Many people think that our life should some how be divided up, that we have something special that we do on Sunday that is more spiritual and then we have the stuff that we need to do in order to stay alive and that includes working for a living. However that’s not what being Christian is. Being Christian is infusing every single aspect of our life with God’s grace, including those more worldly aspects.
First of all, if you are finding the Lord early enough…I believe that He will lead you into the proper path in the first place. He will guide you in educational choices, and career choices, He wants to be a part of every area of your life. Nothing is too big or too small for Him. However, if you are already in an established path it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are to pack up and leave. He may be asking you to continue with the same job but do it in a different way now. Work at it as if for the Lord Himself. Don’t be concerned about the outcome so much, just step out in obedience and He will cover you. Operate in the power of the Spirit…He will either give you what you need or He will pull you out and have you move on. Either way, don’t be overly attached to the outcome as long as you are doing your best.
I recently saw a meme that I really liked, it said that being a Christian shoemaker doesn’t mean putting little crosses on all the shoes you make. It means making the best shoes possible. So indeed that is what being a Christian employee or a Christian business owner is. Our morality comes from within, by relentless dedication to excellent service to all including the least of our brothers. By superb product quality that stands the test of time and that is priced right. That’s another thing, many think that if you are Christian you should be giving your talents away. Even though you are certainly asked to do volunteering and to tithe, that should only be a portion of it. Every Christian should charge market value for their products, it gives them value and allows them to take care of their families first and then be able to serve the Lord in whatever He asks. Poverty does not equal holiness unless it is taken on as obedience to the Lord as in the case of certain religious communities and so forth, that take such vows.
Another thing that is very important in the workplace is community. He sends us out two by two, find another Christian in your workplace (or industry) as a prayer partner. He will not send you in alone, even if you are self employed there are others either in your same business or another business that is compatible with yours that you can connect with. It has a dual purpose, you can check with each other on matters of discerning the Spirit and for intercession. But you can also be there for each other for networking and building each other up.
You can listen to Fr. Al Lauer speaking about Risen at my LENTEN page.
Please check out my friend’s book.
