I must confess: There have been many times throughout my life and career that I have lacked motivation to work for my employer as diligently as I am called to do. I use a variety of reasons to justify this sinful attitude: My boss is not respectable or supportive, I feel undervalued, the work is boring or has no purpose, they only focus on the “bottom line,” I’m not progressing in my career, or this is not what I wanted to do with my life. I’m sure that you have some of your own that you have expressed to co-workers, friends, and relatives to justify your lack of motivation. However, no excuse that we can rationalize provides a way out of our responsibility to God in our workplace. A lack of motivation reveals that our motivation is severely misplaced. Paul writes:
“Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.”
Colossians 3:22-25
I love Paul’s continual focus on Christ, on who He is and what He’s done. In this section of Colossians, Paul confronts us in a variety of earthly roles, both within the home (as husbands, wives, parents, and as children) and outside the home (as bondservants and masters). Paul uses the term “bondservant” here (some translations use “slave”) not to condone any type of forced or even voluntary servitude that was prevalent during that time, but to address the matter of godly integrity and a heart of humble submission to authority (1 Peter 2:18-21).
