Dealing With Stress at Work

I thought I’d follow up last week’s blog on work and worship with the subject of dealing with stress at work. If you work for a living you are no stranger to the stress monster. Deadlines, difficult people, physical and mental fatigue, performance demands, plus family concerns can all add up to your muscles and nerves being tied into knots.

 In his second letter to the Christians at Corinth the apostle Paul described how he and his companions faced trouble on the mission field. He wrote “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead (2 Corinthians 1:8, 9).”

 The Word of God does not want us to be uninformed about the types of stress we can experience out in the world. Paul was “burdened beyond measure, above strength” he despaired “even of life.” Perhaps you have felt like Paul at times. But hopefully you weren’t worried about losing your life, maybe your job, but not your life! So how are we to deal with stress? How can we make our work an act of worship even in the midst of deadlines and performance demands? Paul’s answer is that “we should not trust in ourselves but in God.”

 The Scriptures teach us that Christians are not immune to hardships. But how we deal with hardships and stress sets us apart from the rest of the world. From time to time there will be stressful situations that we cannot handle on our own. That’s when we need to rest on God.  The Bible says “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you (1 Peter 5:6, 7).” Don’t try to carry the burden alone. Cast all of your discontent, discouragement and concerns upon God. He cares for you. He knows in advance what’s coming around the corner and He is already prepared for it.

 God will give you wisdom for all of life, including work (James 1:5). And He will grant you peace. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6, 7).”

And be assured of this too “all things work together for good to those who love God (Romans 8:28).” So keep your focus at work on bringing honor and glory to God in all that you do. Keep Him first in your heart. And finally tell yourself “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).” Its true!

Work and Worship

In the creation account of Genesis, one of the first things God does for man is put him to work. The Bible says, “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it (Genesis 2:13). This was not a punishment, believe it or not. It was for man’s good. God designed work to have a spiritual dimension. Work done to glorify God by making or doing something good and useful goes way beyond pleasing a customer or making a profit—it becomes an act of worship.

The true worship of God just doesn’t happen on Sunday. Worshiping God should be our mind set every day of the week. Consider the Hebrew word avodah. It means both worship and work. For example, Genesis 2:5 reads, “and there was no man to till the ground.” The Hebrew word translated “till” or to work is avodah. Now, here are examples of the same word avodah being used for worship. We read in Exodus 8:1, “And the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve [avodah] Me.” Psalm 100:2 declares, “Worship [avodah] the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.”

By using the single word avodah for both work and worship we are being told that our work matters to God. We humans will work because we need to provide for the basic necessities of life. We will work because we want to feel some sense of significance and accomplishment. And our work will produce some temporary benefits. But ultimately, all our toil and sweat will leave us with a sense of meaninglessness. We will wonder, "What was it all for anyway?"

But work doesn't have to be like this for us as Christians. The effect of our redemption in Christ can be felt even in the world of work. To be sure, our work will still often involve hard labor and sweat, but the meaninglessness of it all can be removed. For us now, as Christians, work can take on a whole new significance. For us Christians, there is no such thing as a valueless, no nothing job! In Colossians 3:23, 24 we are told, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

 The great reformer Martin Luther wrote that, “Those who are now called 'spiritual,' that is priests, bishops, or popes, are neither different from other Christians, nor superior to them, except that they are charged with the administration of the Word of God ... but tailors, cobblers, stonemasons, carpenters, cooks, innkeepers, farmers ... have also been consecrated to their work and office... everyone must benefit and serve every other by means of his own work .. so that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the community.”

The biblical view of work makes all that we do a form of godly ministry. It doesn't matter if we are sweeping the floor or preaching a sermon. The New Testament knows no place holier than another, no believer holier than another and no work holier than another! The New Testament teaches us that all of life - every day, every thought, and every act is to be lived and accomplished in the name of Christ. All of life then, and every form of work, is a means to worship and glorify God. I Corinthians 10:31 says, "... whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

 Cotton Mather, a colonial American Puritan Preacher, said, “The actions of a shepherd keeping his sheep or of a mother caring for home and children, is as good a work as the actions of a judge giving a sentence or of a minister preaching the gospel when all is done with the heart devoted to God.”

The whole of life belongs to God, not just what happens in church. God is not just interested in religious books, but in all literature. He is not just concerned with religious service, but with all kinds of service. God is not just interested in religious education, but in all education. He is interested in life—every aspect of it.

The truth is you can worship and serve God wherever you are and whatever you are doing. The attitude of your heart sanctifies your singing and praying in church and the work you do out in the world. What a difference this can make in our lives. Mopping the floor can bring glory to God—what a thought!

Loving Homosexuals

It was recently suggested to me that as a Christian I should love and accept homosexuals. The Scripture quoted to me was Galatians 5:14: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”  It is true that love is the fulfilling of the law. But it is not the whole truth concerning sin of any kind and homosexuality in particular.

 To say that we must simply love and accept a sinner and or a homosexual, because love fulfills the law, is like saying a doctor should put a pretty bandage on a wound and allow it to fester underneath. It is morally wrong and an act of malpractice for a doctor to hide the truth about a deadly disease and its remedy from a patient. And it is unloving and morally wrong to hide the truth about sin and its remedy from a sinner. To simply pull a verse out of context, as was done with Galatians 5:14, is a pretext: it disguises the truth and misleads people.

 There are people who say, “Well, Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, so it must not be a sin.” This is true. Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, but then he never said anything about rape either, but that doesn’t justify rape and we all know that. Here is what the Bible does say about homosexuality. Romans 1:21-26 lays out the pattern of thinking and living that people make in their abandonment of biblical truth. First, they do not glorify God or thank Him for life. Therefore they become futile in their thinking and their hearts are darkened. They profess to be wise, to know more than others, they believe they are enlightened, but they are fools (v. 21, 22).

 They then exchange the worship of the true God for some form of idolatry (v. 23). They are given over to various lusts, not necessarily sexual lusts; we can lust after many things (v.24). They exchange the truth of God for a lie (v. 25). And finally natural sexual relations are abandoned for unnatural ones (vv.26, 27). Homosexuality is an abandonment of God’s moral law and the natural way men and women are to relate sexually. God’s will is for one man and one woman to become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). In this union, sexuality finds its God-appointed meaning and we find our deepest satisfaction.

 This is why homosexuality is uniformly condemned in the Bible. It is called wickedness (Genesis 19:7), abomination (Leviticus 18:22), unnatural and shameful (Romans 1:27). To say that homosexuality is an alternative form of sexuality is like saying bulimia is an alternative form of eating. The homosexual lifestyle is not a benign alternative to male/female married sexual relationships; it is a perversion of God’s plan for mankind. It is a perversion just as stealing is to honest work and lying is to telling the truth.

 I understand that many people now accept homosexuality. Polls show that more and more Americans believe that gay and lesbian marriages are morally acceptable and should be allowed. This lifestyle is being normalized, institutionalized and even celebrated in our world; I understand this, but this does not make it right. Homosexuality was a way of life in the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah too. But they ultimately faced God’s judgment (Genesis 19). Unrepentant sinners, of all stripes will not inherit everlasting life in the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

 Having said all of this, God does offer love to the sinner—any sinner and every sinner. I’m sure that you are familiar with John 3:16 which says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Sin can be forgiven, all sins and every sin. But the sinner must repent of sinning (Mark 1:15) and then believe the good news about Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord (Romans 10:9, 10).

 So, yes, we should love homosexuals. We should love them enough to tell them and every sinner the truth about sin and judgment. We should love them enough to offer them the remedy for sin and it consequences, which is forgiveness and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. To hide the truth from someone is unloving and wrong.

In Christ Jesus

Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. Through God’s power Christ has altered forever the course of human history. If you are a Christian you are united to Jesus Christ in such a way that it changes who you are and what you have. If you are “in Christ” here is what this truth means for you:

In Christ you were given God’s grace before the world began – 2 Timothy 1:9

In Christ Jesus you were chosen by God before the foundation of the world – Ephesians 1:4

In Christ you are loved by God with an inseparable love – Romans 8:38, 39

In Christ you were redeemed and forgiven all of your sins – Ephesians 1:7

In Christ Jesus you were justified and granted the righteousness of God – 2 Corinthians 5:21

In Christ Jesus you have become a new creation – 2 Corinthians 5:17

In Christ you are a son of God – Galatians 3:26

In Christ you are spiritually seated with Christ at the right hand of God – Ephesians 2:6

In Christ Jesus all the promises of God are “Yes” to you – 2 Corinthians 1:20

In Christ you are sanctified and made holy – 1 Corinthians 1:2

In Christ your every need will be supplied – Philippians 4:19

In Christ the peace of God will guard your heart and mind – Philippians 4:

In Christ you have everlasting life – Romans 6:23

This is tremendous! Let these truths take root in your heart and let it shape your attitude and actions. This is who you are—in Christ.

The Death of Christ

The death of Jesus Christ was absolutely unique, it stands alone. There has never been a death like his and there never will be again. Jesus Christ’s death was unique not because he died on a cross, thousands were crucified. Christ’s death was unique because he alone was the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world (John 1:29). His death was a vicarious sacrifice. The Old Testament prophesied this declaring,

 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

(Isaiah 53:4-6)

 The New Testament confirms this in these words about Jesus, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2:24).” We are saved by the mercy of God in the sacrifice of Christ. Therefore, if people reject the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, they then reject the only remedy for the penalty of their sins. And yet there are people who do reject the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for salvation. They just don’t get it.

 For example, 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” To some people the message of the cross is foolishness. The Greek word translated foolishness is moria, which basically means, moronic. Some people think the message of the cross, someone dying to pay the penalty for our sins, is just extremely silly, it doesn’t make any sense.

 These people ask, “Why can’t we pay for our own sins?” That’s a very good question. Here’s the answer. The wages of sin is death (Genesis 2:17; Ezekiel 18:4, Romans 6:23). And every person dies, but this is not the full payment for sin. Everyone dies even those who are saved because our bodies are frail; we are mortal, not immortal. God alone possesses Immortality (1 Timothy 6:16). The payment for sin is the second death that happens at the great judgment of God at the end of time (Revelation 20:14, 15). If you are judged guilty, deserving of everlasting death, you will be annihilated. You will cease to exist.

 Therefore, if you pay for your own sins at that second death, you can never be saved. Why? The answer is simple, you are dead forever. So, I either have to pay for my sins, which means everlasting death.  Or I have to live righteously, as holy as God, in order to be saved. But I cannot live a pure, holy and blameless life! So in grace and mercy God provided a substitute to die on my behalf—and yours, Jesus Christ. The most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16, reveals this truth.

 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life

 According to 1 Corinthians 1:18 (quoted above) everyone is in the process of one of two things. You’re either in the process of being saved, which begins with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. At his return you will receive a new body and everlasting life (1 Corinthians 15:20-23; Philippians 3:20, 21). Or you’re in the process of perishing, a process that will be completed at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:9). Every human being is in one of those two groups. You’re either being saved by the Lord Jesus Christ or you are perishing.

 The Scripture says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).” If you have not yet claimed Christ as your Lord and Savior, do it now. If you have, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice (Philippians 4:4).”

The Killing of Trayvon Martin

The death of 17 year old Trayvon Martin who was shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, has captured national and world attention. Martin was shot and killed back on February 26^th in Sanford, Florida. Eyewitnesses told police that there was an argument between Zimmerman and Martin, a scuffle, a cry for help and then a gunshot. According to the police, Zimmerman was found standing over Martin. He had a bloody nose and a wound on the back of his head and the gun in his hand. Zimmerman and a witness told police he shot Martin in self-defense, which Florida law allows.

 Over the past few weeks more information has been uncovered including accounts that Zimmerman followed and may have taunted Trayvon using racial slurs (Trayvon is Black and Zimmerman is Hispanic). And there may have been a lax police investigation. Now the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI are involved. Let the investigation do its job, so that justice is served. But now there is also irrational ranting about the tragedy.

 An MSNBC host, Ed Schultz, blames Jeb Bush and the Florida gun law for Trayvon’s death. Geraldo Rivera blames the hoodie that Trayvon wore stating “You cannot rehabilitate the hoodie” because of its gang association. There was a “Million Hoodie” march in New York City. And Nation of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan, is calling for retaliation and justice in the street. The reason for this tragedy and others like it is not the law or the hoodie; it is the human heart, the inner core of who we are. Jesus Christ said, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies (Matthew 15:19). We don’t need more violence on the streets we need to help people become new in Christ.

Missing in all this news is the deep loss and heartache in the Martin family and the tragedy in the Zimmerman family. What is also missing is the news that just last week in Chicago, because of gangs and street violence, 49 people were shot and ten killed. And among the dead, was an innocent 6 year old girl. Where’s all the rage about this event? There is injustice and cries of despair everywhere—in your town and mine.

 If you listen to your heart you can hear the cries of the injured everywhere. There is the cry of a child beaten by a drunken Dad. There is the cry of an old man assaulted by a gang. There is the cry of the young lady raped by someone she knows. Do you hear the cry of the wife abandoned by her husband after many faithful years of marriage? What about the cries of those trapped in an uncaring welfare system or the tears of a drug addict? Can you hear the deep, heart wrenching cry of a mother and father, a husband or wife, who has lost a loved one to war? What about the silent crying of a Dad who can’t find work to care for his family? There are millions of cries of hurt and injustice every day. Why?

 The Old Testament prophet Hosea hit the nail on the head. He cried, “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.” And so there is “swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon bloodshed. Therefore the land will mourn (Hosea 4:2, 3). Why the injustice? “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.”

 This should cause us all to weep; if we have sinned, to repent. And if we know the Word of God and the love of God we should boldly and lovingly make it known—now, today, at your home, at work, at school, with your neighbors. We don’t need Ed Schultz blaming Jeb Bush. We don’t need Geraldo blaming hoodies. We don’t need Louis Farrakhan calling for violence in the streets. We need God’s people to be God’s people.

 If you are a Christian fortify yourself by reading your Bible, make the time to pray, put the love of God into action and please speak the truth in love. You are an ambassador for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). Reach out with the good news—“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:15).”

Being Salt and Light in the Workplace

Our Lord Jesus Christ lived, worked and ministered in the real world. He spent most of his time teaching in the streets and market places. He put forth the truth right out in the real world where people live and work. Daily he made contact with all kinds of people from blue collar fishermen to white collar tax collectors. He was even known to show up from time to time in a synagogue, but at the bottom line he had “street cred.”

 Near the end of his earthly ministry Jesus prayed for his disciples—for you and me. He prayed “I have given them Your word…I do not pray that You should take them out of the world (John 17:14, 15).” Christ wants us in the world with the Word of God just like he was.  Our Lord has work to do, lives to touch, here and now and his method is to do it through us, the church.

 Christian ministry includes the teaching of the Word by those gifted to teach so that every believer is equipped to minister and serve both in the church and out in the world.  If you are a Christian who owns a business or goes to work, you are a minister of the good news of Jesus Christ right out there in the real world.

 Christ said to his disciples “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:13, 14).” These metaphors describe the basics of your ministry at work and in the world. You are “salt” which inhibits decay, preserves and adds flavor. And you are “light” which means that you dispel darkness so others can see the truth. The Bible says “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).” Go on, get out of the salt shaker and shed some light—someone is waiting for you!