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Our Implicit Witness
The effort you put into what you do is usually indicative of the value you give it. Mundane tasks are often performed with a certain lack of enthusiasm because they are …mundane. In the same respect, we tend to approach things we are passionate about with zeal and determination. In school I generally did poorly in classes that didn’t interest me, but excelled in classes that did. Paul warns us about this idea Colossians 3:23 and tells us to “work heartily, as for the Lord.” This doesn’t mean that we have to do our mundane tasks with fake smiles plastered on our faces. But we do need to be careful not to fall into apathy. It’s often well applied in reminding us that the way we work affects our witness. If we are known as Christians and we acquire a reputation of being the unreliable one in our workplace, the gospel suffers. Conversely, if we work well, remembering that we are representatives of the kingdom of Heaven, the gospel shines. This is part of our implicit witness; how we live our lives can be an excellent testament to what Christ has done. It is however, just one part of our witness. It would be a shame if this was where our application stopped.
Our Explicit Witness
If the way we carry ourselves in our implicit witness can have a positive or negative impact on sharing the gospel, then certainly the way we carry ourselves in our explicit witness will also contribute to its effectiveness. It would be a mistake not to see our verse in Colossians as directly related to Paul’s previous words in verses 16 and 17. When we get to Sunday mornings we can’t afford to approach our services like an unexcited child approaches school. It would be a disservice to our church families. This means that it’s not acceptable to approach our work in a Sunday morning service with apathy. It isn’t to say there’s no place in church for people that are suffering from depression. Indifference is not the same place as sadness. Indifference is a dangerous thing because no matter how well we may think we hide it, people will see it. Visitors will see the passion we approach our work with and infer the value we ascribe to our God by it. Our church family – those we are meant to be encouraging in godliness – will see us modeling apathy and impatience.
This concept, hopefully, can be seen in the work we do when we gather to worship our God. It’s why so many hours are poured into reading and studying before preaching. That duty doesn’t stop with the preacher though. Every person involved in the service should be working for God’s glory. If you are involved in the music, you should work hard to play and sing in a way that serves the congregation and shows that you are there for God’s glory, not just because you have to be. John Piper reminds us that duty alone is not nearly as compelling as joy in Desiring God.
How shall we honor God in worship? By saying, “It’s my duty?” Or by saying, “It’s my joy”?
Worship is a way of reflecting back to God the radiance of His worth. Now we see that the mirror that catches the rays of His radiance and reflects them back in worship is the joyful heart.
We are not working “heartily, as for the Lord” when preparation is not prioritized. Nor are we aiding the congregation when we don’t study and work at improving our skill. In the same way, a life spent reading God’s word and praying will be one that is prepared to do a reading and offer a prayer on a Sunday morning.
If these tasks of a Sunday morning have become mundane to you, spend time in the Psalms to remind yourself that what you do on a Sunday morning is not just for you. There is nothing unexciting about entering into the presence of the living God to sing to Him, to pray to Him, and to hear from His word. The effort we put into our work on a Sunday morning – our explicit witness – is equally important to it. Therefore we should work hard with the goal of representing our Saviour well.