Poised for Promotion

Ephesians 6: 5

Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ.

Just in case you thought Friday’s word was a fluke and could ignore it, here is another book in which God commands us to be good employees. God is concerned with the condition of our spirits and our testimony. In everything we do, we are representatives of Him. If we talk about others behind their backs, then we are being bad stewards of the faith God has placed in us. That is especially detrimental when that person is our boss or pastor or some other person God has placed in authority. You are damaging your own spirit and spiritual growth as well as sowing bad seeds and disobeying the directions of the Lord.

Your boss or whomever that person of authority is, will account to God for their actions and that really is none of your concern. Your calling requires you to be the best employee you can and to pray for all of those who are in authority positions. God wants to be able to use you. He wants to be able to send you into situations where you can do His work. You have to take your eyes off of yourself first. Do not be self-concerned but instead pray. God might have put you under that person just because they do need help. How is God supposed to move in the earth if every time he sends a Christian into a situation, they gripe and criticize, worrying only about themselves and their rewards? If the circumstances are not perfect where you work then maybe it is that very brokenness that has attracted God’s attention and the reason why He has sent you there. Be faithful in your current position. Show God you have what it takes to be one of his lieutenants. Then you will be poised for promotion.

Faithful Servant

Titus 2: 9 – 10

Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.

The apostle Paul directs us to subject ourselves to the authority figures in our life. We are supposed to be subjected to them and serve them. In the context of this verse one will understand that the bondslave/master relationship most naturally converts to the employee/employer relationship in today’s society. You may be under someone for whom you do not have a lot of respect. Or your boss may not be as smart as you. None the less, God says that you are to show them respect, not argue with them but rather show faithfulness to them and the company. Why do we do this? First of all, because God said so. That will be enough for most of us. But also so that the light of God and his doctrine shall shine and God be glorified. 

I also notice that Paul again addresses that argumentative behavior which many of us contend with in our personalities. Father has not called us to be critical or contrary. The light should bless people. We also must confront a systemic problem that pervades our society but which Paul addressed 2000 years ago. That is pilfering. We are not to take the pens, paper clips and note pads of our employers but equally important is to not steal time. If we are paid to work from 8:00 to 5:00 then that means that by 8:00 we are settled into our work station and working, not on the way to the coffee machine. You should never get paid what you are worth because you should always give more value than your paycheck. Your employer should come to notice that Christian employees are a blessing because they are faithful, obedient and trustworthy.