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Series: Christmas Vocations Part III
Devotional: 2 of 4

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (Luke 2:1)

We’re in a series exploring the vocations of some of the characters in the Christmas narrative and what they can teach us about our own work today. Today we come to Caesar Augustus.

This secular leader has a mixed legacy including brutal tales of how he came to rule over the Roman Empire. And yet, God chose to work through Augustus and his census to bring Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Micah 5:2 that God’s chosen Messiah would be born in the town of David.

This reminds us of a remarkable truth we see all throughout Scripture—namely that God works in this world through non-believers and believers alike. This is one element of “common grace” which my friend Mike Kelsey (lead pastor at McLean Bible Church) defines as “the reality that God extends his goodness to and through people apart from a saving relationship with him.”

The number of ways common grace should practically shape our work are legion. Let me share just three today.

First, submit to leaders so long as their edicts don’t contradict God’s Word. Yes, even leaders you loathe. Why? Because “the one in authority is God’s servant for your good” (see Romans 13:1-7). I doubt Mary and Joseph agreed with Caesar Augustus’s politics. But they obeyed his commands and the world was blessed because of it.

Second, trust that God is at work in your workplace even if your leaders don’t believe in him. It can be really hard to work for leaders who are agnostic or even hostile towards your faith. But don’t fall for the lie that God is not working through them. Caesar Augustus reminds you that he is. There is no such thing as a truly “secular” workplace, because God is at work through believers and non-believers alike to accomplish his good and perfect will.

Finally, call out the good God is doing through non-Christians as a means of evangelism. 

There are many things your secular co-workers do that are not good by God’s standards. But God can use those same co-workers to bring about genuinely good things in the world. When you see your non-Christian co-workers working with justice, love, and beauty, call them out on it, encouraging them that you see God working through them and their work. And see how those otherworldly words of blessing can open up doors to share the gospel today!