It’s not like someone is going to put a gun to your head and make you choose… But if you had to choose, which is more important to you the job or Jesus? This seems like a pretty easy question on the surface, but dig a little deeper and it gets real hard real quick.
By this question I’m not asking, “Which you would like more?” I’m asking “Which do you spend more time with- the job or Jesus? Which do you think about more often, the job or Jesus? Which gets more of your attention, the job or Jesus?” When you look at the prominence of the workplace in light of this question it starts to get real clear that many of us live for the job- even many of us that say we love Jesus.
The Gallup organization looked at the average workweek for hourly and salaried people in the US last year. Here’s what they found- the average work week for most Americans is 49 hours for salaried works and 44 hours for hourly workers. But look at the chart and you’ll see a ton of Americans are working many more than 40 hours a week. When you add eating, sleeping and exercise into the equation, there’s not much left for us to spend our time on. So how do you give Jesus the time and attention that he deserves when the job is demanding a lot more for you than you want to give?
Turn your market place into your mission field.
I’m not asking you to change your job. I want you to consider using your job to serve Jesus. I’m asking you to make the subtle change of viewing your market place as your mission field.
This subtle change can make all the difference in your life. I’m not asking you to go to work to only read your Bible and pray all day- your boss is going to fire you if you don’t do your job. You can make your market place your mission field by working hard at your job. Image when you go to work tomorrow that Jesus is your boss. Would that change how hard you work?
Another way you can make your market place your mission field is to try to live different at the office. Don’t hide your faith, don’t shy away from the conversation around the water cooler about Jesus, but you don’t have to flaunt your faith. Just simply work hard, live different and let people know you care. Maybe Jesus will use your lifestyle at work to get someone’s attention. Maybe it will cause them to notice there is something different about you. Maybe someone will come to you and ask you about your faith- maybe they won’t. But in either case, this subtle change will cause Jesus to start to become more important to you than the job.
