Colossians 3:23-24
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
When we respond to the call of Christ, our identity is not in the results we produce; our identity is in the God we serve. This actually empowers us to do more and better work in order to produce better results.
It is my belief that the Christian who walks with Jesus is in a position to maximize his performance/productivity because his mind is not distracted by the fear of performing below expectations or distorted by the desire to boost ego. All of his focus and energy goes into doing his job. He is motivated to serve God and others, not to avoid criticism or achieve recognition.
The Colossians passage above tells us that whatever we do, we should “work at it with all our heart.” It’s unfortunate that most of the translations use the word “heart” or “heartily” here, because in the Greek text the word is “soul.” Kardia is the Greek word for heart, but that is not the word used in this verse. The Greek word used here is psuche, which means “soul” or “spirit.” Our soul is our life, our inner being, the combination of our thoughts and feelings and will.
As a follower of Jesus, I find the Colossians passage incredibly inspiring. The Lord is instructing and encouraging us to bring our “soul and mind” to what we do every day. He wants us to bring the fulness of our soul to bear on our work, our marriage, our parenting, and our friendships. This is authentic Christianity. Everything we do should be done with a focused mind and fully engaged soul because we are serving the God who has breathed his very life into us.
Many people go to work every day, but have forgotten why and for Whom. I have referenced Os Guinness several times in the past, and will do so again here:
“A life lived listening to the decisive call of God,” he writes, “is a life lived before one audience that trumps all others—the Audience of One.” To live and work in response to the call of God is to live before his eyes and his heart, and it transforms what we do and why we do it. Dr. Guinness puts it this way: “We who live before the Audience of One can say to the world: ‘I have only one audience. Before you I have nothing to prove, nothing to gain, nothing to lose.’”
What is ironic is that God is both infinitely more accepting and infinitely more demanding than any human audience. He sees our failings and weaknesses, yet still loves us and fully embraces us. There is nothing we can do performance-wise that would cause him to love us more or love us less.
Yet at the same time, the Lord calls us to standards of living and working that are higher than any standard on earth. And the Lord constantly evaluates us … not just our behavior, but our innermost thoughts and motives. Who can withstand such scrutiny? Who can hold up under that kind of relentless, piercing critique?
The answer: People who have surrendered to Christ, who are redeemed by the blood of the cross, and who have experienced God’s grace. People who know that they are loved by God and called into relationship with him, and who also know that God is working in them and through them to accomplish purposes far greater than self.
So the question is this: Is the manner of our life worthy of the gospel of Christ? Is the work we do every day motivated by gaining approval and avoiding the criticism of others, or do we work every day for the Audience of One?
The Lord is calling.
