Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. -Colossians 3:23–24
Last October, while on my research sabbatical, conducting archival research in England, I encountered two inspiring examples of Christian faithfulness—one from the past and one from the present—both of which profoundly ministered to and nourished my soul. In a letter dated August 16, 1682, Edward Jennings, the minister of the Church of England congregation in the village of Little Rollright, Oxfordshire, delineated to the Bishop of Oxford how he was faithfully preaching to and catechizing his congregation in accordance with the Word of God. Jennings lamented how his congregation had spurned his instruction from the Scriptures as “Phanaticall” and “Puritanicall,” disparaging him with pejoratives such as “shuttle brained, giddy brained fellow” and “England’s nothing.” He asserted that in spite of the congregation’s opposition to biblical instruction he would remain steadfast and continue to faithfully declare the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). In defense of his faithful ministry, he wrote, “I have faithfully discharged my duty. I would not have my Preferment in this world, but in that which is to come.”[1] Jennings expressed his unflappable resolve to remain faithful to the Lord in preaching the unadulterated gospel, no matter what criticisms and epithets were hurled at him. His rhetoric is strikingly similar to the pilgrim mindset of the saints described in Hebrews 11:16 who “desire[d] a better country, that is, a heavenly one.”
On a cool, autumn Sunday morning in the midst of the picturesque Yorkshire Dales and thousands of sheep, I attended an evangelical church, one of the very few evangelical congregations in the county. In the Lord’s kind providence after the service, I spent the afternoon with the pastor and his family. I was encouraged by this brother’s faithfulness to spend and be spent for the approximately forty souls the Lord has entrusted to him. He shared with me the challenges of being a Christian in northern England, an area which was once populated with evangelical churches as a result of God’s working in the Yorkshire revivals in the 1740s through the preaching of William Grimshaw (1708–1763) but is now a region of spiritual darkness with the dearth of gospel-preaching churches. Yet he and this small congregation are faithfully and joyfully living out their lives in obedience and conformity to God’s Word even though the culture around them is antagonist, even hostile toward the gospel.
These two examples of Christian faithfulness are compelling reminders and healthy models for us in our daily pursuit of godliness. The Lord Jesus Christ has called each of his disciples to “deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt 16:24). Likewise, he has called us to Christian faithfulness despite the obstacles and challenges in our situations. He has called us to Christian faithfulness in our vocations and ministries. He has called us to Christian faithfulness in affliction and adversity as well as in peace and prosperity. Each of us has a calling to faithfully and diligently plod in our sacred space in Jesus’ name and for the glory of God. No matter how menial or mundane a task we may think it is, “all life becomes holiness unto the Lord, and every place and thing, as consecrated as the tabernacle and its golden candlestick.”[2]
The Apostle Paul in Colossians 3:23–24 exhorted the Christians in Colosse regarding Christian faithfulness. The quality of the Christian’s labor is to be ἐκ ψυχῆς, literally, “from [the] soul.” Christians should exert wholeheartedness, earnestness, and diligence in “whatever you do.” There is no space for sloth, half-heartedness, mediocrity, or carelessness in the life of a follower of Christ. The text gives the basis and motivation for “working heartily”: Christians labor “for the Lord” and “serve the Lord Christ.” Since we have been raised with Christ (Col 3:1), nothing less than our most ardent, exuberant, and industrious effort is acceptable to him. Being steadfast and faithful even in the most arduous tasks and most intense affliction is the duty and joy of the Christian. Our motivation is Jesus Christ who is “the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross (Heb 12:2).
In whatever season and station of life the Lord has sovereignly appointed for us, may we endure through the power of the Holy Spirit, faithfully stewarding the gifts, opportunities, and blessings he has dispensed to us. May the Lord empower us to remain faithful in our daily service to him and cause us to persevere with the strength that he supplies, petitioning him to “make us diligent & happy in the workes of our vocation.”[3]
Brian Hanson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History and Theology
Prayer Requests:
- Pray that we would be faithful to the Lord in our spaces and spheres in which God has placed us.
- Pray that we would work heartily and joyfully for the Lord.
- Pray that our faculty, staff, and student body would be faithful and joyful in the activities, ministries, and responsibilities which the Lord has entrusted to them.