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YOU HAVE HEARD: STAY CLEAN BY AVOIDING THE WORK WORLD
BUT SCRIPTURE MAKES IT CLEAR: PENETRATE THE DARK WORK WORLD AS A LIGHT (Read Part 17)
"The workplace is no place for a Christian woman,” said one pastor. "It is too hard to be spiritual there. . . . Stay out of the world.” You don’t often hear this stance toward the work world expressed so openly. But even if not stated outright, the attitude continues to smolder in many places. Just the other day, I came across these words on a website:
YOU HAVE HEARD: TO REALLY SERVE GOD IN YOUR WORK, GO INTO FULL-TIME SERVICE
BUT SCRIPTURE MAKES IT CLEAR: ALL CHRISTIANS ARE CALLED TO SERVE GOD FULL TIME
"We shape our buildings,” said Winston Churchill; "thereafter they shape us.” In a similar way, we fashion religious terms that from then on have the power to mold our thinking for generations. Case in point: the phrase "full-time Christian service.” read more...YOU HAVE HEARD: GOD'S ONLY PURPOSES IN “SECULAR” WORK ARE WITNESSING AND MAKING MONEY FOR LIVING AND GIVING (Read Part 15)
BUT SCRIPTURE MAKES IT CLEAR: GOD SENDS YOU INTO THE WORK WORLD FOR MANY REASONS
What difference does it make if you think you're in the work world just to witness and to earn? Peer through the eyes of Lisa, a bank teller who has come from a church tradition in which evangelism trumps all.
read more...RELIGIOUS RUTS IN YOUR WORKPLACE: PART 15
YOU HAVE HEARD: GOD'S ONLY PURPOSES IN “SECULAR” WORK ARE WITNESSING AND MAKING MONEY FOR LIVING AND GIVING (Read Part 14)
BUT SCRIPTURE MAKES IT CLEAR: GOD APPLAUDS (NOT JUST ALLOWS) WORKING TO EARN
A flight attendant said, “The Great Commission is what we're called to. It is the number-one reason that God put us here. We need a job just to make our house payments and pay the bills.” In Your Work Matters to God, Doug Sherman and William Hendricks use this quotation to illustrate what they call the “Mainstream Model” of Christian thinking. In this view, the primary reason for working is to evangelize. The “just” in the quotation downgrades earning to a bothersome necessity.
read more...YOU HAVE HEARD: GOD'S ONLY PURPOSES IN “SECULAR” WORK ARE WITNESSING AND MAKING MONEY FOR LIVING AND GIVING (Read Part 13)
BUT SCRIPTURE MAKES IT CLEAR: WITNESSING—A SERIOUS (NOT THE SOLE) PURPOSE
For a toddler, Kai had a way of capturing hearts. We had known his family well before he was born. One Sunday, as my wife worked in the church nursery, she couldn't help noticing again his gentle, kind spirit. “Kai,” she said, “I love you!” Instantly his body recoiled . . .
read more...RELIGIOUS RUTS IN YOUR WORKPLACE: PART 13
YOU HAVE HEARD: GOD'S ONLY PURPOSES IN “SECULAR” WORK ARE WITNESSING AND MAKING MONEY FOR LIVING AND GIVING (Read Part 12)
BUT SCRIPTURE MAKES IT CLEAR: YOUR WORK HELPS CARE FOR WHAT GOD CREATED
The other day, while speaking to encourage a group of Christians in their work, I asked them to discuss this question in teams of two: What would the world lose if no one did the kind of work you do? As it happened, one of the teams included a police officer and a firefighter.
read more...RELIGIOUS RUTS IN YOUR WORK WORLD: PART 12
YOU HAVE HEARD: GOD'S ONLY PURPOSES IN “SECULAR” WORK ARE WITNESSING AND MAKING MONEY FOR LIVING AND GIVING (Read Part 11)
BUT SCRIPTURE MAKES IT CLEAR: YOU'RE THERE TO MAKE THE GOOD NEWS APPEALING
A few years ago, during the boom years of real-estate sales, a new business emerged—home staging. A seller hires the home stager to put forward the best features of the house. According to one expert, “Staging a home can make a huge difference in how it's perceived by prospective buyers.” Is there a lesson here for Christ-followers in the work world?
read more...YOU HAVE HEARD: GOD'S ONLY PURPOSES IN “SECULAR” WORK ARE WITNESSING AND MAKING MONEY FOR LIVING AND GIVING (Read Part 10)
BUT SCRIPTURE MAKES IT CLEAR: YOU AND OTHER BELIEVERS AT WORK ARE TO SERVE EACH OTHER
read more...YOU HAVE HEARD: GOD'S ONLY PURPOSES IN “SECULAR” WORK ARE WITNESSING AND MAKING MONEY FOR LIVING AND GIVING (Read Part 9)
BUT SCRIPTURE MAKES IT CLEAR: GOD USES WORK-RELATED STRESSES TO FORM CHRIST IN YOU
Jesus tells us, “In this world, you will have trouble” (Jn. 16:33). Much of that distress occurs in the work world. Is it possible that encountering that trouble is one of God's reasons for sending us into that world?
read more...YOU HAVE HEARD: GOD'S ONLY PURPOSES IN “SECULAR” WORK ARE WITNESSING AND MAKING MONEY FOR LIVING AND GIVING (Read Part 8)
BUT SCRIPTURE MAKES IT CLEAR: GOD SENDS YOU TO WORK TO REFLECT HIM AND HIS WORK
Why has God placed you where you work? He has done so not for just two but for a rich variety of purposes. This will be the first of several blogs on other reasons God deploys you into the work world.
read more...YOU HAVE HEARD: GOD'S ONLY PURPOSES IN “SECULAR” WORK ARE WITNESSING AND MAKING MONEY FOR LIVING AND GIVING (Read Part 7)
This religious tradition concedes that so-called “secular” work can have some religiously redeeming value. Okay, it says, so you hold a job that does not qualify as work popularly called “full-time Christian service.” Not a total loss. At least you can use it as an opportunity to share the gospel, to earn a living, and to make enough to support your church and cross-cultural missions.
read more...YOU HAVE HEARD: YOU ARE JUST A LAYPERSON
BUT SCRIPTURE MAKES IT CLEAR: YOU ARE SALT, LIGHT, SEED, AND MUCH MORE
Many words in the New Testament tell us who we are as Christ-followers. But nowhere does it call any of us by those disabling terms, “laypersons” or “laity.” R. Paul Stevens writes, “While we observe in the church today two classes of people [clergy and laity]…, we discover in the New Testament one ministering people….” read more...
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