It has been two years since I pastored my last church. Since then I have had several opportunities to preach and teach. However, for the past year, I have been working on the production line at Brunswick News here in Moncton. I started last September, thinking that this was only going to be temporary as I wait for another pastoral calling. I was thinking 6 months, but God had different plans. Working on the line has been a humbling process for me because this was not what I signed up for when I pursued the call of ministry, and the minimum wage and lack of hours weren’t really adequate for my family and our needs. The job is very mundane as it requires you to insert your assigned flyer into the machine so that it can be inserted into the paper jacket. Despite all that, I am glad to have had the opportunity to work here because God has used it to grow and to challenge me in my walk with him. This week was my last week there, as I will be leaving to take a full-time job, not at a church, but at a car dealership where I will be detailing and cleaning cars. So, I thought I would share with you three things that God taught me while working on the production line.
God has a ministry for us wherever he places us.
I am very guilty of finding my identity in pastoral ministry, but the reality is my identity is to be found in Christ who has ministry for me wherever he sends me, regardless of whether or not I am a pastor of a church. In my time at Brunswick News, I have had many opportunities to talk to people about God, answer people’s questions, and pray for them at work. These are opportunities that God afforded me that I may have never had while being at a church. The truth is, my co-workers may have never had these experiences or conversations if God hadn’t placed me there because many of them are non-believers and have very little contact with Christians or pastors outside of work. If anything else, I may have encouraged the few Christians that are there to be bolder and engaging with their faith.
I want to be a pastor because I believe that is what God has called and gifted me for, but I don’t necessarily need a church to be a pastor and talk about Jesus. For the past year, the production line was my church and my co-workers were the flock that God had entrusted me with. The reality is I can teach about Jesus and minister wherever he places me. This is true of all of us as Christians regardless of whether or not we are called to pastoral ministry because God calls us and gifts us to be ministers in our workplace. We can be ambassadors, ministers and missionaries in the areas that he placed us in so others may become Christ followers too (Matthew 28:19-20, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21). We no longer live in the day where everyone went to church, that is why we need to make the most of the opportunities that God has given us at our workplaces, whether it is flipping burgers, cutting grass, doing peoples’ taxes, or being a doctor. Wherever God places us, may we be ready to give an answer for those who ask us to give a reason for our hope in Christ (1 Peter 3:15).
My Perfectionism needs to die
It is probably a combination of my personality, my sinfulness, and my upbringing that I am a perfectionist. There is nothing wrong with wanting to do a good job and making sure that we do the best we can in the limits of our God-given ability, but it is unhealthy to want to make sure everything we do is perfect because it is an unrealistic expectation, it leaves no room for learning from our mistakes and it is burdensome for ourselves and those around us. I know that what drives my need to be perfect are insecurities, fear of failure, wanting to be noticed, and the need to impress people (fear of man). Whoever thought that my need to be perfect would poke its head out on the production line.
I wanted to make a good impression and wanted to master the art of inserting flyers into the hopper. However, it would be embarrassing when the red light would go off at your hopper cause the line to stop because all eyes would be on you. Other people knew that you were the reason the line stopped. It would even get more embarrassing when it would happen repeatedly within the span of 30 minutes. Sometimes the machine would stop because of the way you would insert the flyer, but often it was because the flyer causing a problem with the machine. However, it is amazing what thoughts creep into the mind and heart and what we think about ourselves in those moments.
God used this job to show me that I can’t be perfect nor does he expect me to because there are too many factors (my sinfulness, limitations, other people, circumstances, fallen world, etc.) at play that prevent that from happening. He wants me to see that I am not a failure if I don’t measure up to other people's expectations or my own because my hope and perfection is found in Christ. He has been showing me that my perfectionism needs to die and it is okay to let it die because it is robbing me of my joy in Christ. God wants me to rest in what Christ has done in my life and believe that my worth comes from Him and not what others think of me or how good I am at something. I am thankful that God has been using this job to work that truth in my heart. I even saw a change happening within me during my time at Brunswick News because I became more confident in my abilities to do my job and was willing to take on extra responsibilities.
God just doesn’t want this truth to impact my work, but every facet of my life whether it be ministry, parenting, being a husband, a friend, and how I handle my finances. The lie of perfectionism is that everything depends on us, but the Gospel tells us that it is all dependant on Christ. So when we rest in the truth that our hope and perfection is in Christ, it sets us free from the burden of measuring up and fear of failure. In Christ, we no longer need to be afraid to fail, whether it is sin or not performing a certain task well, because those failures don’t define us, Christ does. He has secured our hope and our future through his work on the cross. He calls all of us who are tired, burdened and heavy laden to come to him because he promises to give all of us rest for our souls, including rest from our perfectionism. (Matthew 11:28-30).
Work unto Christ
One thing that became clear early on at work was that most of the people I was working with hated their job. They hated the work. They hated the pay. They hated the atmosphere and so on. Their hatred caused them to complain, to be bitter, to say mean things about other co-workers, and to be disrespectful to our supervisors. I can admit it is very easy to get sucked into this and join them in their hatred and behaviour. The pay does suck, the job is boring and the atmosphere isn’t the greatest. However, God was teaching me and helping me to work unto Christ. Though the job was mundane, I could make the most of it for Jesus. This was very helpful when there were difficult and stressful days on the production line.
The supervisor may be frustrated that we are behind in production, the machine operators may be tired of us always stopping the line, or a co-worker may be frustrated at the leadership, but none of those things need to prevent me from working for and pleasing my Saviour. The words that Paul wrote to the Colossians, easily applies to you and me today: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (Colossians 3:22-23). I have noticed that when I made working on the production line about Jesus I was able to enjoy the work, I was able to be a blessing to my boss, machine operators and co-workers, I was more gracious to my co-workers, and I had more patience when difficult situations arise on the line. When we make our work about Jesus, others will notice that we are treating our work differently than those around us and it has a positive effect on the work environment. The reality is, we don’t know the impact that we are having on the kingdom when we make our work about Jesus and what opportunities we may be given to talk about Jesus with others.
Questions for Thought
You might not work on a production line or maybe you might be in a season of unemployment, but what is God teaching you through your workplace and situation?
In what ways can your workplace be a ministry for you?
How can you make your job about Jesus?
What things is God teaching you about yourself through your job?
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