The idea that our identity is tied to our jobs is not a new one. In the past, people’s names were tied to their jobs like “Baker” or “Cook” or “Smith”.
In this study, we don’t want to think about ourselves from what we do. Through Colossians 3, we want to remind ourselves that the selves we bring to our jobs should be our new, resurrection selves. This is the new identity we have in Christ because of the gospel. We hope that after tonight’s study, we will go back to our jobs but see ourselves as primarily a God-fearing, Jesus-trusting ______ (insert job here).
(A) Understand your old and new selves (Col 3:1-9)
In Colossians 3:1-4, we see clearly what Paul wants His readers to be clear about. Paul wants His readers to focus on the things that are above (Col 3:1) which are contrasted with the things that are on earth (Col 3:2). Those who have been raised with Christ are to set their minds heavenward!
Colossians 3:1-4 also contain multiple phrases that describe life, resurrection and living. Our life is hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:3) and Christ is our life (Col 3:4). For Paul, living is in Jesus. How? Because we have been raised with Jesus, i.e. resurrected (Col 3:1). Those who have been united to Jesus have died and was raised from the dead with Him. He wants them to be clear about their union with Christ and common destiny.
Thus, everything about their life now is in Christ. And naturally, they are to set their minds on things above.
Let’s examine Paul’s writing more closely in Colossians 3:1-9. Specifically, we are to see how had what Paul explains about the believer’s past, present and future in relation to what is in heaven and on earth.
How do you understand your life in Christ and with respect to sin, in the past present and future? We may struggle to tell others our story using this framework by Paul, especially with regard to the present and the future. By organising things in this way, Paul is telling us who we are and what our life is about. We live in a world where multiple identities are competing for our sense of self. The world tells us that we are to take our failure as motivation for future success. Or, we may be told that we were never loved in the past and struggle with love in the present, thus we will never find love in the future.
Paul is telling us who we are in light of the gospel. We too, have a choice to do so, to allow the gospel to shape our identity. What story are you already believing? How do you understand yourself? What is the story that you are already telling yourself about your work? Do you think: “I never wanted this job” hence, “Every day is miserable” and as a result, “I am trapped here forever.” Or, “I have tried my best but issues still exist at work” hence “Thee is no justice in this world or at my workplace” and therefore, “It will be the same forever”.
Friends, we need to tell ourselves this story in Colossians 3 at work! The life we now live, our minds are fixed on Him. And when He appears, our lives are secure. Any identity other than this gospel identity must be inferior or subsumed under this. Your success and failure at work, sense of opportunity etc must be hybridised or subsumed under this, if it is to be a Christian one.
It is so important for the Christian to understand our past, present and future on a daily basis. Why is it so hard for a Christian to do this? Because we are not very good preachers. We do not preach the gospel to ourselves very well. Instead, we compress our understanding of the gospel to a 2D slot of a Christian truth and pray and hope that a 90-minute slot on a Sunday and 120 minutes on a Friday will be enough to fill our entire life. But everything else we consume on our phones tell us a different story. As a result, our thirst for heaven is weak, our desire for holy things ebb and flows and our love for Jesus is shallow. And we also do not enlist the help of people around us!
Look at the lyrics of “Christ is mine forevermore”. Every line has something realistic in it but also hope! The first two lines go:
Mine are days that God has numbered;
I was made to walk with Him.
Yet I look for worldly treasure
And forsake the King of kings.
But mine is hope in my Redeemer;
Though I fall, His love is sure.
For Christ has paid for every failing;
I am His forevermore.
Mine are tears in times of sorrow,
Darkness not yet understood.
Through the valley I must travel
Where I see no earthly good.
But mine is peace that flows from Heaven,
And the strength in times of need.
I know my pain will not be wasted;
Christ completes his work in me.
Who is preaching the gospel to you, even in the difficult realities of life, as you walk through the hard days?
We need to tell ourselves the gospel story and root our identity in the gospel. Without that, we won’t even know we have a new self.
(B) Resolve to put on and put off with intention (Col 3:10-17)
In the next set of verses, Paul tells us how to put off our old selves and to put on new selves. How do we put on the new self? We are to be renewed in knowledge after the image of our Creator (Col 3:10-11). It is a battle of the mind (c.f. Rom 12:1). Romans 12:1 parallels these verses here and should be read together to aid in our understanding. As we present our bodies as worship, we are transformed by the renewing of our mind. There is an act of mind involved in the transformation.
How are we to be renewed in knowledge? It is to think through and understanding ourselves in light of God and what He has done in the gospel. This renews our sense of self and identity. There is a renewal that takes place when we see ourselves in light of the gospel.
Paul also goes on to flesh out this idea. He exhorts us to practical actions with respect to relationships, motives, community, prayer and worship (Col 3:12-17). Firstly, Colossians 3:12-13 speak to our relationships and it is worth us pausing to read it slowly and to spend time thinking about these. If we belong to Christ, our new self will show up in our relationships. God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved are to have compassionate hearts, treat one another with “kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Col 3:12b-13).
Next, it also speaks to our motives (Col 3:14). This follows from the description of how we are to treat one another and Paul uses the image of layers here. Love brings it all together, with a sincere desire for another’s good, even at our expense. Do not think that love is just a deep emotion. Love is not love until we are willing to make a sacrifice. It does not insist on its own way! Christians must be those who are lovers because we are putting others ahead of us all the time.
The gospel also changes how we live in community (Col 3:15). Our communities should be marked by peace! It’s not where people are nice and kind. It is where people conflict, then forgive one another and go back to loving one another. Peace in the church is the willingness to say that we don’t mind being wronged, as long as Christ is honoured. Peace reigns and rules not because it is easy, but we choose to give it authority above everything else.
The next practical action pertains to prayer (Col 3:17). How does the new self pray? The new self receives all good from the Father’s hand and is confident that He knows what we need! He gives us everything in Christ. Therefore, will we not be thankful? The new self does not have desires for material possession, wealth and health. Instead, he/she knows the goodness of God. The most natural thing for the regenerate believer is to pray “thank you God” for all that He has given to us in Christ.
Do you struggle with thankfulness, and with the lot He has given us? Regenerate hearts want Him and thank God that we have all we need in Christ.
Finally, our worship changes (Col 3:16). The new self worship with the words of Christ dwelling in us. Therefore, what brings us to life in church are the words of the Master. We desire to know the words of Christ because they are the words of life. We just want the Bible — read, preached, sung, prayed. Notice who does the work here. It’s not the apostles, elders or church leaders. Paul calls us to do it. The new self, born again, is part of a community and we are to sing the words of Christ to one another. And in doing so, thankfulness is promoted.
Paul is showing us how we are to understand the gospel, process it and live it out in a way that reinforces who we are in Christ.
From these verses, we see the mortification of sin. We are to put to death our attitudes towards anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk. We are to kill it and not make any provision for any of these things in Colossians 3:5-10.
What will it look like for you to obey these verses? As we read these, let us also be people who obey these words and resolve to put on and put off with intention.
What is the role of our workplace in your sanctification and mortification of sin? What is the role of your boss in your sanctification and mortification of sin? What is the role of that difficult workplace situation? If you understand yourself in light of the gospel, how will you see what’s happening in your workplace in a different light?
Have we forgotten to preach the gospel to ourselves?
(C) Bring your new self to work - Christ your agenda, activity and accountability (Col 3:18-25)
In the final section of Colossians 3, Paul applies it in even more specific relationships — between spouses, children and paents, and slaves and their earthly masters. We will not have time to unpack all these verses and will focus in particular on how Christian slavs (or bondservants) are to relate to their earthly masters (Col 3:18-22). However, we must note that the language of submission is not unique to wives but runs through this section. Submission is therefore seen as a virtue. We know that Jesus is the prime example of obedience and submission.
Thus, in addressing slaves, or bondservants, Paul teaches that they are called to submit to their earthly masters. They are to obey in everything with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord (Col 3:22). These 2 layers are essential for us to understand the duties of employees.
They are also told not to obey in part or with “eye-service, as people-pleasers” (Col 3:22). What does it mean to obey in part, without sincerity, offering eye-service as people-pleasers. Paul knows that slaves have to obey. But he does not want Christian workers to be half-hearted, self-interested and not aligned with their masters! He does not want them to obey while going through the motions. He wants them to obey and work for their masters, as if it’s in their interest to do so.
Christian workers are to do the best job we can, as our bosses tell us. We are not to do it just to be seen. Neither do we do it fearing man, so that our bosses will like us. The Bible has such a high view of work. The only way this is possible is if we have died with Christ and have been raised to newness of life, so that we can work not with the strength that we have, but with the strength the risen Christ supplies. What is His motivation in all things? He works to honour and please the Father. This is all the motivation we require.
Paul repeats the idea and tells us that in whatever we do, we are to work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, with the promise of an inheritance (Col 3:23-24). Paul mixes sacred and secular here. He’s talking about our spiritual wages for faith. He is pointing us to the time when we see our life in Christ appearing. When we see Jesus, we see the pains of our job as worthwhile.
Have we been told to keep our faith and work separate? Read these verses again. We are to be people whose faith change the way we work. Is this how we think about our work and our jobs? Are we motivated by the future hope of meeting Jesus? What will He say about how we have worked? Will He judge us to be people-pleasers or skivers or idolaters?
He goes on to speak about the judgment that God is going to call us to, when we have to give an account for our jobs (Col 3:25).
God sees all we do at work. He also knows the heart with which we do at work. He cares about not just the things we do, but He also cares about all that we care about. He wants all that we care about to be Him!
Look at the lyrics to “My heart is filled with thankfulness”, especially the final line:
My heart is filled with thankfulness
To Him who reigns above;
Whose wisdom is my perfect peace,
Whose every thought is love.
For every day I have on earth
Is given by the King.
So I will give my life, my all,
To love and follow Him.
The lives we have now is an opportunity to glorify Him in all we do! Thus, bring the new self to work! Make Christ the agenda, activity of our work and also the accountability for our work.
What opportunities are there in your workplace for you to put off the old and put on the newWhat would it look like practically for you to “bring the new self to your work”?