Does art reflect culture or does culture reflect art? Although the updated version could just as easily replace “art” with “television” or “social media,” the age-old debate is no less contentious.

It's a question about influence more than anything else. And from watching the lives of the pallet of quirky characters on popular TV shows like The Office or Community, it's easy to see the argument for both sides of the dispute. We can all think of fellow students or workers who are willing to do whatever it takes to do the bare minimum in order to slide through life. But did these people pick up their habits from the examples in pop culture, or is there a deeper issue at bay? What is influencing our work ethics?

Good work ethic is biblical (Ephesians 6:5-9, Colossians 3:17, Hebrews 6:10) but there isn't much modern-day biblical teaching or preaching on the subject. It seems most of our society, Christian or not, have drawn an invisible line between work and worship. Is that biblical? Should our public life be a separate entity from our private one? Should work and faith be separate?

Chuck Swindoll says your testimony at work is more powerful than all the hours you spend at a church. In his message Honouring God in Our Occupations he explains the reasons why how you do your job tells others more about your relationship with Christ than how you worship at church. You don't need a fish on your car, a cross around your neck, or even words to communicate your heart to the people you spend the majority of your time with. Your work ethic and attitude will say it for you.

It makes sense, in a society where regular professions have become more and more mundane and mediocre, that an honest, hard-working person will stand out. It's for this reason we've chosen this sermon for our LifeTrac free mp3 in April 2011. No matter how you make your living, if you need some encouragement, or just want to hear a sermon about your job, this is a message for you.

If you're working for the Lord, and not man, then your treasure is in pleasing Him, not man. And, as Matthew 6:18-21 reminds us, God sees everything we do, and even if no one else noticed your hard work, He promises to reward you for all your good deeds seen and unseen.