Look back at Titus 2.9, okay, see that first word there, bondservant. That word can also be translated slave. Now just saying that word causes us to read U.S. slavery into that word, but that would be a big mistake. In fact, in the preface of the ESV, it says that the translators decided to use the word bondservant instead of slave to avoid this confusion, to avoid this connection. Now, I've got to warn you, we are going to have an extended Bible nerd moment right now. Because we need to understand the historical background of this word bondservant for the first century. So in the first century, 50 million people were slaves in the Roman Empire. Most of them came from kids born to slave women. Other sources were selling yourself into slavery or selling your kids into slavery. Less frequently, slaves became such because of debt or because of crime or because their people lost a war. Now, in Roman slavery, a bond servant lived in complete submission to everything their master wanted. They had no will of their own. They had no desires of their own. They had no plans of their own. Simply put, Roman slaves belonged to their masters who had complete authority over all of their activities and even their destinies. That meant that slaves could be treated harshly or treated kindly depending on the character of their masters. Now, by me just saying that and hearing that, you might be thinking, well, how is that different than 18th century slavery in America? Well, there are some significant differences. The first one is this. Roman slavery had nothing to do with ethnicity at all. Second, Roman slavery wasn't the same everywhere. So slaves in a household had it much better than criminal slaves. If you're a criminal slave, you'd be put in the mines, and you'd probably die there. You'd be put on a ship. You'd probably die there. Or if you did something really bad, you wouldn't get any of that. You'd just go right to the gladiator games, and you'd just get hacked up in front of everybody. Not good to be that kind of slave. Third, Roman slaves could publicly assemble. They could get together. They could own property. In fact, Roman slaves could own other slaves. Fourth, Roman slavery wasn't relegated to menial labor that didn't require skill and an education. There's many Roman slaves were well-educated, extremely skilled individuals. In fact, education was encouraged for slaves. Some had more education than their masters. See, not only would a slave be like a domestic servant or a farmer, but they could be accountants and bailiffs and oversee someone's entire business or house. They would be secretaries, craftsmen, teachers, soldiers, managers, writers, sea captains. Some slaves in the first century were even doctors. Fifth, slavery was not seen as a separate social or economic class. There wasn't a group of people called slaves. A slave's honor, their social status, their economic opportunity depended entirely on the status of their master. There was no sense that in the Roman Empire, these are the slaves and these are not the slaves. Number six, a large percentage of urban and household slaves in the Roman Empire anticipated being free by the age of 30. That was what normally happened. You were freed by the age of 30 in the Roman Empire. If you were older than 30, it was because you sold yourself into slavery after 30. It was rare for anybody to be in their old age and a slave in the Roman Empire. And the moment you were set free, you actually received Roman citizenship. This is why many of the poor free people in the Roman Empire sold themselves into slavery. They actually took themselves in. And I'm gonna sell myself into slavery. I'm gonna get money for myself and I'm gonna make myself a slave. Why? Because as a poor free person, you might or might not get a job. But if you were a slave, you got a job, you got security, you got a better life. This is why many sold their kids into slavery. Now that's not okay for you, okay? So don't even think about that. Okay? No, but seriously, we cringe at that idea. But listen, for a Roman, free person, super poor, they would look at that and go, my kid's going to have a better life. They're going to eat. They're going to have a place to stay. They could own property. They could share profits. They could make money. This might be a lot better than being poor with me. And on top of that, they're gonna be free by 30. So many sold their kids into slavery for this reason. What you see when you put this all together is that Roman slavery was more of a process than something permanent. And this is why when you read the New Testament, no New Testament author wrote about abolishing slavery. It wouldn't even enter their mind. But what they do is they show how Jesus impacts people in slavery. And as you probably know, the implication and application of the Bible is what led to its elimination, both in the Roman Empire and in the British colonies, as well as here in America. See, slavery was an essential part of Roman society and Roman economy. So when you read that word bondservant, the way you should read it to read it more accurately for us would be employee, because that's what slaves were. They were the workforce in the Roman empire. Well, you might be thinking slavery was, that was abolished in our country and thank God for that. So this text doesn't really apply to us, but no, how many of you are employees? Raise it high. That means this text applies to us. And if you're sitting there like, well, I'm not an employee. I'm the boss. You know, I'm the one in charge. I have the employees. I'm not an employee. Well, Titus 2, 9 and 10 doesn't apply to you. However, it specifically. But everybody in this room is under authority. In some way, we're under the authority of the government. If you're a Christian, you're under the authority of God. The New Testament often calls you a slave of God or a slave of Christ. If you're not a Christian, you are a slave to sin and Satan. You are held captive by him to do his will. You're under the authority of the government, federal, state, and local. You're under the authority of the police, your teachers, your elders in your church, your husband if you're a wife, your parents if you are a minor child. All of us, in some way, are under authority. But if you're like, well look, I'm the boss, or I'm retired, I don't really do this anymore, or really I never had a job because I got to stay home and raise the kids, then listen. This passage is for you in a number of ways. One, all of us are under authority, so it applies that way. Two, you might have kids or grandkids that have jobs. I talked to a guy after the third service, and he goes, it is so crazy that we're here, because just last night, my son was complaining about going back to work on Monday. I was able to show, like, God has a word for you, and here we are. They were from Ontario, Canada. here visiting and they're like, your message, it was like, God used you specifically where my son needed it. So maybe it's your job is taking these truths and you're hearing your son or your daughter, your grandkid, and they're complaining and you're like, okay, see, well, let's see what God says about your job. This is applicable in a lot of ways, is my point. In Ephesians 6, 5 and Colossians 3, 22, specifically speaks to employees and commands us to obey our bosses. 1st Timothy 6.1 tells employees that our bosses are worthy of all honor. And 1st Peter 2.18 says this, employees, servants, be subject to your own masters with all respect. Show all respect to your master. Show all respect to your employer. Then listen to what he adds. Not only the good and gentle ones, but also the unjust. Those crooked, immoral, mean bosses. God through Peter says, submit yourself to them in all respect too. So Titus 2, nine and 10 is not some obscure text, it doesn't apply. It is just a reiteration of four other texts on the same subject. Now here's the thing for us, none of us here are actual slaves, thank God for that. But you know what that means for this text? How much more should we follow God's word towards those who do not have absolute authority over us? And when we do that, we will thrive in a dying culture. You can see the death of a culture and its attitude towards work. And apparently here's what was happening on the island of Crete. The slaves were adopting more of the cultural understanding than the biblical understanding. They were following cultural norms, and in the first century, the stereotype for a slave was that they were lazy, prone to argue, and would steal from their masters. In fact, slave and thief were synonyms in the first century. So the Christian slaves in the island of Crete were to be different than the other slaves that they worked around. And Christian, we should be different than the non-Christians that we work around. We should make a good impression on our bosses, ultimately not to make more money, not to get promoted, but so that, verse 10, what does it say? So that in everything, we may adorn the doctrine of God, our Savior, so that in everything we do at our jobs, people see how great Jesus is. How we do this in every area of life, where we are under authority, and especially at our jobs, It's the same exact way that Christian slaves on Crete were to do this in the first century. Look at the text, verse 9. We're to do this, verse 9, first by being submissive to our own masters in everything. We've seen this same word submissive before, four verses up, chapter two, verse five, Christian wives are to be submissive to their own husbands. This word I said a few weeks ago is stronger than just obey. It was used to describe soldiers who would place themselves under the leadership of their commanding officer. This word is in the present tense, which means that the submission was not to be an occasional whim or an accidental thing. Oh, I just, I just happened to do what my boss said. No, this was to be a constant attitude of the slave's heart. It's also in what's called the middle voice, which is just nerd talk for this. The slaves were to adopt this submission for themselves. They were to submit themselves to their masters voluntarily. As their heart was seeking to be rebellious, they were to grab it and pull it back and say, I'm going to voluntarily submit myself. I don't need my master to make me submit. God's spirit inside of me will do that. And notice the text. They are to accept their subjection to their masters. What does the text say? In some things, In just a few things. What does it say? It's hard to say, huh? In everything. In every area of life, in everything their master wanted them to do, they were to submit. They were to do everything their masters wanted as long as it didn't involve sin. And as we saw earlier, and as we saw when we talked about Christian wives, submission was never based on any thought of inferiority on the part of the wife or on the part of the slave. Again, Roman slavery had nothing to do with the inferiority of the slave versus the master. So applying this to your job, and how do we take this first century concept and bring it into the 21st century? We do it by this. You will be different, you will not dishonor Christ, point number one, if you will be a humble follower. Be a humble follower. A humble follower of your boss. See yourself as under the authority of your boss. See yourself as there to do what he or she wants, especially when you don't agree. You don't need submission when you agree, that's called agreement. You need submission when you disagree. come under their leadership, under their authority to accomplish their goals. Whether you like those goals or not, whether you like your boss or not, none of that matters. Think about it. Peter's writing this to people who are owned. And he says, whether good or bad, you submit to them. And Paul was writing this, not Peter. Well, OK, like hard attitude, everything I say and do should be submissible. Well, really, like, how far should I take this? Ephesians 6.5 says, employees, bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart as you would Christ. Did you hear that? Obey them as if they were Jesus. Huh? I mean, the Bible can't really say that. Colossians 3.22, employees, bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. So as Christians, we're followers of Christ. We do what he says, we think what he thinks, we say what he says, we do what he does. Well, as Christian employees, we follow Christ by treating our bosses as if they were Christ and following them. And why do we do that? Paul told us. Because when we do that, no paycheck that you could possibly get compares to the reward that the Lord will give you when you submit to your boss's authority and humbly follow. Now I said humble follower because the biggest thing standing in the way of doing this is what? Yeah, it's us. Right? It's us. It's that independent don't tread on me American spirit. Rebellion against authority is built into our psyche as Americans, right? Rebellion made America what it is. So we tend to celebrate it. You go through world, we go through American history and we celebrate it. But then it seeps into our movies and our music and our society. Kids are taught from a very early age, see your parents as adversaries and rebel against them. Entire subcultures are taught to rebel against the government or the police or societal norms or even their own bodies. We see ourselves as adversaries to those in authority. But Christian, it must not be that way among us. We are to be humble followers of those in authority over us in the government, in the church, in our workplaces. Rebellion against those in authority, rebellion against them when they've asked you to do something is not humble. Obstinate protesting, I know better than you attitudes, that's sin, that's not submissive. Listen, we're told to submit to our bosses, to follow them humbly, not because they're perfect. That's what that inner revolutionary soldier is saying. Well, they're not perfect and they often make mistakes. Yeah, you're right, they do. But we don't do this because they're perfect. We do this because Jesus told us to and he's perfect. Well, what if they're mean and moral shysters? 1 Peter 2, 18. Yeah, submit to them too. See, because to do the opposite is actually satanic, right? Let's just drill down into that for a second. That's the kind of thing Satan does. The word Satan means adversary, accuser, slander. So people who do that kind of thing to those in authority over them, that's exactly what Satan did to God who was in authority over him. And then what happens today is that people do that and then they justify it with a bunch of Bible verses. Which is exactly what Satan does. They're not being submissive like the Savior, remember, who suffered unjustly. And 1 Peter 2.21 says, He is our example when we suffer unjustly. He submitted to that injustice. So make sure you don't follow people like that into rebellion. Make sure you don't follow people that, satanic people, into rebellion. And listen, and if that's you, please, don't forget what Jesus said about millstones for causing people to sin. God takes this seriously. Now, what if the answer, what is it if it's just too much to bear? Like you don't understand, like this is so difficult. This is so hard, my boss is so unreasonable, so mean, so crooked. Listen, if you can't submit to them, if you can't submit to the authority over you, the answer is never going on strike, undermining their authority through gossip, slander, believing the worst, rallying other people to your cause at home, in your church, or at work. The answer is never sinning against those authorities because that dishonors Christ. The answer is, think about it, the answer is something that no first century slave would have dreamed imaginable that you have. You know what it is? you can get a new job. Humbly follow unless it's sin, okay? But humbly follow until you can find another job where you can humbly follow. Humble submission to authority is what grace, it's what the gospel produces in those who are trusting Jesus according to Titus 2.12. But be careful because sin and that rebellious American spirit rages against this phrase, rages against it, hates it, is seeking to try to get you to justify not following it. But no, you don't understand. Like I got this special case. No, you don't. You are not owned by your employer like these slaves were. So rebel against that rebellion, submit to God's word on this and humbly follow those in authority over you. Now look back at the text. Sin is also gonna work against what we should be in the second way that Christian employees should be, verse nine. Titus was to urge Christians' notice, Christian bond servants, to be well-pleasing. This word is used nine times in the New Testament, and eight of those nine times, it's used to describe the Christian's goal with God, that we are to make it our goal, 2 Corinthians 5, 9, to make it our goal to be pleasing to God. The idea is that God is watching our lives. And because he's watching, the idea is that I want to please him, I want to do what he wants, I want him to look at my decisions and go, that's right, that's good, keep it up. This, Titus 2, 9, is the only time this word is used not to refer to God. So again, slaves were to treat their masters as if they were God. But listen, not in the sense of worship. But how? in the sense that like God, they were to be eager to please their masters, to do what they want, to comply with their demands, to make them happy. The present tense of this word in verse nine means to continually do this all the time and everything. Make your owners happy, fully satisfied with your work. This was the measure of success for a slave. And listen, the same should be true for us. You will make Jesus look good if you point number two, make your boss very happy with you. Make your boss very happy with you. Seek to please your boss. Be eager to satisfy them. But again, not if it means sin. So I was talking to a lady after the first service and she came up to me and she said, John, I got to tell you this story. My boss, Back in the day, he told me that I want you to price these, I want you to take some of the jewelry here at our store, and I want you to put a different designation for this, because we're gonna get money for these if we put this designation on them. And she said, sir, I can't do that. Like, okay, fine, well, just tell me which ones of the jewelry fall into this category, and then I'll take care of it. And she said, no, I'd be contributing to that. And he yells at her and kicks her out of his office. And she goes home and tells her husband and kids, I don't know if I still have a job. We'll see what happens. Three weeks later, he made her a manager. And she told him, your Christian stuff drives me crazy. Just drives me crazy. But you know what? I can trust you. That's the idea here. When they want us to sin, I'm not going to please you. But in everything else, make your boss very happy with you. Now this might cause confusion if you know Ephesians 6, 5. That verse says we're to obey our bosses, quote, not by way of eye service, as people pleasers. So how are we supposed to be well pleasing to our bosses, but at the same time not be people pleasers of our bosses? You might not think that, but there might be someone in here that's thinking that, and so that's why I'm bringing this up right now. Because on the outside, being well-pleasing and people-pleasing look exactly the same. However, what Paul is doing is he's getting at motivation. Being a people-pleaser in this context means doing your job in a way that you get seen. You get the benefit. You get the attention. They're so impressed with you. Being well-pleasing means doing your job for them. and for the Lord, so that they get the benefit of your work. Well, how do you know if you're being well-pleasing or people-pleasing? Here's one way. How are you when your boss isn't around? Are you just as supportive, just as compliant, just as pleasing, or is that just a show? And also, do you know what this point means? It means that our bosses may make us happy, and that's really great when they make us happy. But ultimately, they and all in authority over us do not exist to make us happy. Ultimately, you have your job to what? Oh, it's hard to say, isn't it? It's hard to say, you rebellious American. You have a job to make them happy. And notice the text. It doesn't say to please them. It says to be well-pleasing. That's why the point is to make them very happy. That's not weak, that's not being a sellout. That is how God's grace comes out of his people at their jobs. One day, a peasant came to his king with a carrot. And he said, my king, this is the best carrot in my crop. Instead of keeping it, I'm here to give it to you. A carrot? The royal court joked on the inside. But the king replied, for this, you may be my royal farmer in charge of all the farms that I own in my entire kingdom. Well, one of the lords in the royal court saw this and thought, for a carrot? I wonder what happens if I give him something better. So the next day, he shows up with his best horse. He said, my king, this is the best horse I have. I've raised him from the finest stock. I'm here today to give this to you. And the king said, thank you, and had it taken into his stables. The king was wise, and he noticed this lord was a little confused, so he said to him, yesterday, the peasant gave me that carrot. Today, you gave that horse to yourself. That's people pleasing at your job. But the flip side of that, are you making your boss happy? Are you making those in authority over you very happy? Think about it. If Jesus was your boss, if he actually like was your actual boss, you would dig the best ditches, write the best reports. You would do your best. You would be honest. You'd be hardworking. You would do the absolute best in everything because like Jesus is my boss and he's awesome. Well, we are to treat our bosses as if they were Jesus. Not worshiping them. No, no, not that. But eager to satisfy their desires and make them very happy. Again, be careful. That little revolutionary soldier inside has got his musket out, right? He's looking at you like, don't you listen to that? No, we don't do that. This is incredibly countercultural, which, as we've been seeing throughout this whole paragraph, every verse in Titus 2 1 to 10 is countercultural. So big surprise this is the same. That inner rebellious American hates this. But listen, you will make your heavenly master look great by making your earthly boss happy. Now, you'll make your boss very happy by verse 9 not being argumentative. Christian slaves are never to talk back, mouth off, argue, complain, contradict, or be in any way opposed to their masters. This is more than words, this is actions. They were not to be obstinate. They were not to call the brains of their bosses or the plans of their bosses into question, either to their faces or behind their backs. They should not have defiant attitudes that pretend to be compliant, but refuse to do that what they're told. And notice, if Paul has to say this, say, Titus, you need to tell them to do this, what does that mean? That means they had a significant amount of freedom, right? If these slaves were able to be argumentative with their masters. Now for us, we'll be different. We'll make Jesus look great at work. If point number three, we'll be supportive. Be supportive. Be supportive of your boss. Be compliant to his or her demands. Be deferential to the authority they have over you. Authority, by the way, that God gave them when he gave you your job. In 2 Samuel 15, Absalom, you remember him, he's David's son, and he pretended for four years to be supportive of his father, supportive of his leadership, but the whole time he was stealing the hearts of the people away from his dad because his goal was to have his dad killed and he becomes the king. That's 2 Samuel 15. In the very next chapter, you see the contrast to Absalom and a man named Abishai. So here's this man insulting David, Shimei. He's, you know, today he'd be writing blogs and he'd do all that stuff. Back then he's throwing stones at David and he's cursing him. And here's Abishai, one of David's soldiers. He says, quote, why should this dead dog curse my Lord, the King? Let me go over there and take off his head. That might be a bit excessive for us. But the point is that Abishai supported the king while Absalom was undermining the king. So the question for us is, are you an Abishai with your boss and those who God has placed in authority over you? Or are you an Absalom, smiling in their face, pretending to be supportive, but destroying them and their authority behind their back? And this is true in the church too. Look at Titus 3.10. Titus 3.10. As for a person who stirs up division, that would be the opposite of supportive. As for a person who stirs up division after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him. Why? Knowing that person, that such a person is warped and sinful and he is self-condemned. Unsupportive, factious people, whether at church, at jobs, God is not okay with that. Don't pretend to support what they say, only to think, well, you know better, and, you know, that gives you an excuse to do, not do what they ask you to do. Don't let people, don't let your coworkers see you being hypocritical on this either, supporting your boss, like, everybody sees you, oh, boss, you're the best, blah, blah, blah, and then add the water cooler. You're like, dude, that moron over there, did you see that? Christian, no, not for us. Be compliant, defer to their leadership, support them in public and private. Now, having said that, is there a place for standing up for what you think is right or what you think is best? Of course there is. But do that in a God honoring way. Do that in the proper forum. Do that with with the right people, not everybody. And then whatever the decision is, whether you agree with it or not, support it. Support it. And listen, if that's just too much for you to do, again, you get to do what no first century slave gets to do. Go find a new job. Now, you will also make your boss very happy by verse 10, not pilfering. Not pilfering. Anyone use that word this week, pilfering? Anybody? It means to steal, to embezzle, to misappropriate funds, to divert something that belonged to somebody else to yourself. Slaves had a reputation for this. Like I said before, slave and thief were synonyms. And this is because slaves had access to valuable things that belonged to their masters. So remember, they weren't just like, oh, you know, I've got some farm equipment or, you know, I can take a little extra bread. No, slaves were their accountants. They would make business deals. They oversaw many of their masters entire properties. So they could think, you know, my boss, he's not gonna, my master, he's not gonna miss this. You know, because I do the work around here. Like, he doesn't do anything. He just gets to sit around all day and read books, but you know, I'm the one making him money, so I deserve some of this stuff. That's what slaves would do. So you will be different. You will make Jesus look great at your work when point number four, you make sure you're not justifying theft. Make sure you're not justifying theft. It's so incredible how up to date the Bible is, you know, because workplace theft is justified in our country to the tune of $50 billion a year. Google it. So just like slaves in the first century, workplace theft is justified all day long, but this is one, this one's easy, like this is the easiest one, right? Exodus 20, 15, you shall not steal unless it's from your job, right? That word pilfering is used three times in the New Testament here and two times in Acts 5 to describe Ananias and Sapphira. And you remember what happened to them. So again, God is not cool with pilfering. But everybody's doing it. Everybody inflates those timesheets. Everybody puts personal things on their expense reports. Everybody takes office supplies home. Everybody uses the personal credit card for the company credit card for personal purchases. Yeah. Not you, Christian. Not you. Not you. If we do those kinds of things, we not only sin, we not only damage our bosses, so we kind of like bite the hand that feeds us, but we damage the reputation of Christ. And it's not just property theft. Cheating is theft for a grade. Time theft is huge. Texting, checking social media, making personal calls at work, taking extra long lunch breaks, coming late, leaving early, all of those things are theft. Unlike Christian slaves. There's that revolutionary soldier again. You deserve it, though. You worked hard for this. They're taking advantage of you. This is the least, like, it doesn't really matter. Nobody's gonna miss this. Nobody's gonna see it. God sees it, and that should be enough. As Christians, let's make sure we're not justifying any kind of theft. Now look back at the text, verse 10. You will also make your boss very happy by showing all good faith. This is Paul's way of saying, in case I missed anything, I'm just going to say something that just covers everything else. That's what this means. It means prove yourself to be trustworthy. Show that you can be fully trusted by your boss with anything. Notice the text. It doesn't say showing good faith or showing as much good faith as you can. What does it say? Showing what? All good faith. That means in every way and all the things you're asked to do, give no doubt as to your loyalty. Be completely honest and reliable. In everything they were to do for their masters, they were to exhibit entire dependability. So for us, we will be different. And we will make Jesus look great at work. If you will point number five, be worthy of your boss's trust. Be worthy of your boss's trust. That's what this phrase means. If your boss trusts you, work in a way that makes you worthy of that trust. If he or she does not trust you, work in a way that you can gain their trust. Or if you lost their trust, work in a way that you can get that trust back. Remember, we're not the owners of the places where we work, most of us. We are the employees. In other words, we are stewards. And a steward means that somebody has placed something valuable into your care for you to take care of. And that's what's happened with your employer. This business, this means a lot to me, and so I'm taking it and I'm placing it into your care. And 1 Corinthians 4, 2 gives our job description. It is required of stewards that they may be found faithful. Faithful. That sounds familiar, right? That's what we want to hear from our Lord, right? Well done, good and faithful servant. We should want to hear that from our bosses too. Because in fact, that word servant, well done, good and faithful servant, is the same exact word as Titus 2.9, bondservant. Lying, stealing, well that will get you fired. It'll also destroy trust. Laziness destroys trust. Unsubmissive, unsupportive, that'll destroy trust. Constantly disobeying your boss, making them mad all the time, that'll destroy trust. Being argumentative, mouthing off, complaining, telling everybody, yeah, those people in authority, they're a bunch of idiots. They're a bunch of losers. I really know. I mean, I should be the boss because they're just complete morons. That's going to destroy trust. Do your job in such a way that your boss actually grows in his or her trust in you. Be the guy, be the gal that when your boss says, hey, can you do this for me? They're not waiting and frustrated and asking you 27 times for it. Be the kind of person that they give you the assignment and they know like, this is gonna be done, it's gonna be done excellently, because they gave it to you. So this lady tells me, second story about her job back in the day. She said, so my boss at one point, came to me and said, if you have any people at your church that need a job, I will hire them on the spot, no interview. I have seen the way that you work. And if that's what your church produces, then I want this entire store filled with people from your church. Doesn't get better than that. That's the goal. Be reliable in everything they ask you to do, again, unless they ask you to what? Sin. And when it's preference stuff, listen, their preference wins because they're the boss. Now, at this point, you look at these five points. You might be thinking, okay, like I don't have a job, or look, I never had a job, I stayed home and took care of the kids, or I'm retired now, or I am the boss. Well, again, you are under some kind of authority, and second, you can disciple someone, you can help someone bring their job description, bring how they work under the obedience of Christ and his word. And this is no small thing, this is a big deal. Notice the end of verse 10. God cares about how you work because of what your work says about Him. We're to do this all the time, verse 10, so that in everything, slaves, they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. Many of the scholars I read this week said verse 10 actually concludes one through nine. So that all of that whole section, this whole paragraph, had this one idea that when you live this way, people will look out at you and go, that Jesus, there's something special to him because you are different than everybody else. That's what it means to adorn the doctrine of God, our savior. Adorn is the, this word in Greek is the word that helped create the English word cosmetics. where women take cosmetics to bring out the beauty that's already there. And that's the idea that when we do these five things, when we live in this way, when we work in this way, we bring out the beauty of Jesus for the people at our work. People should look at the lives of Christians and say, there's something, there's something to this Jesus. He changes your life. He transforms your life. Like you said, we need to get more of you in this place. by our submissive, well-pleasing, compliant, honest, trustworthiness. What's happening is we are rearranging the thoughts of people towards Christianity. Our lives rearrange their thinking in such a way that those who work with us would think the very best about Jesus because they saw his work through us. That happens, chapter two, verse 12, by grace. It happened by grace in the slaves in the first century. And listen, it happens by grace in us too. So you'll be different. You'll be the employee God wants you to be when point six, you make Jesus look great by your work. Make him look great by your work, regardless of how easy your job is, regardless of whether you like your boss or don't like him, whether they're terrible or wonderful, Listen, you're not a slave to a wicked master, but if you were, this would be God's counsel to you. Make Jesus look good by your work. First Corinthians 10, 31, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, including our jobs, do it all to the glory of God. Do it all to make God look great. We should cause our bosses to say, if being a Christian does that, that Jesus must be amazing. And let's get more Christians in here. Listen, if people don't wanna ever hire another Christian because of you, it doesn't matter if I was valiant for the truth, I stood up for what's right. Bible doesn't tell you to do that at your job. It doesn't. It actually warns you, and this text actually, from causing people to blaspheme God because of you. You will never find that in any context when it comes to your job. Why? Because at your job, you're surrounded by non-Christians. They watch you every day. They see your character. They see if you're submissive. They see if you're faithful. They see if you're putting on a show. They see if you're a hypocrite. And what they're doing is they're going, am I ever going to respond to an invitation to their church? Will I ever do that? Your job is your mission field. Your life will make or break the opinion your coworkers and your bosses have of your Savior. And we all know, like, actions speak louder than words. But listen, your actions give your words credibility. Or your actions cut the throat of your words. So like a magnet, we should, people should be drawn to the Jesus in us rather than repelled. All of life, including our work, should be an endorsement of Jesus, a billboard for Jesus, an advertisement. This is what Jesus does in a life. So in all our efforts, and you know, because our jobs like, oh, I got to climb the corporate ladder. You know, I got to get my job done. I want to take care of myself and my family into the future. All of that's, all that's great. But, but don't forget the most important activity every Christian has, no matter where you are, to make Jesus look great. Great to the people in your cubicles around you. Great to your fellow teachers and students. Great to your supervisors, your managers, your higher ups, your direct reports, and your CEOs. Great to every person above you on the food chain. Great to every person beneath you on the food chain. Because listen, though there may not be equality at your job, there is equality at the cross. We are equally rebellious against God, equally lost, equally unable to save ourselves, which if you look at the last phrase in verse 10, that is why we are all equally in need of God, our Savior. Listen, our sins were so bad that only God could save us. That's why He is God, our Savior. The solution for our sins was so difficult that only God could accomplish that, and He did. That's the cross. We not only see just how guilty and condemned our sin made us, but we see how loving and merciful God is to rescue us from our rebellion against him. But there's no rescue from your rebellion without Jesus. So you may be looking at these points and going, yikes. I talked to one guy after the third service, he said, there was a, see, this is the last service, so I can talk as long as I want. So, but, but truly those other three services don't get these. So I was talking to one guy, he said, when I first got to this area where I lived, all the Christian businessmen put this directory together so we could all work together. And he said, after a few years, that directory became all the people I would never want to work for or with. And so if you look at that list and you're like, man, I'm not doing well. Let me tell you about a savior that will wash you clean. That's right. Let me tell you about Him because He will forgive you of all of your rebellion against your boss. He will forgive you of all your rebellion against God Himself. Right? That's why we worship. That's why we sing. That's why we're here. That's why we want to learn from Him. He's gentle. He is humble. You will find rest for your soul in nobody else but Him. That's good news, that's great news, but it means nothing if you don't come to Him. If you don't turn from your sin and give Him your life and trust Him to be your Savior. Yes, there's a celebrity, might play a sport, football, and he may have said this week that he can't believe in a loving God who would send people to hell. You know that's not right, correct? Your sin sends you to hell. God in his love offers a rescue in Jesus. Do not leave here without giving your life to him. And if you have, please take that connect card, put your name on it, some way to contact you and put, I want to talk about to somebody about becoming a Christian, or I want to talk about something because I just gave my life to Jesus. I want to talk with you. I want to help you. So please do that. And for all of us, this is what Jesus does in a life when our life is at our jobs. Let's seek to please Him. Let's seek to live for Him. Let's seek to treat our bosses as Jesus, but more than that, let's seek to make our Savior look great.