Print this pageBeyond the Ordinary
Beyond The Ordinary
During a recent phone conversation, a person humbly told me that he had received a very good evaluation for his job performance, but at the same time he admitted that anyone else around him at work could have achieved the same. He felt that what he had done was not beyond the ordinary, and felt that most anyone, Christian or non-Christian, could get such an evaluation. He then confessed that he realized that in God’s eyes there is an additional evaluation, which he didn’t do so well at. Why? Because he recognized that during the challenging times at work, when things were festering with negative attitudes, he would join right in with the pessimisms and complaining, yet still do his job skillfully and well. He came to the conviction that for him doing a good job and at the same time complaining was a contradiction to what he believes (Philippians 2:13-14).
You see, if our faith could simply be explained in ordinary terms, like human evaluations or man-made achievements, then it offers nothing more to people than what they can do themselves. In the workplace, the distinctive mark of the Christian faith becomes evident in the tough times when things are more than status quo. Oh yes, we can thank God for the ordinary or routines of life and work. But Christians should shine brilliantly beyond the ordinary. Your co-workers or the passengers you serve cannot help but see something bigger than you when you are truthful in the midst of lies and deception. They will note that there is something bigger controlling your life than the company when you go the extra mile beyond what is expected of you. And certainly they cannot help but notice something bigger when you choose not to return to them in the same ways they have treated you, but instead bless them and pray for them.
We must not forget that the Christian life is an extraordinary work of God manifested through the ordinary details of our life. In our workplace, faith in God is more than just doing a good job that gains human praise. God is calling us to trust Him to do things that we cannot do in our own strength and provide what is beyond our own resources. We learn to rely on God’s provisions in the midst of the daily challenges of life and work. Focusing our faith on the Lord prevents us from falling into the temptation of ignoring the circumstances or running away from them. It will also prevent us from becoming revengeful … wanting to pay people back for how they’ve treated us. God desires to show Himself in the ordinary details of our work by responding to the people and circumstances around us in extraordinary ways.
How about you? Do you see your Christian life as being lived beyond the ordinary? Certainly our performing the ordinary things of life, like the responsibilities of family, work, and church, brings glory to God. However, it is when difficulties enter these responsibilities that we discover our calling to give proof of the extraordinary work of God in and through us. This makes our job more than just a performance; it makes it a calling of our Creator and Lord.
Out of the ordinary,
The FCAP Staff
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