If you believe in workplace calling, could your workplace calling be your ministry?
In the text above, it appears that workplace calling is referred to as ministry—the English translation of the Greek word diakonia. The pedestrian view of ministry is that it refers to spiritual callings, however, Strong’s Dictionary provides the following definition for diakonia: “to execute the commands of others.” In this definition, there is no restriction of the idea of ministry to “spiritual” callings. This suggests that ministry should perhaps be understood more broadly. Indeed, Scripture uses the term in a broader sense. For example, consider the activities of teaching Scripture and food distribution. For most, teaching Scripture is viewed as ministry but food distribution is not. In Acts 6, however, both teaching Scripture and food distribution are called ministry. Using Strong's definition of diakonia, one can see that both teaching Scripture and food distribution are ways to "execute the commands of Christ" and therefore both are ministry activities.
In Colossians 4:17, diakonia is used in reference to an obscure person named Archippus. According to Strong’s Dictionary, his name means “master of the horse.” Names are significant and are often a clue to a person’s calling. If this is true of Archippus, then his ministry could have been related to stewarding horses. Given this assumption, what can we learn about workplace calling or ministry from the admonition given to Archippus?
First, Archippus was charged to “take heed” to the ministry he was given. In other words, to discern the will of God for his life, which suggests that his ministry may not have been readily obvious to him. Therefore, he had to be willing to seek the Lord and wise counsel to find and fulfill his divinely ordained workplace ministry.
Second, he needed to understand who defined his ministry. His ministry was not self-defined. He did not have the right to do whatever he chose to do; rather, he had to discern the specific work assignment given to him by the Lord.
Third, he must fulfill his ministry. The meaning of the word fulfill is to “fill to overflowing.” This suggests commitment and passion to complete the assignment given to him by the Lord.
These three things included in the admonition to Archippus offer guidance as to how each of us individually should seek to find and fulfill our workplace callings and how to see our work assignments as our ministry and therefore a way we follow the commands of Christ.
Paul admonished the Colossians to share his epistle to them with the church at Laodicea and vice versa. It appears therefore that Paul viewed his letters as truth that applied to all believers in Christ. Consequently, the charge to Christians to find and fulfill their workplace callings as ministry assignments is a foundational universal principle of Christianity.
Here is your business tip. Management must recognize the Scriptural validity of individual workplace callings as ministry. Furthermore, workplace callings are not humanly defined; they are defined by God. Therefore, building organizations aligned with God requires management to find the right people—people God has called and assigned to the organization. One of the keys to finding the right people is finding those who have discerned their workplace callings and view their work as ministry—a way to execute the commands of Christ. Work produced by people so aligned with God will be performed with passion and excellence since they know their work reflects their relationship with the Lord. Organizations built with such people will enjoy a worldclass reputation and deliver outstanding value to those they serve.
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