Thursday, December 6, 2018
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Some of the nasty words in the English language are often described as four-letter words. So it's probably not a coincidence that "boss" is a four-letter word. You sure get a lot of complaining about the boss. Usually the boss writes a Want Ad when an employee is needed. But what if the employee got to write an ad when the boss was needed? What would you put in there? "Boss wanted: fair, consistent, caring, listener, interested in his employees, impartial, approachable." Hey, hold it! You want it? You got it!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Dream Boss."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Colossians 3, beginning at verse 22. It's actually addressed to the slaves of that time. Now right away we're talking about a less than ideal working environment wouldn't you say? Today it would be employees; although maybe you feel like the word slave still fits. Listen, "Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord." By the way, this is followed with the way the master should treat them.
Paul talks here about two motivators for doing good work. He says, number one, maybe the boss is watching; and secondly, to win their favor because you want to impress them. Then in verse 23, he talks about a working lifestyle, "Whatever you do" - little, big, glory, no glory, pleasant, unpleasant - "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart." He's describing a hundred percenter here, but here's their motive, "...as working for the Lord not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."
Now who's your boss where you work? Well, if you know the Lord, ultimately your boss is the Lord Christ. Work for Him because He's the one who's watching all the time. He's the one to impress. He's the rewarder. This is pretty radical stuff! It means you're going to work with all your heart no matter what the environment and no matter what kind of superior you have. Your work is going to be for the approval of Jesus, actually looking past your human boss right over his or her shoulder and seeing Jesus there.
So that means if you're cooking French fries, you're going to say, "I'm going to be the best French fry cooker they ever had." I'm going to be the best algebra student this algebra teacher has ever seen. Whether I get the best grades or not, I'm going to work as hard as anybody they've ever had. I'm going to be the best shipping clerk, or checkout person, or vice president, or teacher they've ever seen. You'll be known as their hardest worker; one who's on time, who keeps their commitments, who doesn't cut corners, who finishes what they start, who goes the extra mile. Not for them. No, you're not working for the company. See, that's your secret. You're not working for your superior. You realize that Jesus cares about how you work, so this is an offering to Him.
You get your paycheck from your human boss and maybe a nice bonus occasionally. Wait till you see the reward you're going to get from your real boss. Starting now, and then ultimately forever, it is from the Lord, the Bible says, that you will receive your inheritance. That's the biggest paycheck of all - your real reward. He's the One you want to please. He's the One you want to impress. He's the One you're doing it all for, and when a job is for Him, you know you do it with everything you've got.
When you work for Jesus Christ, you work with all your heart because you have got the Dream Boss.