Today we’re looking at the 3rd characteristic that makes business “Christian.” Below are the links for the previous characteristics that I posted.
Christian work is:
– 1. Creation-Fulfilling
– 2. Excellence-Pursuing
3. Today’s topic – Holiness-Reflecting:
If Christians work for God, that should inherently make them work with excellence. But knowing that God sees everything we do should also make us with integrity. Our work can be Christian insofar as it conforms to the highest standards of ethics.
The apostle Paul gives us a guide in this. Many people feel like their work is a grind, like they are mere slaves to the whims of their boss’ wishes, but in the book of Colossians, Paul speaks into a situation with actual slaves and masters. Now, this wasn’t as extreme a system of oppression as was tragically practiced in our own country. Still, being a slave in the first century—we might say “indentured servant”—significantly limited a person’s freedom, more than most of us can imagine. Into this context Paul says, “Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven” (Col 4:1).
For those of us with modern sentiments, we might want Paul to say something more like, “Masters, free your slaves, because it’s just plain wrong.” Yet in looking for advice like this, we are likely to miss how radical the standard is that Paul puts forward.* Even an indentured servant of the first century had little expectation of fairness from his master. Then, as now, the people with power often held themselves to a different standard than everyone else. Justice? Fairness? Kindness? Excellent ideas in principle, but in reality, if fairness and kindness don’t lead to a bigger bottom line, then they simply aren’t relevant.
But God does not approve of such spineless injustice. Into a system of injustice and unfairness He requires a higher standard, one reflective of His holiness. He intends for this holiness to be put on display in every aspect of life, particularly in the way that people work. As Christians, our work ought to make it obvious that we serve a God of justice and kindness. This means that Christian bosses ought to be less concerned with what they can get away with and more concerned with the fact that they are accountable to a heavenly Master for their actions with their employees. It means that Christian workers ought not to cut corners or lie about how much work they have been putting in. It means that business ethics really matter—that they matter much more than regular church attendance—because the ethics of a Christian in the workplace are meant to mirror the character of God. And our God is just as displeased with cheating or underpaying as He is with murder (cf. Prov 11:1).
*Don’t assume, however, that God never intended to abolish slavery. In fact, biblical passages like this form the backbone of anti-slavery movements, those successful movements of our American past as well as current struggles worldwide.
