More Than ‘Just A Job’
Our Mission
To present Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to business and professional men and to develop Christian business and professional men to carry out the Great Commission.
Numbers 24.13 records the prophet saying, If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the LORD to do either good or evil of my own will, but whatever the LORD tells me I must speak’?
While the prophet in this story turns bad his attitude at this point in the story is one current Christians desperately need. Culture is a reflection of the attitudes and desires of the people. Culture reflects the thinking, the doing and the wanting of the people within its boundaries. What kind of people is our current culture reflecting?
More than 150 years ago a Frenchman came to America to determine what made this country so great so fast. Alexis de Tocqueville observed, ‘I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers – and it was not there . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerce – and it was not there . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution – and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.’
Might it be that the shift in culture we see today from one of full churches and an overarching Christian virtue to one of narcissism and decadence is the result of our choosing houses full of silver and gold rather than obedience to the commandments of the Lord? Could it be our willingness to be silent in prayer at school, in the government hallways and in the business boardroom has resulted in fewer adherents to the Lordship of Jesus Christ?
The work of the Church, which is the necessity of every Christian, is to make disciples of all people by going to them with His message, leading them into repentance signified by baptism then teaching them obedience to every command He has given to us. Jesus said this tension between gold and God would be an issue for people when He observed our impossibility at loving Him and loving money simultaneously.
To truly follow Jesus is to offer Him our current and future titles and treasures in order to engage fully the work of reconciling people to Him through loving others with acts of service and proclamation of His work through our testimony of His activity in our lives.
His Opportunities
- Next CBMC Special Luncheon is June 8th. Eagle Eye GC. Brig Sorber, Executive Chairman of Two Men & A Truck International will be our speaker. Register HERE
- Prayer and Bible study occurs every Friday morning at the Coral Gables restaurant in East Lansing from 7am – 8am, feel free to join us.
- CEO's, are you looking for a private group of fellow business owners for encouragement, support, and advice? CBMC offers such a group. Contact Mike at mwinter@cbmc.com for more information.
- CBMC needs your help to continue its ministry to men in the marketplace. Please DONATE
MONDAY MANNA
A service to the business community
A Publication of CBMC International
May 22, 2017
More Than ‘Just A Job’
by Robert J. Tamasy
Why do you go to work? To earn a paycheck? We all do that – it is good to have the money to buy food and clothing, put gas in our cars, pay bills, maybe invest a little for the future, and hopefully have some cash left over for fun activities. But is that the only reason you go to work?
Some people might respond that work gives them something to do. Others might comment that it helps to fill the time between weekends. You can probably think of other reasons, but years ago George Washington Carver addressed the “why go to work?” question in a way that was both powerful and profound.
Carver, who died in 1943 at the age of 79, was an African-American agricultural chemist who had discovered hundreds of uses for peanuts, soybeans, pecans and sweet potatoes, among others. We still benefit from many of his discoveries today. But for him, his work was much more than “just a job” in a scientific lab. He explained it this way:
“Man, who needed a purpose, a mission, to keep him alive, had one. He could be…God’s co-worker…. My purpose alone must be God’s purpose – to increase the welfare and happiness of His people…. Why, then, should we who believe in Christ be so surprised at what God can do with a willing man in a laboratory?”
He hit on a truth that too many of us never fully grasp. God has placed us here for a purpose, a mission – and if we’re aligned with God’s purpose, we will enhance the lives of others and find lasting purpose that transcends paychecks, time clocks and deadlines. Along with offering his perspective on work, Carver cited Acts 17:28, “In Him (Jesus Christ) we live and move and have our being.”
From the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, it is clear God ordained special meaning and purpose for work. “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living create that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:28). Mankind was designated to serve as stewards over His creation. The Scriptures say more about work in terms of purpose and mission:
A primary reason we are here. The Lord did not intend to display us in His trophy case; He had work He intended for us to accomplish for His glory. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
Guidelines provided for how we are to work. God did not merely create work. In the Bible, He gives instruction on what we are to do, how we are to do it, and why. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Our work will be evaluated by the Creator of work. Once our work is completed, it will be subject to divine inspection. “…here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
© 2017. Robert J. Tamasy has written Business at Its Best: Timeless Wisdom from Proverbs for Today’s Workplace; Tufting Legacies; coauthored with David A. Stoddard, The Heart of Mentoring, and edited numerous other books, including Advancing Through Adversity by Mike Landry. Bob’s website is www.bobtamasy-readywriterink.com, and his biweekly blog is: www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com.
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