Honestly and Heartily

Honestly and Heartily (Colossians 3:23-24)

Colossians 3:23-24, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”

Behind every successful leader is a handful of people who are working together to make his vision a reality. Theo Epstein is a great example of a successful leader. At 28 years old in 2002, he was the youngest General Manager in professional baseball. But in just over one year, he turned the Boston Red Sox into Major League champions. In 2004, the Red Sox won their first World Series championship in 86 years. During the eight years when he managed the Boston Red Sox, the team won the Major League Championship twice. He would then go on to work with the Chicago Cubs in 2011. In 2016, the Cubs won their first World Series championship in 108 years. While working for both teams, Epstein became notable for helping to end two of the longest World Series droughts in the history of Major League Baseball.

Theo’s success earned him several impressive awards. In 2007, he was honored by the United States Sports Academy with its Carl Maddox Sport Management Award. In 2008, Baseball America named Epstein “Major League Executive of the Year.” In 2009, Sporting News honored him with the title, “Executive of the Decade,” while his team was honored as the “Team of the Decade.” He was also named Number 3 on Sports Illustrated’s list of the Top 10 GMs/Executives of the Decade (in all sports). With all of Theo’s success, you might think he would be a proud person. But the truth is, it takes humility to learn the art of getting people to work together. Someone once asked Theo what was behind his success, and he said, “It’s not me; it’s everybody.” He understood that everybody had to do their part for the team to succeed. This is an important principle in sports, but it’s just as important in the Christian life. There aren’t any big “I’s” or little “you’s” as we serve Christ. Each of us has to do our part to help the Body of Christ work. And each of us will have to answer to God, not for what we did, but how we did it. This makes everybody’s work important in the big picture. Whether you’re out front in a position of leadership, or you’re working behind the scenes, never forget the importance of your work and the importance of each person involved. It’s been said that “Teamwork makes the dream work” - this is real success. If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.

The Bible is full of models of hard workers: David, the shepherd; Amos, the fig farmer; Paul, the tentmaker; Lydia, seller of purple; Jesus, the carpenter. At the end of the day, it’s a good thing to exhaust yourself with meaningful work. Work honestly and heartily everywhere, and on everything. The attitude of the Christian worker is that the energy and effort that he or she puts into their job is important to the Lord.

1. The Christian worker is not to work with eyeservice, as a man pleaser; that is, he or she is not to work only when the boss is watching or standing around. The Christian worker is to work diligently all the time, doing exactly what he or she has been instructed and expected of him or her and more.

2. The Christian worker is to work in singleness of heart. We are instructed to perform such duties with “singleness of heart;” that is, with sincerity of heart, realizing our ultimate service is to God. We ought to serve even men in the fear of God. Our testimony of Him is at stake.

3. The Christian worker is to work fearing the Lord. Every man is to be judged for what they do upon this earth, judged for the kind of things they do and judged for how diligently they did the good things. The Christian worker knows that God is watching their diligence that God is going to reward them for their diligence.

4. The Christian worker is to work heartily as to the Lord and not to men. He or she is not working for the men of this earth, but for the Lord. Diligent work will be rewarded by Christ. On earth, the workman may be mistreated, used, misused, abused, cheated, by-passed, and taken advantage of; but the Lord knows, and He is going to abundantly reward the diligent worker.

Paul encourages Christians to consider all of their efforts and labor as a service directly to the Lord. We must work as though Christ is our employer, knowing that all work performed “for the Lord” will someday be rewarded (Ephesians 6:6-8). The earthly master may give compensation for one's work, but those who do their work as unto the Lord will also receive compensation from God. The reward is called an "inheritance" which means payday is down the road a way. But if you have to wait awhile for payday, it will be worth it when God does the paying.

Prayer, Father, thank You for the work You’ve given me to do. Help me to see it as a commission straight from You. Remind me to work with all my heart as if I’m working directly for the Lord Jesus Christ, not for human supervisors. Forgive me for fixating too much on how I feel about my job, whether it fulfills me and makes me happy. Instead, help me to embrace the dignity of my work. I want to work hard on everything for Your glory. In the name of Your Son, whom I want to please, amen.

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