When my dad started his construction company in 1949, shortly after World War II, he could hire qualified workers. There was an abundance of eager workers trained and recently released by the military, but there was relatively little work available.

In addition to the abundance of skilled workers, there were also few government regulations. So, the function of hiring and firing people was relatively simple. It did not require a separate human resources department with highly trained staff supported by labor lawyers to comply with all the regulations, as is normative today.

Many workers were men who displayed strong Christian character. They were raised in families who valued and taught Christian virtues such as honesty, integrity, truth, hard work, faithfulness, dependability, excellence, selflessness, sacrifice, and so forth. Consequently, these workers were dependable and required little supervision. They were self-governed under God—regulated by Scripture. According to Gallup, at that time 90 percent of Americans identified as Christians^[i] and, therefore, they viewed their jobs as a stewardship responsibility not an entitlement.

Today, the percentage of Americans who identify as Christians has dropped to 65 percent.^[ii] Many workers are marginally trained, have questionable character, and view their jobs as an entitlement. Furthermore, employers are burdened with ever-growing government regulation. In response to this, many employers have established Human Resource (HR) departments to oversee the increasing complexities of managing people.

The root of these negative trends in the workforce is wrong thinking about work. The Christian view of work is rooted in the Creation Mandate^[iii] that stipulates God’s purpose for creating mankind, that is, to be his stewards of the physical world expressed by faithfully mastering and managing God’s creation.

To embrace this truth, one must embrace a Christian worldview—a worldview rooted in the truth that Jesus is both Lord and Christ as prophesied in Old Testament Scripture and revealed in New Testament Scripture. Only then can one truly develop a worldview that reflects sound Christian thinking about work.

A Christian worker labors out of a profound sense of thankfulness for the gift of life through Jesus that is expressed in the conviction that his or her calling is to serve the purpose of God as defined in the Creation Mandate. Consequently, a true Christian does not work to get but to give.

The natural state of fallen mankind does not support this motivation. The only way that anyone can work selflessly out of gratitude with a deep sense of a divine mission is through transformation. The thought processes of fallen mankind are bound to selfishness and self-centeredness that are counterproductive to producing an excellent work product. This means that a fallen worker needs to be transformed so that he or she can work selflessly as a grateful steward. This transformation requires divine intervention. 

An example of this transformation can be seen in the life of Saul of Tarsus who was transformed when Jesus intercepted him.^[iv] Before this encounter, Saul was committed to persecute the followers of Jesus. But afterward, Saul was transformed into a servant of Jesus. This transformation changed Saul’s view of Jesus and consequently it changed his worldview. A by-product of this was a change in Saul’s work. He no longer worked against Jesus, but he worked for Jesus. He no longer worked to advance his own career but worked out of a profound sense of divine calling.

A life transformed by Jesus produces a transformed worker—one who is selfless, sacrificial, and thankful, a true problem solver who requires little oversight to produce an excellent work product.

Until a person comes to a profound relationship with Jesus—a relationship marked by a worldview built on the truth that Jesus is both Lord and Christ—the person will never be a consistently outstanding worker. When people are intercepted by Jesus, he provides a basis for and the power to live a transformed life.

One evidence of this transformed reality in a person will be a transformed view of work. Work will no longer be viewed as something people have to do; it will be seen as a stewardship people are created and called to do.

Without this transformation, the base nature of mankind is in bondage to sin; therefore, mankind can only work to serve themselves. For example, the motive for many is simply to eat, as noted by Solomon.

A worker's appetite works for him because his hunger urges him on. (Proverbs 16:26 CSB)

Do you want to hire people to work for you whose only motives are self-centered—just food and survival? Or do you want to hire people who are working out of a deep conviction of the call of God and are committing to serve others with excellence? 

Seventy years ago, my dad was able to hire people who were much closer to the latter than the former because their view of work was much more biblical. Today, the trend is the opposite. Fewer and fewer in the workforce understand God’s plan and purpose for work because they don’t know God.

Sadly, it’s not much better for those who profess to know God because, for many, their worldviews have not been transformed. Consequently, often those who profess to be Christians today are no better than non-Christians in the workplace. Perhaps this is because few of the professing Christians are really Christians.

Today, it is increasingly difficult to find quality workers—workers who are trained to live transformed lives. To develop excellent workers requires Christian discipleship that should have been done in the context of families, schools, and local churches during the formative years. Because this training is not being done well, the burdened falls on employers.

To disciple workers, organizational leaders and managers must look for three basic biblical traits—humility, submission, and teachability.^[v] These traits were illustrated in Saul of Tarsus.

• Humility. Transformation begins with humility. When Jesus intercepted Saul, Saul was blinded and fell to the ground. This was symbolic of the necessity of giving up his old worldview based on human ideas.
• Submission. Though Saul was submitted to human authority, the human authority was not surrendered to divine authority. He needed to be under human authority that was aligned with God. To be a disciple, one must be trained to obey the commands of Christ; this requires godly guidance from those who know the commands of Christ and live accordingly. Saul needed to submit to godly men such as Ananias and Barnabas to train, protect, and guide him.
• Teachability. Though Saul had been taught by the venerable Gamaliel and was highly biblically literate, his knowledge of Scripture was impaired because he did not understand that Jesus was Lord and Christ. He needed to rebuild his knowledge based on the truth that Jesus was the Son of God.

The key to being a great worker is a great worldview—a Christian worldview, the only correct foundation for sound thinking about all of life. To develop a Christian worldview, requires disciplees who display the above traits.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the repository of all wisdom and knowledge. There is no better foundation to live from than Jesus as revealed in Scripture. To embrace Jesus, one must be humble, submitted, and teachable. Then one can be discipled and become a transformed worker who produces an excellent product. Transformed workers bless others and themselves. This is the only way to live well in God's universe.