In a world obsessed with working only to retire, the motive for work becomes problematic. How do you approach work? What drives you? What motivates you? Do you go the extra mile or do you simply do the minimum required?

I submit there are three ways to answer these vexing questions.

1. Working for provision: The lowest level of worker is one who works only for provision. Proverbs 16:26 states that hunger drives people to work—the basic human need to eat is the primary motive for these workers. Hunger is a gift of common grace that motivates people to work and, at least on a rudimentary level, perform tasks well enough to be paid. People who don’t know Christ are, many times, driven to work only to meet their basic needs. Even professing Christians, who don’t understand the call of God to work, can be trapped by this motive.

2. Working by principle: A step above working for provision is working by principle. For these workers, it is important to reflect high ethical standards in their work. They don’t simply work to feed themselves; rather, they are motivated to reflect a standard of truth that is important to them. For example, they may pride themselves on honesty or excellence or customer service or some combination of ethical standards. For these workers, the principles that reflect their ethical standards are more important than the provision.

3. Working by the power of the Holy Spirit: The highest level of worker is the one who works out of the call of God on his or her life. These workers are driven to obey the specific will of God for their lives. In the process, they will adopt the ways of God, such as high ethical standards, as the means of executing the purpose of God for their lives. They deliver world-class value because they work with their whole hearts as unto the Lord (see the above verse). These workers look beyond God’s provision and even God’s principles (the ways of God) to discern God’s will (the specific call of God) for their lives.

To summarize, the lowest level of worker is driven only by a narcissistic desire to meet his or her human needs. The second level of worker takes pride in his or her work and seeks by following biblical principles—either wittingly or unwittingly—to produce work worthy of admiration. And the third level of worker is driven by a profound conviction about God’s call on his or her life and therefore is seeking to do God’s will according to God’s ways—the most powerful motive of all.

Here is your business tip. To build excellent organizations, management must build with level three workers—those committed to working according to the will and ways of God. Level one workers are not trustworthy and therefore take considerable supervision to enable them to produce acceptable work. Level two workers are better than level one workers, but they lack clarity of the Holy Spirit’s calling. Only level three workers are driven by the call of God on their lives and therefore work as unto the Lord. This empowers them to produce outstanding work, which enables organizations to deliver world class product and services. Wise management teams will build a culture seeking to train every employee to become a level three worker.