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How do we glorify God? It is when we see the glory of God, and we reflect that back to him in loving him. In our adoration and awe and worship. And we are to do this in all of our life – not just at church, but in our everyday vocation as well. Piper writes that,

The aim of life is the same, whether in a secular vocation or in a church or mission vocation. Our aim is to joyfully magnify Christ – to make him look great by all we do.

John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, 135.

In our last post we looked at some popular ways in which people suggest that God might be glorified in our vocation (see previous post).

Well today I want to suggest to you that everyone magnifies something in their work. They may not know that they are doing it, they may not have given it much thought. But if you look closely enough and are sensitive to the nuances of how this person works – how they talk when they are at work. the mood they have when their boss is out of hearing. how they handle a smaller-than-CPI pay increase. how they handle losing business to a competitor.

If you look closely at all these things, you will see that everyone magnifies something. And it comes out very naturally in the way they work.

Let me illustrate this for you.

Picture a medium sized office building. And we enter the office building from the rear entrance. And we go in, and here is the mail room. And here is Tim, leaning against the counter. There’s nothing much to do. At every opportunity he has he’s listening to his music and thinking about what he will do on the weekend. When someone calls him, he slowly pushes himself off the counter and shuffles off. The only time that Tim moves quickly is when it’s 5pm when he closes up the mail room, grabs his coat, and rushes out the door. In his work, Tim magnifies something. Tim shows to everyone that what is most valuable to him, what is of immense worth to him is actually his leisure. And that shapes everything he says and does when he is at work.

From the mail room we go upstairs to a corner office on the top floor. And here is Mitchell, at his desk, juggling two calls. He is intense! He is driven! And he will be here late into the night when almost everyone else has gone for the day! He is very good at his job – and he works much harder than his pay demands. He’s been here for two and a half years, but he has shot up like a rocket. All of the partners in this firm know him – and for his own part, he’s been careful to learn their names and greet them in the elevators. And Mitchell knows that if he keeps on impressing, then by the end of the year he might be the youngest partner in the history of the firm. Mitchell also magnifies something in his work. Look carefully and you can see that what is most valuable to Mitchell is his career. And that shapes everything he says and does.

From that corner office we move down to Winnie in accounting. She doesn’t really like her job. She can do it, don’t get me wrong. But she really only took this job because it pays well. This office is actually quite a drive from where she lives. And yet every morning she turns up and crunches the numbers, with half an eye on better job openings on the careers website. Winnie has a long night ahead of her – because she’s also doing her CA, which means more travel, longer nights, more assignments – but it also means more money once she finishes her last subject. Winnie also magnifies something in her work. It doesn’t take long to see that for Winnie money is everything. And that shapes everything she says and does.

From accounting we go up and across to Raymond in IT. And this guy is good at his job. Yes, he’s a little bit prickly, but that’s because he really wants to make sure the system is as good as it can be. And so he gets a bit short sometimes with users who don’t know what they are doing. With people who forget their passwords, or who overload the server, who use unapproved software and muck around with the network cabling. A lot of things tick this guy off, but he is so good at his job, so dedicated, that they put up with him. Quite often he skips lunch and works late because there are problems he has to fix around the place. Raymond also magnifies something in his work. For him, it’s a job well done. That is what’s important to him. And that shapes everything he says and does.

From IT we go down to sales, where Tony is about to dash out of the office. Tony really loves his job. He gets to go out there and meet new people. And today he’s going to meet some prospective clients. Everyone loves Tony: he always remembers your name, he always has a smile and a joke. And what he does is he talks to people about how this firm can add value to their business. And he’s not just blowing smoke – he really believes that he can help them. And that really gives him a buzz. Tony also magnifies something in his work. For Tony, what’s most important is people. He loves to help them, and do good for them. That’s what’s most important to him. And it shapes everything that Tony says and does.

And so you can see that if you look carefully enough, everyone magnifies something in their work.

The significance of this? We’ll see in our next post… :)