Articles
At least two New Testament texts speak to us as employees about the attitudes that we should bring to our workplaces, Ephesians 6 and Colossians 3. I am going to break with my own traditions just this once and unpack these scriptures from one of the best contemporary translations, the NLT. While in Seminary at Liberty Baptist Seminary, I was given a copy of this translation from Tyndale House Publishers in order that I, and the other language students there, might preview the translation prior to public release and provide feedback to the publisher. I was quite impressed with the translation. While I would not use this translation as a tool for in depth Bible study, it has tremendous merits as a devotional Bible, particularly when readability is desired. With this in mind, my goal today is that we would extract from these texts four qualities of a good, godly, and positive attitude that you will certainly want to apply to your life today.
Respect-Approach your workday by putting on the quality of respect. This manifests in three specific areas: respect for yourself, respect for your employers and fellow employees, and respect for your customer. Treating all people with respect is a guard against hurtful actions and speech, and also leads to good manners. It is hard to have a good attitude at work while exposing another person’s negative qualities. Respect for others not only benefits them, but also makes you a more pleasant person.
Service-Serve your employer as though you were serving Christ directly. By putting on the attitude that even remedial tasks are being done directly to Christ, the Christian can maintain a positive attitude at work…even when the boss is a jerk. We can maintain joy in our less than fun tasks at work by remembering that as we serve our earthly masters, that we are giving our workday as an act of worship to Christ. In this, he allows us to be His representatives/ambassadors to the workplace. Getting the job done well with a positive attitude reflects well on Christ in the workplace. However, grumbling about the day’s tasks and dragging your feet with poor service is a detriment to the reputation of the Lord. I once worked in a retail environment with an employer who was not a churchman. He remarked to me once that he loved to hire students from the local Christian university because they brought a positive attitude, good morals, and a good work ethic to his store. It was encouraging to know that Christ was being honored before the world in the way that our Christian employees conducted business each day.
Ethic-Understand that although the watchful eye of your earthly employer may pass, that the all seeing eye of your Heavenly Father stays on you all day long. Therefore, avoid the pitfall of working more diligently when the boss is looking and slacking off when his attention wanes. Be consistent in your work ethic, conscious of the attitude to work for Christ, who sees whether we are truly putting in an honest day’s work or not.
Enthusiasm-Bring an enthusiastic quality to your workplace. Start each morning by deciding to think positive. Remember that negative thinking leads to negative results, but that positive thinking leads to positive results. For example, if you think that your day is going to be rotten, that you will have trouble all day long, that your relationships are going to be poor today, that nothing will go right…you will usually get what you expect. However, if you expect the day to be great, relationships to flourish, things to go your way, and a productive day of making a difference in the world, then chances are…that is what you will get! Abraham Lincoln was right when he said that “most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
Summary: A positive attitude reflects the qualities of respect and manners for yourself and others, a heart to serve just as if Jesus Himself were your boss, a work ethic that is so honest that you can finish the workday feeling as if you have honored Christ by giving your best, and a spirit of enthusiasm that expects the day to be great.