Honor Christ in the Workplace - Ephesians: Born for War

Hey, I'm Steve Holt, the senior pastor of the Road at Chapel Hills.

This is the Rud Podcast.

Thanks for joining us.

My heart is to empower you to change the world.

I hope this message impacts you.

We're in Ephesians chapter 6, and it's kind of leading up to one of my favorite passages in the Bible, which is starting at verse 10, which is about spiritual warfare.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

That'll be the next time.

But we've been talking about honor.

And honor must really matter a lot to God because he inspired Paul to write to the Ephesians about honor a lot.

And in Ephesians 5, he talks about husbands and wives honoring each other.

He says, husbands, you need to love your wives as Christ loved the church.

He says to wives to honor their husbands.

Then in chapter 6, he talks about children, honor your parents.

And then of all, you know, in a very, very strong Middle Eastern patriarchal society, he says, fathers, honor your children.

I mean, this is radical stuff.

This is radical stuff.

You think it's radical today?

It was really radical back then.

This idea of a culture of honor.

And so now he moves from the family, marriage and family to work.

That's where we spend the majority of our time is at work.

Men and women, we spend a lot of time at work.

You spend eight to ten hours a day, at least five days a week, at work.

And he's saying when you're at work, you're supposed to honor Christ there.

And here's the problem the problem that we have historically is with the rise of the monastic movement.

The beautiful things about the monastic movement that I love.

When I talk about the monastic movement, I'm talking about the idea of a clerical class of people that were monks and nuns, okay?

Coming out of the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek and Russian Orthodox Church through the centuries, there became this wall of separation between what we call the laity and the clergy.

And so, because of that, the real work was what the clergy did, what happened in the church, and I don't believe that.

And that's because you're never gonna hear clergy, and you're never gonna hear laity at the road.

And my conviction is that every one of you are gifted, every one of you are anointed by God, you can change the world, you can make an impact, you can make a difference, and in many cases, a much bigger impact than I ever could as a local church pastor, because God places you in a role that you're supposed to be a missionary there.

You're supposed to be a missionary at work.

And so this wall, in my opinion, for especially from Ephesians, does not really exist.

Ephesians 4, look at Ephesians 4, 7 and 8.

Ephesians 4, 7 and 8.

But to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.

Therefore, he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and he gave gifts to men.

So each one of you have natural talents, acquired skills, and if you're saved, if you're born again, you have spiritual gifts.

If you have spiritual gifts, natural talents, acquired skills.

And God has made you to make an impact.

You are made to make an impact.

You are made to be a producer more than a consumer.

So if you can start thinking I'm a leader, you'll become one.

If you keep saying I'm a follower, you'll become that.

The natural acquisition of your thinking process is to just follow and get along.

That's the reason things are happening right now in our world, is so many Christians are just getting along.

The reason most Christians are getting along is because most pastors are just getting along.

And God calls us to be leaders.

And sometimes when we're called to be leaders, it's not fun.

It takes courage and it takes strength to go against the opposition.

And yet we're called to not just be in the river of culture, just kind of floating down and enjoying the ride.

Some of us actually are called to stand in the culture and actually face it, walk up against it and be counter-cultural kingdom revolutionaries.

So that's at work.

That's as much at work as anything else.

And so he goes into this idea of work because at that time there were slaves, 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire at the writing of Ephesians, and there were slave owners in the same church.

So I'm gonna relate it to employee and employer, even though you may feel like you're a slave at work.

Look at verse 5 of chapter 6.

So Ephesians 6, 5.

Bond servants.

That's the word doulos.

It means slave.

Bond slave was the idea of choosing to be a slave.

Now he's talking, obviously, you'll see as we read, he's talking about people who didn't choose to be a slave.

They were forced into slavery.

But Paul's meaning, because he uses bond servant or bond slave often in his writings, is that you choose to be a slave.

In other words, by love to your master, capital M, Master Christ, choose to be a slave.

That's Paul's meaning.

But he was borrowing, actually from an Old Testament term, of someone who had been a slave, but chose to continue to be a slave, a bond slave, a bond servant to their physical human master for the rest of their lives.

He said, like that, he drew from that illustration that that's what I am now.

I'm a free man to be a slave unto Christ.

Isn't that amazing?

You're free to be a slave to Christ at your work.

So he says it this way: bond servants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh.

So he's talking about literal masters.

And in our case, in the 21st century, we're speaking in terms of a boss, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ.

So he starts off with the employee.

He talks about our work.

So here's my first point.

Honor Christ through sincerely obeying your boss.

Honor Christ by sincerely, and that's the operable word, sincerely obeying your boss.

So not brown nosing.

Okay, sincere.

Sincerely obeying.

God's put that person there.

He got you your job, but you're to honor him.

Now, let me give a caveat to this.

So when Polis said we're shutting down all churches, and all pastors are supposed to shut down their churches, and I was on the phone call with, I don't know, probably hundreds were on that phone call with Governor Polis, and I listened to him talk about it.

I drank the Kool-Aid for about four weeks because we had been in Africa enough on mission trips to know what Ebola is.

And you get Ebola, you're dead.

Okay?

So we didn't know what COVID was, we didn't know what COVID-19 really meant.

But we have this thing called the internet.

And you can research almost anything.

And I feel like one of my responsibilities as a leader of this church is that I do my homework.

And if I don't feel like I've got time, I put other people on it, and then they feed me stuff.

And so we did our homework from all different viewpoints, from the most liberal to the most conservative, most radical left to the most radical right, just dove in.

And we came, and let me just tell you, my wife, she probably there's not too many things that my wife hates, but masks are one of them.

And um that woman, she will, I won't even go into the stories.

But let's just say this.

My kids have said to her, I'm not going in the store with you.

Okay?

That was back when all the mandates were going and everything, okay?

But so this is this is where we were at in our head at the time, was she said, because we're thinking Ebola or something.

So she not only made us all wear masks, we had to wear gloves.

She said, Well, all these people, they come in there, they're touching all the food.

It can get on you that way.

So here's the holts where nobody's even wearing a mask yet, and we're wearing mask and gloves.

And then we swung all the way to the other extreme.

So we had a meeting here with pastors, and we said to the pastors, we're opening up.

I think it was like May the 10th or something like that, back in 2020.

And we did.

So here's my caveat to what I just said is that Paul's not talking about obeying your masters if it's unethical, immoral, or unbiblical.

Does that make sense?

The reason I say that is there's in the conservative fundamentalist ranks, I know of situations where moms and dads have abused their kids sexually and physically and stuff, and they've gone to their pastor, or they've gone to a leader and said, Well, no, you just need to obey, God will take care of you.

That is abhorrent to me.

So when he's speaking here, he's speaking about ethical, moral behavior.

It's it's showing up, doing your job.

Like I say to my staff, show up, do your job.

And my son said to one of our staff recently, Saint, if you really want to get on my dad's bad side, just keep being late to meetings.

Drives me crazy.

So be on time.

Do your job.

Unto the Lord, not unto your boss.

You mean you're doing it for your boss, he's the intermediate one that you're obeying, but you're doing it for Christ.

And then do it sincerely.

And if you can't do it sincerely, then get out.

It's not right to him and it's not right to the other workers.

But be all there, you know.

Be sincere from your heart, is what he's saying.

Because Jesus is ultimately our employer.

So here's what here's the problem is I don't like those rules.

I don't want to do that.

That's that's that's not my style.

Could be that God's put your employer in your life to discipline you.

Hello.

What do you think about that?

So that God might actually be using your employer to actually discipline some things into your life that you need to be disciplined in.

And so, and so you have to see it that way.

But I wonder what God's saying through him or her that I need to grow in to be the best person that God's created me to be.

So he says, first of all, obey to the Lord.

So this is this is such a constant theme in Ephesians.

So in Ephesians 5.21, Paul says, Husbands and wives mutually submit to each other in the fear of God.

And the next verse, 5.22, wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

5.25, husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church.

6.1, children obey your parents in the Lord.

And now, bondservants obey your masters.

Look at the very last phrase, as to Christ.

Then he says, not with eye servants, and others, not brown nosing, as men pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ.

So he's so here's this interesting.

He's talking to literal slaves.

But he's saying, yeah, you're a bond servant to Christ first.

That's why you obey.

So, church, you obey your employer as a bond servant of Christ.

It is your mission field.

So he says, as to Christ, not with thy service as men pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will, doing service as to the Lord and not unto men.

So verse 5, it's as to Christ.

Verse 6, it's doing the will of God.

And verse 7, it's as to the Lord.

And he's making it so clear.

So number two, honor Christ through working with all your heart.

Honor Christ through working with all your heart.

So in Colossians, he almost says the exact same things in Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

Paul says, bond servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.

And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men.

So it's very interesting because this word heartily means wholehearted.

Here's what it means in Greek: it means to exceed expectations.

So God wants us to exceed expectations when we go to work.

So we think oftentimes in American evangelicalism that worship is something we do on Sunday morning.

I'm going to worship.

Or how many minutes do they do worship?

And we classify it in minute form to singing songs and a worship team up front.

But that's not biblical.

The biblical idea of worship is complete devotion and gazing upon Christ, and I believe that's everything that we do.

So everything we do unto Christ is worship.

Guys, when you get up early and you make coffee for your wife or you make breakfast or you serve your wife, that's worship.

Wives, when you bless and serve and care for your husband, that's worship.

When you go to work and you give everything, you exceed expectations because you're working under Christ, that's worship.

So work is worship.

It's exciting if you think of it that way.

Because you're a bondservant of Christ.

And when you're a bondservant of Christ, you're a slave unto Christ, Christ notices.

The Lord knows He's going to bless you in that.

He's going to anoint you.

And so, very interesting cryptic passage where Jesus is at Jordan River, hasn't done any ministry.

He just shows up on the scene, comes up to John the Baptist, asks to be baptized.

John the Baptist doesn't want to baptize him, but he does.

He baptized him, the heavens are open, and then it's what happens next.

It's so crucial.

It says, This is my son.

The Father says, This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.

And yet Christ has not done any miracles.

Christ hasn't done any mission work.

Christ has not done any ministry.

He has no disciples at this point.

So what is the father talking about?

He's talking about his son as a carpenter in a small town called Nazareth.

He's well pleasing to the Lord.

As a carpenter, as a stonemason, as a woodworker, as one who had to go out and get jobs and pay the bills with Mary, Joseph.

This is my son in whom I'm well pleased.

This is my beloved son.

Hadn't done anything.

Ministry-wise, by the way we define it, he had done everything ministry-wise as the way the Father views it.

And so you guys, when you go to work, that's ministry.

That's worship.

And I know guys all the time that are saying, I'm gonna be in a full-time ministry, maybe a full-time ministry, and I'm like, well, you're in full-time ministry.

What you think that somebody paying the bills that has a church name on it means you're in full-time ministry?

I know missionaries out there that have never been able to hold down a full-time job in America.

And I'm thinking, so you're gonna, so you got a passport, and because you got your passport punched or stamped, you're now a missionary?

You're still the same person as you were before.

Guys, be missionary right now.

Be missionary on Monday morning.

Be a missionary wherever God's called you to be.

When you come as a bond servant of Christ, you're a missionary.

You're worshiping Christ.

Some people serve in the political realm, some people serve in the medical realm.

Some people serve as moms and dads, and they're at home.

Some serve as mechanics, some serve as construction.

Well, it doesn't matter.

He's saying here, serve Christ.

That honors me.

That blesses me.

Don't be lazy.

Sometimes you wish that you could say that really, for by grace you've been saved through faith, not of yourself, but as a gift of God, not as a result of works that no one should boast wasn't in the scripture, Ephesians 2.8 and 9.

Because Christians tend to think, well, I'm saved, I'm delivered by the grace of God, and then it's like they get an entitlement mentality.

And you get around some of these other religious groups where they're working for their salvation, that's who I want to hire.

Because they're still trying to get saved, so they're working hard.

Rather, I think we work because it's worship, not so we can get saved.

And so when we work and to worship, it should be the best workers.

We should be the best workers in any company, not because we're trying to earn any brownie points with God or somehow get God to put our picture on a magnet in the heavenly refrigerator, but rather because we love him.

Just because we love him.

That's worship.

That's pretty good stuff right there.

All right?

Look at verse 8.

Knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive from the Lord.

Whether he's a slave or free.

Number three, honor Christ at work and you will be rewarded.

You're going to be, you're God notices even if your boss doesn't.

God notices even if no one else notices.

And he is going to open doors for you.

I look at so many in our church that lost their jobs because they would not comply with either mask mandates or vax mandates or whatever.

And what God did in almost every case with opening up new doors was amazing.

Because God rewarded that.

I'm not saying if you didn't comply, that's necessarily that was not God's will, but I'm saying in the case of people who didn't, because they had a conviction that way, it was amazing what God did to open doors.

Amazing.

And so, church, do your work under the Lord and know He's going to reward you.

I mean, we go, you go downstairs right now into the basement here, down below the first floor, and you're down there, and we've got some of the most successful people in business down on the floor with three-year-olds.

Playing with little men and playing with little cars.

Former college football players, pro athletes, can chop wood really good.

Down there playing with kids.

Because they know that by serving down there, they're worshiping the Lord.

God sees that.

We may not see that, you may not see that, but God sees that.

And so don't forget, if you feel like kind of lost in your job and nobody notices what you do, God does because you're doing it unto him.

And if you haven't been doing it unto him, then repent today and start doing it unto him.

And watch how God will give you a new joy in what you do.

Because I think you're supposed to enjoy your work.

Now that all the studies show that something like 65% of Americans don't even enjoy their work.

Well, I would say that you may need to be in that job because you need the money, but why don't you change?

Why don't you change your attitude by doing it under the Lord?

And then watch what God will do in your life in changing your attitude and actually opening doors of blessing in your life.

And so he's challenging us that he will reward us.

And then fourthly and lastly, verse 9 masters.

So not just slaves, not just employees, now employers, do the same thing to them.

Giving up, threatening, knowing that your own master also is in heaven.

And there's no partiality with him.

So, number four, employers.

Do the same thing.

Honor your people.

Every master has a master.

Every boss has a boss.

The biggest struggle for the owner, the biggest struggle for the employer is the word entitlement.

If you want to kill gratitude, start acting like you're entitled to something.

Entitlement kills gratitude, gratitude kills entitlement.

So and I know that.

I know that feeling like I planted this church.

I mean, we had nobody, and I was here.

I'm God's man.

I mean, that's entitlement thinking, man.

And you start wanting everybody to like bow down to you and everything.

It's like, that's stupid.

Some of you have an entitlement mentality.

God wants to bust you because you you ain't nothing without him.

But with him, you're everything.

You have everything that you need.

God can use you mightily and be, have gratitude and thanksgiving for all that you've been given, the country you've been born in, the county that you live in now, the church that you attend, and the job that you have, and the one that you married.

It's nothing, nothing's ever going to be perfect.

But when we start being thankful, it breaks the power of entitlement.

And when you break the power of entitlement, you become a better person.

You just become a better person.

So you're all special, but you're not.

So to know that you're special in God's eyes because you're a bondservant of Christ is one thing.

To think you're special because you're entitled to stuff because maybe you've had to work a little bit harder than the others can kill your gratitude.

So I want to challenge you.

I want to challenge you.

Do your work, exceed expectations, see all that you do as work unto Christ.

And watch what God will do.

He'll open doors, he'll slam you with blessing in your life.

Hey, thanks for listening to the Road Podcast.

It's been my joy to be a part of your life today.

And you know, that's part of what we do here at The Road, and this is what I do in having this Road Podcast is to empower people to change their world.

My passion and desire is that you would take God's word through the power of the Holy Spirit and make that relevant for your life.

You know, the reality is that God has placed your life here on this earth to make a difference.

And if you'd like more information about how to grow in Christ, if you need prayer, if you want more equipping in different areas of your life, go to theroad.org.

God bless you.