So, how does the heir to the throne prepare for imperial work, dine with kings, dance with queens, study the anthologies of his ancestors, learn to think, talk and act like a king? This prince went about it a little differently. He walked away from the riches of royalty. He denied himself the adulation of the well-wishers.
He became a carpenter. The prince became skilled at working with wood. He could have had a quality business, a home crafted by his own hand, but the prince even gave up this. His job led him elsewhere.
The responsibility given to him so long ago because of his lineage couldn’t be completed in a workshop. So, wandering around the countryside, the prince began dining with the despised, dancing with children, caring for cripples, loving lepers, shattering stereotypes and inciting riots. He didn’t rule nations or make royal proclamations.
Instead, he befriended an eccentric band of misfits. He spoke to the masses in stories they often didn’t understand. But to his friends he was direct, “My job isn’t over yet. There’s more and it’s not pretty.”
His task, his life’s work, the commission he’d received from his father was … to die. He was to take the punishment for everyone who had ever done or ever would do anything against the king … and that included, well, everyone. It was his job to sop up the justice being poured out on the world, to absorb the fury of his father’s wrath.
I don’t know about you, but his job makes mine look really desirable in comparison. His job stunk. No matter how well-written the want add was, the applicant pool was bound to be small. But that was okay, since Jesus was the only one who had the right qualifications anyway, the only righteous one.
This story is not where most of us would go for career training, but the work ethic of Jesus is the highest around. We can learn many things about working by watching the boss. Be imitators of God. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
As you look back at the story you might start thinking, “I don’t want anything to do with that job.” I understand your hesitation, and share it, but know that while his job was tough it came with a great benefit package. Therefore God has highly exalted him and given him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow in heaven and on Earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God.
Jesus didn’t climb up the ladder of success. He turned the world upside down by voluntarily climbing down the ladder. He was scarred beyond repair, despised by a multitude, ignored by even more. But, when he reached the very bottom of that ladder the God of the universe, his father the king, loving lifted his broken body, the body that had born the sins of the world. He welcomed him home like a prodigal son, wrapped a royal robe around him and set him above all things forever and ever.
That same father – his father, your father – promises you the same thing in your job. He doesn’t guarantee you’ll reach your career goals, doesn’t pledge a promotion in the company. However, he vows that the greatest among you will be the servant of all.
“Yeah, but isn’t all that stuff about our Christian life? I mean this is my job, my life.”
Scripture teaches us that there is no distinction. You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
There is the key, the truth that Jesus knew. His job was not about him. No, it really wasn’t about us either, not in the grand scheme of things. It was about bringing glory to the Lord our God.
Your job is no different. It’s not about you. It’s all about him, bringing him glory. Yes, you may have to fix cars or fight crime, command masses or clean messes, but whatever you spend your day doing, it should be bringing glory to the Creator of the universe.
“Wait a minute, if I do that, bring glory to God in my work, couldn’t that backfire. I mean, what if I do the right thing, but doing that makes me lose a business deal. What if bringing glory to God brings unemployment to me? That can’t be God’s plan, can it?”
Those are good questions, and to answer them think back to the story of Jesus. What did doing the right thing bring him? If you said, “death” you win. If doing the right thing makes you lose your job, then that is exactly God’s plan.
I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life (job) will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Brining glory to God will probably not require physical death, but death to your pride – oh yeah, death to your passions – definitely, death to your own ambition – for sure.
When you bring glory to God in your career you may find yourself climbing down the ladder of success, but remember this promise. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. He’s offered you a benefit package to die for.
No comments:
Post a Comment