May I Help You Flourish

During a conversation with some friends, I was trying to answer this question: ”At its basic level, what does it mean to glorify God each day in my work as it relates to my coworkers?" In the moment my quick response was, “As much as it depends on me, to do all that I can to help my coworker flourish in their job.”

I didn't have much time to give the question any deeper thinking than that. Since then, however, I've had more opportunity to think about the question and think about why I would answer the way that I did.

You see, I believe that a biblical view of work can be characterized by two themes:  stewardship and reward.  Not only do I believe this a good characterization, but we can see them both in God at creation.  His exercise of stewardship is not only seen in His creativity in the diversity seen in creation, but also in His design of sustainable ecosystems is His creation.  Put more simply, He designed something, and then He provided a way for it to flourish.  And His reward is seeing the works of HIs hands functioning exactly the way He designed it to do.  Here’s the proof:  “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”(Gen. 1.31, ESV)  In short, God acted upon the nothingness and result is a flourishing universe.  

So when I said, “help my coworker flourish in their job,” what I meant is act on their behalf in the same way God has, does, and always will act on ours.  He comes into our space, acts on our behalf, and we flourish (I think I just restated the gospel of Jesus).  Jesus takes on our flesh, lives, dies, and is raised back to life in our place, and by grace, through faith, we flourish.  God Is Amazing!!  

Our mission at HealthKeeperz is to care for all people for the glory of God, and that means we care for all people in the same way that He does.  God perceives our need and acts for our benefit that we might excel.  What would it look like for each one of us to commit ourselves each day to the flourishing of our neighbor in the office?  What kind of difference would it make to ask the question, “How can I help you excel today, and then take action to see it through.”  When we let the  two work themes, stewardship and reward, guide us here, God’s work happens.

Faithful stewardship is going to give my work shape and direction.  I’ll pay attention to the detail, make the needed phone call now, follow-up on that email, or embrace accountability that seeks good for myself and others.  And the reward will not only be a smoother work day, but also the joy of knowing I have made my brothers and sisters happy to be at HealthKeeperz because they, too, had a smoother work day.  We all have flourished.

As we begin a new year, let’s ask God to help contribute everyday to the flourishing of our team.

Yours in Christ,
Chaplain Chavis

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