Reference

The Three Arenas of Profession

If Christ's name is on your work, where does it show? A one-page map, drawn from Chapter 2.

Your vocation is your profession: you are always declaring something about God in your work. That declaration happens in three arenas. Use this as a quick checklist for any job, any week.

1. Practices — how you work

Honest reports, reviews, timecards, expense accounts.
Fairness; no favoritism; benefit of the doubt.
Humility: give credit away ("point to the passer").
Mercy: second chances, coaching the struggling.

2. Products — what you make

Stamp Christ's name on what you ship.
Quality, safety, and care for the end user.
Reexamine when circumstances change.
Ask: can I take Jesus with me on this job?

3. Sacrifice — what you give up

You serve the Lord, not self, boss, or bonus.
Provide for family (1 Tim. 5:8).
Refuse unethical gain, even at a cost.
Eternal perspective: an inheritance awaits.

Two searching questions

The name test. Can I stamp Christ's name on this - this deal, this report, this decision?

The George Bailey test. If my work vanished, whose life would be worse? That is who I am loving by working well.

The anchor verse Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus… Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. (Colossians 3:17, 23)

Companion to Lesson 2. Reused in the chapters on Integrity and Witness. Primary source: Bryan Chapell, Grace at Work, ch. 2.