Career Principles from the Life of Joseph.
Phil Maxson
Sunday, May 13, 2007
One of the great things about being a Sunday School teacher at church and a manager at work is that I get
to talk to many people about how they live their Christian life. Let’s be honest: it’s not easy being a
Christian in today’s culture. We are
living in a society at a time when people think of this as a “Christian
country” but the basic values of Christianity are not valued in the schools and
work places around the
I’ve been living in
Joseph held four positions during
his life. The first three were jobs that
seemed like failures.
·
Shepherd tending his father’s animals
·
Slave in the house of Potiphar
·
Prisoner and then caretaker of the prison
·
Administrator over all of
Genesis 37: 5-8 (NIV)
1 Jacob
lived in the land where his father had stayed, the
2 This
is the account of Jacob.
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the
sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah,
his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented [a] robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him
all the more. 6 He said to them, "Listen to this dream I
had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my
sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed
down to it."
8 His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will
you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his
dream and what he had said.
Joseph’s brothers then:
·
Plotted to kill him
·
Threw him into a cistern
·
Sold him to passing slave traders, who sold him
into Egypt.
It surely would appear that God’s blessing had left Joseph. All outward appearances pointed to the fact that God had forgotten about him. Nothing could be further from the truth. In every circumstance in Joseph’s life, God was either training him, positioning him for the future, or reaping a great reward from his life.
1. God is in
complete control of your career
n
Take the good
with the bad. They are both useful to
God
n
There are many
factors at work in your life. Most you
will never see or understand
n
The Holy Spirit
guides your work decisions even in mundane circumstances
Many of you here today have had severe setbacks on
your job or in your schooling. Perhaps
you’re still in the midst of a job cutback or a demotion. Maybe you had to quit school to earn
money. Perhaps you’ve been fired from a
job. You may be in the midst of the one
of the worst periods of doubt in your life.
If so, you are facing a very difficult trial. No one should tell you otherwise. While sometimes it is impossible to know why
God would allow something like that to happen in your life, the fact is that
God will waste nothing! He will use
every circumstance in your life to make you better suited to his purposes for
your life.
When you
read the popular literature about careers, they will tell you things like:
·
Have a 5 year career plan and a 1 year career plan
·
Have a personal mission statement
·
Attend training that aligns with your career goals.
While none of these things is bad, they ignore the greatest career
principles taught in the bible. God is
the one that has the final say on anything in our lives! He does not have to obey our Five Year career
plans or mission statements! He has much greater blessings in store for us and
a much higher calling in mind! Every day
I see people who are on their way to a great career, but have literally forgotten
it was God who placed a dream in their heart years ago, and it is he who will
guide their ultimate career.
Genesis 39: 1-6 (NIV)
Joseph and Potiphar's
Wife
1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh's officials,
the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites
who had taken him there.
2 The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and
he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw
that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he
did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he
entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put
him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the
household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on
everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the
field. 6 So he left in Joseph's care everything he had; with Joseph
in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
2.
Become a person of
integrity
n
Live by a code
that is unusual.
n
Not everyone
will applaud you
n
Organizations
need people who are willing to stand up for what is right
In 2002, a
whole group of companies, 22 or so depending on how you count them, went
through a series of severe scandals. Who
doesn’t know the name of companies like Enron, Tyco, and Worldcom? These are companies that were severely
damaged by the unscrupulous activities of their managers. These companies:
·
Used
unfair and illegal accounting practices to make their earnings appear better
than they were.
·
Hired
accountants and auditors who went along and devised their illegal and unethical
schemes.
·
Stole
millions from the very people they were in business to help – their
shareholders!
This was an epidemic. It wasn’t
just a few companies.
If you asked these companies today, what kind of people they wish they
had hired, they would say that would like to hire someone like Joseph who was
trustworthy and righteous in every dealing from the small to the large.
You may say, I’m just a worker, no one will really notice what I
do. I’m certain if that was Joseph’s
attitude, he could have stayed out of prison and wouldn’t have been sold into
slavery, but he also would have disqualified himself from being the caretaker
of Egypt and the deliverer of Israel.
A career is not built on big decisions.
It is a series of small choices made every day.
3. Use
your gifts to benefit your organization
n
Benefit your
boss, your team and the individuals you work with
n
Your work ethic
speaks before you do
n
Not many people
are interested in a lazy person or a busy body
We all know people who arrive to
work late, try to do the minimum amount, stretch their break-time out as long
as possible and never look to take on any new assignment. Sadly, some of these people are some of the
same people who will try to give you advice on your spiritual life when they
see you in a time of need!
Are you living the kind of life
where your boss and your co-workers can trust you with anything? Do you actively work toward the goals of your
organization and feel you are living out God’s will in your work life?
Ephesians 6:5-8
(NIV)
Slaves and Masters
5Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect
and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6Obey
them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of
Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7Serve wholeheartedly,
as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8because you know that the
Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or
free.
In the shepherd business, Joseph
wanted to see his father succeed. While
in Egypt, Joseph worked to make his master’s house the best-run house in
Egypt! He didn’t turn up his nose at the
evil infidels. Remember that these were
people who hated the Hebrews and were traditional enemies!
Joseph’s career is about to take
another downturn.
·
He is handsome and
catches the eye of Potiphar’s wife
·
She repeatedly sexually
harasses him
·
One day when they were
the only ones in the house, she makes a grab for him and he refuses her.
·
Potiphar’s wife tells Potiphar the she
was a victim of attempted rape.
·
Potiphar’s has Joseph thrown in prison.
Genesis 39: 20-23
20
Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's
prisoners were confined.
But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the LORD was with him;
he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the
eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of
all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done
there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's
care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
It so happens that Pharaoh
throws his Baker and Wine Steward into the same prison with Joseph. They two both have dreams and Joseph
interprets them.
Genesis 40: 7-8 (NIV)
7So he asked Pharaoh's officials who were in
custody with him in his master's house, "Why are your faces so sad
today?"
8 "We both had dreams," they answered,
"but there is no one to interpret them."
Then Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me
your dreams."
Genesis 40: 14-15 (NIV)
14 But when all goes well with you, remember me
and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 15
For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I
have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon."
Genesis 40: 23
23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember
Joseph; he forgot him.
4. Listen
with compassion
n
Don’t be afraid
to bring God into the conversation
n
People can tell
when you genuinely love them and are interested them
n
People will
seek you out if they know you can help them in times of trouble
I tell everyone around me, “It’s all about the
people. It’s always about the
people.” You see, I work in a technology
job. My team is responsible for
collecting and transforming data to implement system changes. We use all kinds of technological tools to
accomplish our goals. We sometimes fool
ourselves into thinking that we are managers of technology change. We’re not.
We are managers and agents for people change. We are here to love and serve people. This is true for any job you might have. It doesn’t matter if you are a farmer, a
school principle, a scientist or a student, the job you do has an impact on the
lives of the people around you. The high
calling we have is to help them improve their relationship with God.
This does not mean you have to be a preacher or carry a bible everywhere you
go! This means you take every
opportunity to express your love for those people around you. Every interaction you have can make them feel
valued, accepted and loved. One of the
reasons our schools and workplaces are such lonely places is that those of us
who are Christians get caught up in the goals of the organization and making
money and making deadlines that we forget to basics humanity of those people
around us. These are the very people
that God came to love and rescue. We are
the ones he’s already recruited to affect the lives of others.
This word is particularly important for managers and
leaders. You team leaders set the tone
and mood for your team. You are in
charge of the morale of your group. Of
course you can’t make people enjoy their jobs and be happy, but you very
strongly influence them. It is up to
you, to make your work teams a safe place for people and to make the work
environment fun. You are called to give
respect
How do you think the Potipher’s
household prospered under Joseph? How
was the prison well run? It was because Jospeh was a good manager and good leader of people. I’m convinced it wasn’t because he whipped
the slaves and got good deals in the marketplace! It was because he was the kind of manager
that got the best out of the people he worked with.
This isn’t the end of the story:
·
Pharaoh has a dream and needs someone to
interpret it.
·
The cup-bearer finally remembers Joseph! (two years later)
·
Joseph tells Pharaoh the interpretation
·
Egypt and the entire region will face 7 years
of plenty and 7 years of famine.
·
Joseph tells Pharaoh to put a care-taker in
charge of storing grain in preparation for famine
·
Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of managing the
entire country!
·
At least nine more years pass by
·
Famine comes
·
Joseph’s brothers come to buy grain.
Genesis 45: 4-5
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you…
You may have been betrayed and be stuck in a hole in
the wilderness, like Joseph was, and God still have a plan for your life to
save lives and impact others for his kingdom.
You might feel like a slave sold into bondage for years, but God still
has a perfect will and purpose for what he’s doing. You may be working away at some task you
don’t understand and can’t see beyond. Take heart, God sees the end from the
beginning and the purpose from the start.
He has never steered anyone wrong yet.
Won’t you take the steps you need to take today to
participate with God in His plan? Are
you willing to look beyond the conventional wisdom of career guidance and throw
away your five-year career plan? Are you
willing to invest your life in God’s kingdom in a way that brings Him long-term
gain?
You can make a choice today, right now in fact, to
begin participating with God on how he is molding your life. Are you going to find yourself at the bottom
of some pit in your career and give up?
Or are you going to allow God to use the shame, hurt and rejection to
change you into a new kind of person, better suited to his plans?
Jeremiah 29: 11-13
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
__________________________________________
Copyright – Phil Maxson
2007