A Company? No, More Like a Kingdom

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” Colossians 3:23

What does that mean? The original audience for that phrase is first-century slaves, though many of today’s cubicled workers may feel like slaves. But what does it mean to do my daily work for God?

Some people have told me to think of Jesus as my supervisor and God as my company’s CEO—and do my work to please them. Nice ideas, but for whatever reason, not helpful. Though my supervisor and CEO are both Christians, I rarely think that working for them is like working for Jesus. In fact, I have a hard time imagining Jesus as a corporate executive.

On the other hand, I often think about what it means that Jesus is king. He declared that the Kingdom of God is at hand. As Christians, we are the King’s servants. And as in medieval days, every king needs kingdom workers. Some are knights who protect the subjects. Others are artisans, craftsmen, and merchants. Some till the land. Others heal the sick. Some educate and raise the young. Some herald the king’s news. Every role is significant if a kingdom is to function effectively and the king is to rule justly. No kingdom runs by itself.

So instead of thinking of Jesus as CEO of my modern-day company, it helps to imagine myself as a medieval serf at work in a particular corner of the king’s realm. I get a better sense of how my daily job might serve my king. I am entrusted with certain work and deployed as a kingdom servant. My labor helps my king bring peace and justice to the land.

And there’s more. Often we read Colossians 3:23 on its own and miss the very next verse: “. . . since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.” The NLT version phrases it: “Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and the Master you are serving is Christ.”

So Christ is the king of the land, the master—but not just any kind of master. Verse 24 uses the word inheritance. What kind of worker receives an inheritance from his employer? Only one kind: a child—the company owner’s son or daughter.

And that changes everything. I’m not just a worker or employee. I’m a potential heir—and not of my earthly company; in some eternal sense, I am a son who stands to inherit my Father’s work. I may be a lowly serf, but I am also a prince, which means that when I do my work, I should do it well. After all, my Father is counting on me.

Discussion questions:

• Imagine yourself living in a medieval kingdom. What kind of work are you doing? Does it help to think of God as king and you as a servant somewhere in the kingdom?
• Kings and kingdoms have particular codes of honor and conduct. How might thinking of our work as service to our king encourage us to do our work well?
• God not only is our king, but our father as well. What particular privileges and problems might the owner’s children have working for a family business? How might princes and princesses represent their father’s kingdom in their work?