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4: Self-Control · Finding God at Work

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  (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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  This is Finding God at Work.
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  In our current series, Fruitful Work, we're asking
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  the question, what kind of fruit am I
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  bearing at work?
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  Because if we're honest with ourselves, we don't
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  always bear the kind of fruit we want
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  to or wish we would.
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  But by God's grace, by the power of
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  the Holy Spirit, we can bear fruit that
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  is good.
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  Today we're talking about the part of the
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  fruit of the Spirit which I like the
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  least, which is self-control.
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  And the reason I like self-control the
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  least is that it feels so restrictive, like,
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  I want to eat that pizza, I want
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  to eat those Cheez-Its, I want to
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  eat that ice cream, I want to go
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  on that event that costs too much money,
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  I want to watch that show, I want
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  to scroll through Instagram, I want to do
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  all the things.
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  And self-control is like, no, don't do
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  those things.
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  Control yourself.
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  Do responsible things.
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  Do holy things.
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  And it's just like, self-control is boring.
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  Holiness is boring.
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  Okay, we've all been there, we all get
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  this.
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  But what's the option here?
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  What is the option that's really presented to
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  us in life?
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  What is true human freedom?
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  Because that's what we want, that's what we're
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  kicking back against self-control because we want
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  freedom, we want to be able to choose.
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  And this might seem ironic, but what self
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  -control really, when we really experience it as
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  part of the fruit of the spirit, it's
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  all about the freedom of choice.
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  It's all about finally being able to choose.
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  And to get at this, we have to
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  talk about how important choice is to human
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  experience.
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  The philosophical word for this is will, but
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  you can also just say choice.
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  Inside you, you have a chooser, a capacity
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  to go one way or another way.
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  And this is fundamental to your personhood.
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  It's part of what makes you you, is
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  that you can choose.
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  You are not a puppet, you are not
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  a robot.
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  Nobody can take away that part of you
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  from you.
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  And we know this because in human experience,
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  people who have been in the most constrained
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  circumstances, the circumstances most opposed to human freedom,
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  have still found the freedom of human choice.
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  I want to just cite one of those
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  examples.
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  This is a thinker, a psychiatrist who survived
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  the concentration camps of World War II, named
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  Viktor Frankl.
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  He was an Austrian Jew, and his family
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  faced the increasing oppression of the Jews at
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  various stages.
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  So first, they were taken to one of
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  the ghettos, the Torizinstat ghetto, and there his
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  father died of malnutrition and pneumonia.
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  Then they were taken to the Auschwitz concentration
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  camp, and his mother and his brother were
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  killed there.
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  His wife was killed at another concentration camp,
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  and Viktor Frankl himself spent many months at
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  the Dachau camp and ultimately survived.
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  He wrote a memoir about his experience, trying
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  to understand the meaning of so much suffering
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  and so much human evil, and he called
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  it Man's Search for Meaning.
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  This is a quote about his experience from
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  that book.
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  Frankl writes, everything can be taken from a
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  man, but one thing, the last of the
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  human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any
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  given set of circumstances, to choose one's own
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  way.
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  Frankl saying, even in the environment most opposed
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  to human freedom, the Nazis could not take
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  away my will.
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  The Nazis could not take away the one
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  thing, the last of the human freedoms, to
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  choose one's own way.
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  This is fundamental to who we are as
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  people, and it's fundamental to our understanding of
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  this part of the fruit of the spirit,
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  self-control.
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  One way we can think about it is
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  the flow of operations.
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  You think in a company, you've got the
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  CEO, and hopefully the CEO is helping determine
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  the direction, and you've got the C-suite
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  figuring out what does that mean for all
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  the different departments of the company, and then
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  you've got the rank and file, us plebs
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  who do the work that the C-suite
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  people tell us to do, and we're executing
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  the will of the CEO and the senior
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  leaders.
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  That's the way the flow is supposed to
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  work.
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  Maybe that's a very top-down, old, not
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  -flat structure way of talking, but in most
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  organizations I've been a part of, there's something
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  like that going on.
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  Well, something similar is also true inside of
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  you.
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  The flow is supposed to go will, then
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  body.
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  You make a choice, and then your body
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  does what you choose.
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  So you say, hey, I want to go
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  for a walk.
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  You form the decision, I will go for
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  a walk.
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  And then your legs start moving.
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  The body follows the will.
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  And that's the way it's supposed to work.
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  The body is meant to be a servant.
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  It's meant to do what you will.
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  You're meant to be in charge of your
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  body.
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  But if you're trying to do something new,
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  especially something difficult, turns out our will is
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  not that strong.
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  So, for example, say you're trying to wake
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  up earlier, and you set your alarm, and
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  you say, I'm not going to hit the
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  snooze button, I'm just going to get up
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  the first time the alarm goes off.
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  You make this resolution, you make this choice
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  when you go to sleep.
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  And then, when the alarm goes off, your
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  hand, somehow, of its own accord, finds its
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  way to the snooze button.
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  And it's five or 10 minutes later that
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  your conscious self finally awakes and realizes, I'm
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  going to be 10 minutes late.
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  So this is a common experience.
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  So even though the natural flow is will,
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  then body, we could nuance this and say
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  more accurately, the flow is will, habit, body.
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  Because once a habit is inside of our
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  body, it can actually overpower our will.
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  We made this resolution when we went to
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  sleep.
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  But those neural pathways that point our hand
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  towards the snooze button, they took over.
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  They did what they wanted to do, contradicting
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  our own will, our own choice.
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  So it actually goes will, habit, body.
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  The body makes a good servant, but it
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  makes a bad master.
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  And so when we have a certain habit
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  that's inside of us that we want to
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  change, it's like, ah, suddenly, it's like the
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  body's the master, and I'm the servant.
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  I'm doing what my body wants to do
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  because of this habit rather than the other
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  way around.
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  So what is self-control?
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  Self-control is the restoration of your will
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  to the C-suite of your life.
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  That's all that it is.
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  And this is not a uniquely Christian idea.
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  So Paul includes self-control in his virtue
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  list in the Fruit of the Spirit in
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  Galatians, Chapter 5.
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  But self-control also showed up in pagan
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  virtue lists.
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  The Greeks and the Romans included self-control.
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  Jewish thinkers included self-control.
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  And the idea that was common to all
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  of those thinkers was putting your will back
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  in the C-suite of your life.
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  The difference for us as followers of Jesus
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  is the C-suite also has a boss,
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  and that's Jesus.
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  So Paul unpacks this a little more thoroughly
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  in another passage.
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  He uses that same metaphor of fruit, so
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  I think it's fair to use this passage
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  to interpret what he means by self-control
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  in Galatians.
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  And there's a real familiar verse at the
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  end of this passage that you'll hear, but
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  I want to put it in context.
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  So this is Romans, Chapter 6, starting in
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  verse 20.
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  For when you were slaves of sin, you
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  were free in regard to righteousness.
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  But what fruit were you getting at the
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  time from the things of which you are
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  now ashamed?
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  For the end of those things is death.
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  But now that you have been set free
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  from sin and have become slaves of God,
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  the fruit you get leads to sanctification and
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  its end, eternal life.
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  For the wages of sin is death, but
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  the free gift of God is eternal life
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  in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
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  Okay, what is Paul doing there?
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  Paul is mixing metaphors.
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  Sometimes he just can't help himself.
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  It seems like he uses three different metaphors
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  in that short little section.
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  He uses a fruit metaphor, which we've already
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  talked about, like what is the fruit you're
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  getting out of the way you're living life?
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  He also uses a slavery metaphor, like you've
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  gotta obey, and so who are you going
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  to obey?
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  Are you going to obey sin or are
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  you going to obey God?
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  And then he also uses this payment metaphor
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  at the end where he says the wages
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  of sin is death, but the free gift
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  of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus,
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  our Lord.
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  But you can kind of see how all
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  those metaphors work together, right?
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  Fruit is this idea of something that grows
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  naturally out of what you're doing.
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  And the what you're doing is obedience.
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  You have to obey something or someone.
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  That's the way your body is designed to
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  work.
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  Again, it's a good servant.
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  That's what it's meant to do.
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  It's meant to report for duty to someone.
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  But Paul says it can either report for
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  duty to sin or it can report for
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  duty to God.
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  And here's the thing, if you report for
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  duty to sin, you get payment for that,
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  just like you get fruit of that, which
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  leads to death.
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  You could also think of it as payment.
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  You get paid for that and you get
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  paid with death.
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  Those habits of sin that are in our
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  body do not lead to life.
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  They lead to destruction.
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  They lead to grief.
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  They lead to disappointment.
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  They lead to the breakdown of the relationships
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  that God intends for our lives.
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  But the free gift of God, right?
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  So instead of a payment, a gift is
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  eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
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  When you report to God for obedience, it's
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  not like you're earning something from God.
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  It's not even payment.
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  It's a gift, but it's also a natural
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  result of how you're living life with God.
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  When you're living in obedience to God, you
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  realize the fruit of that life.
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  And that's what we actually deeply desire, is
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  that fruit which is love, joy, peace, patience,
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  and all the rest.
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  We want those things to typify our lives,
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  don't we?
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  Okay, so Paul's giving us these analogies, but
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  you'll notice, again, it's that question.
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  Who's in the C-suite of your life?
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  Is sin in the C-suite of your
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  life?
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  Are your own bodily passions in the C
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  -suite of your life?
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  Is your body becoming a master rather than
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  a servant?
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  Or are you in the C-suite of
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  your life reporting for duty to God?
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  And Paul, actually a couple of verses earlier,
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  he says that he's speaking in human terms
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  because of our natural limitations.
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  In other words, he's using an imperfect analogy
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  when he calls us slaves of God.
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  Because again, the slave of God imagery could
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  make us think like, oh, so is God
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  like a puppet master and my body's just
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  sort of like being yanked around doing what
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  God wants me to do?
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  And some people do seem to have that
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  vision of God, but that's not what Paul's
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  getting at at all.
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  The way that God becomes in charge of
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  your life is by restoring your will to
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  be in charge of your life.
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  God puts your will back in the C
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  -suite over your body so that when you
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  say yes to God, it flows all the
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  way down.
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  Your will says yes to God, your habits
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  say yes to God, and your body says
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  yes to God so that the reality of
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  the fruit of the spirit is actually lived
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  out in your bodily, everyday life.
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  That's the way it's meant to work.
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  It's the restoration of your will to the
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  C-suite under God.
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  So how does that work in practical terms?
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  Well, we all know from experience how it
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  doesn't work.
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  We know what it's like to have the
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  alarm go off and our body's taken over.
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  We can think of that moment as on
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  the spot, the moment of temptation, whether it's
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  just a practical temptation like I don't want
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  to sleep in, or a literal sin temptation
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  like, oh, I don't wanna have that sexual
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  thought about that coworker, or oh, I don't
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  wanna gossip about that coworker, or oh, I
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  don't wanna get distracted by social media all
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  day when I should be doing my job.
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  Whatever the on the spot moment is, that's
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  when your will is weak.
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  That's when the habit, whatever the habit is,
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  is going to take over.
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  So where is your will strong?
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  Where does your will actually have the ability
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  to write the executive memo to your body
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  and say here's what's new, here's what we're
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  going to do?
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  It's not on the spot, it's off the
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  spot.
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  It's when you take time away from the
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  moment of temptation and say, we're gonna train,
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  we're gonna get ready, we're gonna have a
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  new habit ready to go for that moment.
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  So what does off the spot training look
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  like?
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  Well, let's just take a couple of those
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  examples from the workplace.
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  Let's say that gossip is a temptation for
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  you.
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  It feels like your lip and your tongues,
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  your lip and your tongues, your lips and
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  your tongue are just already moving, joining in
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  gossip of their own accord before you even
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  have conscious time to reflect on it.
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  And when you do find the reflect on
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  it, you feel guilty because you're a Christian.
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  What if it would be different?
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  What if you had a different habit where
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  rather than your mouth moving of its own
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  accord, you actually had a moment to decide
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  whether to speak and what to say?
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  Well, how can you develop that kind of
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  habit?
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  Turns out there's an ancient Christian practice designed
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  just for this purpose.
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  It's called the practice of silence.
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  And we see it in the Bible.
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  We see people who take time in silence
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  in order to reflect and connect with God.
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  Sometimes God even uses this as a disciplinary
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  measure, like in the case of Zechariah, where
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  he couldn't speak until John the Baptist was
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  born.
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  But it doesn't have to be disciplinary in
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  a punitive sense.
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  It can be disciplinary in the sense of
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  adopting a discipline to form a new habit.
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  So pick a day, if you're struggling with
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  gossip, where you will say as little as
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  possible, maybe because of the nature of your
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  job, you can't be in total silence all
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  day.
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  Again, don't make a big deal out of
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  it.
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  But just, you know, if you're in a
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  meeting, don't speak up unless you really have
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  to.
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  If you tend to speak up more than
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  others, wait, let others speak up first and
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  then add your peace at the right time.
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  If you're in a conversation with someone, be
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  cordial, be polite, but like don't get into
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  it.
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  If you normally go to the cafeteria for
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  lunch and spend it with other people, just
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  one day next week, take a walk by
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  yourself and don't take your phone with you.
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  Just be in silence in God's creation.
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  And what this will do, if you do
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  this practice again and again over time, is
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  it forms a new habit where you realize,
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  oh, I'm actually okay if my mouth isn't
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  running all the time.
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  My mouth does not have to say whatever
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  comes to my mind.
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  I can actually pause and decide whether to
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  speak and what to say when I speak.
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  And as that habit gets strengthened over time
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  through the discipline of silence, then someday you'll
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  find yourself on the spot and you won't
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  gossip because you'll have a stronger habit that
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  matches your will, that matches the fruit of
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  the spirit.
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  That's what self-control looks like in action.
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  And you can adapt that for whatever your
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  temptation is.
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  So maybe it's not gossip, right?
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  Maybe it's social media.
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  Maybe it's a sexual temptation.
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  Maybe it's the way you send emails that
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  can be really rude sometimes.
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  Whatever it is, think about, okay, what's an
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  off-the-spot way that I could train
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  to form a new habit there?
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  So like if I'm being unkind, what's a
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  way I could have a discipline of using
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  my words kindly and remind myself to do
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  that every day.
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  If it's a difficulty with sexual temptation, is
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  there a way that I could deny my
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  bodily pleasures, maybe even not in a sexual
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  way, but like fasting or something along those
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  lines?
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  There's room for lots of creativity here and
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  lots of creativity at the workplace to begin
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  forming those new habits so that eventually we
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  have a habit ready to go on the
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  spot.
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  That's what self-control means.
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  That's what it looks like in the workplace
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  to bear the fruit of the spirit.
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  But the real important caveat here is that
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  it is the fruit of the spirit.
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  Our will is weak.
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  And we are gonna mess up and we're
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  gonna fail and we're gonna need God's grace.
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  And it is a free gift of God
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  in Christ Jesus, our Lord, that life that
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  he gives to us.
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  This is not ultimately dependent on how disciplined
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  we are or about our track record in
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  the past.
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  This is dependent upon the power of God.
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  As we welcome the Holy Spirit in these
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  little disciplines that we attempt, he's the one
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  that's gonna actually restore our will to its
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  right place.
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  He's the one that's going to say, yes,
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  now your body is a servant and not
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  a master.
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  And now I can bear my fruit in
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  you.
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  Lord Jesus, we want that fruit.
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  We want to be able to control ourselves,
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  to command ourselves so that we can say
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  yes to you, not just in our ideas,
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  but in our words, in our will, in
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  what we actually do.
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  So give us all that wisdom of what's
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  the training we can do off the spot
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  to prepare our mouth, to prepare our bodies
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  for the on the spot moments that come
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  our way at work.
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  Show us how to do that in your
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  way, depending on the power of your Holy
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  Spirit.
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  Do your work in us as we do
• 15:48
  our work with you.
• 15:56
  Thanks for listening.
• 15:57
  Finding God at Work is a production of
• 15:59
  Mission Central, a ministry based in Aurora, Illinois,
• 16:02
  dedicated to forming Christians for mission in everyday
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  life.
• 16:05
  You can subscribe to the podcast wherever you
• 16:07
  listen to this episode to get 10 minutes
• 16:09
  of teaching on faith and work every Tuesday
• 16:11
  and Thursday, to get resources to go deeper
• 16:14
  with each podcast series, read our blog, and
• 16:16
  get info about upcoming courses on faith in
• 16:18
  the workplace.
• 16:20
  Go to our website, missioncentral.church.