Somebody said, “They’re praising God on Sunday, but they’ll be all right on Monday. It’s just a little habit they’ve acquired.” That’s what the world says when they watch us on Monday. Wouldn’t it be great if we could prove them wrong and make Monday just as holy as Sunday? How do we do that? Well, let’s start by looking at what God’s Word about the dominion, drudgery, dignity and duty of work.
According to Ephesians 6:5-8, when you’re on your job, you’re not serving your boss. You’re serving Jesus! You’re not just in an assembly line. You’re not just ringing up groceries. You’re not just typing letters. You are doing a sacred task for the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s nothing more powerful than a person in the workplace who is sold out to Jesus! We have got to stop separating the secular from the sacred when it comes to serving God. There’s no such thing as a Christian who is not in full time Christian service.
There’s a certain amount of work to this thing called “work.” God engineered it that way (see Genesis 3:17-19). But this doesn’t mean we can’t turn boredom to blessing. With the Lord, we can turn monotony into meaning. And that thing we call a “rat race” can become a glorified pilgrimage each and every day. If you’re a child of God, every day is a holy day. You say, “But I work for a secular company.” Well my friend, God owns the company you work for (see Psalm 24:1).
Your job can become the temple of your devotion and the platform for your evangelism. You say, “But pastor, I’m only an ordinary person.” That’s right. That makes two of us. God gives extraordinary power to ordinary people so that their work is a miracle and God gets the glory (see I Corinthians 1:26-31). Friend, if you cannot do your work as unto the Lord, then you’ve got no business doing it.
God has intended that every one of His children leave church on Sunday and scatter back into the workplace on Monday to share the gospel. Christians are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world (see Matthew 5:13-16). We have been saved out of this world to be sent back into the world to witness to the world. And that’s the only business we have in the world until Jesus takes us out of the world.
Don’t brag. Jesus didn’t tell us to make our light shine, He said to let our light shine. God’s light is to glow and not glare through us. The world is to see His light and not the candle.
Don’t nag. Your boss doesn’t pay you to preach, he pays you to do your job. I guarantee that the person you’re working alongside is not going to be receptive to your finger-pointing and Bible-waving.
Don’t lag. It’s a sin for a Christian to do less than his best. If you have a job to do, then you are to do that job. Don’t be reading the Bible or talking religion when you’re supposed to be working! Don’t sag. Most of your coworkers aren’t all that interested in the hereafter. They just want to know how to hack it on Monday. When they watch you day after day shining His light, they’re going to see that you’re living a supernatural life that can’t be explained. Soon, they’ll be wanting what you have. And you will be able to answer.
There’s drudgery, dignity and duty of everyday work and when we begin to practice Monday morning religion, I don’t believe we’ll be able to build churches big enough to put the people in. Don’t forget that every day is a holy day, every place is a hallowed place, and every deed is a sacred deed. “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” (Colossians 3:23-24).
