TheHighCalling.org: All Content

What Is a Christian's High Calling? (Ramblin' Dan)

Dan Roloff — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

What is the high calling of our daily work? The challenge is to take our whole selves into every arena where we serve.

We learn early in life to compartmentalize our lives. In school we start with different times for different subjects. We close one book and move to another. Rarely, do we dedicate time to assimilate our learning into anything approaching a single understanding. Poetry has nothing to do with the study of calculus. When one class ends, we close the book on that class and open another in the next class.

This carries over into our adult lives. We have a work life, a family life, a hobby life, a community life, a church life, and more and more ways to divide our everyday responsibilities. In fulfilling these responsibilities, we take on different roles. Sometimes we leave whole parts of ourselves at the door when we enter a different area of responsibility. Often our faith gets placed to the side.

In this post and on this site, we operate on a simple premise, “Where is God in this?” By breaking down the barriers that we create in our minds, which compartmentalize our thinking and acting, we live a life worthy of our calling in Christ. That’s our focus as we address work and all the differing responsibilities of everyday life. We encourage one another to take our whole selves into every activity we encounter and glorify God in the process.

Leadership and Power (Ramblin' Dan)

Dan Roloff — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Leadership is fundamentally the ability to influence another. Power is fundamentally authority in action. If you are a leader who grants functional authority (like a supervisor, parent, elected official, pastor, military officer, etc.), then you have power. Specifically, you have the power to take action and direct others into action.

Jesus has a warning for positional leaders and managers. If you understand what’s expected and you misuse your authority by mistreating people and indulging selfish desires, then you’re in trouble. There’s a price to be paid. Be ever mindful of your faith and live it (Luke 12:35–48).

For a person of influence without a position of authority, power looks different. Power for the influence leader, as opposed to the positional leader, comes from followers who take action freely. They choose to follow a leader based on his or her influence.

Similarly, Jesus has a warning for influence leaders. In each of the Gospels, Jesus warns about leading others astray. (See Matt. 18:6–9; Mark 9:42; Luke 17:1–2.) He says, "It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.”

Power can draw a leader in to wanting more. It can distract a leader from the organization's stated purpose. In fact, power can be an agent of sin.

That was Jesus’ warning. When we use our influence to cause others to sin, Jesus tells us that there’s a heavy price to pay. Prayer and discernment are important actions for any leader. They keep us centered in Christ, helping us to avoid temptation or subtle evil. Power is like money. Everybody needs some, but handled selfishly it can lead to destruction.

Good Leaders Are Stewards of God's People (Bible Reflection)

Vera Jackson — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

"Listen, Janet," Richard said in frustration, "this report is not acceptable. You need to redo it and have it on my desk by the end of the day."

After just six month's of working in his new management position, Richard was almost ready to quit. It was so much easier when he had just been in sales. He was responsible for his own performance and that was it. Now he had a team of 27 direct reports and what felt like reams of paperwork due each month. Some promotion this had turned out to be!

Richard's frustration is not unusual. Each year, thousands of workers are promoted to management in companies of all kinds with little or no training to make them successful at their new duties. Sure they know how to perform; that's why they were promoted. But how do they get others to perform?

While serving in my first management post many years ago, I learned that good leadership meant simply being a good steward over the people God had entrusted to me. We tend to think of stewardship in terms of finances and property, but it is so much more than that. What is a more precious resource in God's eyes than the people for whom he gave his Son? Shouldn't we be more concerned with how we handle them than our silver and gold?

Jesus as a Model of Management

During Jesus' time on earth, he not only taught his disciples, he also managed and supervised them. His example offers us stewardship lessons that are just as relevant today as they were 2,000 years ago. Jesus began with the basics: he knew his team (see John 10:14; John 15:16) and he made sure they knew Him (see Matt. 4:19; Matt.16:24; Luke 9:23). He both instructed and coached his disciples in their ministry work (see Matt. 5; 17:20-21; 28:19-20; Mark 4:34; 13), articulating clear expectations and demonstrating how the job was to be done. Jesus kept them mindful of the "big picture" throughout their time together: the Kingdom vision and strategic plan (see Mark 1:15, 4:11; Luke 8:10; 9:62; 22:16; John 3:3). He encouraged them (see Luke 22:32; John 16) and gave them recognition (see Matt. 16:17-18; 14-37-38; Luke 22:29; Mark 14: 33-34) for a job well done. He protected them (see Matt. 14:30-31; Mark 4:38-39; John 10:29) from those who would harm them and corrected and disciplined them (see Mark 4:40; 8:33; 6:60-67) when they needed it. His work with his disciples is perhaps the greatest demonstration of wise and just management the world has ever seen.

Jesus also led by his irreproachable character and integrity. Whatever our specific position in the marketplace, God is calling us to steward it with holiness and righteousness. We accomplish this by praying and reading our Bible so that we can have benefit of God's counsel (see Judg. 18:5; Ps. 107:11; Isa. 9:6; 25:1; Heb. 6:17) and by refusing to engage in sinful behavior. In Numbers 16, we read about the righteous stand that Moses took and how God not only supported him, but also made the correction of the people a memorable one: they were swallowed up by the earth!

Good Leaders Imitate Christ

It may look like we are giving something up when we discipline staff for performance issues or when we are required to restate the company's earnings because of a loss or mistake. However, our response to challenges like these will reveal our stewardship of both spiritual and natural matters. It will disclose how much God can count on us to be righteous representatives entrusted with his kingdom business. It will also reveal our ability and willingness to perform our jobs for the authorities set over us. The cost of failing to act responsibly can be quite enormous, perhaps resulting in the loss of an opportunity or even the loss of a job.

If someone like Richard can be mindful of Jesus' leadership lessons, he will soon find his job a lot less frustrating. He can ask himself how thoroughly he has instructed Janet about how the report should be prepared and whether he has made it clear exactly what she did wrong. More importantly, he can also make sure he recognizes Janet and others when they perform well, not just when they make mistakes. Lastly, he can work to keep the larger purpose of the department and the company—the "big picture"—before his team at all times so that they can all work together toward a common goal.

As we seek wisdom according to James 1:5, maintain righteousness, and strive for excellence in all that we do, we can become good stewards of the human, material, and financial resources that have been entrusted to us. This is a leadership standard that God has set for us through Jesus Christ—one that we are more than able to replicate with Christ as our guide (see Ps. 48:14; John 16:12-14) and our intercessor (see Rom. 8:34).

Questions for personal reflection, online discussion, or small groups:

Skim back through the many biblical references in the article and choose one to read closely. How do the truths in this passage apply to your daily work?
Think about your specific goals for this week. How can you best steward resources to work toward these goals and honor God?
In dealing with performance issues, have you been clear about your expectations? How can you be more clear?
In serving your boss, do you have a good understanding of his/her expectations for your performance? How can you understand his/her expectations better?

Dr. Vera R. Jackson is president and CEO of a nonprofit organization in the Washington, D.C., area and author of Taking Jesus to Work (Chosen/Baker Publishing Group, www.chosenbooks.com). An accomplished executive, she has senior leadership and consulting experience with government, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations. For comments and/or speaking and ministry engagements, she may be contacted by email at: vjackson@verajacksonassoc.com.

The Speed of Sound (Audio)

Howard Butt, Jr. — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Gil's quick wit was the stuff of legend. The right crack at the right time? Gil had it. He was funny. No, he was hilarious. People shook their heads, amused and amazed.

One day Gil tossed off a put-down about a coworker's looks. Predictably, it got great laughs from people nearby. But Gil's words continued to fly through the office at the speed of sound.

Soon the object of the laughter came to Gil. "You talk a lot about your faith," she said, "but I hear who you are."

This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. Coworkers may never know what we believe, but there's no doubt about what we say and do . . . in the high calling of our daily work.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. (James 3:9-10)

When Layoffs and Fear Enter the Workplace (Personal Reflection)

Glynn Young — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

At work, we started blogging on our internal website about coming layoffs.

They were announced in June, and then a corporate cone of silence descended. Employees would begin finding out two months later, in late August, but the silence was becoming stifling. Fear had entered the workplace.

There was a time when silence was official policy. But that’s over. The internet, social media, and new workplace expectations and realities have swept official policies away. Announce a layoff, and expect to see it tweeted on Twitter. The employer-employee contract died in the 1980s. We may yearn for the days of two-way loyalty, but they’re gone, swept away by the addiction of repeated downsizings. There’s only forward.

One of the things my team is responsible for is the corporate intranet, including news and blogs. We talked about what to do. If we can’t answer people’s most important question—do I have a job?—could we at least indicate that it was okay to talk about it?

Can You Blog Your Layoff?

My people knew that I had been laid off from a job with another company in 1999. They asked me what happened, and what I’d experienced. I told them.

One of them said, “Can you blog it? Can you blog what happened to you?”

Well, sure, I could do that. I could also think about the possible reactions and potential repercussions.

But then I thought about all of the people and families, worrying about the what-ifs at home, seeing the lousy economic news getting worse. If I blogged my own experience, it still wouldn’t answer their critical questions, but it might say it’s okay to talk about it, and we all share the same fears and concerns. And one thought kept running through my mind: Jesus never hesitated to say what needed to be said, to anyone.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

I talked with my boss and peers. I got the green light. I blogged.

The first post was about what happened to me in 1999—how it happened and how I reacted. And what I did to prevent the layoff from controlling me. The second post was about the questions I got from my family. The third was about a layoff when I wasn’t affected, but a close friend was.

I talked about shame, embarrassment, feelings of inadequacy, and questions from my children (like “Didn’t you work hard enough? Do we have to move?”). And then the ultimate understanding that my job, and the loss of my job, did not define my value. Because my faith defined who I was, and because I tried to practice my faith at church, at home, and on the job, it was my response to my layoff that defined who I was.

People Respond When You Shoot Straight

I can’t say my blog posts went viral, but it was something like that. Within three days, more than 2,500 people had read the first post. Comments got posted. One employee posted a blog himself. I received emails, phone calls, and visits. People stopped and thanked me in the cafeteria. The reactions were fairly uniform—it’s okay to talk about this; it’s okay to talk about what we’re afraid of. We’re all in this together.

The day after the first post, the company operator called me, asking me where to direct a reporter who was calling about a story. I gave her the name and number. She thanked me, and then hesitated.

“I read your blog,” she said. She paused. “It was good.” She paused again. “Thank you.”

In the third blog post, I talked about a time in 1992, when a close friend found out he was losing his job. He called me, and it was hard to imagine that my confident, focused, intense friend was devastated, depressed, and ashamed. And it got worse.

Layoffs Can Leave People Ostracized

We met in the company cafeteria the next day. I was waiting for him at a table. He walked over, lunch tray in his hands, and stood there.

“Are you sure you want to be seen with me?” he asked.

I thought he was joking. He wasn’t. His entire department had stopped speaking to him. He had to stay in the office for the next 45 days, and he was effectively ostracized.

I was stunned. So I did the only thing I knew to do. I stood and hugged him. He cried. What a scene that made, right in the cafeteria.

I told that story, with this point: I promised myself right there that I would never do to anyone what had been done to this man. And I urged the readers of 17 years later to make the same promise. I said that I knew it was awkward, and if you didn’t know what to say to someone who had just lost their job, try this: “How can I help you?” And help them network, be a reference, make some phone calls, and follow up with them later.

In other words, love them as yourself. The odds are good that you will be one of them, some day.

The People Who Don’t Lose Their Jobs

Layoffs not only affect the people who lose their jobs. They also affect the people who don’t. And I’m not talking about so-called “survivor guilt.” No, what usually follows a layoff program is a reorganization, changes in workloads, changes in team structure, and often changes in team leaders.

Team leaders play the pivotal role, and it’s difficult, because they often don’t know the answers to a lot of the questions. How will we work together? Do I have more work to do? Am I expected to work longer hours? Will we stop doing some things? How do we work with other teams? The team that provides the monthly statistics is gone —where do we get the information?

If we’re believers, we don’t leave our faith at the corporate door. While a layoff doesn’t differentiate between those who believe and those who don’t (the rain falls on both alike), the response of each can differentiate them. It’s what Tony Dungy, head coach of the Super Bowl-winning Indianapolis Colts, said in his book Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance: don’t let the bad things that happen to you define who you are as a person. The key is how you respond to those bad things.

Questions for personal reflection, online discussion, or small groups:

Have you had to lay a person or people off as part of a general downsizing? What thought processes do you go through? How do you decide, and what do you do when your decisions are not obvious?
If a downsizing has been announced, how do you plan? What do you do, if anything at all? What should you do?
What happens when a close friend or relative

All Leadership Is Local (Ramblin' Dan)

Dan Roloff — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

"All politics are local." So it is with leadership; influence is local too. I serve on the board of a local Leadership Foundation, Partners in Ministry. Although part of a larger national group of Leadership Foundations, Partners is local and its service and influence are primarily local. It may be connected outside the local area, but that’s more for mutual support and best practices. By concentrating on local needs, a community gets healthy. A healthy community encourages other communities to do the same.

Leadership that focuses on the immediate, close-at-hand, and limited sphere has potential to save the world. Looking to Jesus as a model, we see him surrounded by a group of twelve. These twelve were his primary focus for leadership and his locale was basically Galilee to Jerusalem. We all can acknowledge that Jesus’ leadership and message went way beyond his local sphere of influence.

Managing expectations and staying on course were two challenges Jesus faced as a leader. The Jews were expecting a savior, and for many, Jesus didn’t match those expectations. He didn’t come directly to the priestly class to save the Jews, and he didn’t raise an army to drive the Romans away. Those expectations were never part of Jesus' plan. Also, when he went into the desert and faced temptation, he refused to turn the stone into bread and take care of his most immediate personal need—hunger. The second temptation Jesus faced was something highly seductive—power. Finally, Jesus was tempted with self-importance . . . the trap of leadership—pride (Luke 4:1–13).

Leaders need to look beyond immediate personal need to Jesus’ expectation for the Kingdom of God. There is something more to life than our next want. There is God’s purpose, and a leader should be dedicated to understanding what that means daily, in every circumstance.

Along with leadership comes power. Once a leader influences another, power is realized. With power comes responsibility. Jesus recognized power’s seductive nature, and he did not succumb to it. He used his power wisely and focused on his mission.

With influence comes power, which leads ultimately to pride. Leaders need to battle an over-inflated sense of self-importance. Thinking too highly of oneself puts the leader in the position of testing God by assuming or presuming God’s authority.

Recognize the power of your influence. Use it wisely to God’s purpose. Be aware of the temptations of leadership and be ever vigilant. Leadership is local. It starts with you and those immediately around you who are affected through your influence.

Leadership: Position or Influence (Ramblin' Dan)

Dan Roloff — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Not everyone placed in a position of leadership is in fact a leader. Just because a person has a title or position doesn’t mean he or she can lead. Leaders move people. They get people to act in ways the leader deems appropriate.

Leadership, including Christian leadership, is really about influence. A leader is anyone who influences the decisions or actions of others. People follow leaders. That’s why leadership carries with it great responsibility. If the leader is misguided, the followers become misguided as well. So the character of the leader is important.

Sometimes leaders come from places you least expect them. It might be wise to recognize who is leading in your workplace. Don’t just look at titles look to see who people are following. Anyone who exercises influence can benefit the future of any organization.

Joseph was sold into slavery, but rose to tremendous power in Pharaoh’s house. Daniel was also a slave to King Nebuchadnezzar. Jesus was carpenter who gathered common people to spread his message. We can say each of these people rose to positions of power and leadership, but there is another clear message. God’s work can be accomplished by anyone anywhere God chooses. Our responsibility is to be open to Christ’s leading.

If you have the responsibility for an organization, look for leaders. Cultivate influencers by recognizing their impact and building relationships with them. When looking for Christian leadership, follow people who reflect Christ-likeness.

Develop Your Children's Gifts and Talents (Personal Reflection)

Christopher de Vinck — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

When my son was just learning to talk, I carried him around the house in my arms and pointed out things to him. "Look, David, a clock." He'd smile, and point as I did and say "clock."

"This is a flower," and I'd point to a dried flower in the living room. "Flower." David was quick to connect the shape of things to their words and connect the two. Ever since those early tours of the house, David pointed and called out the names of things: cat, fork, pillow.

Cultivating My Son's Curiosity

When my son was about four years old, I remember walking with him to the back yard. We were just filling in some time before dinner: playing catch with a large, balloon-like ball, digging in the sandbox, and then I had an idea. I knew that there was an ant colony under one of the slate stones in the walkway near the shed, so I said to David, "Come on. I want to show you something."

We walked hand and hand out of the sandbox and nearly bounced across the grass. As I showed David the ants that were crawling around the slate stone, he crouched down on his legs and looked with great intensity at the ants.

"Now, watch this."

I dug my fingers under the lip of the flat, gray stone and slowly pulled it back to reveal the exposed tunnels of the ants. They were carrying white sacks, scurrying back and forth, hundreds of ants, and David looked and looked, and then he turned to me and said with delight, "There are so many!"

For days after that, David wanted to look under every rock in the garden, and we often found worms, ants, larva. I recognized that David loved to look at things closely and observe how things moved, and so I continued to point things out to him as he grew older: planes, shells at the ocean, the texture of the bark on the trees. David was a keen observer of things, and I just gave him the suggestions as to where to look.

From Curiosity at Play to Curiosity at Work

Today David is a medical doctor at Columbia University Medical Center. As a pathologist, he spends much of his workday in a lab looking through a microscope, determining the identity of hundreds of different cells, making a diagnosis, determining the extent of someone's cancer or the progression of a disease.

I did not know that David would someday be a doctor, someone who has to pay close attention to what he sees, and yet I felt compelled when he was a boy to encourage his enthusiasm for observation.

That is what teachers and parents do: encourage a child's enthusiasm for a particular interest: music, swimming, art, reading. And we provide tools for the children.

Discovering Gifts and Talents

I believe that all of us are born with habits of being that we inherited both from our ancestors and from God. A good teacher recognizes those habits in children and guides them towards their own sense of self and destiny.

If a child likes to draw, give him brushes, pens, and paper. If a girl likes to tap on the table top, give her a drum. If a child spontaneously sings, give him a microphone and a Frank Sinatra recording.

Blessed is the child who lives with parents and teachers who recognize the child's interest. An apple seed has the potential to explode into a full tree bearing fruit. With the right cultivation, a child will grow into what he or she was innately born to be.

Questions for personal reflection, online discussion, or small groups:

Read Proverbs 22:6 - "Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it" (AMP).
What is your individual gift? Who helped you find it?
If you have children or work with children, think about their individual gifts. How can you help cultivate their gifts?

Email (Audio)

Howard Butt, Jr. — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

In 1971, Ray Tomlinson tapped on his keyboard and hit “send” on the first-ever email . . . all the way across the room to a second computer in his lab.

That’s a few feet for man, a revolution for mankind. Today, every day, a hundred and eighty billion emails circle the globe. The average person spends an hour a day hitting "send” or “receive."

This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. The God, whose son arrived in Bethlehem, teaches us that great things begin in humble places. Do you feel in the wrong place to be great? Remember the baby in the stable. Consider the history of email. There are no small places, people, or opportunities in the high calling of our daily work.

With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling , and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. (2 Thess. 1:11)

Love in Action at Work and in the World (Bible Reflection)

Gary Klingsporn — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

American culture is a culture of narcissism. Recently, I was in a bookstore and noticed that Christopher Lasch’s book The Culture of Narcissism, published in 1979, is still in print and on the shelves after some thirty years. It is a hard-hitting critique that our culture is characterized by a “narcissistic preoccupation with the self.” We live, Lasch said, in a culture of self-absorption and entitlement, where “it’s all about us.”

I think Lasch’s book became a best-seller and remains in print today because his basic thesis has withstood the test of time. The narcissism Lasch described has not disappeared; it has merely taken on new forms. We are in love with ourselves. For example, consider our celebrity culture and the self-esteem and self-help movements that appear to be “on steroids.”

This is not a new problem. It’s as old as humankind. The ancient Greeks told the story of the vain, self-absorbed young man Narcissus, who was consumed by his own self-love and incapable of loving others. He wasted away and died, leaning over a pool looking at his reflection in the water.

In a world and culture of narcissism, one could not hear a more radically different word than the words from 1 John, “We know love by this, that Jesus laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another” (3:16).

Laying Down Our Lives at the Office and Home

But what does it mean to “lay down our lives for others”? That phrase easily evokes images of a once-in-a-lifetime noble and heroic act that most of us can’t imagine doing. We think of firefighters who enter burning buildings or rescuers who die while attempting to save others. We think of martyred saints like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, Jr., or Oscar Romero who die for their faith or for speaking the truth.

Such heroic, sacrificial acts of love seem lofty and distant, but they prepare us for what the writer of 1 John says next. “Laying down our lives for others” is not at all limited to great acts of heroism or dying for a cause. To lay down one’s life for another is simply to respond to people in need: “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?” (v. 17). God calls us to open our hearts to the needs of people around us. This involves practical, concrete acts of love in the ordinary matters of everyday life.

Love Is Always Active—The Knowing and Doing Gap

The writer of 1 John further describes the call to love others by saying, “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action” (v. 18). True Christian love is grounded in the nature and character of God and in the Incarnation. Such love is not simply an emotion we feel or an idea we talk about. As God in Jesus Christ showed his suffering love for us in the painful act of laying down his life for us on the cross, we also are called to act for others. Love is something we do, not simply something we believe. It’s not pious talk, but committed action. Love sees the pain, suffering, or need of a friend, neighbor, or even an enemy, and does something about it. Love is practical and concrete, not abstract or theoretical.

Most of us have a problem with this. We know that we should love others, or we want to do something for them, but we fail to act on our intentions.

Recently I found an interesting book called The Knowing and Doing Gap (Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton, Harvard Business School Press, 2000). It’s an organizational management book that explores a common problem in businesses and organizations: they know what they need to do to change or improve things, but they fail to act. The authors note that one of the main barriers to turning knowledge into action is the tendency to assume that talking about something is equivalent to actually doing it. How true I think this is of love in the Christian life. We talk about it all the time, but talk can easily become a substitute for action.

The book tells the story of a mining executive whose company was acquired by a larger corporation. Under the new management, he spent two weeks every month flying back and forth to company headquarters in Australia. While at the corporate offices, he spent most of his time sitting in a darkened room watching overhead presentations projected on a screen. There were plans, reports, and strategy presentations, but no action. He says, “I kept trying to remind my associates that we weren’t in the business of making plans and overheads, but in the business of mining and smelting copper. . . . If we had been in the business of making presentations, we would be doing a lot better than we were.” He left the company after one year.

We’ve all experienced the problem of all talk, but no action. What would it mean for you to reach out to someone in your workplace with an act of love? What are the needs of people around you at work? How can you address those needs with more than words? How can you bear witness to your faith and help create a more caring and trustworthy world? You could ask these same questions about your neighborhood, community, school, and church.

In a culture of narcissism, it’s so easy to become self-absorbed and preoccupied with our own lives.

I don’t know what there is for you and me to do this week. All I know is that there is someone who needs us. Someone needs you.

Questions for personal reflection, online discussion, or small groups:

Read 1 John 3:16-24. What does it mean to lay down our lives for others in the office or workplace? In the neighborhood and community, at school, or at home?
What are the needs of people around you at work? How can you address those needs with more than words?
What would it mean for you to reach out to someone in your workplace with an act of love? How can you bear witness to your faith and help create a more caring and trustworthy world?
Consider some practical ways to encourage people this week:
o Send an email
o Write a card
o Make a call
o Show up in someone’s office door
o Get together for lunch or coffee
o Invite someone to your home
o Listen with your undivided attention

Wake Up to the Sacred: An Interview with Barbara Brown Taylor (Interview)

Becky Garrison — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

After working as a parish priest for 15 years, Barbara Brown Taylor (www.barbarabrowntaylor.com) left her parish position to become a religion professor at Piedmont College in 1998. In her book Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith, she shares her experience of wandering through the vocational wilderness to discern where God was calling her to serve.

What prompted you to write Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith?

I wrote the book seven years after leaving parish ministry, which was a painful and unexpected change for me. In all that time, I had not read or heard anyone speak of the vocational wilderness I had gone through—so I decided to write the book I wished I could have read.

When you were ordained, you say you got exactly what you wanted. But as you observe in this book, you didn't realize how much this would hurt. How so?

At a concrete level, I didn't realize how much my neck would hurt when dozens of people leaned over to lay hands on my head! At a more visceral level, I didn't realize how much being ordained would cost me in terms of my own relationship with God. In a weird way, the demands of doing the job kept me away from the resources I needed to do the job at all.

Any words of advice for others whose dream job has turned sour?

Pay attention both to the dream, which may need revising, and to the sourness, which may be a great prompt to rethink the relationship between your role and your soul. Most of us will have more than one job in our working lives, which means we will have more than one opportunity to seek meaningful work at different stages of our own deepening humanity.

What would you say to others who feel they are in a job where like you, they can't find the time anymore to be quiet or still or pray?

Pay attention to the costs of living without that time and decide if you are willing to keep footing the bill. The older I get, the clearer my priorities are. I don't have time for a job that doesn't leave me time to be quiet or still or to pray. I have already moved once and changed jobs twice in order to protect a still space in my life—so I know I can do it again.

Any words of counsel for those who, like you, feel they are burned out in their job but feel they can't leave due to this economy?

Again, I think every person has to weigh the costs of staying put versus the costs of leaving his or her own particular situation. If I had young children, I would probably work a cash register to make sure they had health benefits. Still, I know people who lost jobs they were not burned out on who say how much they have benefited from learning to live on less.

How do you see your work at Piedmont College as a calling?

The short answer is that I can construe any job that involves working with other human beings as a calling. The longer answer is that I love working with young adults who are making major decisions about how they will live, what they will value, how they will think, and what they will do for a living. Learning how to serve them without doing their work for them is a high calling for me.

What spiritual practices do you use in your current job to keep you from getting burned out again?

Teaching is a good job for an introvert. I am actually expected to spend time in the library! Silence and solitude remain essential spiritual practices for me. Without time to read, think, and pray, I doubt I would have anything worthwhile to say. On the job, I am aware of practicing holy listening as well as a kind of community building that strikes me as sacred. In my classroom, every student has a voice and an honored place at the table. The Golden Rule rules.

How did your spiritual life deepen once you left ordained ministry?

There was more time to read, think, and pray, for one thing. I was also freed to seek God in riskier ways, without worrying that I would lead anyone in my congregation to follow me over a cliff. Pastors are representative people whose words and deeds have consequences for the members of their churches. What I say and do still has consequences for my students and my college, but the stakes are different. Academic freedom is a terrific perk.

Why are you concerned about the church's intellectualization of the faith?

The most important reason is because I don't read the gospels as intellectual treatises. On the night before he died, with all the conceptual truths in the world at his disposal, Jesus asked his disciples to share food and wash feet—apparently trusting these physical practices to teach his followers what they needed to know when he was no longer around to teach them himself. It is very hard to intellectualize food and feet. When I ask Christians to tell me about their faith, 99.9% of them tell me what they believe. Just once, I would love to hear someone describe faith in terms of how he or she lives.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by saying that the call to serve God is first and foremost the call to be fully human?

Sure. I say that first of all to flush the low opinions most Christians have of what it means to be human. This always strikes me as odd, since the Christian church has gone to such trouble through the centuries to assert Jesus' full humanity. So I focus on the word "full," suspecting that both Jesus and the church have something to teach me about what it means to live fully into my humanity with other people and all creation. If I don't start there, then my service to God risks being so spiritual that it is really no earthly good.

Why do you compare your prayer life to hanging laundry on the line?

That passage comes from An Altar in the World where I speak of hanging laundry on the line as an act of devotion—each garment serving as a prayer flag, a tactile and spirit

Being an Agent (Ramblin' Dan)

Dan Roloff — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

In our celebrity -driven culture, we’re aware of the role that agents play. They represent their clients in many ways. Usually when we think about agents, we’re thinking about money. Agents represent their clients in financial negotiations. Although agents may serve their clients in other ways, negotiating a favorable contract is what we expect them to do.

Have you ever thought or daydreamed about being an agent? It could be cool representing a pro athlete, a movie star, an author, or some other celebrity. Imagine walking into a meeting and announcing, “I represent Ms. Big Shot Client.” What an ego boost that would be. People would see us differently. To paraphrase Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, we could really be somebody.

So let me tell you about an opportunity. The most influential man the world has ever known is looking for agents to represent him. Jesus wants you and me to serve as his agents representing him to the world. He wants us to act on his behalf in our everyday life situations at home, at work, and in the community. When people see us, Jesus wants them to see him. Everything that we do needs to reflect the love of Christ.

We may not think that we’re worthy to be Jesus' agent, but we have been chosen to represent him. God’s faith in us needs to be reciprocated. God’s grace is sufficient, the Spirit is our guide. We are agents of Jesus.

Serve him well.

Male-Female Relationships in the Workplace (Bible Reflection)

Mary E. DeMuth — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

We met in another city over lunch to talk about social media. He spoke of his wife; I talked about my husband and family. Our conversation began a good professional relationship that continues.

Another business acquaintance shared dinner around a table with other professionals. He commented on how I looked, letting his eyes linger. I got that sick feeling in my stomach, making the choice to avoid this man. We've not maintained a business relationship.

In the professional world, we encounter people of the opposite sex on a daily basis. How we navigate those relationships with integrity is important. Some create strict guidelines while others avoid guidelines at all. The crux, as in everything, is to honestly seek God as we navigate our opposite sex relationships. Here are five questions to ask yourself as you evaluate your professional interactions:

1. Would I be completely at ease if my spouse saw my interaction with this person?

Thinking through how my meeting (or email interactions) would affect my spouse is a huge indicator of what I should do and how I should act. Those who are single can ask that same question of their best friend. Would he/she think my conversations or messaging with this person demonstrates integrity?

When I meet with male colleagues, I let my husband know. I tell him when I have phone meetings. A good friend of mine CCs his wife on correspondence with me, and he talks with her about me.

The apostle Paul has some wise words for every area of life, including our relationships with the opposite sex: "Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel" (Phil. 1:27). Even Paul uses the "other person" test here. He tells the Philippians that he will hear of their antics, whether they're standing firm or not.

2. How does the way I interact show my belief in the equality between men and women in God's eyes?

It's important we don't shun the opposite sex out of fear, relegating ourselves to same-sex relationships for the sake of perceived propriety. Paul wrote: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28). Because of Jesus' radical act on the cross, he created equity in every sector of society, including the sexes. And by his grace and integrity, we can pursue professional relationships with the opposite sex.

The workplace is typically not segregated. Neither is the church. We will best reflect the heart of God and his love for all people if we walk alongside men and women at work. I'm grateful for my male colleagues, appreciative of their perspectives. I wouldn't be where I am professionally without input from both genders.

3. Am I creating significant emotional boundaries by building into my marriage (or if I'm single, my friendships) and speaking well of my family?

The best way to maintain your integrity in your opposite-sex relationships is to keep the home fires burning. If you spend time building into your marriage or significant relationships, seeking your partner's good, choosing selflessness, your need to look elsewhere for praise and validation will wane.

The best boundary I've found is not necessarily a physical one; it's an emotional one. I feel safe when a businessman talks about his family frequently, when he praises his spouse publicly.

4. Am I keeping secrets?

Are you relishing a coworker's emails? Looking forward to a lunch break? Do you harbor feelings for someone? The painful way out is this: Walk in the light. If you're keeping secrets, something is wrong. I know it may hurt but make a choice to tell your spouse or a very good friend. If you struggle in this area, give a friend permission to ask the hard questions.

5. Have I decided on mutual boundaries with my spouse or accountability partner?

Decide together what kind of boundaries you'll both approve. Some might include: no car rides alone, quick disclosure if you feel someone's getting too close, full access to both email accounts at any time, the ability to question any attachment. It's better to go forward in your professional life with a boundary plan than to have to encounter uncomfortable situations without forethought. Plan now. And remember, that plan will actually free you to interact with integrity in all your relationships.

It is possible to have integrity in our business relationships. And as we interact well with our colleagues, we demonstrate the uncanny truth that God loves all people, male and female, that it's possible to keep business interactions pure.

Questions for Reflection:

Think about your professional interactions with the opposite sex. Would your spouse or a close Christian friend think your conversations and messages demonstrate integrity?
Read Mark Roberts' devotion on Exodus 20:14. Why do you think sexual sin is such a plague in our society?
In our interview with Lauren Winner, she says, "Sexual temptation often gets used as an excuse not to have meaningful professional relationships with the opposite sex. If the men won't have lunch with women, that promotes an old boy's network that is really bad for women in the workplace." How can you help promote fairness and equality in your workplace?
Are you facing sexual temptation in the workplace? We urge you to get help now. Talk with a trusted counselor, pastor, or Christian friend.

Stand Firm (Audio)

Howard Butt, Jr. — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Talk about no options! The Children of Israel were fleeing Egypt. Before them lay the Red Sea. On either side were vast deserts. Coming up from behind: the most powerful army on earth. Every direction was certain doom. Who can fight enemies coming on all sides? Then came the order from Moses: “Stand firm. The Lord will fight for you.”

This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. These days in particular, many of us feel that troubles are big and options are few. Then as now, however, when you see no way out, the Bible’s words ring ever true. “Stand firm.” When options fail, the Lord will fight for you . . . in the high calling of our daily work.

Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. (Ex .14:13)

The Parable of the Hostile Administrator (Personal Reflection)

Christopher Smith — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

"Good morning," I said innocently to the office administrator as I came in to work on the first day of my summer job on a factory loading dock.

I was so stunned by her reply that I nearly fell over.

In a bitter retort laced with profanity, she demanded to know what was so good about it. She gave me a lingering hostile glance before turning away.

One of the older workers took me aside. "Don't let her bother you," he said sympathetically. "She's always in a bad mood. It's been like that for as long as I've worked here. She's that way with everybody."

My experience in the days ahead confirmed that this administrator truly was in a bad mood every single day. Even though I made a sincere and consistent effort to be kind and friendly, this seemed to have no effect.

After I'd worked for a few weeks on the loading dock, I was shifted to the maintenance crew. I was assigned to clean her part of the building! I cringed as I anticipated the kind of comments she might make as our paths crossed. Even though she wasn't my supervisor, I was sure she'd have plenty to say about my work.

Honorable Work in the Christian Tradition

Then I remembered a line from a poem I'd studied in one of my literature classes in college that spring. George Herbert wrote in "The Elixir":

"A servant with this clause makes drudgery divine: Who sweeps a room, as for Thy laws, makes that and the action fine."

In other words, when Christians are doing even so humble a task as sweeping, they can make a room, and their act of service, "fine" or beautiful by doing it in obedience to God. It doesn't matter what anyone else says about it. The real audience for our work is in heaven.

Martin Luther King, Jr., once said something very similar: "If a man is called to be a street sweeper . . . he should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven will pause to say, 'There lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.' "

A Biblical Call to Honorable Work

The advice these godly men were giving is solidly biblical. Peter wrote in his first epistle, for example, that we should give excellent service "in reverent fear of God . . . not only to those masters who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh" (1 Pet. 2:18). We can do this because our service really is being offered to God, not to those masters.

I didn't know this at the time, but the word translated "harsh" here can be translated more literally as "crooked," in the sense of a path that keeps turning off course. (Luke uses the same Greek word when he quotes Isaiah's prophesy that every "crooked" path will be made straight, Luke 3:5.) The term could apply to a master or boss who kept leaving the path of respectable authority. But it could also apply to someone who took a friendly greeting and turned it aside, making it the occasion for a caustic confrontation. In that case, Peter's words applied directly to my situation with the hostile administrator!

Even though I didn't know all this then, I knew enough to recognize that I couldn't use the woman's belligerence as an excuse for not doing my best. And so I told God that, no matter what she might say, I'd do my sweeping for Him. (And was it my imagination, or did her attitude begin to soften after that?)

One day I was working my way down a long hallway. I was concentrating on getting the dust and grime out from under the base heaters, so I didn't notice that someone was coming until I heard them stop right next to me. I looked up and saw that it was this administrator! I flinched as she looked at me, then at the floor, and then back at me. But for the second time that summer, I nearly fell over when she spoke.

"You do good work," she said.

Questions for personal reflection, online discussion, or small groups:

Read and reflect on 1 Peter 2:18-21:

. . . submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.
. . . To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

Do you know someone like the hostile manager? How do you respond to people like this?
How can you make your daily work an act of obedience to God?

Subtle Evil II (Ramblin' Dan)

Dan Roloff — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

In a continuing vigilance toward the workings of subtle evil and its insinuation in our daily lives, there are some concerns to note. There are many good causes in the world . . . all of them are worthy of our time, money, and efforts. Yet, we don’t have unlimited time, resources, or energy to help everywhere.

What are we to do?

To start, we stay in prayer. Communication with Christ helps us discern our proper path. Study the gospels and see Jesus’ clear plan for his life’s mission. He wasn’t dissuaded from his path of obedience. The temptations in the desert are the clearest examples, but there were other opportunities to veer from the mission set before him. Jesus stayed the course.

What often happens with us is that we get busy doing the next thing. Our focus on the big picture of our mission gets blurred. Someone comes to us with a great idea or an emotional plea, and we find it difficult to resist. It is a worthy cause or good idea after all. So we incorporate a new idea into our mission. It distracts us just slightly. But over time, we begin to devote more time, more money, and more effort into the new idea. Slowly, it becomes part of our mission, and we adjust.

Another idea or cause comes along and the cycle repeats itself. Now we find ourselves still doing great work but not exactly the work we were called to do. We adjust our mission to include new initiatives. Without stopping to analyze how each new idea, appeal, or initiative fits our overall mission, we find ourselves in a situation where we have several slightly differing missions, which are all good but not the one mission we were called to carry out.

This is how subtle evil works. There is nothing bad about doing good. However, if we allow outside issues, no matter how worthy, to distract us from our mission, we’ve given in to the temptation that Jesus resisted. Gradually we ask ourselves, “Why haven’t we accomplished more?” or “How did we get here?”

Reviewing our mission, whether personal or professional, requires vigilance.

Perspective on Sin (Ramblin' Dan)

Dan Roloff — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

We all have a perspective on issues that face us daily. The more convinced we are of our singular perspective, the more potential there is for damaged relationships. It’s easy to convince ourselves of how right we are and how righteous is our way of thinking. What becomes difficult is to consider an opposite point of view.

The perspective of those we work with can become an opportunity for growth or the stagnation that leads to destruction. (See "Them Midlife Blues.") Can we repent of the sin against each other, or do we save our repentance only for sin against the Lord? In failing to acknowledge our wrongs against others, we fail to recognize the principles Jesus set before. Our sins against others are our sins against Christ.

If we can’t be obedient in our everyday relationships, then how can we truly be obedient to Christ? Unless, of course, we’ve made Christ in our own image. Jesus taught us to serve one another, love one another, and to submit to one another.

When it comes to our own perspective, we can stand where we are and demand that others repent, or we can face the lonely path of repentance. We can turn away from our self-destructive behaviors that place the blame on others, or we can confess our own failings. We can recognize the sin in our lives and not the sin in other people’s lives.

God Be in My Work (Audio)

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

In the 1300s, a merchant guild built a magnificent cathedral in Coventry, England. Its chapels honored different vocations.

Coventry Cathedral was bombed in World War II. When a new church was built alongside the ruins, engraved panels replaced the chapels.

One reads:

Hallowed be Thy Name in Industry:
God be in my hands and in my making.

Another reads:

Hallowed be Thy Name in Commerce:
God be at my desk and in my trading.

And another:

Hallowed be Thy Name in Government:
God be in my plans and in my deciding.

This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. Always remember that you can declare God’s name holy by whatever you do well. It’s the high calling of our daily work.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done . . . (Matt. 6:9-10)

God Calls Us to Be Leaders Wherever We Are (Bible Reflection)

Gary Klingsporn — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

My wife Debra and I were sitting on a park bench overlooking a small lake. We were having our morning coffee and talking about the day ahead—the ordinary stuff of life. When our two daughters' names came up, Debra suddenly paused and got a faraway look in her eyes.

After a long silence she said: "My job description as I've known it as a mother for the last twenty years is coming to an end. Soon I'll no longer be able to bury my face in the smell of their soft morning wake-up hair. I won't be running last-minute things up to the school anymore. They won't come bounding in the door, full of life, at the end of the day. The defining priorities of my life as a 'mom' will end. My world is about to be redefined. I don't know what my new job description is going to be."

Then with a tear in her eye she said, "There's a loss in that."

Together we sat in the silence of the morning sun, the wind on the water, the trees stirring in the breeze. Debra had just named our new reality as empty nesters. In its own strange way, that moment became a sacred moment. Something holy happened. In an ordinary conversation on an ordinary morning, we suddenly felt the presence of God.

The story is about calling and vocation. It's about the extraordinary breaking into the ordinary. It's about hearing and responding to the call of God in our lives.

In Exodus 3, Moses was herding ordinary sheep on an ordinary day in the wilderness of Sinai. There was a bush—an ordinary, scrubby bush. Suddenly the holy happened. Everything was transformed. Nothing in Moses' life was ever the same again.

Calling, vocation, purpose is often revealed through our own experience of the call of God. It is always a sacred or holy moment, no matter how small.

When the Holy Happens

When we experience God's presence, or God speaks to us, all is transformed. He tells Moses, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground" (Exo. 3:5).

God's holiness requires respectful distance, but God's presence also transforms everything at hand. The burning bush in the barren, lonely desert of Sinai is a sign that God often comes and graces the lowly. He appears in the common places of life.

We can experience God's presence anywhere, anytime, at work, school, home. God's presence happens to ordinary people going about their ordinary routines. So it's important to be watching and listening for those moments. It is the only way to avoid the common disconnect between our faith and our daily life and work.

The words of Frederick Buechner come to mind:

"Taking your children to school and kissing your wife goodbye. Eating lunch with a friend. Trying to do a decent day's work. Hearing the rain patter against the window. There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it, always hiddenly, always leaving you room to recognize him or not to recognize him, but all the more fascinatingly because of that, all the more compellingly and hauntingly. . . . Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness—touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it—because in the last analysis, all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace" (Now and Then, Harper & Row, 1983, p. 87).

God Calls Us

God does call Moses to a specific task. He says, "I have seen the suffering of my people in Egypt; I have heard their cry; and I have come down to deliver them. . . . So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people out of Egypt" (Exo. 3:7-8, 10). There is work to be done.

The specific tasks of our work are part of our calling and vocation. Martin Luther saw all means of livelihood and productive work—even the most mundane and unpleasant labor—as marks of Christian vocation and response to God. John Calvin said that all our actions, not just our work, are a response to God's calling. Taken seriously, this means that our work and all we do in daily life are our vocation. All work given us by God is therefore holy and is done as a service to God.

In our day, Parker Palmer has spoken of the importance of listening inwardly for the call of God: "Vocation does not come from willfulness. It comes from listening. . . . Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear. . . . It comes from a voice 'in here' calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God" (Let Your Life Speak, Jossey-Bass 2000, pp. 4, 10).

The story of Moses invites us to take off our shoes and listen for the voice of God's call, God's guidance, and reassurance. God told Moses, "So come, I will send you to bring my people out of Egypt."

What is your calling, your vocation? What is the work to which God calls you? Are you living out your calling?

It is helpful to think in terms of your various callings in your work, relationships, leisure, family, and community. In his book, Vocation: Discerning Our Callings in Life, Douglas Schuurman distinguishes the primary calling of all Christians to love God and neighbor, from the multiple particular callings in which we carry out the command to love.

Are you living out your callings in your different roles in life?

But Who Am I?

Moses' initial response to God was, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" (Exo. 3:11). What a human moment! The call was overwhelming and filled with risk. Moses felt fearful and inadequate. He was reluctant to go.

Don't we all feel that way at one time or another? Just as it isn't always easy to hear God's call in our lives, it isn't easy to live out our call. But we don't have to do it on our own, nor can we.

God tells Moses, "I will be with you" (v. 12). While in the remainder of the story Moses offered further objections to the divine call, eventually he goes. God's "I will be with you" sustained him from the mud-pits of Egypt all the way to Mt. Nebo.

The story of God's call in Moses' life invites us to reflect on our own calling and vocation. Our work and all we do in daily life are a response to God's call. We discern our calling and vocation by listening for God, and we are promised God's presence as we live our call daily.

That same promise of divine presence gives us hope in our journeys. Created, redeemed, and called by God, we also are given the assurance of God'

The Curtain Also Rises (Personal Reflection)

Dena Dyer — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

"Here they are—our functional family version of a popular sixties' folk-rock vocal group," announced our coworker, Linda.

My castmates Russ and Wendy Hearn, my husband Carey and I—dressed up as the "Mamas and the Papas"—stood behind the theater curtain, ready to entertain the audience with a medley of "Monday, Monday" and "California Dreamin'."

But nothing happened. The audience squirmed, we shrugged, and the curtain remained closed. As Linda struggled to come up with some witty banter about live theater and how mistakes make us seem more human, the four of us looked at one another, mouthing, "What's going on?"

A Great Team Knows How to Improvise

Russ (who's also the show's creative and musical director), and the technical crew scrambled to fix the faulty mechanism preventing the curtain from opening. T.J., another cast member, did a bit of stand-up for the crowd. Then the singers fanned out into the audience and chatted with our fans, while the concession and box office employees offered free coffee and cookies.

It was just another day at the office for Rockbox Theater, a professional Christian-owned music theater in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Rehearsing and performing with T.J., Linda, Russ, Wendy, and our bandmates—Mark, Cass, and Jacob—is never boring . . . and always rewarding. As Christians and coworkers (most of us have been together for over a decade), we thank God every day that we have jobs we love, with people we actually like. It's especially unusual to find people with small egos, servant spirits, and laidback attitudes in the entertainment business.

God has truly given us a unique situation. We've all put in time on the road as touring musicians, and being able to tuck our kids in at night is no small gift. So is the fact that we truly are a team, and we're each others' biggest fans.

Teams Celebrate Together . . . and Suffer Together

That team mentality comes in handy when curtains break—or when tragedies happen. Three years ago, one of our partners in a previous theater was killed in a motorcycle wreck on his way to Fredericksburg to scout a new location for us. Tom was a friend, mentor, and father figure.

His death left a gaping hole in our hearts and the organization. And it made us question whether we should go ahead with plans to relocate our families to the hill country. A lot of sleepless nights and worn-out knees followed Tom's untimely death,as did spiritual growth and a new maturity.

As we all listened to God's guidance, separately and corporately, we forged a new bond of friendship and unity. No more were we kids playing at jobs too fun to be considered work.

Now, we had adult decisions to make: selling homes, training cast members (some of the entertainers from our previous theater were unable to move with us), finding new residences, enrolling our children in new schools, and keeping our sense(s) of humor and sanity intact.

It wasn't easy . . . and it still isn't. But God affirmed our move every step of the way, and Rockbox Theater is now thriving. The community has overwhelmed us with support and enthusiasm, and with God's help, we've found new friends, churches, schools, and fans that bless us way more than we could ever hope to bless them.

Our workplace isn't perfect, but we're growing in Christ, and each week when the curtain rises (hopefully!), we pray that God will allow us to release His joy to the people sitting in the seats, who've carved time out of their schedules and pocketbooks to support us.

And we continue to be amazed that we get paid to have this much fun.

Questions for personal reflection, online discussion, or small groups:

Reflect on Ecclesiastes 4:12: "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."
Who do you defend? Who are two people that you can rely on in tough times?
How healthy is the team you work with? What can you change about your actions or attitudes to help those teams function better this week?

They Will Know We Are Christians (Ramblin' Dan)

Dan Roloff — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Dwight Lacy, chief financial officer of our organization, recently returned from a reunion at Harvard. While there, he ran into fellow Harvard MBA alum Andy Wasynczuk. Since 1988 when Robert Kraft bought the old Sullivan Stadium until 2005, when the Patriots won their third Superbowl, Wasynczuk worked for the Kraft family and served as Gillette Stadium’s and the New England Patriot's chief operating officer.

What has impressed Dwight is Andy’s commitment to live out his Christian faith in all he does. As a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at Harvard, Wasynczuk is in a unique position to influence future business leaders. He told the Boston Globe :

"So much of our society tends to glorify the individual, and sometimes the results end up well below the kind of output that people banding together for a purpose bigger than themselves would achieve—and that is true in the business world. To reinforce that message with the next generation of leaders is really important."

This is an example of how Christians act as culture-shapers in society. Church historians, such as Norbert Brox and Justo Gonzalez, believe that the quality of life in the community of believers attracted many people to the first-century church. The relational message of Jesus, to love one another, is a missing element in evangelism today. At the Foundations for Laity Renewal, we believe it’s the responsibility of every Christian to reflect the qualities of the Kingdom as we influence those around us through kingdom principles. As the song tells us, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”

Education in the Faith (Ramblin' Dan)

Dan Roloff — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

It is increasingly apparent that there is a strong need for theological education today. This is not only important in our seminaries for the clergy but also in our churches for the people in the pews. As followers of Jesus, we need a strong education in the faith.

Armed with theological understanding, the concept of Jesus as fulfillment of the Law becomes clearer. It can be discussed theologically and infused into the daily lives of the Christian community. The Scriptures are given to a community and need discussion within the community. The entire Church receives the vision for God's plan and the responsibility for carrying out that plan. The plan is embodied by Jesus' relational ministry, his message of love.

Putting theological and relational leadership into implementation calls us to work with God as co-creators. Creativity is what separates Adam from the other animals. He was, as we are, created in God's image. Although we are finite beings, we share with God the attribute of creativity. We have the ability to imagine possibilities and take those possibilities and bring them into being through our actions. We take what is and apply new ideas to generate something new.

Trinitarian servant leadership is the fulfillment of the commonly held notion of servant leadership. Where Jesus gives us the model of the servant as leader, the paradox that is a glimpse of the relationship between the Father and the Son, he also promises us an advocate. This advocate is the Spirit of unity. The Holy Spirit provides the unity necessary to make sense of the paradox of the servant leader.

Through theological understanding, we are able to create patterns of behavior, servant leadership, that advances society through the teachings of Christ.

Gains of Unemployment (Personal Reflection)

Adelani Aderemi — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

The late 1980s were the days of military dictatorship in Nigeria with its attendant consequences on the national economy. I received my Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in July 1987 in Nigeria.

Looking for Stable Work in an Unstable World

I didn’t receive a job offer until October 1990, when I accepted the position of Trainee Programmer in a Computer Software company. For four years I worked without commensurate reward. The business was growing, but the workers were not allowed to grow. Finally, I had to leave, after working without a salary for over thirteen months.

Then some friends and I started a business venture which failed after two years. It started as partnership problems. But while we were grappling with those, Nigeria erupted in a riot on June 12, 1994, when the Federal Military Government cancelled the results of a Presidential election. The riot was repeated a year later at Ibadan and most of the southwestern states. Many souls were lost in these riots.

We survived, but our business did not. So we packed up in 1996 with debts and hard feelings.

I left Ibadan city for Kano in the North only to join another sole-proprietorship. (We call it a “one-man business.”) I served there four years (1996-2000), but there were no standard policies. Everything happened at the whims of the CEO. For better or worse, I quit this job to look for reliable pay and job satisfaction.

Since I had no capital of my own and banks were no-go areas with their stiff interest rates and impossible collaterals, I teamed up again with some friends to start another business venture. This business failed again. I lost my investment three months prior to my wedding in October 2001.

Building a Stable Marriage in an Unstable World

I did marry, but my new wife, Suzan, and I were about to face seven years of trouble. Suzan lost her job. I lost my father. We lost money and valuables to armed robbers. We saw the vanity of relying upon others for help even as we saw the ways God used His saints to help us in our moments of need. And we had our son, Tayo.

Those years were a mixture of pain and joy for us. Humanly speaking, we failed, but God opened doors for us to prosper in the affairs of the Spirit.

I found temporary employment again as an IT Administrator on August 13, 2007. Looking back over these seven years, I can testify that a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. I have learned that if a man finds a good wife, he has found a treasure. And I learned to accept responsibility for my actions.

During those years, I struggled with the sickness of male chauvinism until I could accept God’s healing. God helped me overcome my struggles with alcohol abuse as well. Sometimes the difficulties of being out of work added to my character flaws. I became careless. I feared uncertainty. I almost forgot how to make long-term plans.

Breathing Life into a Dead Career

But God still called my dry bones to life. And he called the dry bones of my career to life as well. They rattled as bones joined to bones. Slowly, he added ligaments, sinews, and flesh and breath entered the nostrils.

Today, I am employed again to the glory of God.

Throughout those difficult seven years, we were very poor and could not afford many things, but the Lord faithfully provided us our needs in various unexpected ways. He also gave us all the gifts money could not buy—health, peace, revelation through the knowledge of his word, fellowship of the Holy Spirit and the brethren.

He taught us to plan with Him rather than within our means. It was the only way we ever ate or paid rent. But we learned the vanity of wealth without the wisdom of God. We saw rich couples who were still unable to rest and enjoy the fruit of their labor. There were so preoccupied with sustaining their status and wealth that they had no peace.

Our home was humble, but we were learning peace. Suzan and I prayed together, wept together, and laughed together in ways that only afflictions could make possible. God used the time to remind me in particular that heaven is my home, and it’s best to travel light.

During those dark years, I devoted more time to seek the face of God in prayer and study of the word. I began to know the value of solitude. What happened to me was very painful, but God used the pain to lead me to a fountain of living water. Those years helped me to build a solid foundation for my present work and ministry. Having known the comfort of the Holy Spirit, I believe I can apply this grace to comfort others in their afflictions.

Who are you to lose hope? What is it that you are going through? Do not look at your feeble strength; do not concentrate on your weakness. Rather, thank God in your weakness, for in it God’s power is made perfect.

How tall is the giant confronting you? How mighty is the mountain on your path? Compare your giant or mountain with God himself. His footstool is the whole earth.

Questions for personal reflection, online discussion, or small groups:

Are you going through a difficult time in your career? What can you learn in the struggle?
Read the story of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14. Imagine God breathing life into you and your career and your family.
What can you be thankful for in your weakness? Thank God for those things.

God's Beloved at Work (Bible Reflection)

Gary Klingsporn — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Last year, Time photographer Anthony Suau caught a picture of a well-dressed man in a business suit standing in the middle of Wall Street. He was in front of the New York Stock Exchange on October 10, 2008, throwing his hands into the heavens in dismay as stock prices melted down. The picture vividly captured the anxiety and uncertainty of people during a difficult time in America. An accompanying article spoke of "the signs of trouble" everywhere, from For Sale and Foreclosure signs on the lawns of suburban homes to losses of jobs, savings, and retirement. The article read, "The dark mood grew darker as the months ticked by and the credit crunch driving the U.S. economy's slow-motion topple accelerated into a full-blown crash."

We all experience life like that at one time or another. For any number of personal reasons (health, stress, aging, grief, loss) we all stand like that man, looking up, our hands lifted to the heavens. We all experience pain, loss, vulnerability, the uncertainty of the future. These are difficult and painful realities of human life as we experience them.

The Beloved: Who Jesus Is and Who We Are

In Mark's Gospel, the story of Jesus' baptism can help us address these painful experiences. When Jesus comes to the Jordan River to be baptized, a heavenly voice says, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." From the very beginning of the story, Mark wants us to know who Jesus is: Son of God and Servant of all.

The primary thrust of the baptism story is Christological—to reveal Jesus' identity as the Beloved of God. In his baptism, we see who Jesus is, but we also begin to learn who we are as followers of Jesus. In our baptism that same voice comes to us and says, "You are my Beloved." When we rise from the waters of baptism, we are named God's beloved sons and daughters. In a world filled with all kinds of other voices, in our baptism God gives us a new name, a new identity, as sheer gift. Our new identity has profound implications for the way we understand our lives.

(See Henri Nouwen's Life of the Beloved as one example of the development of this theme.)

The Gift of God's Power and Spirit

Mark says that Jesus saw "the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on him." As Jesus is given the gift of God's Spirit in baptism, so in our baptism God gives us the gift of the Spirit—the promise of God's enabling and empowering presence in our lives. For example, the Holy Spirit is the sustaining presence and the animating power of God at work in the life of the church and the individual. The Spirit gives us guidance and the unique gifts (charisma) we need to conduct our daily lives and work.

So in those times in our lives when we stand with our arms lifted to the heavens, looking up in fear, pain, grief, or uncertainty (the man on Wall Street), there is always that Voice saying to us, whether we can hear it or not: "You are my Beloved—my son, my daughter. I have put my Spirit upon you. I am with you always."

We Are Sent Daily to Live Our Calling

Blessed with our identity as "the Beloved," and given the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are sent to do God's work in the world. The rest of Mark's Gospel describes how Jesus fulfilled the mission given to him by God. We also are sent daily to live out the callings God has given us. Martin Luther said that our baptism is the sign of God's call to live out our faith in our daily work, our families, and relationships. In baptism, we are called to a common vocation—to serve God by loving and serving our neighbor. Luther said it this way:

"Only look at your tools, your needle, your thimble, your beer barrel, your articles of trade, your scales, your measures, and you will read this saying written on them. . . . 'My dear, use me toward your neighbor as you would want him to act toward you with that which is his'" (quoted in Barbara Brown Taylor, The Preaching Life, Cowley 1993, p. 29).

In other words, our everyday work is God's work. In baptism we are set apart as God's people to share Christ's ministry in the world. Each of us has a calling from God. Barbara Brown Taylor goes on to describe every Christian's divine vocation "to see the hand of God at work in the world and to see one's own hands as necessary to that work. Whether those hands are diapering an infant, assembling an automobile, or balancing a corporate account, they are God's hands, claimed by God at baptism for the accomplishment of God's will on earth."

The Voice Is Always There

When life becomes difficult and the way grows dark. When we hurt and fail one another, or lose someone we love. When faith grows dim. When our work grows wearisome. When we face an uncertain future. When we lift our hands to the heavens in fear or pain—like the man on Wall Street—the Voice is always there: "You are my Beloved, gifted by my Spirit, called and sent to join me at work in the world. Do not fear, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine. You are precious in my sight and honored, and I love you. Do not fear, for I am with you" (Isa. 43:1-5). "Beloved" is our name. And that makes all the difference!

Questions for Reflection:

Read the story of Jesus' baptism in Mark 1:9-11. What does this teach us about the identity of Jesus? Who do you believe Jesus is?
Have you been baptized? If so, remember the experience. How can you act more like God's beloved child this week?

Release Hate (Audio)

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Justin had reason to hate. His business partner had cheated him out of years of profits. Finally, one day, sick of the hate, Justin began to forgive.

At first, he simply worked to see his former partner as a human being. Little by little, he began to release hate's grip on his mind. Each day, forgiving and forgiving again, Justin reclaimed the energy his life had lost.

This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. True forgiveness is neither simple nor quick. In fact, it can be wrenching. But the only thing worse than letting go of hate and anger is letting hate and anger keep their grip on you. Justin learned that the one who loves loses the least . . . in the high calling of our daily work.

Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Matt. 6:12)

Who Did the Work Before You Did? (Ramblin' Dan)

Dan Roloff — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Looking at the history of the church can be daunting. With more than two thousand years to survey, we are left to sweeping generalizations. (Here's an example: The Reformation was a direct response to the selling of indulgences.) We reduce a very complex geo-political and theological conflict to some marginal issue that purports moral superiority. But history is not that simple.

There have always been shifts in church culture from its earliest days. Within the New Testament, we see church culture shift from a band of Jewish followers of Jesus to a diverse group of Greeks, Romans and Jews. We follow these early years of church history very closely.

At the end of the first century, we begin to shift form. Rather than follow the growth of the church from year to year, we begin to look at it by century and era. An era is a range of time generally speaking , and in this case, we refer to era as a range of time that includes more than one century. We speak of the Dark Ages, a period of time ranging from eight hundred to one thousand years. Commonly, people think of that era as having a limited influence on the church or causing changes so minor that they could all be linked together. Neither of these conclusions are valid, but we look for handles and sweeping generalizations to make sense of a world long past.

This understanding of church history has relevance for us today, in our daily lives and work. We have a tendency to look at history year to year or maybe decade to decade. In our own lives and the lives of our families, we celebrate yearly events and share memories of birthdays, anniversaries, and other family events. We share stories. Most of our stories center on three generations: parents, grandparents, and children. Rarely do we go beyond that range. So we know less and less about our roots and what makes up certain elements of our character as time moves forward.

At our jobs, the same is true except for an overarching theme that may drive the vision of the company. The Levi Straus story serves as a reminder to employees of Levi. Likewise Coca Cola employees know the story of Dr. John Stith Pemberton, founder of Coke. The image of the founder may carry the vision, but the work of the thousands of employees gets lost or combined into one story of the culture of a company. Yet each individual story matters in shaping that culture. Not each story is recorded. Even the founding story gets glossed and used for the purpose of the new generation, but all of these stories together create the company's culture.

You may or may not know the story of your predecessor where you work, but that person still influences the workplace. The functions and values of a workplace really depend in large measure on the people who came before us. We can ignore the people, but we cannot ignore the legacy of their influence. It exists as the spirit of the company.

Understanding history makes a difference. It serves as a helpful guide and informs future decisions. The positive as well as the negative issues are important as we look to the future. Ignoring history doesn't make it go away. We just repeat patterns without knowing why.

Trying to understand our family histories or our work histories helps us to make better decisions. Our Christian faith is rooted in history and understanding God's story and how it unfolds in our lives connects us to something beyond ourselves. We become connected to His story and not just our story.

Who Are You? (Ramblin' Dan)

Dan Roloff — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

A college professor of mine once said, "You aren't who you think you are. You aren't who others think you are. You are who you think other people think you are." You might think that's just a bunch of double speak, but I find wisdom in those words.

We all have an image of ourselves. It's an image we carry out into public. Then people develop their own image of who we are. Our self-image and the way people see us are different. We aren't really either one of those images. Instead, we begin to project how others think of us, and this can occupy our thoughts. It begins to shape how we act, how we respond. It's like the eagle who thought he was a chicken. He was hatched among chickens, grew up among chickens, and thought he was a chicken.

At our Laity Lodge Youth Camp, we have a final night "Say So" where campers can share what the time at camp has meant to them. Over the years, a common theme arises in the responses: "This is a place where I can really be myself." What a wonderful gift that is, a place where we can really be ourselves. What's sad is that by the time we're teenagers, we've begun to base our self -image on what we perceive others think of us.

Throughout the gospels, Jesus delivers a consistent message about whose opinion we should value. Our image is tied to what God wants for us. Followers of Christ should think differently than other people. The Beatitudes explain this. John chapters twelve through seventeen deliver this message directly. The way the world thinks does not match the expectations of God.

We aren't who we think others think we are. We are Christ's and his alone. It's a message the campers at LLYC hear for two weeks every year. While they are at camp, they internalize this message and feel it and know it. It's a message that should be embedded in all of our hearts so we can live it out in our daily lives and work.

Interview with Michael Card: Writer, Musician, Theologian (Interview)

Marcus Goodyear — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Michael Card is something of a Renaissance man—part musician, part teacher, part theologian, part writer, part inspirational speaker, and radio show host. The success of his career has certainly surprised him. He has written more than 19 number one hits, including songs like "El Shaddai" and "Emmanuel."

Recently, Michael Card began speaking and leading worship at Laity Lodge retreats. At one of the retreats, we sat down to talk with him about his latest book, A Better Freedom.

At Laity Lodge retreats, you've talked a lot about servants and slaves in conjunction with your new book. Can you tell us the difference between a servant and a slave in the Bible?

I think the words are just sort of nuanced. In Greek, they're different words. A "servant" or a "diakonos" is a person who has more choices. A "doulos," which is based on the word for being "bound" is more of what you and I would think of, traditionally, as a slave—a person who has no choice; who is owned by someone else; who's given up everything, or at least, maybe everything had been taken away from him or her.

Can you talk about slavery in the New Testament, specifically?

First of all, we looked at the fact that Old Testament slavery and New Testament slavery were two fundamentally different things.

New Testament slavery was very severe—more of what you and I would have thought African-American slavery was like. There were virtually no laws to protect the slave. And, what laws there were, were usually disregarded—slaves were mutilated, branded, collared. There was not much hope.

But, there were those slaves who were at the higher echelons, who were professional people—house servants, doctors, lawyers, skilled craftsmen—who did have some hope of getting out. It was a fairly complex system.

There seem to be a lot of passages about masters and slaves. Why is this such a prevalent image in the New Testament?

That's the reason I sort of centered on the subject. It is a really pervasive image, especially owing to the fact that everyone identifies themselves as a slave or identifies themselves with slaves. I mean, Peter, Paul, John, James, Jude, Mary, Jesus' own mother, Simeon, the angel in Revelation. John falls down before the angel, and Simeon says, "I'm just a slave like you; don't do this." And then, most especially of course, Jesus, who Philippians 2 says came in the form of a "doulos," a slave.

When we read these passages, I tend to read the slave and master passages thinking about myself as an employee which is not at all fair to my employer because he doesn't treat me like a slave.

Maybe I need to talk to some of your employees!

[laughing] I don't have any. But I wonder, is there a danger in reading these passages through the lens of our workplaces?

No, not necessarily. First of all, I want people to read these passages any time and any way they can. And, the advice, especially in the household codes that Paul gives to masters, is basically great advice to a modern-day boss.

Paul says they should remember that they have a master; they have a boss, and that's Christ. And, they're subject to Him. He sees everything they do. And, they're to be kind to the slaves, and that sort of thing.

And, likewise to slaves, Paul talks about showing respect to their masters and not doing things just to be seen—not being people pleasers. It's a wonderful word to modern-day bosses and employees.

In your book, you talk about "eye slaves." Can you explain what you mean by that phrase?

I love the word; and Paul uses it twice, once in Colossians and once in Ephesians: the Greek word—ophthalmos—"eye," doulia comes from doulos, the word for "slave." When you translate that word into English, it becomes a whole sentence. It means, "those who do things only when people are watching them."

I don't know about you, Marcus, but for me, I resonated with that, because I'm an eye slave. Sometimes I do things just because I know people are watching me. If no one was watching, I wouldn't do it.

Paul says that in the household codes; but then, Jesus says the same sort of thing in Luke 22, when he says don't do things to be seen by men. Don't be like the Gentiles who lord it over each other. You're not supposed to be that way. Jesus says you're called to be slaves; you're called to be servants. It's not like that with you. You shouldn't be that way.

Romans referred to slaves as "talking tools."

Yes.

At TheHighCalling.org and at Laity Lodge, we hear from a lot of people who feel like they are nothing more than "talking tools." They feel like they're dehumanized by their work. What would you say to these people? What does the Bible say to these people?

Well, it may be true. They may be dehumanized. They may be looked upon as tools of production. I think that's probably true of a lot of companies and a lot of bosses. But, I think the word of Scripture to them is that Christ does give us, I've heard it called, a "concealed dignity" because I belong to Him, because He is my master.

Your boss doesn't own you. The big company you work for doesn't own you; but someone does. And, the Bible says He paid for you; He purchased you out of the marketplace, like a slave is purchased.

For those people who are feeling dehumanized, the Bible has a good word for them—you have a concealed dignity because someone else owns you. That would come as a good word to me, I think, if I was working for some huge corporation that treated me like a guinea pig or something. Someone else owns me, and it's not my employer.

In your book, you talk about these slave stories and slave parables that Jesus told. And you say he was telling them to a culture of slaves.

Well, certainly. When he tells those parables, there are slaves standing arou

Ministers in Our Daily Work (Audio)

Howard E. Butt, Jr. — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Do you remember Jesus' first miracle? A wedding party runs out of wine. Jesus tells the servants to fill several large jars with water, then serve some to the master of the banquet. And the water turns into wine.

In this story, who do you think are the ministers? Throughout the New Testament, the word diakonos is translated "minister." Here, the apostle John doesn't use that word to describe Jesus. Or the master of the banquet. He uses it to describe the servants who fetch the water.

This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. The servants are ministers because they do what Jesus asks. That response qualifies every Christian as a minister. When we obey God, he can work miracles—in the high calling of our daily work.

"If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." (Mark 9:35)

Modeling Christ in the Workplace Through Work Well Done (Bible Reflection)

Matthew Alexander — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Ben Edwards, the former CEO and chairman of A. G. Edwards, led his company to become one of the ten largest brokerage firms in the nation. He was also known to be a committed Christian and man of integrity. Whether on or off the job, he lived in line with a higher moral standard, and he found that higher standard in the Bible.

A Christian Leader in the Workplace

A friend of mine who worked for A. G. Edwards told me that their CEO was involved in Bible studies for professionals and was intentional about encouraging others to know and love God. He lived generously by investing his time, talent, and money into other humans as he helped to build Christ's Kingdom here on earth. He was active in his local church, in missions, and with Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis.

His executive style and formula for success were based on Jesus' Golden Rule: Treat people the way you'd want to be treated. He taught his executive team, managers, and investment advisors to practice the following simple principle: place the clients first, the employees second, and the shareholders third. He believed if you took care of the first two, the shareholders would be rewarded.

From Abstract Principles to Business Plans

To be true to these principles, Ben Edwards didn't allow A. G. Edwards to engage in several profit centers common in the financial services industry such as creating proprietary products or trading its own accounts, because they may have put the firm's interests ahead of the client's. He encouraged his financial advisors to offer only the best products and services in the business—not just to those that paid the firm or for the advisor with the biggest commissions.

His plan worked. Under his stewardship, the company grew from 40 offices to 700 nationwide with a reputation of excellence and integrity. The company was on Fortune magazine's annual list of “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” for ten straight years.

All Good Work Serves God

Dorothy Sayers often said that all work done well and for God's glory is Christian work. This means we model Christ in the workplace best when we perform our work so well and with such a good attitude that we inspire others to desire to know and worship God.

Paul explained it like this: “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve” (Col. 3:23-24).

Christians in the workplace should be motivated by our desire to glorify God and to inspire others to desire to know him. Work done well is uncommon, and it will be noticed by our colleagues and clients or patients.

God is honored when the products we create and the services we provide are excellent, based on the simple values of care, competence, and consistency. We are to care about the welfare of our clients. We are to pursue a high level of competency to enable us to deliver high quality products and services. And we should be consistent in our pursuit of excellence.

Our Work Is Also Evangelism

Those who don't know Christ may be inspired to seek him. And those who have turned their back on the church and Christianity, perhaps due to a previous bad experience with other Christians, may be influenced to reconsider Christianity.

It is too common to experience other Christians in the workplace who talk the talk but don't walk the walk. They talk about morality and Christian stuff, but their work is lousy and their attitudes are poor. They may deliver poor product to the client or treat clients poorly or complain about their jobs or slander colleagues. Such negative behavior hurts workplace morale, undermines work relationships, and adversely affects clients.

Instead, we are called to serve our clients with excellence. The quality of a Christian's work and attitude should be different from the quality of work and attitude of those who don't know Jesus. We are working for him, and therefore our work should be good. Clients should be able to clearly see the quality and value of our goods and services.

In their excellent book Your Work Matters to God, Douglas Sherman and William Hendricks write:

The key to bringing the culture and the church back together, to renewing the workplace and reforming the church—may well be a movement of people who are known for their hard work, for the excellence of their effort, for their honesty and unswerving integrity, for their concern for the rights and welfare of people, for the quality of the goods and services produced, for their leadership among coworkers—in short, for their Christ-likeness on and off the job. What could an army of such workers accomplish?

Doing excellent work with a good attitude is the right thing to do, and it is an excellent way to let our light shine on a hill so others may see it.

Questions for personal reflection, online discussion, or small groups:

Read Col. 3:23-24 again. Who do you consider your boss? How can you work for that person as if working for the Lord?
What does it look like to “love your neighbor” when your neighbor is a coworker, employer, customer, patient, student, or client?
How can we accept responsibility for doing good work with a good attitude, without rationalizing our way to workaholism and burn out?