Let’s
sit down and discuss “Worship in the Workplace” or our Spiritual Act of Worship. If you don’t work,
that's alright. You don't have to "work" outside the home to give a spiritual act of worship.
What
it is not:
-
Having
worship music on all the time. (In some cases, maybe, but more than likely not.)
-
Setting
aside time each day for prayer while you’re at work. (Could, but not really.)
-
Sharing
your faith with everyone that comes through the door, co-workers, customers, or
those that call on the phone. (Um… no.)
The
above are only a smidgen of examples of what worship in the workplace are not, at least not what the Bible talks about.
So, let us define WORSHIP as the dictionary defines it:
noun
1.
reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or toany object regarded as sacred.
2.
formal or ceremonious rendering of such honor and homage:
They attended worship this morning.
3.
adoring reverence or regard:
excessive worship of business success.
4.
the object of adoring reverence or regard.
Now,let’s
look at scripture, just a couple of passages:
Hear, O Israel,
the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The
second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.
Mark 12:29(b) -31
Therefore, I
urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
Romans 12:1
I’m
reading these and am struck by the fact that worshiping the Lord God doesn’t
just take place on Sundays, but every day of the week, 24/7. It also requires our WHOLE BEING.
In
view of what God has done for us, we are to love Him with our whole being, all
the time. He deserves this. I am to give
Him ALL of me. I am to give Him everything I have, everything I do, every
person I meet. I give these back to God because I love Him. It is a spiritual act of worship.
I
will do my job (whatever that is) with Joy because He has placed me there. It is a divine
appointment for someone to just be treated right, with love and care as Father
would. I am to see customers, neighbors, bosses, bus drivers, coffee baristas,
teachers, students whomever God deems to cross my path, to have Father’s
perspective of them and loving them, because this is the Kingdom way.
Whether
you are retired, a student, a stay-at-home parent or working in the workplace,
God has called you to bring the Kingdom where ever you are 24/7. It’s not just
for supported missionaries and paid church folk.
It is ALL of us. It is our finances, our families, our jobs and how we do those jobs. It is how we respond and react through our community with our neighbors.
If
you are at a job that you really don’t like, try and see how much you make a
difference by changing your perspective.
Change the lens that you are looking through. Spend time praying for your boss, co-workers,
neighbors, family and businesses around you. Speak truth in love, rather than cursing.
Declare the opposite of the bad. Speak life. Watch the change happen. Quit cursing and speaking the negative. If you see negative, then speak and declare the opposite. Quit giving the enemy fodder.
God
is a Jealous God. He wants ALL of us
every day of the week, 24/7. Ask Holy
Spirit to help you. Ask the Father what’s
on His heart for your workplace, and He will be delighted to tell you. You just
need to follow through and act upon what He has told you. Listen to what Holy
Spirit says.
Yes, I’m
asking you to step out of yourself and give back to God ALL of yourself every day. Remember WHO is the one you worship. He lives in you, so remember to thank Him. Smile at folks. Ask Father what is on His heart for the people you meet and come into contact today and listen for His quiet answer, then go and obey. This will look different for each of us, but in essence it is the same: It is
your spiritual act of worship.
This was taken on a Sunday morning during the normal worship service time. Our church went out into our community and cleaned the streets and some of the business properties of garbage and weeds and just blessed them. Each business was contact a couple weeks earlier by our Lead Pastor and a couple of others to let them know what we'd like to do for them. Some were wary because of the business they have, but because there was no judgment on our part, they mellowed. It was pretty cool to see. This is just a small example of what we can do as our spiritual act of worship.
