Work and Encouragement
(The following is the text of the video, “Work and Encouragement,” found HERE.)
God found something missing in his brand-new Creation. Yes, he pronounced it all to be “very good.” Yet three verses after sending Adam to work in the Garden, God finds something missing, something not good. “It is not good for the man to be alone.” So God creates a partner for him. The scene moves from Adam alone to Adam with Eve.
Centuries later, Elijah, exhausted after dealing with hundreds of false prophets and then running for his life, experienced what it was like to work alone. He told God, “I am the only one left.”
When people in the New Testament were sent to do some kind of work, we see a pattern: They typically did not go alone.
• Jesus needs a colt: Sends two.
• Jesus needs a meeting room: Sends two
• Jesus deputizes 72: Sends two by two
• Dorcas dies: To call Peter, Disciples send two.
• The Holy Spirit launches mission: Sends two.
• Paul unable to go to Macedonia: Sends two.
As The Teacher says, Two are better than one,because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. This is just as true for those in the workplace as it is for other contexts.
A W. Tozer understood the position of the Christian in one of the world’s workplaces. He said: “The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians . . . . His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind . . . .”
In light of Tozer’s statement and all the biblical examples, Hebrews 3:13-14 makes so much sense: “. . . encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” In other words, encourage each other again and again and again and again and again. That frequency is impossible in once-a-week church meetings. But it’s very doable in our daily work. First, though, you need to discover who the other Christians are.
Finding fellow Christians is easy in a church gathering. The clues are everywhere. That young woman to your left came the church meeting today, which leads you to think she probably wants to follow Jesus. She is carrying a Bible. She knows the songs. She is wearing a cross pendant. Persuasive evidence she is a Christian.
But to discover fellow believers in the workplace, you may have to play detective. Some Christ-followers might be staying “under the radar.” How can you discover who they are? First, watch their lives. Any clues from their lifestyle choices, the way they treat the “nobodies” around them, their hobbies?
Second, listen closely. What does their vocabulary reveal? Only God, of course, knows their hearts. You are simply trying to find others in your work circle who seem interested in following Jesus. Weave questions into your conversations that could lead to revealing responses. Questions like:
• What are your plans for this weekend?
• What are your favorite books?
• Who in history do you most admire?
• What do you think about the state of our world?
Then, when you and other Christian coworkers have come to know each other, you can begin to encourage one another in all kinds of ways. For example:
• You can team up to provide meals for any coworker who is ill.
• You can be on the lookout for any coworker who seems troubled or depressed.
• You can find opportunities to pray together before or after hours or during lunch break.
• Or, in some cases, you might want to begin a Bible-study group.
We Christians need encouragement. We need to give it and to receive it--over and over again. We especially need encouragement in our places of work, which often leave us feeling spiritually isolated and unsupported. In that context, we first need to seek one another. And then we need to support one another.
One more reason to get up and go to work.
Chapter 10: Encouraging Believers
A vital reason God sends you into your workplace is to find and support fellow Christ-followers.
