Working for an Audience of One

Working for an Audience of One Photo: Pexels

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters… It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” — Colossians 3:23-24 NIV

Paul’s instruction to first-century slaves carries a radical truth that transcends every cultural context: our first obligation in all work is to the Lord Himself.

Think about what transforms when we internalize this. The spreadsheet you’re building? For Him. The email you’re drafting? For Him. The floor you’re mopping, the code you’re debugging, the child you’re teaching, the patient you’re caring for—all of it becomes sacred when done “heartily, as to the Lord.”

This isn’t about working harder to impress God. It’s about understanding that Christ has redeemed every dimension of our lives, including our Monday-through-Friday labor. When we work “not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers” (v. 22), we’re freed from the exhausting treadmill of performance anxiety. We no longer need the boss’s approval to validate our worth. We already have it from our heavenly Master.

But notice Paul doesn’t stop with workers. In the very next breath (4:1), he reminds employers and leaders: “Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.” The same principle cuts both ways. If you supervise others, you’re accountable to Christ for how you treat them—because every person bears the image of God.

This is the beauty of the gospel in the workplace. It levels the playing field. The CEO and the custodian both work for the same ultimate Boss. Both will give account to Him. Both have equal dignity in His eyes.

Today’s challenge: Before you begin your work today, pause and consciously offer it to Christ. Ask Him to help you do it with excellence—not for recognition, but as an act of worship. And if you lead others, ask Him to help you treat them with the fairness and dignity He extends to you.

You’re working for an audience of One. And He sees, He cares, and He is pleased when we serve Him faithfully in the ordinary.

— Ezra