When I came to faith in Christ, it really turned my life upside down and inside out. While reading my Bible, I began to measure myself by its standards and saw that I had not offered body as a living sacrifice to God, but rather had prostituted myself to sin. This prostitution came in many forms, and I was convicted that certain things had become idols to me. These idols included anger, sex, control and several other things. There was even a time when I wondered if the time spent at the office outweighed the time spent at church.
Eventually, I came to realize that our worship must begin in our lives outside the walls of a corporate, visible church and culminate within a body of believers. I based a portion of this on the accounts in the Bible of how various Biblical characters would spend a majority of their time doing things that I wouldnt recognize as worship. That helped me in my weakness, but even then I often can be seen during lunch at the top of the parking garage across the street reading my Bible. I refer to this as my lunch date with God and look forward to it every day. After reading Work Excellence: A Biblical Perspective of Work by Charles M. Garriott, I realize that while my lunch dates are perfectly acceptable and even pleasing to God, they should not be subconsciously used to counter-balance my work time.
The only thing secular about work is the way we view and treat it.
(p. 13)
If sin is defined as any deviation from the revealed will of God, worship must be defined as any adherence to this same revealed will. This simple statement looks fine when I say or write it, but putting it into practice isnt the easiest thing to do. In this book, I was reminded of my God-given duty to honor Christ by honoring my employer. It is through my life that I will glorify God, and if much of my life will be spent working for others, I have a duty to honor God in the way that I approach my work, the way I rest and the way I bring the first fruits of my labor before Him.(p. 13)
Weighing in at a mere 112 pages, this books eleven chapters could almost be used in a devotional manner over two workweeks, but I believe it is best read in a few sittings to capture the entire message that Garriott wishes to convey. I was pleased with a generous use of scripture, as this message has been a real encouragement to me. Had the Bible not been used as much, or worse, been used out of context, I could not take the book seriously. I mean, are we really supposed to serve our employer as if we were serving God, even if we find the work to be distasteful and our boss sinful?
If we work for anything other than Gods glory, we worship the creation rather than the Creator.
(p. 78)
According to the book of Daniel, we are. Garriott also shows the nature of work and rest as a form of worship and not as a curse in the story of Gods creation. Other examples of worshiping God through our work are shown in several accountings from throughout the Bible. We are to give our best effort to our employer, as shown in the life of Joseph, Abel and many other references. (p. 78)
Many Christians who are dissatisfied with their occupations would do well to read this book. It is easy to read, easy to grasp and very much to the point. This book should be required reading for any Christian who desires a life in the workplace that glorifies God.
For further reviews of this book, check out the Diet of Bookworms.
