The New Man at Work
When a new person shows up at work, what happens? If it's the "hatchet man" that comes in to shake things up, look out. Things get shaken up all right: people get fired, everyone's nervous. My sons got a hatchet man in his office now. I've been there myself.
On the other hand, maybe it's just a new employee who's now part of the team. It changes the usual routine for a bit. Then what? Mostly everything settles back to what it was.
When St Paul talks about the 'new' man, he's talking about us, not someone else. He's talking about us changing ourselves from old to new. He wants us to cast off that old man - which is us - and take on or become the new man - which is us. It can seem a bit mysterious, but let's take a stab at what it might mean by looking at the 'new man' at work.
That new man isn't like that new employee who sort of melts into the woodwork after a few days. He's more like the hatchet man; the new man shakes things up. You're not going back to the old routine once you decide to become that new man.
We're talking about that old life driven by feeling, self-indulgence, love of this world - say goodbye to it. It's gotta go. The new man won't stand for it.
The old man typically let emotions rule the day at work. In fact, sometimes he went through a whole cycle of emotion in a single day. It starts right from the moment we wake up. Some days just "feel" good, some don't. We carry our starting feeling to the job. We begin work on the right foot or the "wrong" foot.
That's all 'old man' stuff. That and getting bogged down in power struggles, petty jealousies, letting annoying people get under your skin, listening to gossip and idle chatter, goofing off, going out for a drink with the boys instead of heading home on time - well, you get the picture.
But the "new man" - the one who lives by faith and trust - lives less and less by feeling, less and less by the ways of the world.
Oh, the feelings come and go. But they're like the weather. Sun, rain, wind, snow - it happens no matter what we prefer. So be it. We don't call in sick because it's raining, right? The new man knows that the more those feelings stop running our lives, the more 'new man' we become.
The new man doesn't let people get under his skin, stays away from gossip, works hard and goes home to his family - every day.
Not that there's no struggle involved. In fact it's an everyday sort of struggle that never ends. But, hey, that's just Jesus testing us, honing us, helping us become stronger. That's God's way of drawing us closer to Him.
But guess what? The new man loves the struggle. He wakes up to fight another day - every day. The new man remembers that he became a "soldier in Christ's army" at confirmation. He knows that the way of the Christian soldier is the way of the cross. And he' not afraid of that or anything else.
Isn't this new man the sort of man we all want to be - at work and everywhere else?
So how about we all say it together: "Goodbye old man."
On the other hand, maybe it's just a new employee who's now part of the team. It changes the usual routine for a bit. Then what? Mostly everything settles back to what it was.
When St Paul talks about the 'new' man, he's talking about us, not someone else. He's talking about us changing ourselves from old to new. He wants us to cast off that old man - which is us - and take on or become the new man - which is us. It can seem a bit mysterious, but let's take a stab at what it might mean by looking at the 'new man' at work.
That new man isn't like that new employee who sort of melts into the woodwork after a few days. He's more like the hatchet man; the new man shakes things up. You're not going back to the old routine once you decide to become that new man.
We're talking about that old life driven by feeling, self-indulgence, love of this world - say goodbye to it. It's gotta go. The new man won't stand for it.
The old man typically let emotions rule the day at work. In fact, sometimes he went through a whole cycle of emotion in a single day. It starts right from the moment we wake up. Some days just "feel" good, some don't. We carry our starting feeling to the job. We begin work on the right foot or the "wrong" foot.
That's all 'old man' stuff. That and getting bogged down in power struggles, petty jealousies, letting annoying people get under your skin, listening to gossip and idle chatter, goofing off, going out for a drink with the boys instead of heading home on time - well, you get the picture.
But the "new man" - the one who lives by faith and trust - lives less and less by feeling, less and less by the ways of the world.
Oh, the feelings come and go. But they're like the weather. Sun, rain, wind, snow - it happens no matter what we prefer. So be it. We don't call in sick because it's raining, right? The new man knows that the more those feelings stop running our lives, the more 'new man' we become.
The new man doesn't let people get under his skin, stays away from gossip, works hard and goes home to his family - every day.
Not that there's no struggle involved. In fact it's an everyday sort of struggle that never ends. But, hey, that's just Jesus testing us, honing us, helping us become stronger. That's God's way of drawing us closer to Him.
But guess what? The new man loves the struggle. He wakes up to fight another day - every day. The new man remembers that he became a "soldier in Christ's army" at confirmation. He knows that the way of the Christian soldier is the way of the cross. And he' not afraid of that or anything else.
Isn't this new man the sort of man we all want to be - at work and everywhere else?
So how about we all say it together: "Goodbye old man."
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