The call to be a Christian was not a call to leave your secular vocation. That’s the clear point of 1 Corinthians 7:17-24. Paul had a high view of the providence of God — that God had sovereignly “assigned” or “called” unbelievers to positions in life where their conversion would have significant impact for his glory. Paul does not mean that changing jobs is wrong in the Christian life…. What Paul does mean is that when we are converted we should not jump to the conclusion, my job must change.
Rather our thought should be, God has put me here, and I should now display His worth in this job. Therefore, the burning question for most Christians should be:
How can my life count for the glory of God in my secular vocation?
…Our aim is to joyfully magnify Christ — to make Him look great by all we do. Boasting only in the cross, our aim is to enjoy making much of Him by the way we work.
–John Piper
Are you going to work today with the right mindset of making much of Jesus at your workplace – by how you work? by how you show your love for Him to others? by how you change your conversations with those you talk to? You have been placed in your position at work “for such a time as this,” so use your relationships there as a platform or springboard to exalt Christ at your place of employment.
Certainly, that is a bit “easy” for me to say, as I work at a church. But I know of people is so many different occupations who have made this their goal, and are impacting God’s kingdom at their store, their school, their hospital, their law office, their marketing agency. You can too. It takes a choice to go to the work the right way – not going for the primary goal of making money, but going for the primary goal of working for Him… the One who gave His life for you, wants you to give your life at work to Him!
