The Workplace - A High Calling

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

The call to the workplace is a high calling of our Lord Jesus it is not a call to a pew.  Few who answer this call will find themselves speaking to the masses, but just to ordinary people whose title in the workplace may be, owner, manager, laborer, salesperson, plumber, doctor, and the list just keeps going, but it is not the title, it is the assignment.  Paul had a cool title, an apostle of Christ Jesus, but his line of work was tent maker, that is how he made his living. 

His title sometimes clouds my thinking, how can a salesperson like myself identify with a Paul?  In the same way that I identify with my dear friend John Davis who held the title of CEO for many years of his business life, or my doctor and friend Tony Tsen, or Scott Baird who is a dear brother and friend and was one of the owners of a large bakery.  Our responsibilities were not the same in the workplace and I can assure you that our pay was not the same, but we have the same calling.  All workplace believers, who by faith have invited Christ into our lives, are called to be ambassadors of Christ to our area of influence.  

Never allow anyone to imply that your “vocation,” from Latin vocātiō which means “a calling,” is of less importance than a preacher or anyone else who has a title of  “I’m in fulltime ministry,” what a bunch of garbage; an Ambassador’s job is not a part time job, it is fulltime, to your vocation.  The “big Schemer,” the one our Father calls a liar and the father of lies has done a number on each of us who listen to the lie that they are called to “fulltime ministry” and I’m much lower in the food chain of God’s calling, I’m only a _______ and put your occupation in the blank.

You may need an example of how to let Christ live in and through you in your workplace calling; I believe Paul can help us, this tentmaker.  As you read 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13, do not let the enemy of your soul steal the application of these verses from your mind, your power to be an Ambassador of Christ does not come from your title, it comes from the Spirit of God who indwells you. 

So, taking the tentmaker example, work diligently at your calling, never be a burden to anyone, not your boss, or your employees, and never to the one who called you to be His ambassador, or the ones who He is sending you to help.  I believe we all need a fellow workplace believer to exhort and encourage us, to do as the tentmaker is doing to these Thessalonians as he gives them and us this charge to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls us into his own kingdom and glory.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice my blog; http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/