Pastor Rick (0:02)

Welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. This is your place for inspiration and encouragement. And whether you're a long time listener or you're joining us for the very first time, we are so glad that you've found us. Today, Pastor Rick will bring his series called Discover your destiny to a close. In this life changing journey, you'll uncover how to grow in every area of your life, spiritually, emotionally, financially, physically, mentally, vocationally and relationally. So let's dive right into God's word and discover how to make your next 10 years the best years of your life. And now, here's Rick with the final part of a message called the kind of work God blesses.

Rick Warren (0:48)

If the number one thing God wants you to learn in life is love, and if the number one thing you do when you're awake is work, don't you figure you gotta learn how to love people at work? Does that make sense? If that's the number one lesson in life and that's the number one thing I do when I'm awake, then I better figure out how to learn to care about the people that I work with. First Corinthians 16, 14. Everything you do that means in the office, in the car, on the sales trip, whatever. Everything you do must be done with love. Now, friends, this is not really hard. We just always underestimate the power of a kind word. A friendly smile, a pat on the back, a genuine compliment, a word of encouragement, a listening ear. Those are all the ways you can show care at work. It's not that hard. It's not rocket science. We always underestimate the power. I have seen people's lives changed by simply a word of encouragement. I've seen not just their day changed or their month changed, but their life changed by somebody who paid attention to them. All the people you work with are starving for attention. There's not a person on this planet who isn't starving for attention. There are those who admit it and there are those who deny it, but everybody needs attention. And the Bible tells us that we need to be caring. Now, this is so unusual. People who really care are really rare. The Bible says this. Look at the screen. Paul says, I've got no one else like Timothy, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks after his own interest. Does that sound like your workplace? Everyone looks after his own interest, not those of Jesus Christ. Those who really care are really aware and they're rare. You know Spanish cellist Pablo Casal, he said, you know, the true significance in life comes from caring. I remember reading one time a story of Judy Garland. She said, you know, there were many lonely nights when I would rather have one caring word from a single individual than a room full of applause. People need affirmation. They need attention. They need affection. The Bible says this in Ephesians 4. 2. Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowances for each because of your love. I must care about those I work with. Now, here's the next one. This is an important one if you want to succeed in your career. For my work to be blessed by God, I must exceed what is expected of me. I must exceed whatever is expected of me. Remember I told you that God's more interested in how you work than what you do? And what he's saying here is, I don't care whether you're a truck driver or you're an attorney or you're a cook or you're a teacher or whatever you do. Hospice, whatever you do. He says, what I want you to do is I want you to, no matter what you're doing, do more than the minimum. Don't just get by. I want you to surpass what is required. I want you to go beyond than normal. Don't be average. I want you to exceed the expectations of your customers. I want you to exceed the expectations of your boss. He said, this is the kind of work I bless. Colossians 3, 23. I love it. The message says, servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters and don't just do the minimum. That will get you by. Do your best. Would you agree that today we live in a culture of mediocrity? You know, the fact is, how many times have you complained about shoddy workmanship? How many times have you complained in the last five years about poor service? How many times in the last five years have you complained about inferior quality? Americans used to take pride in their craft. Made in America meant something, and people took pride in their craft. But for generations, that was true. Today, the average American just wants to get by. I'm putting in my time, and then I'm gonna go home. And they just wanna do the minimum. Just wanna cut corners, you know, get by on as little effort as possible. Now, that's the bad news. Here's the good news. It means that today it's very easy to stand out at work. All you have to do is do more than expected. And people think you're a genius, because most people are not willing to do more than expected. They want to do the minimum and. And they're mediocre, they're average, and they wanna just get by. And anytime you find somebody who takes pride in their work and somebody who says, I'm gonna do more than expected, they immediately rise to the top. So what you do is I'm encouraging you to take pride in your work. Say, wait a minute, Rick, I thought pride was evil. Pride's a sin. No, self centered pride, comparative pride is a sin. Not all pride is a sin. To be proud of your children, that's a good thing. That's a good thing. To be proud that you're a Christian, that's a good thing. To be proud of your church, there are many. To be proud of your country can be a good thing. Not all pride is bad. Look at this verse on the screen. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself. This is the Bible. Without comparing himself to somebody else. Notice the difference? You can take pride in yourself when you're comparing yourself to yourself. Go, you know what? I did a better job today than I did yesterday. I'm getting better at this. That piece of art was better than the last piece. That deal was better than the last deal. I'm getting better at this. I'm growing in this. That's okay to take pride in yourself. The moment you start comparing yourself to others, say, well, I'm better than so and so. Now you're in hot water. Do you agree that followers of Jesus Christ should have the best reputation for quality work? Yes. Why? Because we represent the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Oh, it's done by a Christian. You know that work's gonna count. It's not gonna have to be repaired. It's not gonna be shoddy workmanship. It's not gonna be inferior service. It's gonna be done with excellence because they represent the King of kings. Matthew 5:41. Jesus talked about this principle of exceeding what's expected of you. And he said, if somebody demands that you go one mile, go with him, what, two miles. So you go the extra mile. Jesus said that you should exceed what's expected of you. Now, any company, if you're a business owner, any company that doesn't just meet expectations but exceeds them is going to succeed. Doesn't matter what the economy is. I mean, think Nordstrom's and how famous they became for going beyond what's expected. I remember one time I was up when Jamie had her brain tumor and we were up at UCLA a couple years ago and I went into Nordstrom and I needed a pair of shoes and I bought a pair of shoes and they didn't fit. And the guy said, well, I'll get them in now. This is up in Westwood. And three days later, that guy delivered him to my door. I said, what are you doing? He goes, well, I happen to live in San Clemente, so I just thought I'd bring him by. Well, Trabucle Canyon is not exactly San Clemente. He had to go out of his way to do that's exceptional service. Any company that does this, the going the second mile, you know, the company that I think of most of this is Chick Fil A. Chick Fil a founded by Truett Cathy, a devout Christian man who said, I don't care. We're going to sell only six days a week. We're going to be closed on Sunday because that's the Lord's day, you know, and this thing of always going the second mile. And now his son, Dan Cathy, is a good friend of mine and Rick Mutchausen, and he runs the company. And Dan has a whole philosophy of that company, which is called sms, which stands for Second Mile Service. And he says, we expect everybody in our company to do second Mile service. I was with him one time, and we went into a Taco Bell. Before we went in, we went in to use the restroom. And after we used the restroom, I saw him take the paper towels and clean off the Taco Bell. And I said, what are you doing? He goes, I always leave a place better than it was, even the competitor. And I thought, that's why God's blessing that guy, Second Mile Service. He's cleaning the competitor's restroom. And he's the CEO of his company. That's Second Mile Service. God blesses that. Now, E for God to bless my work, I must expand my skills with continual learning. I must expand my skills with continual learning. If you want to succeed in life, you cannot say, my education ended when I graduated. You're going to be learning the rest of your life. All leaders are learners. The moment you stop learning, you stop leading. Growing companies require growing leaders. The moment you stop growing, you stop. Your company stops growing. You gotta constantly be learning. Always be learning. Ecclesiastes 10:10. If the ax is dull and its edge is unsharpened, more strength is needed. But skill will bring success. I talked to you about this verse a few weeks ago. It says there that when you got an ax and you're chopping wood, you wanna have a sharp axe. He says, if your axe is dull, it takes more energy to chop the wood. He Says, sharpen your axe. More skill, more strength is needed if you got a dull axe. But if you skill will bring success, what he's saying there is work smarter, not harder. That's what I want you to do in Decade of Destiny. I'm gonna help you work smarter, not harder. You don't need to work any harder. In fact, I want you more margin in your life in the next 10 years. I want you working less, but being more effective, you never wasting your time. When you're sharpening your axe. When you come to church, you're sharpening your axe. When you read a book, you're sharpening your axe. When you listen to a seminar, you're sharpening your axe. I'm always learning. Why? Because if I keep learning, then God can keep expanding my horizons. On my phone, I have seminars from the Davos World Economic Forum, from the Aspen Ideas Festival, from the Harvard Business Review. I have books like the Confessions of St. Augustine and Luther's Commentary on Galatians. I have seminars. I have hundreds of sermons of other pastors. I have conferences, and probably, I think at home, I've got eight or 10,000 of those. I didn't pay a penny for any of them. They're just free. They're online. Why? You just have to care enough to go get it now. I had to learn how to do it, but now I'm. Consequently, I have taken at least a dozen college courses in my car while I've been pastor of this church, and I never stopped learning. You wanna keep on growing because when you're sharp in your ax, more strength is required if it's dull. But skill will bring success. I want you to succeed in your work. So you need to keep on learning. And what I'm saying is, to get ahead, you're gonna need to fill your head with some learning. Look at these verses. The Bible says, do yourself a favor and learn all you can. Then remember what you learned and you'll prosper. Which, by the way, is why we take notes. Cause if you don't write it down in 72 hours, you've forgotten 95% of everything I've said. So you look real spiritual, but you're not real bright. Ooh, Pastor Rick, that was a good one. You know, I think I told you this one time before. One time, I was reading that verse where Jesus says, cast your pearls before swine, before pigs. And one day I was just reading this verse, and the Lord kind of said, rick, who do you think the pigs are? I said, oh, that's gotta Be the Pharisees, Lord. You know, the people who aren't religious. And he goes, no, you're the swine. I said, well, I know I'm overweight, Lord, but really, what do you mean? Don't cast your pearls for pigs. He says, you don't care enough to write down the things I say to you. And I thought, all those blessings that I've heard, I needed a blessing catcher. And it was true. Because for many years, I never took any notes in church. And I'd go to church and my pastor would stand up and he'd have these pearls of wisdom. And he'd throw a pearl out and say, here's my first pearl of wisdom. He'd throw it out and he'd come out at me and he'd go, boing. And it'd bounce right off. And then he goes. I go, that was a good one. Okay, here's the second pearl. He tossed it out and hit me. Boing. And it bounced right off. He was going in one ear and right out the other. The Bible says, remember what you learn. Look at this verse. The Bible says, there's a right time and a right way to do everything. So what's the problem? We know so little. That's the problem. The solution to most of the problems in your life is training. We know so little. There's a right time and a right way to do everything, but we know so little. You need to learn all you can. One of the ways to do it is get a mentor. We talk about that in the small groups. You need a mentor, a model, a partner, and a friend. And I hope you're going to get all four of those during decade of destiny. A mentor, a model, a partner, and a friend. We talked about that in small groups. Finally, the D and succeeded. For my work to be blessed, I must dedicate my work to be used for God's purposes. I must dedicate my work to be used for God's purposes. Whatever you want God to bless you, give it to him first. You dedicate it, you consecrate it, you hallow it, and God will then bless it. Dedicate my work to be used for God's purposes. Look at this verse up here on the screen. Proverbs 16, verse 3. Let's read it aloud together. Commit your work to the Lord, and then your plans will succeed. They will succeed as your pastor. I want you to succeed in life. I don't want you to succeed spiritually. I want you to succeed in your career. I want you to succeed in your Work. I want you to be a witness at your work. I want you to use your platform for the glory of God. I want God to bless you in your career, commit your work to the Lord, and then your plans will succeed. Well, how do you know when you've committed your plans to the Lord? You've committed your work to the Lord. How do you know when you've dedicated your business to Christ? He gets to be involved in the decisions. He tells you what to do. He's the chairman of the board, okay? He gets the glory. We saw that when Ronnie told his story just a couple weeks ago about that company started six years ago from scratch and sold for $685 million two weeks ago. And he goes, you know, what am I? You know, I didn't go some big fancy school, but I gave God the credit and gave God shared in the prophets. God was the number one decision maker, and you use your work to represent him. I want to commission you all this week to be Marketplace ministers. That's your church. Your church is where you work that. Because wherever you are, where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Look at this verse. We are Christ's ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. And we urge you as though Christ himself were here pleading, pleading with you, be reconciled to God. Your job at your work is to be an ambassador of Jesus. Now, there's no such thing as a secret agent in God's army. Okay, you remember Lady Clairol commercials? Anybody remember Anybody old enough for that? Complete this sentence. Only her hairdresser knows. Man, you are old. There are no Lady Clairol Christians. Only God knows for sure. You know, other people need to know that you're a believer. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Father, I want to thank you for our church family. I know that in the next years ahead that you're going to bless us in so many ways, including where we work. And I pray that we would follow your ways. Just as we follow your financial plan, we follow your health plan, we follow your career plans, we do it your way so that we might succeed. I pray for again for those who don't have jobs, that you would open the door for those who need to change jobs. Open that door. For those who need to be a bolder witness, open that door. Lord, we recognize that all these blessings come from you, dear Jesus, we pray this in your name. Amen.