Integrity in Little

Jared's supervisor Dan asked him for a detailed job description within the week. At first, Jared said, "Sure, that'll be no problem."

But months went by and Jared, who shared his faith freely, never crafted one. Instead, every time Dan asked for it, Jared argued. "I'm not that type of worker," he said. "You're not accepting me for who I am or how I'm made."

When Dan gave Jared a new project, Jared accepted it with enthusiasm but didn't follow through. Several weeks went by, then months, but Jared never completed the project, preferring to offer excuses rather than results. Frustrated, Dan gave the job to another worker who finished the project in one week. It's no surprise that Jared was eventually fired for incompetence and a lack of integrity.

Why a lack of integrity? Because Jared's word meant nothing. He said one thing. He did another. Then, he blamed others for his shoddy or incomplete work.

In the earlier days, Dan wished he'd paid more attention to Jared's little lapses. Missing a meeting because he didn't feel like attending. Not paying a traffic ticket because Jared thought he shouldn't have to. Complaining to co-workers behind Dan's back.

Job 23:10 says that God "knows the way I take." His eyes "move to and fro throughout the earth" (2 Chronicles 16:9). Though Dan eventually perceived Jared's lack of integrity, God knew it all along. No matter how many corners Jared cut, or how many excuses he concocted for his poor work habits, God saw it all.

Jesus speaks to the Jareds of the workaday world when He says, "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much" (Luke 16:10). Though Jared probably didn't intend to start his working career as a slothful, passive-aggressive worker, his little disobediences eventually proved Jesus' words true. He became unrighteous in much.

Colossians 3:23-24 offers great advice to all workers: "Whatever you do, do your work heartily for the Lord, rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve." Jared forgot that ultimately he didn't work for Dan; he worked for God. He lost sight of that, though. Thinking he could get away with little lapses, he slipshodded his way through employment, justifying it because he had a different work-style than his boss. He clung to his own idea of work, undermining Dan's.

Had Jared determined to be faithful "in a very little thing,"despite how he felt about his boss's requests, he might still have a job today. And Dan wouldn't have had the agony of recommending his dismissal. A job would've been completed, Jesus smiling on it all.