At some point, most all of us have spent time searching the help wanted ads. But have you ever wondered what all those catchy little phrases really mean?
Someone has interpreted the language in help wanted ads to determine what employers are really looking for in an employee. "Energetic self-starter" means that you’ll be working on commission. "Entry level position" means that the employer will pay you the lowest wages allowed by law. "Experience required" means that the employer does not know the first thing about any of this. "Fast learner" means that you'll will get no training from the employer. "Flexible work hours" means that you will frequently work long overtime hours. "Good organizational skills" means that you’ll be handling the filing. "Make an investment in your future" indicates a franchise or a pyramid scheme. "Must be able to lift 50 pounds" means that we offer no health insurance or chiropractors. "Opportunity of a lifetime" says that you will not find a lower salary for so much work.
Just recently I came across a most bizarre help wanted ad. It contains unusual phrases like slave, master, obey, respect, fear, and sincerity of heart. Ephesians 6:5-8 (NIV) says, "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free."
These verses were obviously directed to slaves. When the letter of Ephesians was written, it is thought that one third of the population lived in slavery. The institution of slavery was considered a normal part of everyday life. Few questioned its legitimacy. The slavery in Paul’s day was not like the slavery we had in nineteenth century America.
In Paul's time, the first century, people became slaves by birth, by parental selling or abandonment, by captivity in war, by an inability to pay debts, or even by a voluntary attempt to better one’s condition. It wasn’t racial slavery. And slaves didn’t just do hard labor or menial tasks. They did nearly all the work, including managing large projects and entire households. Many of them were better educated than their masters. They could own property, they could own other slaves, and they could save up money to buy their freedom.
Despite all of this, it was not uncommon for slaves to be exploited by their masters. There were laws preventing gross abuses, but the owners could generally treat slaves however they saw fit. Some slaves were loved and treated as family, but some were treated cruelly. It was assumed that the best way to control a slave was through threats and violence. Through sheer coercion! In some circumstances slaves were tortured or even killed. But their treatment wasn’t all bad, because well-treated slaves tended to be more helpful and productive. It the end it was far more economically beneficial for a master to be at peace with his slaves than at odds with them.
Employers versus employees.
Now what is surprising about these verses is that they are directed to slaves. There is only a single verse, Ephesians 6:9, that is directed to slave masters. The Bible certainly isn’t condoning slavery here. Yet these verses introduce principles that have the potential of transforming even the most exploitive of relationships. If these principles can transform a master-slave relationship, then how much more might they transform today’s work environments between employers and employees?
A lot of people see their employers as a kind of oppressive evil in society. The attitude of a lot of employees toward their employers is, "Stick it to them." Employers are seen as slave masters. They are overly demanding, controlling, out for selfish gain, stingy with wages and salaries, cutting benefits, and evading responsibility. In large part, a lot of unions and a great amount of governmental regulations have grown out of a general distrust and suspicion of employers.
But Paul doesn’t start with the slave master and employer. He starts at the bottom rung of the ladder with the slave, with the common laborer, and with the employee. Paul’s concern is that the Christian should transcend his or her work environment, and bring about transformation there. He keys into three major areas of concern.
Concern for Attitude
Take a moment, and under your breath say your employer’s name. It might be a person, a store, a restaurant, a small business, a large corporation, or the State of Illinois. But go ahead, call out the name of your employer. Say it over again in your head. What kind of thoughts or feelings do you have when you say its name? Is there gratitude? Respect? Love? Indifference? A sense of betrayal? Distrust? Bitterness? Perhaps there is a mixture of thoughts and feelings. You would do well to identify them.
Ephesians 6:5 (NIV) says, "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ." Now let's change this verse to read, "Employees, obey your earthly employers with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ." What kind of attitude would this verse be prescribing and how would that be different than the attitude you presently have toward your employer?
There is a real potential for exploitation by employers, but also by employees! Employees sabotage their employers' success every day with their sour attitudes. For example, instead of fulfilling his role or responsibility, an employee can be very unwilling and uncooperative. He can rebell against any expression of authority, intentionally undermining the efforts of his managers and leaders. Have you ever seen that?
Instead of respecting an employer, an employee can be very disrespectful or slanderous, wrecking his employer’s reputation with customers, spreading lies or innuendo, gossiping, airing dirty laundry, humiliating the boss, or copping an attitude.
Instead of fearing an employer, an employee can become rather presumptuous, assuming his employer simply owes him a living, a job, a wage, benefits, and grace. No one owes you anything. Work is a reciprocal relationship of mutual giving!
Instead of working out of a sincere heart, employees can be rather fickle and indecisive, vacillating between high commitment and low commitment, between high productivity and low productivity. They can be supportive one moment but unsupportive the next. They may showing appreciation one moment, but be ungrateful the next. Serving willingly one day, but serving with a grudge the next.
On a practical level, one of the primary causes for job loss is a bad attitude. But Paul is calling on the Christian to serve with a different attitude and a different focus. As you work, your focus should be on serving Christ, not on serving man. Ephesians 6:5 (NIV) says, "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ."
One way God wants to demonstrate his power in our lives is by changing our attitude. The key to having a right attitude is in knowing who you really work for. You are not working for your earthly master or for some human being or entity. In your work, you are ultimately serving the living God. The obedience, the respect, the fear, and the sincerity of heart with which you are to work are all for God’s glory.
As a Christian, you aren’t working for a living. You are working for God’s glory. Your chief aim is to magnify God with your life so that people will enter into a life-saving relationship with Jesus Christ. A sour, bitter, negative attitude along with irresponsibility, disrespect, presumption, and an insincere heart repels people from God.
Concern for character.
Take a moment and think about your work ethic. Answer a couple of questions. First, how well do you work under the watchful eye of your employer? Second, how well do you work when your boss steps out? When there is no accountability?
In one of my first jobs, there was the way we normally worked, but then there was the way we worked when the corporate representatives visited the store. When the corporate CEO’s were in town, all the merchandise was perfected faced, tags were double checked, counters were tidied up and shirts and ties were mandatory. But as soon as they left the parking lot, it was business as usual.
This verse in Ephesians 6:6 (NIV) has an interesting play on words. "Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart." In the original language, the employee is being told not to "serve the eye" of his or her employer, but to serve him the same whether he is present or absent and whether his eyes are on you or not.
Years ago, a well-known pastor wrote a book on character. The subtitle of his book was Character: Who you are when nobody is looking. The truth is that the typical employee is a specialist in perception management. It is more important to appear a certain way than to be a certain way. I don’t have to be busy so long as I look busy when it really counts. I don’t have to treat customers with courtesy. I just have to cover my trail when things heat up.
The principle Paul establishes is that we are to always be doing the will of God from our heart, whether we are being watched or not. This is the essence of character. If your employer is paying you a forty hour a week salary, but you are only doing thirty-five hours, if the shop is supposed to close at 11 PM but you feel like going home at 10:45 PM, if you are supposed to log non-business use of the company car and then go to grocery store with it, if you get tied up on lunch break and arrive back to work an hour late, if no one will know whether you loaded five pallets or ten pallets, or whether you corrected a problem or stuck it in some else’s stack, or if you suddenly discover a way to save your employer both time and material resources, it all reflects on your character.
Our calling is to always do the will of God. It is to always do what is right. How you personally feel about your employer or how you feel about your salary or benefit package is no excuse for compromising your character! A bad attitude or lack of character are primary causes of job loss and non-advancement.
But the larger issue is that a right attitude and Christ-like character are demonstrations of God’s power in your workplace. Again, you are working for God’s glory. Your work is not eye service to fallen man, but is unto the Lord who judges the heart. He will give the final evaluation.
Concern for productivity.
Ask yourself, are you giving your employer your personal best? One person wrote that the very essence of Christianity is in serving, not in being served. Even God’s own Son came in the form of a slave and learned obedience through what he suffered. Ephesians 6:7 (NIV) says, "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men." This verse reminds me of 1 Peter 4:11 (NIV). "If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen."
Does the quality, quantity, and efficiency of your work bring glory to God? Are you doing things just the same on a daily basis as you would do them if serving Christ himself? Do you live a balanced life, so that when you go to work you are properly rested and ready to serve? Godly attitude, Christ-like character, and productivity bring glory to God in the workplace.
A final note about rewards and promises.
In Ephesians 6:8 (NIV) Paul ends on a note of hope and encouragement for the employee. He concludes, "because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free." You might think that a godly attitude, Christ-like character, and productivity are for your employer's benefit. And they certainly are! They are also for God’s glory. But keep in mind that they are ultimately for your benefit! You will go thousands of times farther with godliness, character and excellence than with a sour attitude, vacillating character, and half-hearted work efforts.