Work Excellence: A Biblical Perspective Of Work

By Charles M. Garriott

At times, we all struggle with our jobs. Developing a positive perspective of your career and the work place can be a discouraging challenge. Work Excellence is a fresh and timely antidote for those... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0976200406
• ISBN13: 9780976200406
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: Riott Pub Llc
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.5" x 5.5"
• Age Range: 13 years and up

Customer Reviews

Rethinking Work

This book is short, easy to read, and conversational in style, but not shallow. There was probably nothing in it that I didn't already know at some level, and yet I found myself constantly rethinking my attitude toward work throughout the book. It is peppered with biblical stories, and principles relating to work in the life of a Christian are drawn from the stories. Each chapter ends with a few questions to help the reader reflect on how to apply those principles to his own life and work. The chapter titled Conflict, for example, draws its principles from the story of the fall. Since the fall, our work experiences are marred by the results of God's wrath against sin. Our work is not going to be easy. There will be an element of struggle and futility in it, and we will experience conflict and tension. This is something that we need to accept about our life and work in a fallen world. Yet we are not left without hope. The struggle within our life and work are temporal things, and they point us to the hope of the gospel.The gospel has no meaning without the recognition of the pain from sin that ignites the anger of God. Our hope is in Christ alone, and not in the absence of pain. We can find comfort in Christ from the suffering we experience in our work, and reconcilitation and forgiveness in the conflicts that arise there can be found in him, too. Keeping these two basic biblical principles in mind--the fall mars our work experiences, yet there is hope in Christ--Garriott gives us a few questions to answer for ourselves at the end of the chapter, including, "What are the 'thistles' that exist within your work?" and "Are there relationships at your place of employment that need to be addressed with grace and forgiveness?" Finally, we are given a short prayer to pray regarding the effects of the fall on our life and work. Each of the eleven short chapters in the book follows this same basic format: an examination of the principles, questions to help us think about how we might apply them to our own situations, and a prayer to pray. It's simplicity and subject matter make it a valuable book for almost any believer. Who isn't just a little dissatisfied with their life and work? Who doesn't need a reminder of our obligation to use the talents we have been given in a way that brings God glory? The format would also make it suitable for use in a discussion group setting, using the questions for reflection as starting points for group discussion.

Does what it says on the tin

Every now and then a book comes along that does exactly what it says on the tin. Work Excellence is one of those boooks. Most Christians pay too little attention to what goes on in the workplace. Garriott redresses that balance with a little book all about work. It addresses our need to abolish the work/secular divide, to work with all our might to glorify God and to look for opportunity to live and share the gospel. The book is a great introduction to what the bible has to say about work. More is clearly needed on this subject and I hope we will see many more books written that will flesh out some of the fantastic material in this book with practical examples, and application.

The only thing secular about work is the way we view and treat it

When I came to faith in Christ, it really turned my life upside down and inside out. While reading my Bible, I began to measure myself by its standards and saw that I had not offered body as a living sacrifice to God, but rather had prostituted myself to sin. This prostitution came in many forms, and I was convicted that certain things had become idols to me. These idols included anger, sex, control and several other things. There was even a time when I wondered if the time spent at the office outweighed the time spent at church. Eventually, I came to realize that our worship must begin in our lives outside the walls of a corporate, visible church and culminate within a body of believers. I based a portion of this on the accounts in the Bible of how various Biblical characters would spend a majority of their time doing things that I wouldn't recognize as worship. That helped me in my weakness, but even then I often can be seen during lunch at the top of the parking garage across the street reading my Bible. I refer to this as my lunch date with God and look forward to it every day. After reading "Work Excellence: A Biblical Perspective of Work" by Charles M. Garriott, I realize that while my lunch dates are perfectly acceptable and even pleasing to God, they should not be subconsciously used to counter-balance my work time. If sin is defined as any deviation from the revealed will of God, worship must be defined as any adherence to this same revealed will. This simple statement looks fine when I say or write it, but putting it into practice isn't the easiest thing to do. In this book, I was reminded of my God-given duty to honor Christ by honoring my employer. It is through my life that I will glorify God, and if much of my life will be spent working for others, I have a duty to honor God in the way that I approach my work, the way I rest and the way I bring the first fruits of my labor before Him. Weighing in at a mere 112 pages, this book's eleven chapters could almost be used in a devotional manner over two workweeks, but I believe it is best read in a few sittings to capture the entire message that Garriott wishes to convey. I was pleased with a generous use of scripture, as this message has been a real encouragement to me. Had the Bible not been used as much, or worse, been used out of context, I could not take the book seriously. I mean, are we really supposed to serve our employer as if we were serving God, even if we find the work to be distasteful and our boss sinful? According to the book of Daniel, we are. Garriott also shows the nature of work and rest as a form of worship and not as a curse in the story of God's creation. Other examples of worshiping God through our work are shown in several accountings from throughout the Bible. We are to give our best effort to our employer, as shown in the life of Joseph, Abel and many other references. Many Christians who are dissatisfied with their occupations would do well to read this boo

Food For Thought

From the time we are mere children we face the question of "what do you want to be when you grow up?" The desire and ability to work are deeply ingrained within us, but perhaps they are subjects we do not often pause to consider in a Scriptural perspective. Work Excellence is a light treatment of the subject(112 pages), but one that is valuable. It is conversational in tone and each chapter concludes with questions for reflection and a brief prayer. The book is written by Chuck Garriott, who for over twenty years was pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Oklahoma City and whose ministry has taken him around the world. He examines this essential aspect of our lives - one that is discussed in detail throughout the Scripture, and provides a biblical perspective on work excellence. There were many times in reading this book that I was forced to pause and to consider how I work. "Every day you need the Savior to work in your life in such a manner that you will outwardly and inwardly please your boss. The ability to follow the Scriptures with any degree of discipline will come from depending on Christ. We have no ability on our own to obey an earthly master with respect, fear and sincerity of heart, even though we may appear to outwardly. If on my own I can please God in this area, then of what value is Christ?" (page 27). Do I depend on Christ to help me please my boss (which in my case are clients), or do I attempt to do this on my own? Do I rely on Christ in the workplace as much as in church settings, or have I made a false deliniation between work and spiritual matters? The author is careful to show that work is not a result of the fall, for man was created to care for the earth. One of man's chief purposes, according to God's design, was to work. Yet when man fell, work was made imperfect, just like everything else in all of Creation. "When you come home from work tired, worn out and ready to quit, or when you find that weeks have taken over your garden, you are being reminded of God's judgment and wrath. For those who do not believe, it is an unheeded warning of what is to come" (page 47). And of course, for those who do believe, it gives us more reason to trust in the promise that having been redeemed, we will one day return to a state where work is enjoyable and holy. "The pain and discomfort are temporal. This is the great message of the gospel. If there is no stabbing pain in childbirth or no thistle injury, then there is no gospel. The gospel has no meaning without recognition of the pain from sin that ignites the anger of God. Our hope is in Christ alone, not in the absence of pain" (page 51). What a wonderful promise this is, and what hope and encouragement this can bring at the end of a difficult day. Another area of the book that gave me pause for thought was in the section where Garriott warns about work becoming idolatry. "Christ calls us to repent from lives so committed to work and all that it produces, that we have tur

Helpful Little Book

I have to be honest - I know Chuck Garriott. I cannot divorce this fact from reading his book, Work Excellence. He is one of the most godly men I know, and everyone can benefit from picking up and reading his little book on work. A concise 114 pages, it shouldn't intimidate anyone. With reflection questions at the end of each chapter, it should provide plenty of discussion for a small group. With Scripture all the way through, it should bolster a knowledge of Biblical thought and application. And with paragraphs like this you'll find Garriott delightfully quoteable: "There is no excellence in work if it does not lead to worship. It is a privilege to engage in an activity where you are productive. Your weekat work and your worship are tied together. To have something to offer the Lord as a result of your labor is an even greater honor. If worship is to please Him it must be done in concert with His character and will. This pleasing worship is possible only through Christ. He alone will enable you to worship in spirit and truth." I'd recommend this for college graduates (as a campus minister, I'm giving it to my seniors), for chuch small groups of all kinds, and for your own personal reading.