Spirit-Filled Labor Relations

John MacArthur: We don't do what we do to please men. We don't do what we do to please the boss. We don't do what we do to get the big money. That's not the idea.
John MacArthur: The right diligence is this. As servants of Christ, we do the will of God from the inside.
John MacArthur: And what is the will of God? That you work the way God wants you to.
John MacArthur: And you do it not because the boss is watching, but because the Lord is watching, right?
Phil Johnson: Welcome to Grace to You Weekend, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson.
Phil Johnson: From service industry workers demanding higher wages to teachers picketing City Hall to unions going on strike, it seems there is constant conflict between employees and employers.
Phil Johnson: The question is, how can you honor Christ, whether you are the employee or the boss?
Phil Johnson: Consider that question as we continue John MacArthur's study titled "Wisdom for the Workplace."
Phil Johnson: Today you're going to see God's perspective on labor relations and how following His plan will produce the kind of benefits package, so to speak, that you can really appreciate.
Phil Johnson: So now, here's John to show you a trait that's vital to both employees and their bosses.
John MacArthur: Let's see what God's terms are for this relationship of employees and employers.
John MacArthur: First, the submission of the servants in verses 5 to 8. The submission of the servants in verses 5 to 8.
John MacArthur: And here is the pattern for all employees, and we're going to go through pretty quickly. This is for all from Paul's time till today.
John MacArthur: Let's see what it is. Servants, and here's the right behavior. That's where it starts. Right behavior, be obedient. Be obedient to them that are your masters.
John MacArthur: Same word used to speak of children. We are to respond to their commands and their direction.
John MacArthur: A Spirit-filled Christian, chapter 5:18 is where this all begins, "Be filled with the Spirit." And if you're Spirit-filled, you will respond. And it's a continuous present in the Greek. Keep on obeying.
John MacArthur: Be an obedient employee. When you when you go to work, do what they tell you to do.
John MacArthur: Really important. You might say, "Oh, you don't know my employer. He's unjust and inequitable and all of this."
John MacArthur: Well, the Bible has something to say about that. You say, "We have every right to protest, we have every right to walk out, we have every right to strike, and so forth and so on, because our boss is so and so and so." Well, 1 Peter says what you need to hear.
John MacArthur: 1 Peter 2:18, "Servants," and here he uses the word for household servants, "be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the perverse."
John MacArthur: You mean, I'm supposed to be submissive to some perverse boss? Yes, because this is worthy of thanks.
John MacArthur: "If a man for conscience toward God endure grief and suffer wrongfully." In other words, God says, "Obey."
John MacArthur: So you say, "Even if he's perverse, I'll obey." And even though you suffer, your conscience toward God is right. And God will reward that. Verse 20, "For what glory is it if when you are buffeted for your faults, you take it patiently?"
John MacArthur: "But if when you do well, you suffer for it and take it patiently, this is acceptable with God."
John MacArthur: When you're working as hard as you can, and the guy's oppressing you, and you're doing it unto God, blessed are you.
John MacArthur: The Bible says whether your employer is a perverse man or a godly man, you are to be obeying him.
John MacArthur: Now, of course, that comes to the point where if he asks you to do something that is evil, immoral, against the Word of God, that's when you have to stop right there and say, "We are to obey God rather than men" at this point.
John MacArthur: But anything short of a moral issue, you are to respond.
John MacArthur: Now, imagine what this was like, because in Paul's day and Peter's day, slaves became Christians.
John MacArthur: And all of a sudden, slaves becoming Christians were raised to a nobler standing before God. They now knew the beginning and the end of the universe. They had divine truth. They were sons of the King. They had been lifted up and elevated and glorified. And their natural response would be to say, "Man, I'm not taking orders from that guy anymore. I'm a believer. I'm a child of the King. I'm a Son of God. I am going to reign with Him forever. I am going to judge the earth. I'm not going to listen to this guy telling me this this perverse master of mine."
John MacArthur: And you know what would have happened? They would have absolutely destroyed Christian testimony.
John MacArthur: And so the Apostle Paul says, no matter what your master's like, and Peter says it too, no matter what your master's like, you constantly obey that master. This is vital. This is vital.
John MacArthur: Because we want the world to know that being a Christian doesn't make you disgruntled. Being a Christian doesn't make you better than everybody else. Being a Christian doesn't make you a lousy worker. Being a Christian doesn't spin your head off into some never-never land where all you're doing is thinking spiritual thoughts all the time, and you can't stay at the job.
John MacArthur: But being a Christian would give you a new imperative and a new inspiration and a new commitment to an honest and faithful day's work.
John MacArthur: Frankly, people at the at the office or at the job, they're not going to listen to anything you say about Christ if they don't see in your life real commitment to work and to be a good employee.
John MacArthur: You say, "But I've been unjustly punished. I don't get what I ought to get. They don't pay me enough, and and so forth and so forth and so on." Well, change jobs.
John MacArthur: That's one option. I saw that back in the Old Testament. If a slave wasn't happy where he was, go where he's happy.
John MacArthur: But if you're there and you've made the commitment, then you need to give all you can. All you can.
John MacArthur: You say, "Well, what about if I work for a Christian?" You know, this is another kind of a problem, because some people work for a Christian, they think they can do less.
John MacArthur: But in 1 Timothy 6:1, "Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and His doctrine be not blasphemed."
John MacArthur: Same thought as in Titus. You better work hard for your master so that God's name isn't blasphemed. "And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren."
John MacArthur: "But rather, do them service because they're faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit."
John MacArthur: In other words, if you would serve with all your heart for someone who's not your brother for God's sake, you certainly would serve someone who is your brother, right?
John MacArthur: So whether you've got a Christian or a non-Christian, whether you've got a good guy or a bad guy or whatever, it's all the same. Servants, obey your masters. That's the right behavior.
John MacArthur: The right perspective, look at verse 5 again. According to the flesh, according to the flesh.
John MacArthur: In other words, the perspective is, this is a human, temporal relationship, and that is all.
John MacArthur: The employer has authority only in that area, not the spiritual.
John MacArthur: And I think Paul is regulating here what could have been an abuse in the early church, where the employer would run the employee and the servants and the slaves, and then when they got to the church, you see, he'd be doing it again.
John MacArthur: And that's where Paul says, "Cool it."
John MacArthur: Galatians 3:28, "In Christ, is neither male nor female, Jew nor Greek, bond nor free. We are all one."
John MacArthur: And so when we get into the assembly of believers, we don't do that anymore. That is only according to the flesh. That is only a temporal thing.
John MacArthur: So the right behavior is obedience. The right perspective is that it is only a temporal issue.
John MacArthur: That leads to the right attitude. He says the right attitude is with fear and trembling.
John MacArthur: Now, some of you say, "Boy, that's the way I work. I'm afraid of that guy, I'm afraid." But it isn't that kind of thing.
John MacArthur: It's the fear and trembling that should be translated reverence and respect. Reverence and respect.
John MacArthur: Why? Because God has ordained the authority submission principle.
John MacArthur: If you can't reverence and respect the individual for who he is, then or she is, then respect them for the place they have in the design of God.
John MacArthur: Because God has designed some in authority, some in submission.
John MacArthur: And so it is a matter of honor, respect, and reverence. We just read you 1 Timothy 6 where it says, "Honor your master." This is your attitude.
John MacArthur: You are to realize that God has established authority and submission. God has allowed him to be there and you to be where you are.
John MacArthur: It isn't the fear and trembling of shaking in your boots every time he comes around, but it's the respect and the honor.
John MacArthur: Because God has ordained this. God has assigned you that task. Do you know something? Where you work is a mission field that God has placed you on, and you have a responsibility there.
John MacArthur: And so your service to your employer is an act of service to God.
John MacArthur: And so that is the perspective that is necessary. You must realize that you are only doing this temporally.
John MacArthur: But the attitude is that you are reverent toward it because it is a divine principle. It is a divine principle that you're responding to.
John MacArthur: Now, fourthly, it talks about the right commitment. If you have the right behavior, moving along the right perspective with the right attitude, you're going to have the right commitment. And this is really great.
John MacArthur: Verse 5 says, "in singleness of your heart." In singleness of your heart.
John MacArthur: What does singleness of your heart mean? It means undivided, honest, upright, loyal commitment.
John MacArthur: In other words, you have one thing in your mind. Single-heartedly, you do your job. Loyalty, commitment to do your very best all the time.
John MacArthur: People, this is so practical, it's just amazing.
John MacArthur: 1 Thessalonians 4:10, "And indeed, you do it toward all the brethren who are in Macedonia. We beseech you, brethren, increase more and more." Listen, "Study to be quiet, to do your own business, work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk honestly toward them that are outside and may lack nothing."
John MacArthur: In other words, do your job, keep your mouth shut, work with your hands, and you'll be an honor to God. Do your job, singleness of heart.
John MacArthur: 60 minutes of work for 60 minutes of pay. Give it all you've got. That's really important.
John MacArthur: Boy, how practical this is. If we want to turn things around and see a difference, and if we're really filled with the Spirit of God, it'll be visible on the job, because we'll have the right behavior, with the right perspective, with the right attitude, and the right level of commitment, and the right motive. Look at the end of verse 5.
John MacArthur: "As under Christ." "As under Christ."
John MacArthur: You mean, you mean my boss is a representative of Christ? You are to do your job as if Christ were there.
John MacArthur: Why? Because He is. And He is the ultimate paymaster, believe me. He is the ultimate paymaster, and we'll see that in a moment.
John MacArthur: The word shows, and I want you to get this, that there is no difference, now get this, there is no difference between your Christian life and your job.
John MacArthur: There's no secular. There's no secular thing.
John MacArthur: Your job is service rendered as unto Christ. "Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the what? Glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31. "Present your bodies a living sacrifice."
John MacArthur: In other words, your very living is a sacrifice to God. Your very working is an offering given to Him. Your job is service to Christ.
John MacArthur: That's a critical thing. And people talk all the time about full-time service. Every Christian's in full-time service.
John MacArthur: Every single one. I don't know any part-time Christian living, do you? Today I'm a Christian, tomorrow, I don't know. Tuesday through Saturday, I don't know, but Sunday and Monday, I'm a real Christian. No, no, it's a full-time thing.
John MacArthur: Full-time service. Everything you do is service to Christ.
John MacArthur: People say, "Oh, you know, I just wish I could quit my lousy job. I, you know," and and they're a poor worker, or they're lazy, or they don't have any diligence, and they want to get out of it. They say, "I want to go into the ministry."
John MacArthur: You know, the ministry does not need deadbeats. We really don't. We got a lot of them anyway, but we don't need them.
John MacArthur: But there's a lot of them around. But you know, people say, "Oh, I want to get in." Listen, there's two reasons why you're you may not be in the ministry.
John MacArthur: Number one, it just isn't God's will. And that's okay, too, because what I do is is significant for me, and what you do is significant for you, and there's no sense in switching the two. There's nothing better than something else. We just want to be in God's will, right?
John MacArthur: So number one, you may not be in the ministry because that isn't where God wants you. But number two, you may not be in the ministry because you haven't been faithful over little, and God isn't dumb enough to put you Lord over much.
John MacArthur: And if you can't do your service to Christ in your job, then who's to say you're ever going to do it in the church? Start where you are. Faithful over little, Lord over much.
John MacArthur: In verse 6, he says the same thing, essentially, but he adds not only the right act or the right behavior, the right perspective, the right attitude, the right commitment, the right motive, and now the right diligence.
John MacArthur: "Not with eye service, as men pleasers."
John MacArthur: Now, what is he saying here? What is our right diligence? We are to be diligent all the time, not with eye service. That means not just working when the boss is looking.
John MacArthur: Eye service, you know what eye service is? Where you're just going like this all the time. See? You're rolling your head around to see who's checking on you.
John MacArthur: I got to go in the office today because the boss is coming today. I got to put my hours in. I got to clock in, and then I'll do the, you know.
John MacArthur: Eye service, eye service. Salary evaluation time. You really start cranking it out.
John MacArthur: You know, they're talking about salary. Boy, you you're frothing at the mouth and spinning wheels. Smoke coming out behind you.
John MacArthur: This is eye service. But we are to have a steady pace of loyal commitment that shows diligence all the time, not with eye service, as men pleasers.
John MacArthur: We don't do what we do to please men. We don't do what we do to get the approval of men. We don't do what we do to please the boss. We don't do what we do to get the big money, to get the raise. That's not the idea.
John MacArthur: What we do, the right diligence is this. As servants of Christ, we do the will of God from the inside. You see?
John MacArthur: And what is the will of God? That you work the way God wants you to. And you do it not because the boss is watching, but because the Lord is watching, right?
John MacArthur: The Lord is the ultimate paymaster. The Lord is the one checking. The Lord is the one evaluating.
John MacArthur: And right diligence involves that kind of commitment. We serve Christ, verse 6 says, doing the will of God from the heart.
John MacArthur: Verse 7 repeats the same thing. "With a ready mind doing service as to the Lord and not to men." It's the same thing.
John MacArthur: The end of verse 5, "as unto Christ." Verse 6, "as servants of Christ." Verse 7, "doing service to the Lord." It's all three verses are saying the same thing.
John MacArthur: We are not serving men. You are not serving your boss. You are not serving your company, your corporation, your foreman.
John MacArthur: What you're doing is serving God. And every day's work and every task in that day should be an offering given to God to prove your devotion to Him, to prove the reality of a Spirit-filled life.
John MacArthur: Why? That His nature may be adorned, His testimony may be enhanced, the credibility of His person may be uplifted.
John MacArthur: And so when you get up in the morning, it's, "I'm going to serve the Lord today." Get out there and pump that gas and make those hamburgers. Do it to the glory of Christ.
John MacArthur: But that isn't the way you usually go. "Oh, I got to go to work." Down on that crummy deal.
John MacArthur: And you don't even have the right perspective. It's an offering to God. And if you're faithful over that, who knows what the Lord might do for you? Who knows?
John MacArthur: Paul was a tent maker. But God had better things, greater things.
John MacArthur: And who knows if you're faithful? But even if you stay being a tent maker, that's okay, if that's His will, because that's the best thing for you.
John MacArthur: And so as you approach each day, "Today is a day of service to the Lord. And today I'm going to vow that whatever my hand finds to do will be done to the glory of God, that His truth may be adorned in my life, and that people seeing me may glorify Him."
John MacArthur: If you seek to please men, you corrupt your motive. If you seek to do what only the boss watches you do, you mess up your mind.
John MacArthur: You're serving Christ, and in case you don't think so, look at verse 8. "Knowing that whatever good thing any man does," listen, "whatever good work you do."
John MacArthur: You say, "Well, the boss never knows it. He doesn't see it. Everybody else gets the credit. They keep pushing people past me. They don't know that I'm the really the one doing it."
John MacArthur: But listen, "Whatever good thing any man does, the same shall he receive from the Lord, whether he's bond slave or a free man." God doesn't miss one thing that you deserve.
John MacArthur: And you know what? One of these days, it's all going to come cashing in on your account. The question is, are you going to scratch and claw for it now, or are you going to be diligent and faithful and let God give it to you in the kingdom?
John MacArthur: And so God lays down the standard of how we are to work. Let's turn the tables in closing.
John MacArthur: It's only one verse, because we've already given all the principles. They're just applied here to the other side.
John MacArthur: The submission of the master in verse 9. What is the employer's task? I love this. "Ye masters, do the same things to them."
John MacArthur: First of all, the right goal. That's it. You serve an employer's role like you expect them to serve you.
John MacArthur: Same standards, the same fairness, the same equity, the same diligence, the same hard work, the same godliness, the same Christ-likeness, the same adorning of the doctrine of God.
John MacArthur: Listen, as an employer, you be sure that Christ is manifest in your life. You be sure that God is manifest in your decisions. You be sure that what you do is a single-minded commitment to the needs of those employees, to put out the very best product in the very best way without compromise, to to not cheat or do what is wrong, but to do the will of God from deep in your heart.
John MacArthur: And realize as an employer that you're answerable to Christ, not a board and not the the employees, but Jesus Christ Himself.
John MacArthur: Do the same thing. With the right spirit, secondly. Verse 9 says, "forbearing threatening."
John MacArthur: Hold back from threats. Don't intimidate your employees by yelling at them. Don't use verbal abuse. That was a temptation and still is.
John MacArthur: The Spirit-controlled employer is gentle. He's never divisive or derisive. He's never abusive. He's never threatening.
John MacArthur: And he says, you are to have the right goal, doing the same things, with the right attitude, not being abusive, based on the right standard.
John MacArthur: I love this. "Knowing that your Master also is in Heaven." Who is the standard for masters? Who is the greatest Master of all?
John MacArthur: The Lord Jesus Christ. You treat your employees like Christ treats you. See, that's the way.
John MacArthur: And finally, the right equity. "Play no favorites. Neither is there respect of persons with Him."
John MacArthur: You be fair, you be equitable. You do not be abusive or threatening. And you realize that you are called to do the will of God, to meet their needs with singleness of heart, to fulfill all God's will.
John MacArthur: Listen, you get Spirit-filled employees and Spirit-filled employers working like this, and we can see something different than the confusion and chaos we see in our world today, because we'll have people being unselfish, doing the will of God.
Phil Johnson: You're listening to Grace to You Weekend, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. John's current study is called "Wisdom for the Workplace."
Phil Johnson: Now, as we continue this series on what God expects from you on the job, I want to play a question that we received on our Q&A line some years ago. It's one that applies particularly to work and it involves customer interaction.
Phil Johnson: Here's the question, and then you'll hear how John responded to it.
Guest (Female): Good afternoon, John. My name is Hyacinth, and I really need to get an answer from you. I am a Christian, and I do believe in doing to others what I would want them to do for me or to me. I wouldn't want them harming me, so I wouldn't harm anyone.
Guest (Female): And the work I do, I have very angry people coming in to see me from time to time, and sometimes they actually blame me, you know, when they come in in an angry attitude. As if I did something to them. It's very painful, and could you advise me how to deal with a person like that? Thank you.
John MacArthur: Well, Hyacinth, thank you for that question.
John MacArthur: I I I can almost imagine your workplace. You're behind a counter somewhere where where people are coming in irritated long before they ever arrive at you. You're a dear, sweet Christian lady, just wanting to do your job, but you're in the position of having to be some kind of spiritual leader that can reach behind the people's superficial concern and work on their heart.
John MacArthur: Look, I think, you know, this is the nature of the world in which we live. If you were to ask me, what is the dominant attitude that I see in the culture of today, it could all be summed up in one word: anger.
John MacArthur: This is a really angry culture. Everybody is angry. You see it everywhere. It's just absolutely everywhere. Parents are angry, kids are angry. People in the workplace are angry. Politicians are angry, people are angry with politicians.
John MacArthur: There's an unleashing of anger in our culture. And it basically comes because for the last 25 years, there has been the constant promotion of self-esteem.
John MacArthur: The lie, the damage done by the lie of self-esteem, that you're the most important person in the world, has created people who, when they don't get what they want, they're just angry.
John MacArthur: You know, I I grew up in a family and I was told things like this: "Others are more significant than you. Think not on your own things, but on the things of others. Consider others better than yourselves."
John MacArthur: That's what builds patience, kindness, compassion.
John MacArthur: I would go at the issue of anger, and in a kind and gracious way, if the opportunity presents it, I would just mention that this is anger, and anger is a destructive thing. You don't want to give yourself into anger.
John MacArthur: And then kindly, I would say, "I'm here to help you, but I can't help you if we can't get past your anger." Be straightforward.
John MacArthur: That's good advice.
Phil Johnson: Now, friend, if you have a Bible-related question, perhaps a question related to dealing with difficult people or how to study Scripture or how to pray, I encourage you to check out the thousands of free study tools on our website.
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Phil Johnson: Now, for our entire staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for joining us today, and be back next week as John MacArthur continues to help give you a biblical perspective on work, a perspective that can bring joy to any vocation.
Phil Johnson: It's another half hour of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on Grace to You Weekend.