Your Witness at Work, Part 1a

Turn with me in your Bible to Peter's first epistle, the second chapter, the eighteenth verse. We're going to talk about your witness at work this evening. The last time we were together, we talked about how we were to submit in society and how God had ordained the government and the powers that are existing and how our response to them is to be. Well, tonight we talk about our response to those who oversee us in the marketplace. Next time, as we gather together, we'll talk about the family, the home, and the husband and the wife and how we're to get along with one another in our homes. And then we'll go and move beyond that to talk about general relationships as Peter talks about how we are to get along with one another on a general basis.

All these verses are extremely practical because they add insight to everyday living as to how God wants us to live. And we need to understand what God says because unfortunately, society more than Scripture tends to govern how we live our lives. We tend to look at society. We tend to look at what's going on in the community. We tend to look about what's going on in TV and what's going on in government. And that determines how we live our lives. Instead, the Bible is to be that component that controls our lives, that teaches us how we are to live.

For example, when you think about society, you realize that everybody believes that they have their own rights. Women have their rights, children have their rights. Homosexuals have their rights, illegal immigrants have their rights. Criminals, of course, have their rights. Employees have their rights. Everybody has their rights. And when their rights are in some way violated, then they protest. They get angry. They picket. They do whatever they possibly can to get someone's attention so that others will know that their rights have been violated and there needs to be a change. Their mentality is that if my rights aren't met to my standard, then I will fight for all that I can.

Now, unfortunately, or I guess I should say, fortunately, the Bible is completely contrary to that mentality. In fact, the Bible explicitly states that if and when your rights are first, righteousness will always suffer. You need to mark that down. When your rights are first, righteousness will always suffer. If you're fighting for your square inch, if you're fighting for every bit of land you can get, if you're fighting for every little bit of right that you think you have, righteousness will inevitably suffer.

In fact, let me read you just a couple of verses to help you understand what the Bible says. Verses that somehow, when we read them, they sound good until we have to actually live them. For instance, Romans chapter 12 says this: verse 17, "never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals upon his head. Do not be overcome by evil. But overcome evil with good."

Now we read those verses, and boy, I'd say they're powerful verses, but we want to live that way until somebody violates my rights. Until somebody crosses my path in a wrong way, then those verses just kind of go out the window as if they never existed. Jesus said this over in Luke's Gospel, the sixth chapter. Beginning now with verse number 31. "And just as you want people to treat you, treat them in the same way. And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful just as your Father is merciful."

Christ says, you know, it's really easy to do good to people who are nice to you. It's always good to give to somebody knowing that when you give them something, they're going to give you something in return. But the true mark of Christianity is to be able to do for those who can't do for you. Expect nothing in return. And the way you do that is minister to your enemy. Minister to those who don't like you, who are fed up with you.

All that sets the context for what Peter talks about in 1 Peter chapter 2. Because Peter deals with a group of people that for all practical purposes live in an environment where everybody's against them. Their boss is their enemy. The rulers of the land are their enemies. Within their homes, their unbelieving spouses become their enemies. Within the relationships that they have, those people now are their enemies. And so Peter writes to help us understand how it is we are to live in this world.

Remember, the whole title for the book is "Hope for Those Who Hurt." And the hope lies in obedience to the Word of God. The hope lies in doing what God has commanded us to do, even though we don't feel like doing it. We do it because God said so. And with it comes the blessing, as Peter states in 1 Peter 2, verse number 18.

Let me read it for you. "Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience. But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. And while being reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. And he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. For by his wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls."

Peter gives us an exhortation. From that exhortation, he gives us the motivation to fulfill that exhortation. And then he gives us an illustration. And from that illustration, we will draw one summation that will help us understand what it is we are to be doing tomorrow when you go to work. How practical can that be, right? I mean, the Bible is so relevant to our day.

You know, I was thinking as I was preparing for this evening, you know, a lot of us just don't go to work like the seven dwarfs went to work. For most of us, we've seen Snow White. It is Snow White with the seven dwarfs. You know, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, not Cinderella. Let's see who Cinderella did. Slippers. Oh, the Slipper Lady. That's right. I keep forgetting. Oh, well, anyway, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. At least I got the song right, and I bet you you don't know the song like I know the song. I mean, you can laugh at me about getting my movies wrong, but I know the song, and I bet you you don't know the words to the song.

Oh, you know the "hi-ho, hi-ho, off to work we go," and "whistle while you work," but you don't know all the words. Let me give them to you. Got to make up for my error here. "We dig, dig, dig, dig, dig in our minds the whole day through. To dig, dig, dig, dig, dig is what we like to do. And while we dig, we always sing, For when you dig, there ain't a better thing Than a tune, Than a tune you can sing or a croon. Hi-ho, hi-ho! To make your troubles go, just keep on singing all day long. Hi-ho, hi-ho! Hi-ho, hi-ho, hi-ho, hi-ho For if you're feeling low, you positively can't go wrong with a hi-ho, hi-ho, hi-ho, hi-ho." Sing it, yeah, I'll sing it for you.

Now, don't you wish you could go to work with a little whistle, a little hi, a little ho, you know, and just, you know, whenever you're down and you need something up, just sing a tune. Man, that's all you just sing a tune, and everything will be all okay. Unfortunately, for the most part, that's just not the way it works. We go to work, and the last thing we want to do is sing, you know, mainly because people will run us out of our workplace if we start singing. The bottom line is that we go to work sometimes with a chip on our shoulders. We go to work thinking, "oh man, is this the only place I can get a job? Is this all there is, the way I'm treated?" And the people that Peter writes to had to do a lot more than just sing a tune about "hi-ho, hi-ho, off to work we go."

He gives them an exhortation. It centers around two things: their identity and their responsibility. He says, "Servants," and we'll stop right there. "Servants." And that's what they were. You see, in these days, I mean, servanthood was a big deal. There were thousands upon thousands upon hundreds of thousands of servants in Rome. This was the way people worked. This is what they did. This is how they made a living. And the word he uses is a word not normally used of a slave. It's used three other times in the New Testament. "Oikeios," which means "household servant."

And maybe the people he's writing to are those who work specifically in the homes. So they were a little closer to their bosses than those who were slaves in the field. Maybe they are around their bosses all day long and they were receiving abuse, whether verbally or physically. And he writes to them: "This is who they are, they are servants." And on the spiritual side of that, it is true to understand our own personal identity in Jesus Christ, that we are a servant kind of people. That because Jesus Christ Himself was a servant and we become partakers of His divine nature, then we, by His spiritual nature in us, now are servants of mankind. And that's why I said at the outset that when your rights are first, righteousness will suffer. Because we're servants. And we are to serve our fellow man.

Well, this was their identity. This is who they were. This is where they worked. And as slaves in a home, they were exposed to all kinds of abuses by their masters. He says, "This is your responsibility. You are to submit. Servants, be submissive to your masters." You need to, it's a military term, which means to line up under, to place yourself under the headship of someone else and follow their lead. And notice what he says "with all respect." This is the attitude. You see, it's one thing to submit yourself at work and have a bad attitude. Because submission is not so much about what we do as much as it is an attitude we portray. We think just because we go to work and we do what our boss tells us to do, we're submissive. No. You're only submissive if your attitude is pleasing to the Lord God. And so he adds that phrase: "be submissive to your masters with all respect."

Maybe your text says, "with all fear." Notice what it says down in verse number 2 of chapter 3, and we'll talk about this next week, as it talks about the women who are married to unbelieving men. "As they observe your chaste and respectful behavior," the woman in the home who lives with the unbelieving husband is to have the meek and quiet spirit that shows great respect, great honor to the one that God has given to her. The word is used over in verse number 15 of chapter 3. "But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence," with gentleness and fear, in the fear of God. Living in the fear of God, living in subjection to the God of the universe, because that's the one you're to be pointed to, anyway. That's the one you are to serve with all of your heart.

He says. "Be submissive with all respect." The word "all" intensifies the thought. No half-hearted attitude will work. It's got to be all-inclusive. My submission to my master has to be from the heart, and it must be from all of my heart, not just part of my heart. It must be an attitude that says, "yes, I will submit. I will follow with respect. Not with bitterness, not with negativity, but with all fear or with all respect."

And then he says this: "not only to those who are good and gentle," not only to those who are kind and benevolent, not only to the reasonable. We're to do that, that's easy to do, right? Well, maybe it's easier to do, maybe never easy to do, but it's easier to do when someone is kind to you and gentle and sweet and loving. But it says this, "but also to those who are unreasonable." The word is "skolios." It's a word that means crooked or perverse, harsh, unreasonable as the New American Standard translates it. This is a crooked, perverse individual. This is not a righteous person. This is an unrighteous person. This is not a good guy. This is the bad guy. So Peter says, "listen, when it comes to submission, it's not just to the good and the excellent, the nice, the noble, it's to those who are crooked and perverse as well."

You say, "wow, I'm not sure I want to do that." You see, you know, we tend to think that these slaves could change jobs. You know, they don't like us. We don't like our boss. We quit and get another job. Don't like that one, we quit that one and get another job. These slaves can't quit, they were bought. They couldn't just up and say, "you know what? I'm out of here today. I don't like the way you're treating me. I don't like the way you're treating my family. We're going to go find another owner. We're going to sell ourselves to somebody else." You couldn't do that. They were stuck with where they were. They couldn't get out.

And so you think that Peter might say, "well, you know, if you could just get out there and make a few signs and walk up and down in front of the house saying, 'we want our rights, we want our rights, we want more insurance, we want better pay, we want better hours,' whatever the case may be." But Peter doesn't do that. In fact, that's never the case. In fact, Paul would say this in 1 Corinthians 7, verse number 20, he says, "Let each man remain in that condition in which he was called. Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it. But if you are able also to become free, rather do that. Brethren, let each man remain with God in that condition in which he was called."

Paul says, "listen, if you're a slave and you become a Christian and you're able to receive your freedom, that's a great thing. Do it. But if not, remain in the same condition with which you were called." Remember when Paul would write to Philemon? About Onesimus? He sent Onesimus back to his owner. He didn't tell Onesimus, "you know what? This slave thing is not working out too good, is it? It's not very Christian, is it? Okay, I tell you what, we're going to do. We're going to hide you for a while, and then I'll write Philemon and tell him that you're a born-again believer now, and you don't need to be doing that kind of stuff anymore." No, he said, "I'm writing you back. Go back." Talked about the whole aspect of forgiveness and restoring that individual, that slave, back to his original position.

And so we need to realize that, even though, even though, and I will admit this, that when it comes to the legal issues. People can picket. They can strike because they have that legal opportunity to do so. It's not against the law to do that. You might do it the wrong way, but it's not against the law to do that. But the overriding principle that Peter wants us to understand is that we need to commit ourselves to the one who judges righteously, no matter what situation we're in. And so he gives us the exhortation: "servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, with all fear. To the good ones, yes. Even to the unreasonable ones, the crooked ones, the perverse ones."

You say, "wow, I'm not sure I can do that. Peter doesn't know what kind of boss I have, Peter doesn't know where I work." You're right, he doesn't. He's dead. But God knows. And Peter gives us three timeless motivations, all centered around God. And this is what's going to motivate them to submit. It will motivate us to do likewise. He says this. "For this finds favor." Down to verse number 20. "This finds favor." Then a phrase is added, "with God." What finds favor with God? If you submit to an unreasonable boss, this is commended by God. God is pleased with us. Why? Because we're doing the right thing. We're doing the godly thing. We're being obedient to God. And we're becoming more and more like Him. And the more like Him we become, the more we will be persecuted because of our faith. And that pleases him because he wants us to be just like him. And if you want to have favor with God, if you want to be commended by God. Then you submit to the unreasonable boss.

Anybody can submit to the reasonable one, the nice one, the good one, the kind one, the one that gives you a raise every other week, the one that gives you 33 weeks of vacation a year. You know, anybody can submit to that kind of boss. But it's the unreasonable one. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:9, "we make it our ambition to please God." Is that your ambition? It should be. Christ said in John 8:29, that he did always those things that pleased the Father. To please the Father.

Why does this please the Father? Look at verse number 21. "For you have been called for this purpose." You've been called. You've been called to what? You've been called to salvation. You've been called to please God. You've been called to honor God. You've been called to magnify your God. So he's pleased, he is honored, he's put on display. And the motivation, number one, comes from inside of us. It says, "I really want to honor my God, I really want to please God, I want my God to look down upon me and smile because I am doing what he's commanded me to do." That's important.

In fact, it says in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, Paul would talk about the affliction that came his way and those in Thessalonica, and said that they should not be upset, "because don't you know that we were appointed for this? Appointed for this." Philippians 1:29 says, "For you it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake." Listen, if you're going to live for God, if you're going to honor God, if you're going to make it your ambition to please God, then those who are unbelievers that you work with are not going to be happy with your lifestyle. They're not going to be happy with the choices that you make, and they won't be happy that you won't compromise.

Now, there are many people who go to work in an unbelieving environment and they get along great with those unbelievers. And we've got to ask yourself a couple of questions. Number one, maybe the guy who thinks he's a believer is not a believer. That could possibly be. Number two, they might not be living for the Lord. For the Bible says, "all those who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Or they might be new to the job, no one knows them yet. The bottom line is that when we begin to live for God, stand strong on truth, and not compromise, guess what? Those who don't believe in the truth and those who don't know God won't be pleased with our decision making. They won't be. They might respect you, but they're not going to like you. Because you will confront their sin by your lifestyle. And we need to be pleasing to God.

Not only that, not only is God pleased with us, but God is present with us. Here's my second motivation. It says, "for this finds favor with God, if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly." How does a man bear up under the pressure? How does a man, when he suffers pain emotionally, physically, mentally, How is he able to stand up under that? Because he has a consciousness that God is present. That's how he does it. That's how he's able to stand. That's how he's able not to falter. With conscience toward God, literally, with knowledge, a conscience of the knowledge of God, a spiritual awareness of God's presence stimulates me to endure. It should, shouldn't it? Knowing that God is there, knowing that God is present with me when I go to work, He's right beside me, He lives inside of me, He is in control of all things. That should give me confidence.

It's A.W. Pink who said this. He said, "As one sees the apparent defeat of the right and the triumphing of might and the wrong, it seems as though Satan were getting the better of the conflict. But as one looks above instead of around, there is plainly visible to the eye of faith a throne. This then is our confidence. God is on the throne." God's on the throne. And he's there. He's in control. He is present with us.