I was at a football game at my high school alma mater a few years ago working the concession stand for the track and cross country boosters. It was a long day, I had come from working around ten hours at my day job. It was early in the season so it was pretty hot and humid. I really didn’t want to be there, I was ready to just go home and relax after a long day. But, I made a commitment to the track and cross country athletes and the other parents I was working with, so I made the best of it. After the game started the concession stand had a break in the action. I saw a man walk by wearing a t-shirt that read “Who are you working for?” and on the back read Colossians 3:23. I had to get his attention, which I’m sure was the reason the man chose the shirt. I asked him to explain the shirt, my inquiring mind needed to know. He recited the verse to me:
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men. He told me he had been to a men’s conference about work and worship and this was the souvenir t-shirt. To say this conversation knocked me down a few pegs on my pity ladder is an understatement. Here I was doing something to support our athletes (my own daughter was one of them) and the school and I was grumbling about it. What was I thinking? I was being selfish and frankly in that moment guilt for my feelings hit me like a big fat brick.
It was in that moment I had a change of heart, I knew I had to change my perspective of the task at hand. I was not there for myself, I was there to serve. Serve the spectators and ultimately the booster group that supported my daughter and her teammates.
How often do we find ourselves hoping against all hope we don’t have to do the thing we really don’t want to do? Think about the man and the place he had gotten the shirt. He was at a conference about work and worship. Can those two things coexist? Sure they can. Our work can be our worship if we have the right perspective. As Christians our mindset going into anything we are doing should not be on how it will affect or benefit us, but those we are serving. At the end of the day, we are serving Christ. Remember; “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40.
When we say we are Christ followers, whatever we do to serve others around us, we are also committing to serve the Lord. Those “others” we serve are the “least of these brothers and sisters” referred to in this verse.
Now as my work, I serve our church family in the capacity of Administrative Assistant and Volunteer Coordinator. My job description is to serve others. I serve the leadership and staff at the church but I also serve the bodies that enter through the doors on any occasion. I can truly say my work is my worship. I love people, I have always been a people person. Christ loves people, He is a people person. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Matthew 20:28.
When we turn our work into worship, I pray we become more like Christ and focus on serving others and not serving our own agendas. And remember when we commit to living a life for Christ we are truly working for the Lord, not for man. The Lord provides far more for us than man could ever provide!
Carol Frear