Where are you, today… and what are you doing there?
If you’re opening your (e)mail to start your week, it’s Monday morning, and you’re probably gearing-up for another week in the salt mines. “Salt Mine?” That’s a pejorative idiom for dull or unpleasant labor. Maybe you’re one of the fortunate who relish their return to duty. Wherever you are in that career satisfaction scale, let me ask you a telling question: does your work matter to God?
Beyond the identity statement you make on your calling card – or, your LinkedIn profile – the ultimate descriptor for who you really are is found in your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are accurately described as “one of His disciples,” your real role this week has significant eternal implications.
Let me take you on a quick tour of history, centered on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
When the plans were created for the place that would be the epicenter of worship for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, it was God’s intent to welcome everyone – Jews and Gentiles alike – to that holy spot, to have an encounter with the Almighty.
Imagine a purposeful structure, with each part of the architecture contributing to the intersect between Heaven and humanity. At the center was the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant represented the Throne of Jehovah: only the High Priest – once a year – was allowed access.
Radiating out from that vital core were designated anterooms, each allowing a particular category of worshiper to get closer to – but never into – the Place where God was touching-down. From inner-most to the outer-ring: the closest proximity was for the priests; next was for Jewish men in good standing; then, Jewish women; finally, God had designed His temple with a demonstrated welcome for the rest of the world to find connection with Him. What was the “Court of the Gentiles?”
“And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant – these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. The Sovereign Lord declares – he who gathers the exiles of Israel: ‘I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered’” — Isaiah 56:6-8
By the time the Son of God arrived to perform a site-inspection of His Temple, things had eroded badly:
“Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!’ His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me’” — John 2:13-17
Instead of being a place of spiritual invitation, the Court of the Gentiles had become a commercial embarrassment to God.
Fast forward: The temple is no more. The original design has been massively updated:
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” — 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
No longer a stone edifice in the Middle East; today, God lives in every one of His sons and daughters. How does He “come to market” in presenting Himself to a world that He loves?
We are the living, breathing Holy of Holies, where the Spirit resides. Today, the Court of the Gentiles – the place where people have a chance to approach the Almighty – is anyplace where they are likely to have interaction with you. Where is that? It’s the commercial marketplace, where you spend about 100,000 hours of your human lifetime. What’s the spiritual agenda at the core of your career?
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” — Colossians 3:23-24
On this mid-summer Monday morning, let me pose a challenging question to you. Most of the people you’ll encounter this week – relative to your career – are not followers of Jesus. They’re in close proximity to Him – because He’s alive in you – but their interaction with Him will be marked by the degree to which your involvement with them will be conducted.
If Jesus was to come to you – today – with an onsite inspection, would He be honored with your representation of Him? or, would He be likely to react with passionate antipathy?
Bob Shank
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