When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favour in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. (Genesis 39:3-5).
Many Christians
have a negative view of work.
Sometimes, that’s a result of having wrongly concluded that labour is a result of the curse.
However, in the
creation of man, the Lord gave Adam meaningful work to do: physical labour in
caring for the garden, and mental effort in naming the animals.
And all this was before Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God’s specific command in Genesis 3.
Work was given
as a gift from the Almighty; God is a worker, and as those created in His image,
we are also workers.
Therefore, work is a
fundamental dimension of human nature, a core expression of human existence.
In the era of the New Testament – against the back-drop of the Greco-Roman value economy and thinking of the 1st century – the Christian Gospel introduced a significant paradigm shift for how Christ-followers thought, lived and worked.
Many early Christ-followers
were peasants and slaves; slavery was a common employment context.
Here is Paul’s direction regarding a proper attitude in their work environment:
Slaves, obey your earthly
masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win
their favour, 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 men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a
reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving (Colossians 3:22-24).
Note: a Christian worldview gave dignity to labour – that which was intellectual and also physical.
Such understanding has
subsequently motivated common people and the great masters, including
Michelangelo, Rembrandt and Bach.
Therefore, we
need to understand that our daily work should be performed as an act of
worship, to the glory of God.
When we view
our work through that Gospel worldview lens, we worship the Lord Jesus as we
work!
It is the
Lord Christ you are serving.
And that brings us to the “Joseph principle”.
In our current study from Genesis, Joseph – even as a young man living in isolation from his family and community of Yahweh-worshipers – continues to live out righteous integrity.
And because he does so, the Lord blesses each enterprise of
which Joseph is a part:
- Joseph is a simple foreign slave taken into the
household of Potiphar. And yet as he proves himself competent, trustworthy and
honest the text summarizes: the LORD gave him success in everything he did…the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.
- The result of being wrongly accused by his master’s wife landed Jospeph in prison. However, his experience of earning trust and glorifying the Lord continued: But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him…The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did (Genesis 39:20,21,23).
The "Joseph principle" – seen clearly in the 10+ years of his unwanted experience as slave and prisoner alone in Egypt – is this: Joseph’s righteous integrity in his vocation caused the blessing of the Lord within his workplace.
And in my career in the corporate world, I’ve seen it often: Christ-followers who pursue their employment careers as acts of worship to the Lord, realize measurable achievement and are a conduit of blessing – a source of success – within their enterprise. That remains true even if their owners or managers don’t know – or deny the existence and sovereignty of – the God of the Bible!
Takeaway:
consider these diagnostic questions for self-reflection:
- do I view my work as an act of worship to the
Lord? Is my workday underpinned with the objective of honouring Christ,
declaring His worth?
- am I known to be a person of righteous integrity
in conduct, behaviour, attitude, and competence?
- I’m created in the image of God; therefore do I expect my work to provide some God-given meaning, identity, and sense of accomplishment?
- like Paul’s instruction to the Colossians, is it
the Lord Christ [I am] serving?
- graphic: freebibleimages.org
