- Opening and Closing the Gate
- Do You Know What Your Kids Are Watching?
- How do you create a Christ-centered home?
- His Role and its Duties
- Men God Wants
- The Role of Friendship in Marriage
- Fathers who interact with children plant life-changing seeds
- Fatherhood isn't for Sissies
- How to Catch a Redhead!
- No Quantity, No Quality
- Do You Know What Your Kids Are Watching?
- Fatherhood
- Anytime, Anywhere, Anyone
- Rites of Passage for Your Son
- Draw Your Children Into the Bible
- Fathers who interact with children plant life-changing seeds
- Work and Family: The Ongoing Tug-Of-War
- Discipline: A Pendulum Swing
- Building Relationships with Your Stepchildren.
- Fatherhood isn't for Sissies
One of the Hard Commands
Some commands of Scripture are harder to obey than others. One that is harder at times than others is Colossians 3:22-23 “Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye service, as men pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: 23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”
Certainly, when we have a boss we like, this is an easy command to obey. The hard time comes with bosses that we don’t get along with for whatever reason. But God doesn’t give us an easy out in that situation.
Notice that Scripture does not say “obey your master as long as you like what he has to say.” We might wish it did, but that doesn’t change the fact that it doesn’t. Naturally, there is an exception. If your boss orders you to do something immoral, illegal or unethical, you are not required by God to obey that.
If you have a boss that you conflict with for whatever reason, you need to obey the Lord here for a number of reasons. First, you want to keep your job, being unemployed because you couldn’t agree with your boss will make future interviews difficult. Your potential boss will start wondering if you are going to do the same with him.
Second, but more importantly, your obedience and attitude will serve as a testimony to an unsaved boss. If he has been in leadership for any length of time, he will have had employees who did not obey this command. If they were Christian, they made a very poor witness. You have to make up for their slack. If, on the other hand, they were not, then your obedience leaves a good impression on your boss.
You won’t agree with everything your boss says, but you can approach it as a mature Christian. Oftentimes, just sitting down with the boss and explaining your issues can help. You may be used to dealing with something that he is not taking into account. He may not realize that his instructions are going to add hours to the project later.
It could be though, that your boss has relevant information that you do not. His instructions work well once you know the big picture. He may have thought you understood the situation as he did. You may still disagree in the end, but you know his thoughts. Whatever the reason, just by talking about it, you have done the first part of the right thing.
What are some other ways you can show a good witness at work?
- You don’t gossip with other workers. You don’t share gossip, you don’t listen to gossip. You don’t have to make a big deal about it. Just quietly walk away when the gossip starts.
- You don’t steal items from work. Not even paperclips, not even a half-used pen. You didn’t buy it and the person who did bought it for use at work.
- You don’t steal time from your employer. You don’t waste time on frivolity at work. When you are at work, you do your work. You can talk about other things on break. Do your March Madness brackets on lunch not during the first hour of work.
- You don’t talk about your boss behind his back.
- When the time and situation are appropriate, share your faith with those who are open.