Work in a Manner Worthy of Your Calling - Ephesians 6:5-9

1:34The title of the conference was The Christian in the Workplace, Recovering a Biblical Truth About Work. And the question I have is this. Does the Bible have anything to say about work? As you turn through the pages of Scripture, do you see anything there about our responsibility in the workplace to Christ our Savior? Again, I invite you to Ephesians chapter 6, verses 5 through 9. The more I flip the pages of Scripture, and I'm reading through the whole Bible, looking at this topic right now. I'll be starting Joshua next tomorrow morning. I'm finding more and more about the doctrine of vocation. It's excited me so much that I'm going to write my dissertation on this topic and my doctorate. It's excited me so much that I'll be preaching 12 separate sermons. This is the first one on this topic. Herod Emmanuel. It's all over the scriptures. Paul, you see, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote the book of Ephesians. And we need to keep in mind that he wrote it to saints. Not just saints, but he calls them faithful saints. What does that mean? He wrote this to believers. And so what we're about to discover is a philosophy or a theology of work that applies to those who have repented of their sins and have trusted in Christ. If you have not vowed the need of Christ, if you have not repented of sin, this makes no sense to you. In fact, it'll probably sound like foolishness. But for those who have embraced Christ, This is the message that we need to know about work. So he addresses it to faithful saints. He addresses it to faithful saints in the marketplace in chapter 6, verses 5 through 9. In chapters 1 through 3, he tells us who we are in Christ. Isn't it fascinating that he didn't tell us how to work in the first chapter?

3:20He wanted you to know who you are as a believer in Christ. Indeed, it tells us, right in chapter 1, that God chose believers. It tells us that Jesus redeemed these people that are in the marketplace, and it tells us that the Holy Spirit sealed them in their salvation. This isn't a once prayed, always saved. This is a once repented of sin, once called on the gospel of Christ, and embraced the true message of Christ. You are sealed in the Holy Spirit. Chapters 4 through 6 tell us to act like Christians. And so the last thing he tells us about acting like Christians is in the workplace. In chapter 4, verse 1, he begs you to walk in a manner worthy of your calling. Put another way, he begs you to walk in a manner worthy of God's choice of you, even in the workplace.

4:13In your marriage, in your family, in your career. In chapter 5, he implores us to bear God's image. He says, look like God in your attitudes. Ephesians chapter 5, verses 18 through 21, gives us very specific instructions about. How to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Very specific. Four ways to be filled with the Spirit. I'm just going to mention them. To speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. To sing to the Lord. To give thanks for all things. You mean everything? Yes, give thanks for all things. And then the last one: you're filled with the Spirit by being subject to one another in the fear of Christ, in your home life, in your married life, in your way you raise your children, children, the way you respond to your parents, employees, how you respond to your employer, employer, how you respond to your employees. So this morning we're considering a message from the Lord, rarely discussed in the church. Rarely. I'm fascinated by this. And in the different locations where I preach this message, they say, How come we don't hear more about this?

5:24You see, what you learn here on Sunday is what you apply Monday through Friday. Why wouldn't we talk about this message? We're asking and answering the question: what does it mean for a Christian to labor, to toil, to slog it out in the marketplace for God's glory? For God's glory to impact your internal, external supply chains, your internal company and your external company, those that you deal with, you buy and sell to. Does the scripture tell us how to work in a manner? Worthy of our calling? To please the Lord, to glorify Him? Yes, it does. Paul's very clear to act like God's people in our places of work.

6:13To some, this is a career-limiting move, isn't it? You act like a Christian in the workplace? It's a career-limiting move. Just how safe is it to faithfully walk, a faithful walk with Christ in the marketplace? How wise is it to be a faithful saint? Ephesians chapter 1, verse 1, and Ephesians 6, verses 5 through 9 in the marketplace. This is a very dangerous message. It's a dangerous message. I know a guy once who was severely disciplined for simply answering some questions about the Bible, about his faith. Not necessarily at work, maybe at lunch, maybe on some business trips, etc.

7:03And later on, he was told that his answers were an act, quote unquote, from the HR department in an email, that your answering questions was an act detrimental to the company. And in the context of that policy were the same policies such as no terrorism, no carrying guns on corporate property, no drugs, etc. This guy was told that his answers to those questions was an act. Detrimental to the corporation. It's very serious. Well, as I said, this is a dangerous message. You apply Ephesians 6:5 through 9 in the workplace, and someone's going to get hurt. Why would we talk about this on a Sunday morning? Why would we talk about somebody maybe losing their job over the Scriptures? Well, this is the very reason we're talking about it.

7:52Well, how about if we read this section of Scripture here? Now that I've evaded you a little bit, you understand a little bit about where we're heading. I'm in chapter 6 of Ephesians. I'm going to start in verse 5. He says this: Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, and the sincerity of your heart as to Christ. Not by way of eye service, as men pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

8:22With good will. Render service as to the Lord, not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening them, knowing that both your master and their master is in heaven, and there's no partiality with him. Paul wrote this letter about 2,000 years ago. I don't want us to get tripped up by these words, slave and master. Don't get lost in those statements here. You see, slavery was. Alive and well in the ancient Near East. The Bible has a lot to say about slavery, a lot of harsh things to say about slavery. And Exodus chapter 21, verse 16, talks about the fact if you kidnap a man, you die. It's capital punishment. It's very serious. Having a stolen man in your possession results in capital punishment for the nation of Israel. Deuteronomy chapter 24, verse 7 says, kidnappers shall die, purge this evil from amongst you. So I don't want us to get lost in the words slave and master with our American experiment a couple of centuries ago. It's not what Paul's talking about. He's simply recognizing that in the culture he's trying to reach with the gospel of Christ, there are believers that work in that culture. There are people in that culture that are trying to reach with the gospel. And so he gives them careful instructions. So the message is not about slavery. Yes, we need to acknowledge that it was alive and well in that place. In fact, one-third of the Roman Empire consisted of slaves, including Christians, people like you and me. Who were they? They were doctors. They were lawyers. These slaves were teachers. They were cooks. They were custodians, bakers, farmers, and foreign prisoners of war. One-third of the people. In that world, the ox and the man, there's no difference between the two. Both could be bought and sold on a whim, for any reason or no reason at all. The only difference between the ox and the man. The man was that the ox couldn't speak.

10:34The man and the woman had no choice what was going on. They had to obey their masters. You think your workplace in the marketplace is a Christian is a tough place to be. Well, this, Ephesus, was a tough place to be for these people who walked with the Lord. Christian men, women, and children just like us live there. They raised their families there. They were beaten there, and they died there. Paul repeatedly tells us he's God's slave.

11:11Let me tell you something. Paul was a world-class expert on slavery. He says many times in the New Testament, directly saying that I am God's slave. So in that sense, we are slaves with him. Our master is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So we aren't slaves and we're not masters. Even so, the implications of Ephesians 5:6, 5 through 9 for us today in the marketplace are very profound. This is instructive for us Monday through Friday, Saturday if you work down, even Sunday. Think about it. If a company could apply these principles in this passage, they could close the doors to the human resources department. Wouldn't that be cool? Unless you're in human resources, of course. It wouldn't be so cool. But you could affect your margins that way. In fact, Price Waterhouse. did a study on this in 2009, and they said that the average cost of human resources for a company is 28% of their revenue. 28%.

12:11And much of that revenue granted goes to payroll, but a lot of it goes to getting management out of hot water, looking for ways to get rid of employees who are underperforming, etc. This message is about something very important. If you're taking your notes, you're writing things down. Here's what you're going to hear this morning. Walking in a manner worthy of your calling so that you can be filled with the Holy Spirit at work. That's what this is about. Walk in a manner worthy of your calling so you can be filled with the Holy Spirit on the corporate clock. Isn't that cool? Really? How's this work?

12:48Your faith must be alive and well as you do your job. But how? How do we do this? If you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit on the corporate clock, there's really four key action items you need to embrace. Total of four of them. I think we might even have them on the slide. There we go. Here they are. Believers must follow instructions. And we see that in verses 5 through 6. Believers must do God's will from the heart. Again, chapter 6, verse 6. Believers must recognize their good deeds will be rewarded by the Lord. In verse 8, and then believers must lead as if managing Jesus himself. Isn't that profound?

13:27So the first action item, so that we can be filled with the Lord. Filled with the Spirit at work is this. Believers must follow instructions. Let me just read it again, verses 5 and 6. Excuse me. Yeah, 5 and 6. Believers must follow instructions. Slaves must be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and with trembling, and the sincerity of your heart is to Christ, not by way of eye service, as men pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. There's an implication here. Yes, he's talking about slaves. He's talking about masters. He's talking about the concept of employees and employers here. And there's this action item. We have to listen. You're filled with the Holy Spirit as you obey your boss. Now, where do I get this filled with the Holy Spirit? You see, back in chapter 5, it says to be filled with the Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit. And he gives us these four ways to do that, right? One of them is submission. We looked at it already. Chapter 5, verses 20 and 21. And so there's this submission that goes on. We have to be submissive to our boss in the workplace.

14:29You're filled with the Spirit as you obey your boss. As you carry out your boss's instruction, the Spirit fills you. That's the idea as a believer here. The famous saying, What interests my boss fascinates me, rings true. You could look at it this way: What interests my boss keeps my family fed. What interests my boss keeps my sons and my daughters and my wife, my husband clothed, and a roof over their head. We want to take care of our bosses. God wants us to do that. I worked for a Fortune 100 company for 20 years. I worked for one of the greatest companies in the world, FedEx, for 20 years. You cut a FedEx employee, and what color do they bleed? Captain? Purple. Yes. Captain Smith here flies a DC-10 with FedEx. He knows all about it. FedEx is a great company. So, with FedEx, we took care of our employees, and I had an annual letter of expectations. Very clear requirements that I had to fulfill in this annual letter of expectations. I knew exactly what I had to accomplish. My letter of expectations I also gave to my own employees. They knew exactly from one quarter to the next, for an entire year, the things that they would have to do. We call them KPIs or critical indices, performance indices. Ten indices for success, something like revenue versus gold. It's important. If you're going to be with your employer, you want to see their revenue climbing, because that's how you keep your job. Positive profit margins versus negative profit margins. Pretty important. If the company is not making their profit margins, they're going to go out of business. So each employee was graded on that. Employee retention, customer satisfaction, many other ways in which we measured our employees' performance, whether it was mine or me measuring, or my management measuring me.

16:13How do we do it? From frontline employees to the C-level, to the corporate level, even the chairman of the board had key indices that they had to perform. At FedEx, we had a philosophy of business. It was called people-service-profit. PSP. In other words, you take care of your employees. And they're going to provide a really great service. And if they provide a great service, the DC-10 lands on time, customers are going to keep coming back. And so the circle goes. You take care of your people, they take care of the customers, and so you have a profit. And I would assume that that's the same way with any corporation, any small business for that matter. So, in keeping with these theme, this theme in chapter 6, verse 5, it was with great fear and trembling that I listened to, and I followed, and I obeyed these instructions. And I expected my direct reports to do the same thing. So, right there in verse 5, look at verse 5, he gives three critical indices. Let's stick with the business terminology. Three critical indices for doing what the boss says. In other words, follow instructions. Do you see it there in the verse, verse 5? He says, obey with what?

17:21Fear and trembling. Fear and trembling. In other words, employees, this is an ongoing action and an expectation from your Lord and Savior that you listen to your management team. Now, bosses, don't get too prideful here. Don't jump out the gate too quick because there's some very clear language that Paul tells you in verse 9. In other words, it doesn't give you license to scare your employees to death, bosses. That's not what he's saying here. Bosses, if you keep your employees up at night fearing for their job, then you've got to answer to verse 9 that we'll cover in just a moment.

18:00You do that, you scare your employees, you drive your employees to fear. Again, you're going to have to answer to the Lord for that. The word fear in verse 5 is also used of fearing God. It's a deep sense of reverential fear. It's accountability to the Lord Himself. The words fear and trembling are also used together in the same text in Philippians 2, verse 12. Philippians 2, verse 12, I'll just read it to you. It says this: So then, my beloved, just as you've always obeyed, not just in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with what? Fear and trembling. Fear and trembling, they're used together again.

18:45Employees, you are to chart, and you are to follow your boss's directives with a sincere heart, according to this passage. Void of sinful motivations, be in tune to what God's will is for you. Now, for the second critical indices for doing what your boss says, for listening to the boss, obeying the boss, you must obey with a sincere heart in verse 5. Think of the word sincerity. Think sincerity. Think integrity. Acting without a hidden agenda. Don't pretend you're laboring when you're really loitering at work. You're working as unto the Lord, not necessarily as unto your boss. Paul puts it this way in Colossians 3:17. He says this, And whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him. That's important for us to remember in our workplace when it's tough, when the boss is difficult. Everything you do in the office, in the factory, students, in the dormitory is for God's glory. Do it to the best of your ability for his glory. For his glory. Now, for the third critical indices for doing what the boss says, for listening to the boss, it's in verse 6.

19:58You must listen to and do what your boss says, you know, for following instructions without sinful motives on your part. You see that word, eye service, in verse 6? Glance down at that. If you're going to underline a word, that's a cool word to underline. The word eye service is Paul's invented term. He coined this term here in the New Testament. You know, it's interesting. There has been research done on the ancient Near East documents. This word never shows up, the Greek word for eye service. It never shows up anywhere else. There's only one other place it does show up, and Paul is the author of it, and that's in Colossians 3.22. And it literally means eye slavery.

20:37Eye slavery. If you've been in the workforce long enough, you've probably seen it hundreds of times. When the boss is around, everybody's slaving to the boss's eye. They do exactly what they're supposed to do when the boss is looking. When the boss isn't looking, it's not always the same. Well, when Upper Management traveled with me and I did a lot of travel, Traveling around the country, different places around the world. I made sure that I scheduled my day in such a way that I would run those bosses ragged. I wanted them to think that I worked like that every day. Yes, I'm guilty of it too. Are you? Yes, eye service, eye slavery. And they were worn out at the end of the day, the end of the week. I was a slave to their eyes because, again, I wanted them to think that I was always like that. And I was a hard worker, but you know what? I didn't work at that pace every single week. Don't be a slave to the watchful eyes of people looking on. The famous saying: when the cat's away, what? The mice will play. Look, don't be the mouse that's out playing when the boss is gone. I slavery, eye service. Serve as unto the Lord. It's for His glory that you're serving. When you work at home, labor harder when you work at home. Be more productive at home because you never want them to think that you're off playing doing something. I tell you what, when I work at home, I'm working hard. It's important. You have to be that way. Work as if you're working for Jesus Himself under His nose. Don't call in sick when you're not sick. Labor for Christ because He's the one that gives you good health. Let me tell you about my worst day off ever. My worst day off ever. So I get this phone call on a Thursday night, late April, and I lived in Southern California. It was just starting to warm up. Winter's got cold where I live. Yes, cold, down to 20 degrees. And so it was warming up, and the buddy says, To me, and if you know me, you know, I used to compete in water skiing. So he called me up. He says, Hey, it's warm enough. I go, I know, it's very nice out there, but you know, tomorrow's Friday. He goes, I'm taking the boat out. We're going skiing. He says, You've got to come. I said, But I'm working. I can't make it. Just call in sick, he says.

22:47I can call in sick. Type out an email because that's easier, right? Boss, I'm sick today. So I go skiing, and I didn't really stretch well enough. I didn't do my off-season exercises like I should have. And I'm out there skiing and, you know, pulling some hard G's on the rope. And I glance down the rope and I see a knot in it. About six inches of knot, a loop. And I'm thinking to myself, this isn't going to end well. Because that knot's going to give out. And I'm holding the handle. The knot gives out. It pulls me forward into the wake, probably at about 40 miles an hour. Wrenched my back. And you know what? Now I had a reason to be off that day because I couldn't walk on it.

23:26I will never, and I'm telling you guys this: never call in sick when you're not sick. God has the last laugh. He does. Well, follow instructions. That's our first point. Secondly, the second action item to be filled with the Spirit at work is this: Believers must do God's will from the heart. Verse 6, he says, not by way of eye service, as men pleased us, but as slaves, doing the will of God from the heart. Ephesians 5:17 says, Don't be foolish, but understand. What the will of the Lord is. Well, what's the implication? If you don't know God's will in the workplace, you are a fool. Oh, I felt foolish many times.

24:11So, what is God's will at work? It's in verse 6, in a very simple word, two-letter word, do. Circle it, underline it, highlight it on your phone. Do his will from the heart, literally from the soul, from the deep depths of who you are, serve as to the Lord. Serve as to the Lord who placed you in that position. We see two incentives for doing God's will in verse 7. Do you see them? They're so clear: one's positive, another one's negative for doing God's will. The first incentive for doing God's will is serving. Again, it's in verse 7, rendering service. Literally, wouldn't you happen to know that he's addressing slaves? He says, literally slaving as unto Christ. And as an employee, literally serving for Christ's sake in verse 7, when things are falling apart on the job, when your boss is a tyrant, when he's on the war path, or she's a dictator and unbearable, what do you do as a believer? Well, you remember Ephesians 6, verse 7, who you're really serving with good will. Continue serving as unto Christ, our Lord. The second incentive for doing God's will comes to you as a negative motivation. It's a negative motivation. It's in verse 7. Again, not to men. Don't serve as to men. Your service in the marketplace is rendered to the one who chose you. Chapter 1, verse 4, chapter 4, verse 1. Work as unto the Lord as the one who chose you. So, Christian employees, you need to listen very carefully. I've got some advice for you. Coming from a guy who worked in the corporate world for 20 years, you must obey God even when your management threatens you to disobey him.

26:00There's really three major categories where this is going to manifest itself. I call them two ends in a C: numbers, nightclubs, and censorship. That's what you're going to face as a believer. You've probably faced some of those even now if you've been in the marketplace for very long. What do I mean here? Numbers. Nightclubs and censorship are your most important temptations to be thinking about. But what about numbers? Numbers, sales projections. Are you telling the truth? Profitability. Those of you guys in the finance department, how's the profitability really going? Two sets of books or one? Quarterly, annual reports? You ever wonder what the Bible has to say about numbers in this regard?

26:43It has a ton to say. I'll just give you one example: Proverbs 20, verse 10. Proverbs 20, 10 says this: differing weights and differing measures, both of them are abominable. Read detestable. Read loathsome or offensive to who? The Lord. Those expense reports that you put out. Oh, yeah, I spent all kinds of money. Here you go. And you pat it. That's abominable to the Lord. That's offensive to the Lord. Your sins will find you out. Do your numbers reflect the truth? More importantly, do your figures honor Christ when the cat's away?

27:22Are your numbers offensive to God? You see, the stock market loves the sweet aroma of a lie on a spreadsheet. They will reward you very generously if you're in high places in business. Investors. Oh, we've seen it, haven't we? Wall Street is forever willing to make you wealthy for cooking the books. Just ask Bernie Madoff. Remember him? How much did he make off with? Bernie Madoff made off with somewhere between $10 and $20 billion of other people's money. Cooking the books. What about Enron? That's been a while since we heard about Enron. Look him up on the internet.

27:59Look up their accounting practices. What happened to them? God's glory doesn't have a ticker symbol. God's glory does not have a price tag. Your integrity should be one that announces God's glory in your own life. Never falsify numbers, even if it means you're going to get fired. Serve as if you are Jesus' slave. Verse 7. Nightclubs. It's the second end. We got numbers. What about nightclubs? Oh boy, this will get you in trouble. I travel a lot, as I said before, and I would go into cities, and sometimes I'd. Land than a sitting on, go, where on earth am I? I didn't even know what airport I was in sometimes. And they'd take us out to dinner. Before we go, I'd say, where are we heading? If I didn't recognize the name of the place, I would ask them one question. And the answer to this question was given to me in their eyeballs. I didn't have to say a word. I would say, would you take your wife and your 13-year-old daughter there?

28:52When you're with a group of businessmen, you ask that question, you look at their eyeballs, and when it tells you that they're shocked that you would answer such a thing, I was in Las Vegas once. I got a cab back to the hotel. My wife is far more important to me than a promotion or getting a big sale. Because that's for God's glory. Nightclubs. Matthew 20, excuse me, Matthew 5, 27 and 28. You've heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, he who even looks on a woman to commit adultery with her, or with lust in his heart, has already committed adultery with her.

29:28Ephesians chapter 5, verses 1 and following, don't let immorality even be named among you. Don't let that be your reputation. Don't even let people think that that's possible in your life. Run from it. Flee from it. Well, there's two N's and a C. What about censorship? Censorship. Well, your primary function on the job, your primary function on the job is to achieve your key indices. Your corporate reason for that you're there. Their goal for you as an employee. Your job is to achieve those goals, not evangelism on the corporate clock. You're not there to hand out tracts. You're not there to step up on a soapbox and proclaim in the finance department, you know, Proverbs, don't lie on spreadsheets and things like that, although you think you need to recognize that, be one who cheerleads authenticity. But to preach the gospel in the marketplace is not what God has called us to do in a way that is one that will get you fired. But you know what? When you're filled with the Spirit at work, when you're working as unto Christ and things aren't going right for everybody else, they want to know what makes you tick when the boss is on the warpath, when the company's going down the tubes and you can sleep at night.

30:42When you work as if you're working for Jesus, they want to know how you manage the stress so well. You ever face stress at work? Ever lash out at the boss? Ever lash out at your fellow employees? Ever talk about the boss behind his or her back in such a way that is not reflective of that person? When you don't do that, they want to know, how can you deal with this so well? When this happens, they ask you the question about how you cope under this. They've asked you a gospel question, haven't they? How do you deal with it? And you give them a reason for the hope that's within you. 1 Peter 3:15. Be ready to give a reason for the hope that's within you. They've asked a question, how do you cope with this? And so then you give them the answer. Answer, you know, I'm a Christian, and I believe that God is sovereign. We learned that in the scripture, and then you answer the question: I'm not afraid, I don't fear this, God's in control.

31:42I know we have a lot of Texas AM professors in here. You're on the hot seat, I know it. Oh, I read stories about professors who talk about creation versus evolution. You answer a question from the Bible about the fact that we were created in six literal 24-hour days, and you might find yourself in some real big trouble. There's been many professors fired because of this. Anyone ever heard of the MRI? Ever have an MRI? Know somebody has an MRI? You know who made that MRI? Guy named Dr. Ray Damadian. Dr. Ray Damadian was a six-day creationist, and when it came time for him to win the Nobel Prize, they refused to give it to him because they found out that he's a Christian and he proclaims six-day creation. You know who got the Nobel Prize in his place? Two of the students that helped him work on his project who made some minor adjustments. They're the ones that got the Nobel Prize.

32:42You think it doesn't cost you to speak out for Christ or just live Christ in your workplace? It does. To do God's will from the heart. Are you doing God's will from the heart in the workplace? Really? Are you doing his will? If yes, you'll be. Called to account for it, you'll be threatened. You'll be maligned, you'll be discriminated against. Just last week, I wish this picture was bigger. State of Georgia demands pastor turn over his sermons. He's a bivocational pastor. Actually, no, he's not even bivocational. He doesn't get paid to preach in the pulpit, but he's a doctor. Dr. Eric Walsh, the Georgia Department of Public Health, demands that he turn over his sermons that he preached at his church because it had to do with the biblical view of sexuality.

33:36Let me just read a quote to you from his attorney. He says, He was fired for something he said in a sermon, attorney Jeremy Dice told me. If the government is allowed to fire someone over what they say in a sermon, they can come after any one of us for any of our beliefs over anything. This is happening today. It's alive and well, persecution, even in the workplace. As you follow your boss's instructions and do God's will from the soul, God fills you with his Spirit. Ephesians 5:18. Well, there's a third action item that we need to follow. It's right there on the screen. A third action item. Believers must recognize that they'll be rewarded. The Spirit will fill them at work on the corporate clock as they listen, as they obey, and the believers will be rewarded for what they do. Verse 6, excuse me, verse 8. Knowing That whatever good thing each one does, this he'll receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. The words receive back also can be understood as recompensed or compensated. It's payroll.

34:43Walk with the Lord in the workplace, and he will pay you back for the things that you think you've lost. Colossians 3, verses 23 and 24 have the same idea. He says this: Whatever you do, whatever you do, do your work heartily is for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you'll receive back, think recompensed, think compensated, the reward of the inheritance. He says it's the Lord Christ whom you serve. Now think about this. This is a letter that's read to these employees and these employers, these masters, these slaves. Imagine to the owner's delight when they hear verses 5 through 8 for the first time. Listen to your bosses, do what they say, work as unto the Lord, no eye slavery. They're probably thinking to themselves, oh, work's going to be so much better this week. We're going to have much greater profit because now they're working as unto God.

35:36Well, if that's what you're thinking, you need to recognize that we need to read this in context, which brings us to our fourth action item, so that you can be filled with the Holy Spirit on the corporate clock. Here it is, number four. Believers must lead as if managing Jesus. Wow. Where do we see that? Verse 9. And masters, do the same things to them and give up threatening. That both their master and yours is in heaven, and there's no partiality with him. Take that, bosses.

36:09Let your mind stew on that verse for a second. It's telling the masters. He's telling the bosses to do the same things their employees, their slaves, are doing. What on earth is Paul thinking here? Paul, you really want me to be a slave to my slaves? Is that what you're saying? You really want me to take my marching orders from my employees, Paul? Not much of a business leader here, is he? Paul, do you really understand the marketplace in 2016 with your leadership practices?

36:42Shall bosses really fear their employees and tremble at their employees' presence if they don't listen to them? What is he talking about? Paul's clearly not a graduate of the Wharton School of Business like Donald Trump. Donald Trump would never say this. The last time we saw the word do is in verse 6. He says to do the same things. Well, we have to know what the same things are. What does do mean? That's why I had you circle it, underline it, highlight it in your phone. Do the same things. How were they supposed to do? What were the slaves told to do, the employees told to do? Well, they were told to do the will of God from the heart. They were told to serve as unto the Lord, not to men. Whatever good thing you do, he says, they'll receive back from the Lord. He says, do those things, bosses.

37:31Paul's emphatic. Bosses do the same things. Well, specifically, what are the same things? Here you go, bosses. You are to do God's will from the heart. Isn't that great? Lead from the heart. Lead as if you're managing Jesus Himself. Serve the Lord, not men. In your leadership, you serve the Lord, men will be served. Whatever good thing you do, he says, you'll receive back from the Lord. But you know what, bosses? There's two additional leadership principles here that you need to focus on. Some of you may be guilty of these things.

38:10Two more mandates for bosses to do. Believers, you mustn't threaten your employees. Do you see it in verse 9? You mustn't threaten your employees. Believers must recognize that their master doesn't show partiality or favoritism. Bosses, did you get that? God doesn't give you preferential treatment just because you're the CEO or the vice president or the director or whatever you are. Verse 9, and masters do the same things to them. Give up threatening, knowing that both their master and yours is in heaven. There's no partiality with him.

38:48Paul knows what it means to threaten people. You would remember well, Acts 9, verse 3, he used the same word. He was breathing threats and murder against the Lord. People. He knows about threatening, and he tells the bosses, don't do this. You mustn't threaten your employees. Now, holding them accountable for performance is one thing. Is there a different thing to threaten them? This is management 101, isn't it? If you have any business courses, it's like easy stuff. Lead them with a carrot versus beating them with a stick.

39:25Do they have a skill problem or a will problem? Is it something that you need to give them more training? Do they need some help? Do they need another class, training from somebody in your company? Do you need to watch somebody else do what their job is supposed to be? Those things can be fixed. Or is it a will problem? You know what? They just don't want to do the work, and they're very clear about it. That's a whole different story. Threatening them is not something you should worry about. If they're not functioning properly in the marketplace, if they're not doing, if they refuse out of their own will to do what's important, then they need to be fired. And they fired themselves in that case.

40:02Employees should never be shocked at your disappointment. Quarterly reviews was something I always did with my employees. They knew annually what they had to do, but they had quarterly reviews. And we went through their key indices to make sure that they were on track. They never had to wake up at 2 in the morning and wonder what I thought about them. And I told them to call me at 2 in the morning if they ever wondered what I thought about them, and I'd tell them. It's important. They need to know. So quarterly reviews, lead with a carrot versus a stick. Some employees must be terminated, but only because. They've not met clear expectations over a period of time and generous coaching. Bosses, are you leading in a manner worthy of your calling? Are you leading in a manner worthy of God's choice of you and your salvation so that you lead your people in such a way? Are you withholding raises, promotions, recognitions, or benefits from your employees when your organization has the wherewithal to do it? Do you hold them back? I just came back from Manila. I saw this in place. The minimum wage for a day, for a whole day, was about 48 cents in the city that I spoke in. Oh, these bosses could pay them more, but they didn't. It's not honoring your Christ.

41:14As Jesus' slaves, dear bosses, do God's will from the heart. Honor Christ through your leadership by blessing those under your charge because you report to the same master. Recognize that as you do a good job, you'll receive back from the Lord. Look at verse 9. We see a second leadership principle that we need to understand as we lead in a manner worthy of our calling in verse 9. Believers must recognize that their master shows no partiality. He says, give up threatening because you know that their master and yours isn't partial to you. Very fascinating concept. He says, give up threatening. Stop doing this.

42:00Well, so now what do you think? What we learned here on a Sunday, we take back into the marketplace Monday through Friday, even Saturday. Are you ready to be filled with the Spirit on the corporate clock? Your four action items. Follow instructions. It's pretty simple. Do God's will from the heart. Recognize that your good works will be rewarded. And manage as if managing Jesus. I said this was a dangerous message. You're thinking to yourself, what if I start doing this tomorrow?

42:34At the 20th mark of my career with FedEx, I got a phone call from my boss. And she says to me, what's going on? I said, what do you mean? She said, well, so-and-so just lodged a complaint against the company, against you, naming you, as a religious harasser. Remember the guy that answered some questions about his faith at the beginning of this? Who was told in writing that his answers were an act detrimental to the company? That was me.

43:07All I did was answer some questions that she brought up, whether it was at lunch or on a business trip. I say this is a dangerous message because I've lived it. And I want to encourage you to live it as well. So she asked me what was going on, and I told her that I simply answered some questions. Well, that launched a two-month investigation against. Me or about me. My boss, who was really my boss for just a couple of months, called me into her office two months later and she says, the investigation's over. And I'm so glad to tell you that you've done nothing wrong. I knew that. She said, I went over your entire 19 and some years personnel record. These are her words. She says, you've been a stellar employee. I said, thank you.

44:00She reminded me of my performance reviews. The most recent performance review, the key indices I was talking about, was achieved. I was brand new in the city of Chicago managing a large group of people, a large sum of money. And it was new. But the one just before that was a seven out of seven on every category possible. In other words, you couldn't get a better review. And out of 250,000 employees, I would suspect that maybe 1% get a review like that. I'm not patting myself on the back. What I'm saying is that I worked as unto the Lord. Did I make mistakes? Oh, I made serious mistakes.

44:32I've gone to my bosses before and I've used these words, would you forgive me? But it's important to note that you will be called account as a believer, and it's happening more each and every day. Mine was my attorneys, this went to a lawsuit, and my attorneys tried to find a case like mine, and they couldn't find one in U.S. history. Two weeks after, let me just tell about a letter I received. I received a letter from my boss as she said, You've done nothing wrong. She slid it across the desk. She says, you've admitted to talking about your faith in the workplace.

45:04And in writing, it says, these conversations must cease. And immediately, I said, okay, I got a question. Let's role play this for a second. She slams her hand on the desk, hops to her feet, gets in my face, and says, this conversation is over. And she turned herself out to walk out the door. And I said, oh, hold on, I got a question. You said that I can't answer questions about my faith. What happens if somebody asks me what I got my degree in?

45:38Well, my degree is in Bible and youth ministry. And what it came down to was I couldn't answer questions about my degree. I couldn't tell people where I went to school, the master's college, which is now the master's university, because that could lead to a religious conversation. I couldn't tell people what I did on a Sunday when I was discipling young high school boys. What would you do? I went home. I looked my wife in the face and my high school kids in the face, and I said, let's do some role plays, kids. We did this frequently in high school about things that would be difficult about their walk with the Lord. And I said to them, Erica, David, what would you do if your teacher told you that you could no longer answer questions about your faith in the classroom? She says, Oh, that's easy. We just, both of them, we just answer them. You're going to disobey your teacher. Yeah. Okay. So let's say your teacher marches you up to the principal's office, and the principal tells you the same thing: you've got to stop.

46:45Both of them. Erica and David said, We're going to continue answering. This is fascinating because we've been reading through all kinds of accounts of persecution over church history for a couple of years, preparing them as high school students to do the right thing. So then I said, Well, what happens if it's a businessman who is told not to answer questions about his faith, even though those questions and answers didn't take place on the corporate clock? Then what would you say? Well, he's got to answer the questions.

47:14And I said to Erica and David, I said, What if that businessman is your dad? And it was stone-cold silence. What would you do? I made a phone call to a Christian attorney. Maybe you've heard of the Seculo, J Seculo group. And I told him the story, and they said, Well, you have to write a letter to your employer, and you have to tell them in writing that you have sincerely held beliefs that God, Scripture, requires you to answer questions. I'm like, oh man, that's the end of my career.

47:52All right. So I write the letter. Don't know it by heart, but I want something like this. Dear boss, I used her name. I have sincerely held beliefs as a Christian that I need to answer questions about my faith. When does Title VII, the law, Title VII, the law that allows, keeps companies from discriminating against employees, when does Title VII allow me or others to answer questions about their faith? And that was a legal document that was a federal crime if they don't answer that question.

48:27A couple of weeks later, I received an email from my boss, and the subject heading in the email was: The big man upstairs is watching. Really? Click into it, open it up. There's a picture of a church marquee, a Baptist church sign, and it says this: God has seen your CBT numbers. It's a business report. God has seen your CBT numbers, and you're going to hell. She just got her MBA. She's managing $2 billion of revenue for a Fortune 100 company.

49:02Shortly after that, she asked me a religious question in front of my peers, demanded I answer. I asked her, Do you want me to answer that question? She demanded I do. You will suffer in the workplace. Maybe, maybe not. Well, so what happens next? Well, a few months later, I was demoted in my career. Even though I had a good record, yeah, I made some mistakes. And I ended up having to leave the company because I knew it was going to happen. And as soon as I left, an attorney told me I had to sue. Not for me, but because there would be people coming behind me who would face the same thing.

49:44Wow. So I'm quickly without a job, go from a very cushy six-figure income to the next year $11,000. This will cost you. We lost our house in Barrington, Illinois. Nice, posh neighborhood in Chicago. This will cost you. Court case goes through. The state didn't much want it. They gave it to the federal court system. And it went on for six or seven years. And the judge came down with a decision. And the company didn't like it before it went to the jury. So they contested the decision, and I said, let's contest it too, because there's some things in the decision that are factually wrong. And my attorney said, no, let's just let the judge get angry with the company. They contested it, and he came out even more severe against them.

50:47And so it was settled out of court. It was never for money. It was so that I could stand in front of a group like this in Bryant, Texas, in Manila, Philippines, in Germany, in New York, and say, Singapore and say what God's will is in the workplace. I have any idea a few years back that I would be a pastor. I couldn't get a job for two years. God sends me off to seminary to finish a degree I started back in 1987. Did I have any idea that I would write a dissertation on God's will in the workplace?

51:24It was hard back then. I spent hours a day looking for a job. You Google my name, I got close to some really great corporate positions, I'm telling you, but they Googled my name and it was over. God prevented me from going back into that world. I don't want to go back into that world. I want to stand before God's people and I want to proclaim the truth about what working for His glory means. And so He sends me to Little Bryant, Texas. And I'm so glad to be here.

51:55Let's just close in prayer. Before I pray, let me just say this. If you want to know more about the case, just simply Google Weathers v FedEx, put a comment in there, ADF, Reliance Defending Freedom, and there'll be a press release in there. You'll see a picture of that church marquee. Father, we're grateful for how you guide and steer your people. That when we have no idea what you're doing and it's painful, that you take us through those events in our lives, and in the end, you get glory because in the end, you look good. Yes, it's painful for us, but in the end, you get to. Receive the praise. You get to receive the honor. Father, I pray for each one here. There are some in here who don't have to report to the corporate world, the marketplace, a job each and every day. There's moms in here that are responsible to raise their children, right? I pray that they would raise them to God's glory, that they would serve as unto Christ as they build in the gospel into their children's lives, that they would grow and serve Christ.

52:57Those children will be their resume. And for the men and women who are in the marketplace, Lord, I pray that you would encourage them. I pray that you give them clarity of speech and courageous willingness to answer those questions about why can, how is it that you cope with this? And that they'd be able to say, I serve a king. Let me tell you about him. Father, we thank you in Christ's name.