There is a natural tendency in all of us which sometimes shows up in our work. We will go out of our way to do our best when the “right” people in the company are watching us. We may catch ourselves becoming more polite and even showing how enthusiastic we are about our work. By nature our heart can be quite crafty when it comes to impressing those around us. We look to seize opportunities that give us an edge and make us look our best. Of course, we do all this to draw attention to ourselves. When we incorporate such tactics in our work, we often do so to give the impression that we do our work in a certain way…when, actually, we may not. Some people try to offset their careless attitude about work by doing occasional commendable work, more like random acts. For a Christian to do her or his work in this way reveals conflicting beliefs and deeper personal issues. It could be that they don’t understand God’s purpose and interest in their work. Maybe they think that God just doesn’t care about their secular job, so why should they give it so much attention and concern? But, actually the opposite is true according to God and His Word. As Christians we should have a different view about work, because we understand how important our work is to God and that we take His presence and display it at our workplace.
Christian employees in the first century (AD), most of whom were slaves, understood God’s view of work. The government (the Roman culture) of their day had rejected God’s design of work, distorting the view of work and creating an oppressive work environment. God instructed Christians to do their work wholeheartedly as unto to Him and not merely for humans. Work should be done sincerely from the heart instead of it just being a duty and outward performance. God showed them, and us, that our work comes from a “higher calling” and not merely from our employer. When my work performance is based on this motivation, the results will make all the difference.
“Obey your earthly masters…with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bond servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man.”
Ephesians 6:5-7
God evaluates true success in our jobs, not so much by what we gain from it or how people acknowledge or reward us for it. God’s appraisal is based on how we see ourselves performing our jobs before Him and unto Him…as if no one else was watching. When we do our work in this manner, we will be an exceptional asset to our company. But even more so, we will be a spectacle of the Lord, the designer of work!
Nowadays companies are spending more time and money to find new ways of monitoring their employees and their use of time while on the job. Why? Because when people know they are being watched at work, they tend to be more conscious of doing their job right. They will also be more hesitant in doing wrong things, like steal from the company. This speaks of something all of us humans have in common…we do better when we know someone is watching us. However, for Christians the meaning of being watched by God reminds us that He takes pleasure in our work! (PMC)