Qualifications for the Job

We've spent two weeks of the Forward Bible Study class learning about how God wants us to live boldly and who we are in Him. This week's focus is on how to live "Forward" at work. Regardless of where you work, there will be times when your work and faith will collide. What we do now will determine how we'll respond when the collision happens. As we learned last week in Psalm 139, God saw our substance (our character) before we were even born and He fashioned our days for us before even the first one of them began. We know that God has placed hedges around us to protect and grow us through a host of experiences. We also saw that God is active in our lives, personally active, from conception to the grave. All aspects of our character - whether derived from our nature or nurture are His handiwork. He's examined us and loves us despite the influences of sin upon us.

All that sounds great. I love it. On Sunday it warms my heart and spurs my soul. Then Monday comes and it's off to work again. Is it just as true on Monday as it is on Sunday in my life? That's the real test of the Forward life. How do we express our faith in Him for Him in the Monday morning world? For most of us, that means expressing Him at work. Let's look at Daniel, a man who definitely showed us many examples of how to live for Him at work.

If, as we've learned so far, that life isn't about us, then it's just as true that our jobs can't be just about us. Our purpose in work is not be a business man who's a believer, but to be a reflection of how God operates in the business world. So whatever job you do can't define you. Our role is to reflect the nature of Christ in our workplace. How did Daniel do it?

In Daniel chapter 1, we see that the kingdom of Judah was captured by Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar. We know that Nebuchadnezzar (let's call him Nebby for short since I'm a terrible typist) wasn't a follow of the Lord. In fact he permitted the raiding of the Temple and had the sacred relics brought for worship for their gods. Next old Nebby asked asked one of his chiefs to select some of the best men Israel had to offer for service to the king. Based on Dan 1:4 it sounds like Nebby's plan was to indoctrinate these hand picked men into his way of doing things in the hopes of passing the Chaldean culture onto the captured Israelites. So far he sounds like a great boss.

Daniel was one of these hand selected young men. The king appointed over Daniel a master who would be responsible for their training and development for service. Right away Daniel's faith comes into collision with his job. The king thought it would be good for his servants to have a slice of the good life. To enjoy the best education, the best wine, and the best food. Normally such a gesture is made to gain the trust of a perceived enemy. But regardless of Nebby's reason, it conflicted with the Jewish laws of diet.

Daniel spoke up. OK, let's set the stage since all the know the story. We know Daniel spoke up. We know they went on the Daniel Diet of veggies and water. We know it worked. Yippie for Daniel. But there's more to it. This boss of Daniel is the king. Not just any king, but ruler of the known world at this point. The same guy who just starved out your fellow countrymen until they were too weak to resist his armies. The same guy who raided the Most High God's temple and stole the holy things from it. This guy booted Daniel from his homeland. So would most of us have the courage to sound off about what was on the menu? But Daniel was a Forward thinker. He know his decisions now would affect things later and he wanted them to be Godly decisions. He was a Psalm 1 guy and knew the cost of heeding ungodly counsel. So he spoke up about the menu.

Daniel has a down right evil boss with lost men working in the positions of authority. But Daniel was firm about the little things. He was exhibiting in his work the things of his faith that made him strong. And he wasn't a jerk about it either. Often Christians complain about being "persecuted" at work. What a joke. Most of us don't even have the faintest idea of what real persecution is. What some call being persecuted is really just them being ostracized for being a jerk at work about their faith. I've heard stories about people being "persecuted" for reading their Bibles during the work day. Really? Your boss isn't paying you to read your Bible. He's paying you to work. Work is time to live out what's in the Bible. Imagine Bret Favre pulling out the play book to read on the field in the middle of the game. Too late guy, those millions you're getting are for putting it into practice. Same for us as Christians. People who are lost don't give a hoot how many passages we can quote, how many Christian CDs we have, the Bible on our desk, or how many ministries we're involved in if we're a lousy employee. You want to reflect Christ at work? Then be a faithful top-notch employee who gets the job done without complaining, without excess supervision or follow-up, without cheating or hurting the customer or other employees. Be on time with a positive attitude. Do quality work. Don't make your boss fix your mistakes. Give your boss more than he's paying you for. Go above and beyond. Be a blessing to your boss. Pray for him, the company, the other employees and your customers. When we reflect Him at work like that, maybe then people might get curious about knowing how we came to be that kind of person.

Daniel was that kind of employee. In fact Dan 1:9 says God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. This word for favor is the same that was used to describe Joseph when he worked for the Egyptians. God wants us to be good employees.

When you work for lost people, expect them to do things lost people do. In Daniel's case, his trainer wasn't too crazy about the Daniel Diet. In fact he was more concerned about his boss' affinity for killing people if Daniel's idea failed. Did Daniel preach at him for a lack of faith? No. Daniel expected his boss to behave like a lost person does. 1 Cor 1:18 says that the "message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing" and Daniel knew that to reach him, he had to meet him on his level. So Daniel proposed a 10 day test. This wasn't a compromise from Daniel, but it was Daniel meeting the other man at his level with his fears and concerns and practically showing him God's truth in a way that would strip away those fears.

Daniel said please. Daniel offered a Godly course of action to meet his ungodly boss' need. Daniel wasn't afraid of accountability. Daniel recognized the man's authority over him. He didn't call him stupid, incompetent, didn't turn the other employees against him. The result was better than even Daniel expected. Because Daniel was a faithful employee and believer, his boss allowed Daniel to obey his diet. God rewarded Daniel and his friends with knowledge, skill in all literature, and wisdom. To Daniel he gave understanding in all visions and dreams.

What was so special about the things God gave Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego? They were all things that the king (their boss) wanted them to know so they'd be fit to serve him. (Dan 1:4) The king's qualifications for the job were wisdom, knowledge, language and literature. God wants us to be qualified employees. "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."