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Sometimes the church is accused of being irrelevant,
and sometimes it is. We spend 50% of waking life at work and if
Christianity has no relevance there then the accusation is true.
Here I offer six ways that we can see our working life and our Christian
faith connecting… ·
See our work that consumes 40-80 hours of our week as our primary
Christian service rather than what we might do for 2-3 hours as
part of a congregation. A graduate once asked my advice as to whether
they should become a journalist or do something for God? I replied
perhaps God is calling you to do something for him in journalism?
There should be no separation between secular and sacred work, or
hierarchy with vicars and missionaries at the top and traffic wardens
and politicians at the bottom. The Bible says that the role of congregational
leaders is to equip God's people for works of service, Eph 4 v 12,
and Paul was talking about the 40-80 hours more than the 2-3 hours.
See the product we produce or service we offer, and its excellence,
as our worship to God. All work has an inherent value - unless it's
illegal or immoral - and the Bible encourages us that whatever we
do we should work at it with all our heart as if working for God,
not for people. When I have visited developing countries such as
Bangladesh I've always been impressed by their godly pride in their
work, it would be great if we could get some of that attitude in
the West.
See our colleagues and customers as our neighbours that Jesus said
we should love as we love ourselves. Everyone we meet through work
is the design and desire of God and we can treat them like that.
Friends who started a company that they floated on the stock market
last year made one of their three core company values "family comes
first". It's wonderful to see relationships a priority alongside
performance and profit.
See our occupation, like the church, as an agent of God's purposes
in the world. The Bible says that the whole of creation has been
subjected to frustration and is waiting to be liberated from decay.
Therefore every organisation and movement on earth can be a part
of establishing the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.
Our school systems can be a place where our children are encouraged
to reach their God-given potential, the health services can administer
health and wholeness and business can generate wealth for the poor.
A policeman friend describes Locard's theory that says that every
contact leaves a trace, so when a burglar puts a brick through a
window traces are left on the burglar and the window. He says that
as a policeman every contact he makes as he works for law and order
leaves a trace of Christ.
See our personal development as our Christian discipleship. A learning
organization is one that is committed to the development of each
of its staff and therefore continues to transform itself. To be
a disciple is to have a student orientation to life, and work as
a follower of Jesus. A friend who is an executive coach with the
top blue chip companies says his life purpose is to coach people
- whether Christian or not - to become all that God made them to
be.
See our career as our God-given vocation and calling rather than
a random selection of jobs or a carefully executed career path.
The Bible says that we are God's workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus to do good works that God prepared in advance for us. My wife
Esther is a teacher and one night she dreamt that she was teaching
really difficult children. Two days later she was asked to temp
at a failing school and there she met this class of difficult children.
God challenged her about who would work at this school if she wouldn't,
so she left her job in a comfortable village school and went to
teach in the school she had dreamed about. So Christianity is supremely
relevant to our work and indeed to every aspect of our lives. Work
takes up so much of our lives it would be such a waste if we couldn't
find God in it. Please find God in your work or move on to work
you can find him in.
Matt Bird is the founding director of Joshua Generation,
a charity investing in emerging generations of leaders to transform
society. He is the author of "Destiny" and "Manifesto for Life",
a well known speaker across Europe and a consultant to organisations
including CARE and Evangelical Alliance.
Email: mattbird@joshgen.org
www: www.joshgen.org
Telephone: 020 8947 1313
Post: The Church Worple Road, Wimbledon, London, SW19 4JZ, UK
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