“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1-4)

After The Screwtape Letters and The Chronicles of Narnia were published, C.S. Lewis began to experience a huge financial windfall. Because of his apprenticeship to Jesus, Lewis was resolute about giving more than two-thirds of his book royalties away to orphans, widows, and the poor. 

But he went to great lengths to ensure his giving was done in secret. He set up a charitable trust called the Agape Fund, which he used fo...

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. (Philippians 1:21-22)

Today, we’re kicking off a new series exploring wisdom for our work from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, looking at one insight from each of the book’s four chapters.

We begin in chapter 1 with Paul’s words that—so long as he’s alive—he will give himself to “fruitful labor” for the kingdom.

Those words are countercultural today as retirement remains a goal for the vast majority of Americans. And thanks to the growing “Financial Independence, Retire Early” FIRE movement, Gen Z plans to retire earlier than any previous generation at the ripe young age of 54.

How do these people plan to spend the second half of life? The social media bio of a leader of the FIRE movement is telling to that end: “Mr. Money Mustache was a thirtysomething retiree who now writes about how we can all lead a frugal yet Badass life of leisure.”

This idea of tradi...

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. (Philippians 2:14-15)

Want to “shine among” the non-Christians you work with? Paul tells you how: “Do everything without grumbling or arguing.” Apparently, working without grumbling and complaining was as countercultural in Paul’s day as it is in ours.

C.S. Lewis once said that, “Hell begins with a grumbling mood.” The inverse is also true. People can get a whiff of heaven through the joyful mood of its citizens. Dr. Randy Alcorn goes so far as to say that, “Happiness in Christ is one of our most powerful evangelistic tools.”

The question, of course, is how can we be joyful and work without grumbling when your co-worker replies all to yet another email or your boss makes an urgent request at 4:45 on a Friday? By focusing on what Christ has done for us.

Just a few verses before...

 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:6-8)

I’ve heard Philippians 4:6-7 and Philippians 4:8 preached separately many times. But I’ve never heard these passages preached together. That’s a mistake because there’s a clear connection between anxiety and the things we choose to think about.

That truth has become more apparent as we’ve seen smartphones, social media, and 24 hour news services combine to create a culture of non-stop doomscrolling this past decade.

As Jonathan Haidt says in The Anxious Generation, “the great irony of social media,” is that ...

Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. (Philippians 3:17)

Today’s passage is exemplary of a command we see all throughout Paul’s letters, perhaps most famously in 1 Corinthians 11:1 where the apostle said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

Paul understood that becoming more like Christ requires us seeing flesh-and-bone models of others following Christ. And so Paul encouraged his readers to look to him as an animated, three-dimensional case study of how to glorify God in a cultural context similar to their own.

Paul’s words point to an important principle: If you want to know what it looks like practically to glorify God, look first to Christ and second to Christ’s followers.

Let me suggest you respond to that principle in two practical ways.

First, send a message thanking someone whose example you’ve followed as they’ve followed Christ. Who are the men and wo...

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-48)

At the height of his fame, Fred Rogers was expected for dinner at the home of a TV executive. On the limo ride there, he struck up a conversation with his driver, Billy, and surprised everyone by inviting Billy to dinner. After the meal, Fred accepted an invitation to visit Billy’s place, where Fred played piano as neighbors gathered to listen.

That’s a beautiful example of Jesus’s command in today’s passag...

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness. No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:19-24)

Today’s passage shows us three important truths as we follow the way of The Way at work.

#1: Chasing temporary treasure isn’t just wrong—it’s foolish.

As we saw last week, “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” is a command, not a suggestion....

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” (Matthew 5:38-42)

On March 12, 1911, Booker T. Washington—then the most famous Black man in America—was standing in a hotel lobby when a white woman mistook him for a servant. She asked Washington for a glass of water. And instead of correcting her, he quietly obliged, returned with the water, and asked, “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

That’s a beautiful example of the type of “second mile service” Jesus is calling us to show in today’s passage.

In Jesus’s day, Roman law stated that a soldier could ask any Jew to carry his gear up to one mile—which th...

“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:33-37)

In Psalm 15, David says that the “righteous” person “keeps an oath even when it hurts.” That’s essentially what Jesus is teaching in today’s passage.

I love how the NKJV renders Matthew 5:37: “let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’” Jesus did not say, “let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ so long as it still works with your schedule.” He said, “let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’”—period. Full stop.

And Jesus isn’t asking us to do anything God himself hasn’t already done. In Genesis 3:15, God prom...

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” (Matthew 5:27-32)

In 2023, Newsweek reported that “around 85 percent of affairs begin in the workplace, and a whopping one in five employees confessed to being unfaithful with a colleague.” So yeah—this passage is in...