Your Real Boss

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.

This is almost a parallel passage to the verses we�re looking at in Colossians, reiterating many of the same ideas.

So, we are to do our jobs well whether or not we�re being monitored, we don�t do them just to gain our bosses favor, and we do it with sincerity of heart, or as the KJV says �singleness of heart� � which indicates a singleness of purpose.

When we�re working, even in our secular jobs, or in our classroom, or in our home, we�re to do all these things with this kind of attitude of heart.

Why? Again, because ultimately we�re not serving our earthly boss. Ultimately, we�re not even doing it primarily for the paycheck. We�re serving the Lord. We�re doing what we do as if we�re doing it for the Lord Himself.

Can you see how such an attitude could revolutionize the workplace?

Bad attitudes in the workplace are legendary. It�s very common to join a conversation in a workplace and hear people complaining about almost every aspect of their jobs. Everybody looks forward to the weekends, or days off, because we don�t have to work on those days. Now, admittedly, there�s a cycle of work and rest that we ignore at our own peril, but for many people, they work only because they have to. I owe I owe, so off to work I go.

Can you imagine how, if we really took seriously the ideas in these passages of scripture, how it would revolutionize our attitudes toward work, and how if it spread, it could truly impact the places we work?

Well, you say, Bill, you just don�t understand. You don�t work where I work. You don�t know how difficult my boss can be. He�s a total pagan, and he curses and degrades people. You don�t have to put up with the kinds of people I work with.

And of course that�s true. I don�t walk in your shoes. But I have worked in difficult places. I think most of you know I worked for more than 20 years in the secular work world. I have worked for difficult people and with difficult people. And I admit I didn�t always have the best attitude about my work then. So in some ways I do understand, and I can relate and commiserate. But let�s not dwell on whether or not I understand. That�s not really important here. Let�s look at what the scripture says.

Let�s remember Daniel in the Old Testament. He worked for a pagan too. Daniel wasn�t treated fairly, either, and one of his bosses, who happened to be the CEO, or the king, unjustly threw him into a lion�s den, despite his faithful service to his boss. But Daniel not only faithfully served his boss, his boss almost innately seemed to know that Daniel�s real boss was not the king, but the King of Kings.

Daniel 6:20 tells us what the king said when he came to the lion�s den to see what had happened to Daniel.

Daniel 6:20: (NIV) When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, �Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?�

Of course, God did rescue Daniel from death. But the point is, isn�t it interesting that

Daniel worked in a pagan environment. He worked in a pagan office.