A Godly Place to Sit

My friend and I were meeting at church for a time of personal accountability. So we sat in some chairs in one of the large "milling around" spaces.

He said, "I love to sit in these chairs."

The chairs are nice enough. They have fabric seats and wooden arms and would fit very well in a coffee house. They are perfect "big public space" chairs. I like them, but I don't love to sit in them.

"I love to sit in these chairs," my friend insisted. "Wakefield makes the arm caps."

Suddenly, I understood what he was saying. Brian runs Wakefield, the company that supplies part of the armrest—the arm cap—for the chairs. His company doesn't do anything else for the chairs; they don't make the legs, or the framework or the fabric. They are not part of the overall design process. All they do is make the arms.

And he loves the chairs.

One day, the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to a church he'd never visited. He loved the group of people because he loved the one who taught them. He knew they were growing; he knew they were working to figure out what following Jesus really means . And he told them, "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Col. 3:23).

Paul could have been talking about Brian. He has committed himself to learning every day what it means to do everything, including running a wood company, in the name of Jesus. Brian loves his business, cares about his employees, and he is rightfully pleased to be part of a great product.

Of course, Brian is human and faces the challenges that all managers face. He sometimes has to ask forgiveness. He sometimes struggles with exactly what to say. Sometimes he has to let people go. He prays often during his day. But he ends up with chairs that he loves to sit in.

The more I thought about Brian, the more I had to examine the way I approach my own work. When people take what I supply and fold it into their own product or service or setting, do I love the end result? Or am I fearful that the quality of my part is shabby or am I complaining that they used it wrong or am I jealous that no one will know what I did because someone else's name is on it?

Brian and I sat and talked out our lives that night, confessing to each other, praying for each other. The chairs, with their Brian-built arms, made a perfect place to give thanks to God.

Because of Brian, I love those chairs too.

Questions for Reflection:

• Read Col. 3:23 again: "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Think about the product or service that you provide in your daily work. How does it honor God?
• Who helps you in your work? Do you take pride in the end result of the team, or only your own portion?
• How can we approach the people around us with a spirit of encouragement rather than a spirit of complaint or jealousy?