First in a Series

In Luke 12:48, scripture teaches that “from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” So, let’s ask ourselves:
How much has God given us?
How much more will he ask of us?
How do we take care of what God’s entrusted to us?

We believe God creates each one of us for a special purpose. The vision of At Work on Purpose is to unleash full Christian commitment and contribution, advancing God’s kingdom, in and through work.

Our “job” in life is to glorify God in all we do, including our work. When we go to work with God, we experience what it’s like to be part of something much bigger than we are. It gives us ordinary people an opportunity to do extraordinary things!

What Fuels At Work on Purpose?
The engine behind At Work on Purpose is a model we call THE POWER PROFILE. This model is about power in the sense of electricity, the charge we get when we plug into God’s will for our work.

THE POWER PROFILE helps Christians fulfill The Great Commandment and The Great Commission in the workplace. The Great Commandment is to love God and others. The Great Commission is to develop disciples. This model focuses us on four key things, the four P’s:

• Purpose. Determining God’s purpose for our work
• Pursuit. Pursuing our work purpose to God’s standards
• People. Growing people as we go – professionally and personally
• Prosperity. Stewarding the prosperity that God grants us through work

When we follow God’s purpose for our work, and grow people as we go, God blesses that effort. Prosperity follows and points out how much we’ve been given and how much is expected of us.

So how much has God given us? In the eternal sense, everything. Scripture tells us, in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Or, as the Apostle Paul explains in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ.” Jesus’ sacrificial death reconciles us with God, and enables us to spend eternity with him.

We celebrate the promise of eternity, but we often miss the gifts God grants us every day. They’re so familiar, we take them for granted.

Growing in Christ’s Likeness, Focusing on Others
We are given a great deal on a material level and on a spiritual level as Christians. And to whom much is given, much is demanded. If WE are the body of Christ, how should we respond?

As the body of Christ, we need to grow in Christ’s likeness. Consider Matthew 16:24, where Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Or, from the Apostle Paul in Romans 6:11-13, “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus . . . offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.” We must deny our own plans, and follow God’s plans.

On a material level, we need to focus more on the needs of others, rather than ourselves. Jesus describes this kind of righteousness in Matthew 25: 35-45, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” And then later, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

What is the bottom line? God calls us to make a difference as well as a dollar.

Next in the series: steward the prosperity we create at work, not just pocket it