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Carelessness - Colossians 3-4
A sermon preached by Ian Garrett

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On Sunday mornings at the moment we’re in a sermon series called 21st century challenges. And the series theme verse is Romans 12.2:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Ie, this God-rejecting world is constantly setting us a pattern to live by, trying to condition us to live its way. Whereas God is calling us not to conform, but to be changed as we bring our minds to his Word. So we’re going to look this morning at the area of work and ask, ‘What is the pattern of this world? And according to the Bible, how and why are we to be different?’ So my first heading is:


First, THE CULTURE OF CARELESSNESS

Quite a few commentators on British culture – especially working culture – say it’s becoming a culture of carelessness.

Take, eg, a recent article in Accountancy Magazine (no, I’m not a subscriber). It’s by a partner in one of the top firms. He was given the job of doing their graduate induction. And he writes:

Having achieved their 2.1 degrees, a whole new cohort of fresh-faced... graduates has just embarked on their jobs, sweaty-palmed with excitement [I didn’t know accountancy could do that to you, but we’ll take his word for it...] and desperate to please. Or maybe not...

He then describes how at his first induction session, none of them were on time. The first showed up ten minutes late and when told he was late he replied, ‘Not really.’ The article goes on:

When I began the training, I struggled to make myself heard over their small talk. Some hadn’t brought the laptops they’d been given; hardly any had installed the software as asked. But it was not their poor timekeeping or inability to follow instructions that rankled. What amazed me most was their poor attitude. This was my first encounter with ‘Generation Y’... those born between 1980 and the mid-1990s – a generation who were never smacked... who were encouraged throughout their education to challenge everything, who are assertive, acutely aware of their rights and happy to jump ship if they don’t get what they want.

That’s one example of this culture of carelessness. Another eg: a friend recently ordered a sandwich at a café; the waitress turned up with the wrong thing, and when asked to take it back, she said, ‘Won’t that one do?’ Or another eg: doctors responsible for staffing wards tell me there’s less and less service mentality around – one told me, ‘There’s very little ‘S’ in my part of the NHS.’ He said that when faced with gaps in staff rotas he’s often met with inflexibility from feow-doctors and comments like, ‘Well, that’s your problem.’ And at a wider level, what better word to describe the recent behaviour of banks with lending, or of MPs with expenses, than carelessness?

Now it would be wrong to tar everyone with that brush – I guess many of our colleagues are honourable exceptions, and I hope you are, too. But that carelessness is part of ‘the pattern of this world’ and stems from a view of it that’s centred on me. That view often sees work as just a necessary evil – since I’d rather it was the weekend, or I was on holiday. And on that view of work, I’m likely to do as little as I can get away with; and to work just for what I get out of it – the money to fund my leisure; the fulfilment I get from my work, and so on.

But that isn’t the Bible’s view of work. So to see (or remind ourselves) what is, would you turn first to Genesis 1.26-28:

²⁶Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
²⁷So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
²⁸God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

And then look over to Genesis 2.15:

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

So work is not a necessary evil. It’s part of God’s good creation (which is why unemployment is so hard, and why retirement can be, too.) And we were created to work – to take care of God’s world, to steward its resources, to organise society and to bring up the next generation – all according to God’s will. In a word, we were created to rule the world under God. And ruling is hard and responsible work, as you’ll know from whatever responsibilities you have in life.

But since the fall, the human race has been marked by a flight from responsibilities and duties, into a culture of self-centredness and standing on rights. So, eg, a friend of mine working for a local authority says it’s dominated by people claiming their rights. Most recently, one of his colleagues came round with a union-backed petition for a microwave in the office (I quote) ‘without which we are being denied our right to a hot meal-break.’

And the Lord Jesus calls us to work in this fallen world but with that pre-fall vision of what work is. So what does that look like? Well, let’s turn on to Colossians 3. And having looked at the culture of carelessness, this part of God’s Word says three things about work. So next heading:


Second, WORK AS FOR THE LORD, NOT FOR MEN (3.22-23)

Look down to Colossians 3, v17. As a kind of headline to this section, Paul writes, 3.17:

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus...

Ie, do it all as if you were doing it for Jesus – which, ultimately, you are, if you’re a Christian. And he applies that to marriage, family, and then to work. So look on to vv22-23:

²²Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

Now when we meet slavery in the New Testament (NT) we often think of the slave-trade and its horrors. And there were some horrors in Paul’s day. But most slavery wasn’t like that. Most people in Paul’s day ended up in slavery out of financial necessity – because they had no land or trade to live by. So they had to sell themselves – their time and energy – to a Master. Which often wasn’t so different to our relationship with employers, where our time and energy is bound, in return for money.

And work for slaves then, like for us today, was at best a mixed experience and at worst a negative one. And talking to Christian friends as I’ve prepared this, three main factors seem to conspire to make work negative. One is a poor Master – eg, a poor overall employer, or a poor immediate manager or head of department. Another is a poor atmosphere among colleagues – eg, why go the extra mile if no-one else does? Why be scrupulous over flexi-time or punctuality or expenses or equipment if no-one else is? And another is poor motivation – the job’s unfulfilling, it’s not your first choice of work and it doesn’t get you jumping out of bed in the morning saying ‘Let me at it!’ Well, to employees then and now, Paul says there are two ways to approach work. Two ways to approach tomorrow morning.

One way is to compartmentalise your life into the ‘spiritual’ and the ‘unspiritual’, and to go to work basically suspending belief that Jesus is Lord of all – ie, believing he has no relevance to your working life. So, on that view of work, maybe you make time to read the Bible and pray before you leave the house – that’s a ‘spiritual’ bit. Then you plunge into your 8 or 9 or 10 ‘unspiritual’ hours of work. And then you pick up the ‘spiritual’ bit again as you get back to look after the children, or to go to Home Group. And on that view, your only Master during those 8 or 9 or 10 hours is your employer and your only aim is to keep them happy. So when they’re not looking, or not assessing you, you can do as little as you can get away with. And when they are, you can pull your socks up temporarily.

But Paul’s saying: that’s a fundamentally unchristian view of life and work. Look down at 3.22-23 again:

²²Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. ²³Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

And that’s the other way, the Christian way, to approach tomorrow morning – to go to work to live those 8 or 9 or 10 hours for Jesus as Lord. To work believing you’re there to be a lawyer for Jesus or a café waiter for Jesus or a nurse for Jesus or an accountant for Jesus or a teacher for Jesus or a local government officer for Jesus. Or whatever you are for Jesus. Which of course includes unpaid work like mothering for Jesus, or godly use of retirement for Jesus.

Now how does that help with those three main negatives? Eg, the poor Master. Well, it means Jesus is your ultimate Master. Your employer’s treatment of you might leave you totally unmotivated to work for them. But Christians should be doing their work for Jesus, ultimately – knowing that it will please him and get his ‘Well done’ even if our earthly employer gives us no appreciation. As for the poor atmospherepoor motivation? Well, you may have little or no passion for your job in and of itself. A Christian friend of mine worked for an engineering company and was given a company fleece on the back of which was the legend ‘Passionate about Piping.’ And he said, ‘It’s ridiculous. At interview they almost ask if you’re willing to die for the cause of piping.’ But what made him tick – and do a very good job, as a Christian should – wasn’t passion for piping but passion for Jesus – the opportunity to go to work and please Jesus by how he related to colleagues and clients and secretaries and by the accuracy and excellence of his designs, and so on.

So do pray about your work. Do sit down some time and think through all the ingredients of it – the relationships and tasks involved – and think Biblically about those ingredients. Ask yourself, ‘Where does the Bible address those ingredients, and the principles that should govern how I approach them?’ (eg, this passage we’re looking at.) – for instance, if you’re a teacher trying to educate a human being or a doctor trying to respond to the health needs of a human being, you’ve got to start with the question, ‘What is a human being?’ Ask yourself, ‘What does the Bible say about how God wants me to view and to do my particular work?’ And talk to other Christians in your line of work and ask them how they view it and do it, Christianly. And be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

So, work as for the Lord not men. Next heading:


Third, WORK FOR THE RIGHT REWARD (3.24-25)

Look down to vv23-24 again:

²³Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, ²⁴since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward [ie, being with him in glory, in the new creation]. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Now at first sight, mention of that particular reward may seem rather unconnected with the issues of Monday morning – you know, ‘Be punctual with deadlines, honest with clients, diligent with seeing jobs through to completion... because you’ll be rewarded in heaven.’

But just think of the parable of the talents (Luke 19.11-27). A master (who stands for Jesus) goes away and leaves a bunch of servants (who stand for us) each with the same amount of money – ten minas – to put to work (which stands for the life we each have to live for him). And when the master returns (which stands for Jesus’ second coming), it says, Luke 19.16-17:

¹⁶The first one came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned ten more.' ¹⁷'Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'

Now what’s your mental image of the new creation? Putting your feet up around a celestial swimming pool while angels come round with exotic (non-alcoholic!) drinks? An eternal holiday? Well, think again. If you’re faithful in this life, you could be in charge of ten cities – ie, ruling. Which means: responsibility, organisation, leadership – work! You see, it’s our fallen minds that idealise a world without work. But the original creation involved work and the new creation will, too – only it’ll be work without any of the sinfulness and frustrations of this fallen world, work that is a sheer joy. And the reward for work well done in this life, for faithfulness proved in small matters, will be more work, in the new creation.

And that’s the connection between tomorrow morning and the reward we experience in the new creation. As C.S. Lewis puts it, the reward isn’t something different from the thing it rewards, but the consummation of it. He’d say, eg, that to reward a child with a bar of chocolate for practising the piano is an inappropriate reward (even if, at one level, it works). He’d say the reward for practising the piano is that one day you’ll be able to play Chopin – ie, the reward isn’t something different from the thing it rewards, but the consummation of it.

And so it is with work. If in all our spheres of work – including paid work, but also including motherhood, fatherhood, ministry in church, any kind of good works and meeting of needs and responsibilities in the wider world – if in all our spheres of work, we prove ourselves faithful, the reward will be that we are entrusted with work in the new creation that would take our breath away if we knew about it now.

Whereas the primary reward for work – sometimes the only reward for work – that our culture talks about is money (which is why, eg, full-time motherhood is so devalued). But if, eg, you’re a Christian consultant and the world says your reward is your £90,000 (or whatever it is), the world is wrong. Your reward, if you work faithfully, is to grow in character now, such that you’ll ultimately be given huge opportunities to serve and care for others in the new creation. Now of course there are also lesser, here-and-now rewards for work – eg, the businessman rewarded by the fact that he’s providing employees with a living, or the teacher who’s rewarded by the fact that she’s helping form young characters. But the ultimate reward for the way we do our work will be that ‘Well done’ from Jesus on the last day, and the work he entrusts to us beyond it.

And v25 reminds us that although believers will be accepted on that day on the basis of what Christ did for us on the cross (so we’re secure – that’s not in question), we will nonetheless be evaluated and rewarded (or otherwise) to some degree on the basis of how we’ve lived and worked. Look at v25:

Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favouritism.

And that’s to remind us that the Lord Jesus is impartial. So he doesn’t regard having a poor Master or poor workplace as justification for poor work. Poor work is always unjustifiable in his eyes, and we need to remember that, because he’s our ultimate Master and Judge.

So, work as for the Lord, not men. Work for the right reward. Finally:


Fourth, WORK AT MAKING WORK GOOD FOR THOSE UNDER YOU (4.1)

Look on to 4.1:

Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

I guess many of us who are in paid work are not just working under others, but also have others working under us. And if so, 4.1 applies to us. Eg,

Headmasters, provide your teachers and dinner ladies and cleaners with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
Partners, provide your juniors and secretaries with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven. And so on...

Now negatively, if we show carelessness towards those under us, it will breed carelessness in them. And if, in addition, they know we’re Christians, it’ll be a very bad witness to Christ. Take that to heart if you wear the label of being a Christian employer – Christian school, or whatever.

But positively, we have the opportunity to work at making work good – at least, better – for those under us. And the key to that is to work against those three main negatives we mentioned earlier.

So instead of being the poor Master, work at being a good Master. Peter Drucker, the management guru, writes, ‘What many forget is that management is about people, not techniques or procedures.’ Ie, treat people as people. Talk to them; get to know and understand them and what’s on their plate; and let them get to know and understand you and what’s on your plate. Then instead of the poor atmosphere, cultivate a good atmosphere. I asked one Christian friend this week what, in his workplace, most tempted him to be careless. And he said, ‘The ease with which I can get away with being careless.’ Ie, there are very few structures for accountability, feedback, and to help people raise their game rather than plod along in mediocrity. Well if you’re a Master, put those things in place – starting with your own example, your own work-ethic. Because human beings – even redeemed ones – need discipline, praise, criticism, accountability, and so on. And then instead of poor motivation, work to create good motivation. Peter Drucker, again, says, ‘People need to be kept focussed on who they’re doing their work for. An organisation begins to die from the moment those inside it forget that they’re working for those outside it.’ (Isn’t that a word for the church, by the way?) Now that’s a challenge in a culture where people may largely see themselves as there to earn their money and claim their rights. But refocus them on who they’re working for, and it could make work good again, rather than just a necessary evil.

So, don’t conform any longer to the pattern of this world – including this culture of carelessness – but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Work as for the Lord not men. Work for the right reward. And work to make work good for those under you, and indeed over you and around you. And remember that whatever you’re doing tomorrow morning, like 3.24 says, ‘It is the Lord Christ you are serving.’

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