Practical Tips About Imitating Christ at Work - Part 2
Continuing with our practical tips about imitating Christ at work, we get into more specifics today. Remember we're not trying to literally be Christ Himself. No one - least of all Him - expects that. We simply take our humble self as it is right now and do our best to conform our thoughts, words, and deeds to what we believe Our Savior might have thought, said, and did in similar circumstances.
Speaking for myself, without this effort, it's so easy to just be the self-centered human specimen that I find when I look into the mirror every morning. I know what the day will look like if I allow that blob of flesh, that selfish slob, to go about the day's work on his own. It's not a pretty picture.
Of course, the awareness that it's even possible to imitate Christ only makes sense when we realize that it's possible only with the help of God's grace. So first we pray for that. With the sincere intention to make the effort to imitate Christ, and our confidence that God will provide the grace we need, let's now read the following comments by Rev. George Zimpfer. After that, we'll see how we might apply these to our work.
“Familiarity, then, with the events of our Savior’s life is of immense value to anyone who desires spirituality. But a mere knowledge of the events alone would be sterile. Just as history is the study of motives rather than of movements, so knowledge of the Gospel events must always be less important than a true knowledge of the spirit back of the events. To be more specific, we must strive to live and fight for truth as Jesus lived and fought for it; we must attack ignorance and sham as he attacked it, with no complacence in our own superiority, clearly seeing the difference between the sinner and the sin. We must develop courage and fearlessness in facing the harshness of men and their deep selfishness, preferring to see them as ignorant rather than as malicious. We must seek to acquire some of our Lord’s patience and kindness, His charity and tolerance, His understanding and gentleness. These qualities and many others are what we mean by the ‘spirit’ of Jesus. They do not come to us magically by conformity to some religious Rule or by set forms of prayer and practices, however good these may be in themselves. The spirit of Jesus comes only as our own personality merges, as it were, with that of Jesus, as we reflect in our daily conduct His ideal of living. When this desire to mold our exterior and interior living on the example of Jesus colors our day’s activities, we call the result virtue – or spirituality.” (Rev. George Zimpfer)
In considering how we best apply these suggestions to our work, let's start at the end with virtue and spirituality.
Most of us should have no trouble with the idea that virtue should guide our daily work. For example, we know that being diligent in tackling our daily tasks, honest in all our dealings, charitable to others with whom we come in contact should inform our conduct each day. But what can we say about "spirituality"?
No, we're not talking about exuding some sort of otherworldly, ethereal aura as we go about out business. In fact, as we'll see, it's the opposite. The humility that characterizes a robust spiritual life specifically excludes any sense of being in any way better, above, or even more "holy" than anyone.
On the other hand, we want to be sure that we don't think our spiritual lives have no place at work. To keep it simple, we're made up of body and soul. In the same way that a strong, healthy body helps us perform better at work so to does a strong, healthy soul. And a vibrant spiritual life indicates a healthy soul.
So we ask ourselves: Does our spiritual life mix seamlessly with our work?
Well, if you read these posts on a regular basis, you know that our work can be made to serve our spiritual lives. You also know that work - of its very nature - was designed by God to do so. And that means our daily toil helps to pave the way to heaven. Since most of us spend a major portion, if not the majority of our time working each day, that's a pretty powerful and wonderful concept, isn't it?
With that in mind, next time we'll zero in on Rev. Zimpfer's specific tips about how exactly we can and should imitate Christ at work.
Speaking for myself, without this effort, it's so easy to just be the self-centered human specimen that I find when I look into the mirror every morning. I know what the day will look like if I allow that blob of flesh, that selfish slob, to go about the day's work on his own. It's not a pretty picture.
Of course, the awareness that it's even possible to imitate Christ only makes sense when we realize that it's possible only with the help of God's grace. So first we pray for that. With the sincere intention to make the effort to imitate Christ, and our confidence that God will provide the grace we need, let's now read the following comments by Rev. George Zimpfer. After that, we'll see how we might apply these to our work.
“Familiarity, then, with the events of our Savior’s life is of immense value to anyone who desires spirituality. But a mere knowledge of the events alone would be sterile. Just as history is the study of motives rather than of movements, so knowledge of the Gospel events must always be less important than a true knowledge of the spirit back of the events. To be more specific, we must strive to live and fight for truth as Jesus lived and fought for it; we must attack ignorance and sham as he attacked it, with no complacence in our own superiority, clearly seeing the difference between the sinner and the sin. We must develop courage and fearlessness in facing the harshness of men and their deep selfishness, preferring to see them as ignorant rather than as malicious. We must seek to acquire some of our Lord’s patience and kindness, His charity and tolerance, His understanding and gentleness. These qualities and many others are what we mean by the ‘spirit’ of Jesus. They do not come to us magically by conformity to some religious Rule or by set forms of prayer and practices, however good these may be in themselves. The spirit of Jesus comes only as our own personality merges, as it were, with that of Jesus, as we reflect in our daily conduct His ideal of living. When this desire to mold our exterior and interior living on the example of Jesus colors our day’s activities, we call the result virtue – or spirituality.” (Rev. George Zimpfer)
In considering how we best apply these suggestions to our work, let's start at the end with virtue and spirituality.
Most of us should have no trouble with the idea that virtue should guide our daily work. For example, we know that being diligent in tackling our daily tasks, honest in all our dealings, charitable to others with whom we come in contact should inform our conduct each day. But what can we say about "spirituality"?
No, we're not talking about exuding some sort of otherworldly, ethereal aura as we go about out business. In fact, as we'll see, it's the opposite. The humility that characterizes a robust spiritual life specifically excludes any sense of being in any way better, above, or even more "holy" than anyone.
On the other hand, we want to be sure that we don't think our spiritual lives have no place at work. To keep it simple, we're made up of body and soul. In the same way that a strong, healthy body helps us perform better at work so to does a strong, healthy soul. And a vibrant spiritual life indicates a healthy soul.
So we ask ourselves: Does our spiritual life mix seamlessly with our work?
Well, if you read these posts on a regular basis, you know that our work can be made to serve our spiritual lives. You also know that work - of its very nature - was designed by God to do so. And that means our daily toil helps to pave the way to heaven. Since most of us spend a major portion, if not the majority of our time working each day, that's a pretty powerful and wonderful concept, isn't it?
With that in mind, next time we'll zero in on Rev. Zimpfer's specific tips about how exactly we can and should imitate Christ at work.
Happy Easter!
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