Many Christians feel spiritually unfulfilled. They yearn like to boss to ignore the words of Jesus. They themselves are god in their own eyes. “Do not work for food that spoils but for food that endures eternal life ” so Jesus said. Your stupid boss knows better 0r so he thinks. He is god but you are stuck. You have to make a living and your job drains away most of your time and energy. So you are left feeling disatisified even guilty.
I understand this feeling – you know it well too. Your stupid incompotent boss ” The rules are golden and they are my rules. ” What a stupid idiot with airmiles and perks. “I am entitled”. How on earth can you put up with a situation where your job at your worksite or place of employment is to survive this idiocy and do your job in spite of it all. It turns out to be a matter of perserverence and struggle right to the end. And yet the Peter Principle lives on all too long. Middle management will go down kicking and screaming while the ship goes down , jobs get outsourced and middle management sticks together like the glue from a dead horse. General Motors ( G.M.) is sinking to its death , the upper management hides in their top floor offices , with executive dining rooms , and the union leaders call a strike that can potentially cost billions of dollars – all for job security. Go figure. It all comes down to ” Now that idea has merit” And the idiot sitting next to you is the overpaid bumpkin who dreamed up that stupid idea. The emperor has no clothes.
Many Christians feel spiritually unfulfilled. They yearn to obey the words of Jesus.
Do not work for food that spoils but for food that endures to eternal life: They want to serve God but they are stuck. They have to make a living, and their job drains them away most of their time and energy. So they feel dissatified , even guilty.
People in difficult work settings and situations find that the work is wonderful idea more than hard enough to swallow. Many single women in today’s work force more than hard enough to swallow. Many single women in today’s work force are trying to maintain a home while they work long hours outside the home – whether it be for Walmart of whoever – where they are told ” either smile or you are fired”. Not unlike working in a Soviet labor camp .
Despite all of their efforts to better themselves, they find that they cannot afford afford decent housing, food and medical care for their families. And yet they are constantly reminded that ” it could be worse”. Whether it be their boss demanding more, rewarding them for an unbalanced lifestyle , even demanding such or being told again and again that it could be worse. More downsizing . So and so is not with ” the firm”. Such and such an operation or office was transferred to god’s no where or to India or ot to China it goes on and on. Picking up the phone to call American Express ( Amex) the victim finds the phone answered by a person in India , who seems to know their job, within limits of understanding.
Yet it is the front line worker who bears the brunt of the challenges and changes , not the incompotent management – the ones who caused all or least most of this trouble in the first place. Rah , rah , rah . Number one . West is best. East is best . Rah rah rah. Here we are in the control tower….. Yet this group will go down holding their perks and air miles down to the last man. They may be this , they may be that but management will stick together like glue to maintain those air miles.
In singing the praises of work and calling it a first class service to God , it as if saying that broccoli and spinach are good for you. People in difficult work situations find that the work is wonderful routine is an idea hard to swallow. It is not unlike Ivan the worker in Soviet Russia in a labor camp thinking after the end of a dreary day that all in all it was not a bad day.
The result is that double message goes forth. Your boss says one thing while adressing the subject of work directly and quite another thing most of the time.
God works looks into our hears and anything we do out of love for the Lord has value. When your boss constantly emphasize that only work related activities qualify as great service, they imply or more than imply that your life has value only if you are working. Do they not realize that such efforts are not productive but totally unproductive. To insist and demand an unbalance life is just plain foolish and stupid. No bargain in the end . What kind of monster is your boss that he can come to town and prove ” the rules are golden , they are my rules”, regardless of any effect on the worker’s morale or performance. All to get a few travel points and a few drinks that the manager / boss/ idiot can brag about his perks. What stupidity and foolishness . Downright evil.
Is Secular work second rate ? The church has not ignored the message of Scripture about the dignity of work. Many fine sermons have been preached on the very passage in Colossians . Faithful to that text, preachers and your boss proclaim that we are to do our work heartily as unto the Lord or your jerk boss that he will reward such service.
Unfortunately m the church has also communicated the impression that secular work is “second rate”. When not actually addressing the subject of work preachers tend to contradict the spiritual view of work , even if not directly. Too often they communicate that working in the marketplace serves God , but that working directly for the church , or donating to the Church SERVES God
