The Word Before Work

• A biblical “mandate for reading Christian biography.”

  Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from PhilippiansDevotional: 3 of 4Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. (Philippians 3:17)Today’s passage is exemplary of a command we see all throughout Paul’s letters, perhaps most famously in 1 Corinthians 11:1 where the apostle said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”Paul understood that becoming more like Christ requires us seeing flesh-and-bone models of others following Christ. And so Paul encouraged his readers to look to him as an animated, three-dimensional case study of how to glorify God in a cultural context similar to their own.Paul’s words point to an important principle: If you want to know what it looks like practically to glorify God, look first to Christ and second to Christ’s followers.Let me suggest you respond to that principle in two practical ways.First, send a message thanking someone whose example you’ve followed as they’ve followed Christ. Who are the men and women God has used to form who you are spiritually and professionally? A parent? A former boss? Your pastor? A mentor God used to kick-start your career? Whoever just came to mind, send them a note right now thanking them for giving you a godly example worth imitating.Second, read more Christian biographies. I read a lot of biographies of other Christians. Because case studies make the commands of Christ stickier in my mind. The authors of Made to Stick explain why, saying, “A story is powerful because it provides the context missing from abstract prose.” That’s the power of biography. And oh by the way, Scripture commands that we learn from the Christian leaders who came before us. Hebrews 13:7 says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” Commenting on this verse pastor John Piper says this is “a mandate for reading Christian biography.”Unfortunately, most biographies are tearfully boring and way too long. That’s why I’m reimagining the genre with my next book which will introduce you to five mere Christians whose examples you and I would be wise to follow because of how well they followed the example of Christ in their work.

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• Want to “shine among” lost co-workers? Do this.

  Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from PhilippiansDevotional: 2 of 4Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. (Philippians 2:14-15)Want to “shine among” the non-Christians you work with? Paul tells you how: “Do everything without grumbling or arguing.” Apparently, working without grumbling and complaining was as countercultural in Paul’s day as it is in ours.C.S. Lewis once said that, “Hell begins with a grumbling mood.” The inverse is also true. People can get a whiff of heaven through the joyful mood of its citizens. Dr. Randy Alcorn goes so far as to say that, “Happiness in Christ is one of our most powerful evangelistic tools.”The question, of course, is how can we be joyful and work without grumbling when your co-worker replies all to yet another email or your boss makes an urgent request at 4:45 on a Friday? By focusing on what Christ has done for us.Just a few verses before today’s passage, Paul writes about how Christ “humbled himself by becoming obedient to death” for you and me (see verse 8). “Therefore,” Paul says in verse 14, “do everything without grumbling or arguing.”The cross is the source of our joy amidst less than desirable circumstances. Once you focus on what Christ accomplished for you at Calvary, grumbling about the smell in the office refrigerator feels ridiculous. Tim Keller once compared it to being a “spiritual billionaire…wringing your hands over ten dollars.”Grumbling is so second nature we often don’t notice we’re doing it. Here are three simple ways to prevent, confess, and respond to complaining.First, prevent grumbling by writing Philippians 2:14-15 somewhere you’ll see it while you work. On a post-it note, your phone background—wherever.Second, confess grumbling by creating a grumble jar. And every time you or someone on your team complains, drop in a dollar (or, if you’re like me and never carry cash, an IOU to tally later). My family and I did this recently to break a different habit and it was shockingly effective. We were able to kick our habit in less than a month. Finally, respond to grumbling by expressing gratitude. Think back to the last thing you complained about and thank God for something related to that thing. For example, this morning I grumbled about the house being a mess. But I then said a quick prayer of gratitude that I have children to make said mess.Do whatever it takes to wrestle your grumbling to the ground, believer. Because as Dr. Alcorn put it, “Our happiness makes the gospel contagiously appealing; our unhappiness makes it alarmingly unattractive.”

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  4:29
• New Series: Wisdom for Work from Philippians

  Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from PhilippiansDevotional: 1 of 4For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. (Philippians 1:21-22)Today, we’re kicking off a new series exploring wisdom for our work from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, looking at one insight from each of the book’s four chapters.We begin in chapter 1 with Paul’s words that—so long as he’s alive—he will give himself to “fruitful labor” for the kingdom.Those words are countercultural today as retirement remains a goal for the vast majority of Americans. And thanks to the growing “Financial Independence, Retire Early” FIRE movement, Gen Z plans to retire earlier than any previous generation at the ripe young age of 54.How do these people plan to spend the second half of life? The social media bio of a leader of the FIRE movement is telling to that end: “Mr. Money Mustache was a thirtysomething retiree who now writes about how we can all lead a frugal yet Badass life of leisure.”This idea of trading hard work for endless leisure finds zero support in Scripture. Theologian Dr. R. Paul Stevens puts it bluntly: “there is no concept of retirement in the Bible.”Which is why Paul wrote constantly about the Christian’s call to work hard as long as we “go on living in the body.” 1 Corinthians 15:58 is just one example: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”And let’s not forget that while many of us are chasing financial independence, Jesus chased financial dependence (see Matthew 8:20 and Luke 8:2-3). And while many of us are calculating when we can stop working, Jesus said he glorified the Father by finishing the work the Father gave him to do (see John 17:4).God may call you to retire from the work you do for pay. But I guarantee you that he won’t call you to retire from “abounding in the work of the Lord.”Now, before you financial advisors reply to this email in outrage, hear this: There is nothing wrong with saving money for a day when you may no longer be able to work for pay. I do! But to call yourself an image bearer of Christ and then trade a productive life with a life of endless leisure is to take the Lord’s name in vain. You know how lightbulbs shine brightest just before they burn out? That is a picture of the life of Paul and the life of Christ that you and I are made to image. Resolve to image him well as you seek fruitful labor today and to the very end.

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• Stop asking God about his will (and do this instead)

  Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: God's Will for Your WorkDevotional: 4 of 4The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. (Psalm 37:23-24)We’ve been in a series exploring biblical truths for discerning God’s will for your work. Here’s the fourth and final I’ll share:Truth #4: Some Christians need to spend less time discerning God’s will and more time doing God’s will.Now, notice that I didn’t say “spend no time discerning God’s will.” That would be unbiblical and foolish as the wisdom of seeking wisdom from the Lord is everywhere in Scripture (see Proverbs 3:5-6, James 1:5, etc.).The problem is that many of us spend so much time worrying about God’s will for the future that we never get around to doing his will in the present. This stands in stark contrast to the example of Christ’s followers in Scripture. Take Paul as an example. Yes there were times when Paul waited on the Lord in prayer (see Acts 13:1-2, Acts 16:6-10, etc.). But as pastor Jerry Sittser explains, the New Testament offers no hint that Paul agonized about the will of God as it pertained to the future…If we sense any agony in the heroes of Scripture, it is not in discovering the will of God but in doing it.”Now I hear what you’re thinking: OK Jordan, so long as I am seeking to obey God, I have lots of freedom in the decisions I make at work. I get it. But I still have a decision to make! So how do I choose? Let me suggest 3 practices that put the truths we’ve learned in this series into practice.#1: Pray and ask God for wisdom. But as I mentioned before, don’t be surprised if his answer is, “you choose.” #2: Seek wisdom from Christians who understand your work. This could be a small group in your church, a Christian Employee Resource Group at your company, or my own Mere Christians Community (which is open for enrollment this week).#3: Flip a coin. Absent an exceptionally clear answer from God or others, choose whichever option you want. Still can’t decide? Flip a coin. As music producer Rick Rubin explains, “When the coin is spinning in the air, you’ll likely notice a quiet preference or wish for one of the two to come up. Which are you rooting for? This is the option to go with.”God’s will for your work is that you would work with him and be obedient to his commands. That gives you tonsof freedom to make decisions today. Maybe you need to stop asking God about his will and start doing his will. Because as Saint Francis de Sales once said, “Deeds give God far more glory than any amount of time wasted in trying to discriminate between good and better.”

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  4:45
• "Whatever choices we make become the will of God." Really?!

  Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: God's Will for Your WorkDevotional: 3 of 4Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)The hardest decision I’ve ever made professionally was to step down as CEO of Threshold 360 six years ago. I loved leading that fast growing tech startup. And I also loved creating faith and work content like these devotionals. But I was convinced that I had to put all my professional eggs in one of those two baskets.I knew neither path was a “higher calling”—I could follow Jesus fully in either role. But I still spent months paralyzed, desperate to discern God’s will for my work.Part of what freed me was today’s passage, knowing that regardless of which path I chose, as long as my heart was submissive to God today, he would make my paths straight tomorrow. As we’ve already seen in this series, Scripture says very little about God’s will for you tomorrow, but a lot about God’s will for you today—namely that he wills us to obey him and walk in the way of The Way, Jesus Christ (see 1 Thessalonians 4:3).So long as you’re doing that, there’s no such thing as a “wrong” decision. As Tim Keller once said, “for a Christian, there is no ‘plan B.’” Because God’s purposes will always prevail (see Proverbs 19:21). That brings me to the third biblical truth for discerning God’s will for your work… Truth #3: There is no wrong way if you are following The Way.Here’s how pastor Jerry Sittser articulated this idea: “If we seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness…then whatever choices we make concerning the future become the will of God for our lives. There are many pathways we could follow…As long as we are seeking God, all of them can be God’s will for our lives, although only one—the path we choose—actually becomes his will.”In other words, it is impossible to seek the kingdom of God and miss the will of God. There is no wrong way if you are following The Way.What decision are you agonizing over at work? Should you stay or leave your job? Go back to school? Say yes or no to a big project? If none of your options violate God’s commands, relax. Pray for wisdom. And unless you hear a clear answer, choose freely and confidently—knowing the Lord will make your path straight.

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