purpose, your destiny, which was given to you by God? No, in the words of Romans 12:1, to live for Him and to live out His plan for us is simply our "reasonable service of worship."

With this great blessing that God has in mind for each of us, it's very troubling to hear about the large number of people who are involved in careers that do not fit them. Although our careers are not the only way we can worship God with our lives, our work does occupy a major portion of each week, so let's look today at the intersection of our worship and our workplace.

Arthur Miller, Jr., is the founder and chairman of People Management, Inc., a firm that for several decades has helped position and reposition people in the marketplace. Miller says that more than 50% of our workers are in jobs that don't fit them.

What does that mean? Think of all your friends. If Miller's estimate is correct, less than half of them are plugged into jobs that make substantial use of their strengths and abilities. (Could YOU be one of those?)

Miller's statistic may even be conservative. A 16-year study of 350,000 employees revealed that only 20% were well placed. The rest-80%-had either outgrown their current responsibilities or were rusting away in jobs that did not require their talents. What a waste of time, one of life's most precious resources. And what a missed opportunity to worship God by using those lives as they were designed.

Several factors contribute to this tragedy. To some extent, one or more of these factors may be operating in your life - or in mine. If so, we need to consider today's message a "wake up call" from God's Word.

First, we may be in the wrong work because we don't know ourselves very well. Unless we understand how God has gifted us, it should come as no surprise that we do not build our lives around those gifts. We need to understand what gifts God has given us.

Second, we may wander from our design because of the lure of shortsighted philosophies. These wayward ways of thinking are expressed in various catchy slogans. Here are some of them: "Onward and upward;" "He who dies with the most toys wins;" "Your paycheck shows your worth." This emphasis on status, assets or earnings is unfulfilling. It leads to destructive stress, depressing boredom or deep frustration.

Third, we may be distracted from true fulfillment by trying to fulfill misguided expectations. For example, perhaps your spouse wants you to succeed in a particular endeavor (for whatever reason) that is not in line with your gifts.

Maybe your in-laws are the source of pressure. A friend of mine told me he sensed that his wife's wealthy parents had never approved of his career-ranching. They wanted their daughter to marry into what they considered a more "prestigious" and cultured professional arena.

In truth, both this man and woman love country living, with its livestock, land and open spaces. He wisely chose to live as he was designed rather than as his in-laws wanted to dictate.

Sometimes, the expectations of one's employer interfere with living according to one's design. The company may stick people into job slots rather than look at their employees as dynamic and expensive resources. They may direct, train, transfer, promote and evaluate employees without regard to their giftedness.

Expectations are a part of real life. There's no avoiding them! However, it's very important, if we wish to fulfill our design, for us to recognize and sort out the good and not-so-good expectations. We need to filter out expectations that are too low, or too high, too narrow, or too broad. What I'm saying here is that we need to take time before God alone - away from the noise of other voices and activities - and (as Romans 12:3 says) to think soberly of ourselves. We need to understand how God has prepared us for good work, so we can eliminate distractions and focus on doing that good work.

Fourth - and this may sound surprising at first - success can lead to distraction from design! They call it the "Peter Principle:" People will rise to their level of incompetence. A person good at what he or she does is "elevated" to a higher-and different-position. For example, employees good at building an activity are kept on that project to maintain it. Is that a problem? Yes it can be a problem, because it takes different abilities to build something than it does to maintain that same thing.

In other cases, the Peter Principle kicks in when those good at one project are "promoted" to multi-project responsibilities. Those good at a local level are promoted to a regional level. Executives who give good advise about company turn-arounds may be retained to run the organization they served as a consultant.

The results, as people "rise" to their level of incompetence, are lower productivity, higher turnover, lower morale, higher absenteeism, lower enthusiasm and greater dullness. All these are responses to poor job fit and the consequential stress and distress a poor fit creates.

Let's close today with a brief summary:

God designed each of us personally.
He has specific work for us to do. Sometimes that work involves our actual career.
However, we can easily be distracted from our design.

Four ways that happens are:

We haven't taken time to understand how God has gifted us
We have listened to ungodly philosophies and begun to live by them
We have satisfied expectations that are different from God's expectations
We have let success in an area of giftedness lead us away into other areas in which we are not gifted

God's Word, in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 10, encourages us to bring worship into our workplace. It says, "And since we have gifts that differ...let each exercise them accordingly." [and] "...Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."