The call to glorify God in all that we do

WorkLife Success July 16, 2022

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In 1 Corinthians 10:31, Paul says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." The glory of God is the ultimate aim in the Christian life. "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

I'm sure most of us have heard that statement many times, but I wonder if we have really thought through what it means in relation to our daily living. For this first principle of the Christian life to have any meaning, it must be grounded.

In other words, it must make a difference to the ins and outs of our daily lives. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10, brings this principle down to earth. He is talking about eating and drinking! How many of us think about glorifying God as we eat or as we drink?

Christians who work are called to glorify God in and through their work. And this is one of the most important callings, because Christians who work spend such a significant amount of time doing it. The average person in the UK will spend around 88,000 hours at work. The average committed Christian will spend as few as 4,000 hours in a lifetime in church meetings and church-related activities.

If you are working, and you are serious about bringing glory to God, then it is vital, just because of the amount of time that work takes up, that you work out what it means to glorify God in and through your work.

That time is, generally speaking, spent with non-Christians. What an opportunity there is to bring glory to God, not just in the eyes of your fellow Christians, but also in the eyes of non-Christians. Therefore, it might be argued that it is more important to work out this call in the context of work, than in the context of Sunday church. Our everyday lives—our everyday working lives – is the place where the real battle of bringing glory to God takes place.

One of the things that holds us back from doing this is that we tend to make an unhelpful distinction (and an unbiblical one) between spiritual things and non-spiritual things. Sunday and church is spiritual, whereas Monday and work is non-spiritual. But we are called to glorify God in whatever we do! It might be designing a new computer software program, answering the telephone, or operating a machine.

These things are not any more or any less spiritual than what you do at church on a Sunday. Doing these things has as much potential to bring glory to God! "There is no work better than another to please God; to pour water, to wash dishes, to be a cobbler, or an apostle–all are one, as touching the deed, to please God" (William Tyndale).

"It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is his attitude" (A.W. Tozer). We need to get away from the idea that doing things connected with church is spiritual activity and doing things connected with work, or other everyday tasks, is secular. We are called to glorify God in all we do.

Written by Mark McConnell, Christians at Work. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Content distributed byWorkLife.org.

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WorkLife Success applies biblical principles to help churches minister to their congregations in the area of work. Additionally, we help businesses increase productivity by addressing their employees' emotional and spiritual anxiety surrounding the most stressful day of the week — Monday. The end goal is to produce workers that experience the amazing joy and purpose that God intended through work. Learn More »

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