Fraud! That is what leaped from the computer screen to my mind when I logged into my account. Over the previous few days, someone had made multiple large withdrawals, draining my funds. It wasn’t me.
I called my financial institution. The message I received was, “We can try to look into it but you’ll probably have to call the vendor and get them to cooperate.” What?! Will a thief cooperate? My next move was to call the branch office. Within minutes I received a promise to secure the account and restore the funds. Within days all funds were safely in my possession. The difference between these two encounters? Competence, for starters.
Competence at work is essential for the follower of Christ. We ought to talk about this more than we do. Dorothy Sayers wrote, “The church’s approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him to not be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours and to come to church on Sundays. What the church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables.”
Have you thought about why you work? The idea of simply paying bills and trying to get ahead offers no foundation for ethics, integrity, nor competence. For the believer, our purpose in work is expressed here: “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men… It is the Lord Christ whom you serve” (Col. 3:23). This elevates work to an act of worship. Tim Keller wrote, “All jobs – not merely so-called helping professions – are fundamentally ways of loving your neighbor… Your daily work is ultimately an act of worship to the God who called and equipped you to do it – no matter what kind of work it is.”
When you align love of neighbor with your work ethic, it reaches beyond technical competence, or “knowing the ropes.” It means being self-aware and managing your responses to coworkers and customers. It means being aware of how others are thinking and feeling. You may never know as much as someone with more experience, but you can strive to be the most competent at building meaningful relationships. Your whole team will benefit because competence is contagious.
Someone may notice your competence and want to know more. Ken Isaacs of Samaritan’s Purse often says, “The quality of our work is the platform for our witness.” Competence earns respect, and someone may want to know what drives you. “It is the Lord Christ whom I serve,” is your answer.
So, make good tables! Provide excellent customer service! Use your people skills! What you do at work and how you do it is far more important than simply earning a paycheck.