Putting On Christ: Faithful Service in the Workplace

Paul’s words in Colossians 3 give a wake-up call for Christians trying to live faithfully in a world that does not always share their faith. The question of being salt and light at work presses beyond Sunday morning: does the culture of the workplace win out, or does Christian identity shape every part of life? Christ calls his people to remember who they are, because they have died with him and been raised with him. Their lives are hidden with Christ in God, secure even when everything around them looks confused, divided, and out of control.

Paul’s command to seek the things above does not mean escaping real life. Christ gives a heavenly view of reality that changes how Christians see problems, coworkers, conflict, and responsibility. The workplace crisis at OU made that truth very real: angry talk, bad attitudes, division, distrust, and enough negativism that a person could feel it walking into the building. The local culture offered its own rules for getting ahead, protecting status, and winning conflict, but Christ remained the real authority over the deepest problems.

Paul’s command to put to death earthly behavior names both private sin and relational destruction. Covetousness becomes idolatry when wealth, status, success, or control takes the place of Jesus as the power directing life. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, and lying tear down the trust required for any healthy community. The image of dirty clothes and clean clothes makes the work plain: Christians intentionally take off what does not belong to Christ and put on what reflects him.

Paul also tears down the categories used to decide who matters. Christ is all and in all, so race, status, politics, age, personality, and every other human sorting system cannot determine another person’s worth. Compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and love become the clean clothes required in a church, a household, or a workplace. Love becomes the glue that binds the community together in peace.

Thanksgiving sustains this way of life. The word of Christ, worship, prayer, study, and service keep Christians from being conformed to the world and renew their minds. Christ’s presence in conference rooms, hallways, difficult meetings, and strained relationships makes authentic Christian life possible. The journey includes days when the dirty clothes return, but Christ reigns with full authority now and until the last day.

##

---

Key Takeaways

• 1. Christ is present in every workplace [33:08] Christ does not remain confined to church activities or private devotion. His lordship reaches into meetings, decisions, conflicts, and the ordinary pressures of a workday. A Christian’s first starting point is not the culture’s rules, but the reality that Jesus is already present and in charge. [33:08]
• 2. Take off the dirty clothes [35:49] Paul’s image requires intentional action against patterns that dishonor Christ. Anger, greed, slander, and deceit can look normal in competitive environments, but they slowly destroy trust and deform the soul. The Spirit renews believers as they name these habits honestly and refuse to keep wearing them. [35:49]
• 3. See people as fully human [43:01] Categories and episodic bad behavior can become excuses for dismissing people. Christ calls Christians to see difficult people as image-bearers with weaknesses, gifts, and a dignity that cannot be erased by conflict. Forgiveness does not deny harm, but it refuses to reduce a whole person to the harm done. [43:01]
• 4. Let love hold the community together [39:58] Love is not soft avoidance of difficult truth. Love makes room for honest correction while still respecting the whole person enough that truth can be heard. The peace of Christ grows where compassion, humility, patience, and forgiveness become stronger than the desire to win. [39:58]
• 5. Prayer prepares the heart for conflict [42:41] Prayer before hard conversations is a way of asking Jesus to manage thoughts, emotions, and the mouth. It helps Christians take off dirty clothes before stepping into a room where somebody may be looking to pick a fight. Christ can do what careful planning and human diplomacy cannot do.
  
  ## [42:41]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [23:30] - Labor Day and Christian Work
• [24:42] - Reading Colossians 3:1-17
• [27:14] - A Career in Pharmacy and Education
• [28:56] - Conflict at the College of Pharmacy
• [31:14] - Colossians as a Lifeline
• [32:17] - Remember Who You Are in Christ
• [34:06] - Put to Death Earthly Behaviors
• [36:59] - Stop Sorting People into Categories
• [38:21] - Put On the Clean Clothes
• [39:58] - Thanksgiving, Worship, and the Word
• [41:38] - A Playbook for Faithful Work
• [44:29] - The Slow Work of Christ
• [45:20] - Remember and Do Everything for Jesus

Bible Reading

Colossians 3:1–17
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” [24:42]

Romans 12:2
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” [36:25]

Matthew 5:13–16
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” [24:08]

Observation questions

1. In Colossians 3:1–4, what does Paul say has already happened to believers, and where does he say their lives are now hidden? [32:36]
2. What behaviors does Paul tell Christians to put away in Colossians 3:5–9, and which of those behaviors most directly destroy trust between people? [35:14]
3. What categories does Paul name in Colossians 3:11, and what present-day categories can become ways of deciding who matters? [36:59]
4. What “clean clothes” does Paul tell God’s chosen and beloved people to put on, and what does he say love does for the whole community? [38:21]

Interpretation questions

1. Paul says believers should “seek the things that are above” while still living in ordinary places and facing ordinary pressures. How does a heavenly view of reality change the way a Christian understands conflict, responsibility, and success at work? [33:08]
2. Paul calls covetousness idolatry. Why can the desire for money, recognition, status, control, or getting one’s own way become something that rules a person’s life in place of Jesus? [34:46]
3. Paul commands believers not only to avoid harmful speech but also to forgive as the Lord has forgiven them. How can forgiveness take wrongdoing seriously without reducing a person to their worst moment? [39:21]
4. Colossians 3:16 connects the word of Christ, worship, wisdom, and thanksgiving. Why might these practices be necessary for Christians who want to resist being shaped by a workplace or culture that does not share their faith? [40:13]

Application questions

1. Think about your workplace, school, home, neighborhood, or another regular setting. What unwritten rules seem to shape people there—such as protecting status, winning arguments, speaking harshly, or looking out only for oneself? Where do you feel most tempted to go along with those rules? [24:08]
2. Christ is present in conference rooms, hallways, difficult conversations, and strained relationships. What would change in one situation you are facing if you entered it remembering that Jesus is already there and is in charge? [43:31]
3. Which “dirty clothes” are most likely to show up when you are stressed or challenged: anger, resentment, harsh words, gossip, lying, greed, or something else? What could it look like this week to name that pattern honestly before God and put it off? [35:37]
4. Is there someone you have begun to define mainly by a category, a disagreement, or a piece of bad behavior? What might it mean to see that person as fully human, made in God’s image, with both weaknesses and gifts? [43:01]
5. When you need to address a difficult behavior, how could you speak honestly while still showing compassion, humility, and respect for the whole person? Is there a conversation for which you need to prepare your words carefully? [43:44]
6. Prayer can prepare thoughts, emotions, and words before a hard meeting or conversation. What upcoming situation could you bring to Jesus in prayer ahead of time, asking him to help you put on your “clean clothes”? [42:29]
7. Thanksgiving helps believers remember who they are in Christ. What regular practice of worship, Scripture, prayer, or gratitude could help you carry Christ’s peace into the rest of your week? [40:31]