Peter and Andrew were casting while James and John were mending their fishing nets. Matthew was at his tax booth. Saul was on a business trip. The Philippian jailer was just resting his eyes. They were all regular people doing their jobs in Matthew 4, Matthew 9, Acts 9, and Acts 16 – and then their lives changed forever when they met Jesus.
So anytime we treat faith as “off-limits” at work, we are making a colossal mistake. Sure, you really shouldn’t ask someone where they go to church during a job interview. Because we should do our jobs to the best of our ability, an in-depth Bible study or lengthy church-related phone call may not be appropriate while you are on the clock. Yet, to exclude faith from the workplace – to never pray at work, to never pray about work, to never apply Scripture to the way we work, to never express Christ-like encouragement or plant seed for the gospel with our co-workers – is a tragic missed opportunity.
When it comes to encounters with Jesus in Scripture, some of the most meaningful – seismic even, in the jailer’s case – happened on the job. Not just in Scripture, either. Today, we have brothers, sisters, and even whole families who are here because someone shared Jesus with them while at work.
There are so many opportunities to truly follow Jesus at work, if we are seeking them. The prayer time when I truly learned to want God’s will above all else wasn’t at worship but in a parking garage before an interview. My greatest experience of prayer’s power was crying in my office after suffering viciousness from a leader. One of the most important sermons I ever preached was not in a pulpit but in a board room, when that same leader graciously invited me (after my completely unrelated telemedicine presentation) to share my decision to go into full-time ministry with the senior leaders of a multi-billion dollar organization.
Lives change when Jesus is on the job. Often, the lives that change the most are our own.
Ready to work with God everyday? Check out our sermon series “Don’t Quit Your Day Job: Glorifying God from 9 to 5”!