First day back at work

There's no getting away from it - it doesn't matter how much you love your job - the first day back at work after the summer holidays is a nightmare. The sudden gear-shift from sloth to productivity; the overflowing inbox; the mini-crises (and sometimes not so mini ones) that have crept on to your desk - they all seem to conspire to make day 1 a pressure-cooker of despair. It might be nice to see your colleagues again but few people skip home that first day back ...

Some of that is tiredness, pure and simple. But mixed up in there, all too often, is our inability to divorce ourselves from the world's way of thinking. We get our identity from what we do rather than who we know ourselves to be in Christ. Or we forget who we are really working for and what our true purpose is. And so, when what we do is hard, we feel rubbish.

If that sounds like you, why not dip into Tim Chester's, Gospel Centred Work and refresh your view of work today ...

Work and the grace of God

Christians should find a renewed commitment to hard work. It’s not that we work hard to win God’s approval. We receive God’s approval as a gift. In the world around us, this is how the equation tends to work:

activity (what we do) ---> identity (who we are)

In other words, who I am is based on what I do. I’m a successful business person if I succeed in business. I’m a good mother if I have lovely children. I’m a professional if I gain the necessary qualifications. I’m a good worker if I work hard. But the grace of God turns this whole way of thinking upside down in the most counter-intuitive of ways.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2 v 8-10

If activity leads to identity, then I can be saved only if and when I do good works. But it’s not my works that make me who I am, but God’s work. We are God’s handiwork. It’s Christ’s work on the cross that saves me, that makes me a saved person approved by God. The grace of God turns the world’s way upside down. Instead of activity (what we do) ð identity (who we are), with the grace of God:

identity (who I am) ---> activity (what I do)

God makes me a good person (a person declared righteous in His sight) through Christ. In Christ I am someone who does good works. My good works don’t make me who I am. Instead they’re the natural expression of who I am as a result of God’s work. You can’t make a tree into an apple tree by gluing apples onto it. But if a tree is an apple tree then it will produce apples — of course it will; that’s what apple trees do. In the same way, you can’t make yourself a good person, by gluing good works on to your life. But if you’re a good person then you’ll produce good works—of course you will; that’s what good people do.

What’s the result of Christ’s work for us and the Spirit’s work in us? We are “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” In the workplace (as in the rest of life) we will do good work.

Work and the glory of God

But what is the source of this renewed commitment to work? It is that Christians have rediscovered that work can be done for the glory of God. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3 v 22-24

We work “with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord”. We work “as working for the Lord”. We look to “a reward” from him. “It is the Lord Christ we are serving.” Workers are to work as if Jesus is their boss. But so are bosses: “Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven” (Colossians 4 v 1). Paul does not simply say we can take delight in our work. We can also take delight in the fact that God takes delight in our work.

“Why aren’t you working?” said a boss to one of his employees. “Because I didn’t see you coming.” It’s very easy to work hard or follow the right procedures when our boss can see us, but cut corners when they’re not around. But we’re to work as if Jesus is our boss and Jesus sees us all the time. Even when no-one else recognises what we do, we can find pleasure in knowing that we are pleasing God.