“Not everyone who speaks the gospel stands in a pulpit,” posted my friend and preaching colleague Wilson Adams.
Wilson was specifically referring to his son, Dale, who recently retired after 20 years as a Law Enforcement officer.
At a retirement party in Bowling Green, “among a gathering of family and friends were several PD colleagues -taking turns “roasting” Dale, Wilson shared these stories.
Among several humorous incidents, a training sergeant told of the time with Rookie Adams was arresting someone who resisted and fought back. Dale decided to pepper spray the guy and fired. However, at the last second, the perpetrator ducked -and the Sarge ended up taking the spray. Good thing he had a sense of humor (at least now).
One “brother” got more serious and told how he’d often seen Officer Adams buy meals for the homeless, go the extra mile for the hurting, and put his arm around the grieving and pray with them. “Dale showed Jesus to our community.”
He went on to say, “However, when things got tense, I knew one thing: Dale always had my back. He was tough when he needed to be and kind when he needed to be.”
Dale told about his hardest moment: standing beside a fellow officer in the morgue after he was shot in the line of duty. “All I could think of… it could’ve been me.”
Years ago, I told Dale that he’d talk with people I could never reach. It’s true. So is this…
Not everyone who speaks the gospel stands in a pulpit.
How true that is. Too often, we fail to recognize that when we work at our jobs, pursue a profession, or operate a business, we are working for the Lord.
Too often, I’ve had young mothers lament that they couldn’t do more “church work” because of being “tied down” with small children. I always tell them, you’re doing the Lord’s work–teaching, training, and raising your children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).
I’ve heard men speak of taking early retirement so they can be more involved in the Lord’s work. Some have left “secular work” to pursue “full-time” preaching, which is commendable.
However, this false distinction between “sacred” and “secular” work has long been challenged by thoughtful Bible students. Jim McGuiggan addresses it well in The God of the Towel:
“By secular we usually mean it has no religious content, it isn’t related to holiness or spirituality…the preacher’s job is ‘sacred’ and the taxi driver’s is ‘secular.’ One handles sacred things and the other just drives a hack. A lady is a bank clerk eight hours a day and a Sunday school teacher during the assembly periods. The first is thought to be ‘secular’ and the Sunday school work is ‘sacred.’ This isn’t biblical at all!
McGuiggan sums up this thought writing: “All service is sacred service.”
This concept is rooted in scripture, when the apostle Paul admonished first-century workers who were indentured servants with these words.
“Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ” (Col. 3:22-24).
From the text as well as its companion passage in Ephesians 6:4-9, we glean these thoughts:
- God wants us to work.
- Perform your duties with excellence.
- Respect others in the workplace.
- Be a person of integrity in your work.
- Be the Good News others can see.
Work like Jesus is your boss. He is.
Furthermore, the Bible teaches that the money earned from our work provides these opportunities.
- Work provides for our material needs.
- Work enables us to help the needy.
- Work supports the spread of the gospel at home and abroad.
- Work helps us care for family responsibilities.
- Work creates opportunities for generosity and stewardship.
So, congratulations, Dale, on a career that has honored God and served the community.
And congratulations to the many brothers and sisters who go to work daily. Educators, doctors, lawyers, plumbers, electricians, financial advisors, clerks, and business owners who let their light shine, live the golden rule, and exhibit the two great commandments–loving God and their fellow man.
Some preach from behind a pulpit. Others preach from behind a desk, a patrol car, a classroom podium, a hospital bed, or a toolbox.
But wherever it is done, when Christ is honored, the gospel is being preached
–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
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