Being whole-hearted for Christ: Part 2, What does it mean to live wholly for God?

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In Part 1 we talked about the way our lives have been stripped down by this virus. Many of us are in isolation at home, with changed work lives and greatly diminished social lives. It is an opportunity for us to think about what it means to have our identity established “in Christ”. We looked at Ephesians and concluded that it means living whole-heartedly for Christ, and examined Romans 12:1-2 as an example of this. Eugene Peterson paraphrases that concept as “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.” Now we turn to Old Testament for clues as to what it means to live wholly for God.

The equivalent to this whole-life offering or sacrifice in the Old Testament is the concept of being wholehearted for God: tamim. That word is translated as complete, full, having integrity, perfect, whole; and is most often translated as blameless. However, blameless gives the wrong sense of this word.  Blameless suggests purely a moral response, but tamim is a whole-of-life response.

Tamim is used extensively in Leviticus to describe the appropriate sacrifice to be made to God. There it is translated as being “without defect”, or “without blemish”. This provides the link with our Romans 12:1-2 passage. An appropriate sacrifice for an animal is to be “whole” or “integral”. An appropriate sacrifice as a human in Christ, is to be whole-heartedly for God in all we do; someone who is integrated or integral.

Deuteronomy 18:13 illustrates this: “You must be blameless (tamim) before the Lord your God” is the NIVUK translation. Eugene Peterson paraphrases it as a need to be “completely loyal to God”. It comes as part of a warning not to participate in occult practices, why? Those practices demonstrate that your whole heart is not devoted to God.

God’s work is also described as tamim. In Deuteronomy 32:4 it says,

He is the Rock, his works are perfect (tamim),
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
    upright and just is he.

You can see that who God is, and how he works are perfectly linked together. This is further illustrated in David’s praise of God in 2 Samuel 22 (Psalm 18) from verse 24:

I have been blameless (tamim) before him
    and have kept myself from sin.
 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
    according to my cleanness in his sight.

 ‘To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
    to the blameless (tamim) you show yourself blameless,
 to the pure you show yourself pure,
    but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.
 You save the humble,
    but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.
 You, Lord, are my lamp;
    the Lord turns my darkness into light.
 With your help I can advance against a troop;
    with my God I can scale a wall.

 ‘As for God, his way is perfect (tamim):
    the Lord’s word is flawless;
    he shields all who take refuge in him.
 For who is God besides the Lord?
    And who is the Rock except our God?
 It is God who arms me with strength
    and keeps my way secure (tamim).

David’s identity matches God’s character and behaviour. We strive wholeheartedly for a God who is perfect, flawless, blameless, whole, secure.

It is important to realise that this is what it means to be made in the image of God. God is whole-hearted. There is no compartmentalisation of moral character or actions or thoughts or emotions or work. Everything is interlocked and whole.

This is what it means to be human. While the Fall described in Genesis 3 — the entry of evil in the world — has impacted on our ability to be integral, we must remember that being integral is the way we are meant to be.

In fact, we love it when we see it: that leader who is servant-hearted and kind, but firm and courageous, as well as a devoted partner; that stay-at-home parent who is consistent inside the home and out; that student who balances excellence in studies with caring for others and personal devotion to God.

In Part 3 we will look at the particular application of being whole-hearted, living with integrity.

Being whole-hearted for Christ: Part 1, Our identity in Christ

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Some of us have had our working lives significantly impacted in the present crisis. I regularly teach and speak and mentor; and all those activities have been drastically curtailed lately. At events where I present, I promote and sell my books, another source of income that has dried up.

I’ve been pondering whether coronavirus is a time to encounter God in renewed ways: to stop and breathe and listen (which will not be possible for those on the frontline of this crisis, I acknowledge, but perhaps we can uphold them in prayer in the midst of the chaos). The starting point is to understand what is the source of our true identity. As many of the things that we used to identify with are stripped away: work, recognition, influence, social gatherings, sporting achievements, invitations, sales… we can begin to get to the core of who we are.

I am struck with how often the Apostle Paul refers to us being “in Christ”, with the emphasis that being “in Christ” is our new identity. So, for example, in 2 Corinthians 5:17 he says: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” Paul refers to what it means to be “in Christ” over 80 times in his letters.

He uses that term most in Ephesians:

• Opening the letter by addressing it to the “faithful in Christ Jesus” (1:1)

• Telling us we have received “every spiritual blessing in Christ” (1:3)

• That “he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ” (1:9)

• Telling us that we are first to put “our hope in Christ” (1:12)

• Pointing out that we were “included in Christ” when we heard the gospel of our salvation (1:13)

• That we are raised in “the heavenly realms in Christ” (2:6)

• And will in the future access “the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (2:7)

• “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (2:10)

• And “in Christ Jesus”, those who were far away have been brought close (2:13)

• That Gentiles, have joined the Jews in being “sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” (3:6)

• That all this is “according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (3:11)

• And that our behaviour should resemble Christ whose identity we now take on: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (4:32)

These are beautiful promises that remind us what a privilege and joy it is to be in Christ.

So how should we respond?

Probably Paul’s most famous expression of an appropriate response is Romans 12:1–2:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

We are to respond by offering our whole selves to God as a living sacrifice: our bodies, and everything we do with them. Eugene Peterson captures the flavour well in The Message paraphrase of these verses:

So, here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognise what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

This is a great time to ponder how much of our “sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life” we actually place before God as an offering. It is an opportunity to recalibrate our lives around being in Christ.

In Part 2 we will look at Old Testament clues as to what it means to be a living sacrifice.

Finding our true calling

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By guest blogger: Alan Stanley

When my eldest two boys were young, they were given life-sized dolls of Bert and Ernie—from the television program Sesame Street—for Christmas. When opening their presents, what captivated them was not Bert and Ernie, but two small bags of balloons. Hmmm, what to get excited about, Bert and Ernie, or balloons? I would have thought Bert and Ernie, but not to them.

That is often how it is in life. I am currently unemployed. What excites me these days is a job opportunity, a “position,” an area where I can contribute. In fact, right now I was scheduled to leave for a month-long teaching trip overseas. That’s a month of feeling like I have something to offer, feeling useful. However, Coronavirus has put a stop to that. So now what? 

We desire to contribute, to make a difference; we want to feel valued, we want to be active.

 But what excites us is not always what excites God. Don’t get me wrong, God is interested in our work and our activities, but not always in the way we are. To him they can be like bags of balloons, while the true gift is standing right in front of us. Let me illustrate from a recent conversation.

I was talking to my wife about the Christian concept of “calling.” A call, to put it loosely, is when God places something on your heart so strongly that it becomes your mission or goal. I was telling my wife what I thought my “calling” was in this season of unemployment. An hour later I was reading 1 Corinthians 1 as part of my daily Bible reading plan. In verse 2 it says:

To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours.

The words “called to be his holy people” stood out like a neon light.

Given that I had only just spouted off on what I thought my calling was, it was pretty clear what was happening here as 1 Corinthians 1:2 stared back at me. It is as though God was saying, “Alan, this is your calling, to be holy; and what an ideal situation for you to learn that—no job, no income, no overseas travel. Perfect!” Not my idea of perfection!

I knew of course that I was called to be holy, every Christian knows that . . . however for this to be highlighted for me after claiming to know my calling, well, this had to be more than a coincidence. God was taking my attention off the metaphorical bag of balloons and focusing it on the metaphorical Bert and Ernie. This didn’t mean relaxing my search for a job, only that God was highlighting where my focus was to be—and indeed where his focus was. It’s hard though, I admit. Being called to be holy is not always number one on my priority list.

 And yet this is something that God had been impressing upon me for years, through what I had discovered in the Scriptures. Let’s start at the beginning, when God created human beings:

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” (Genesis 1:26)

Image is about how we want to be known, how we want to be identified.

We may want to be identified as slim, sporty, tough, funny, well mannered, hard-working, intelligent,
easy going, tolerant, wealthy, educated, moral, religious, and so on. 

But Genesis 1 tells us that God created us so that we might be identified with him! God created us so that others might see something of his glory (see especially Psalm 8:5), something of his character, something of God. It’s a simple plan!

In fact, we can see that this is his plan by following, very briefly, the storyline of the Bible. Following God’s creation sin enters the world and interrupts God’s plan. But notice the effects: with sin came a preoccupation with self. First, Eve is motivated by what she perceives to be good for her. Second, Eve and her husband become self-conscious and fear drives them into hiding. Third, neither are willing to bear responsibility for their actions and so they blame someone else (Genesis 3:6–13). If you are a parent, you may have noticed the sequence of these events in your kids. But it’s not just children. Selfishness now characterises the “whole world.” Take a look at where humanity end up:

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. . . . Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves . . .” (Genesis 11:1–2, 4)

The motivation behind humanity’s building project is their image: “that we may make a name for ourselves.”

So, the first section of the Bible begins with God’s overwhelming passion for his image and ends with humanity’s overwhelming passion for their image.

It begins with God’s intent to make a name for himself and ends with humanity’s intent to make a name for themselves.

God created human beings so that we might be identified with him, but we now want to be identified with our accomplishments. These accomplishments might be the accumulation of wealth, a successful business, a healthy body, a great marriage, godly children, a big house, a stellar reputation, intelligence, and so on. It’s the way we are wired; it’s in our DNA (from Genesis 3) we might say. And it was there that day when I was thinking about my calling—until God called me back to his original intention.

Look at how the next major section in Genesis starts. God promises to make Abram’s “name great” (Genesis 12:2). This promise shows us just how important the theme of image/name/identity is. In the previous chapter “the whole world” sought to “make a name” for themselves and now God responds, “I will make your name great.”  The same promise next occurs when God promises David, “I will make for you a great name” (2 Samuel 7:9). The link between Abraham and David points ahead to “Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1) who will baptise people into his “name” (Matthew 28:19), indicating that Jesus gives us a new identity not based on our accomplishments. Hence, from Genesis 12 onwards it is clear that if our “name is ever to become great it will not be because of any self-initiated effort. The great name will be a gift, not an achievement.”[1]

Here is the point. God’s heart, his consuming passion, his longing or overwhelming ambition
—we might say his highest goal or purpose—is his image.

We can tell this from thinking about the non-human aspect of creation. Creation is intended to reflect God in some way (see Psalm 19:1–6). “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made” (Romans 1:19–20). Couple these passages with God’s intent to create human beings in his image and likeness, and we get a clear picture of God’s heart. He has designed every square inch of his creation—non-human and human—so that wherever we look we might get a glimpse of what God is like. So that eventually “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). 

A few years ago, I was a passenger in a car in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Suddenly the driver proudly asked me to look up at a giant billboard with a pretty young girl jumping in the air. It was his daughter. God created us so that we, his children, might be his billboard for all to see. This is what his promise to Abram was all about; Abram and his descendants were to be “a display people, a showcase to the world;”[2] or as another writer has said, God’s “poster child.”[3]

God is so serious about imaging himself that he became a billboard himself.

“No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18). Thus, Jesus could say, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Therefore, in Jesus we see “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). Since no other individual or nation had been able to image God perfectly, God did it himself; and he went to extreme lengths to do it. John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus ultimately revealed the Father on the cross (see John 7:39; 12:16; 13:31; 17:1). The cross is the pinnacle of what God has been seeking to do from creation, to glorify his “name” (John 12:28). In going to the cross Jesus revealed the true image of God and brought God “glory” (John 17:4).

How does the cross glorify God? In short, “by conveying the divine love.”[4] At the cross “We are seeing, in particular, what God’s own love looks like.”[5] We all know John 3:16, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” 

However, it is better to translate the verse,
“For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son” (Holman Christian Standard Bible).

The point is that God has gone to extreme lengths to reveal who he is to the world; to show the world that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16).

Now let’s return to the call to be holy! In being called to be holy, we are simply being called to image God: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). Notice how the apostle Paul explains what it looks like “to put on the new self, which is being renewed . . . in the image of its Creator” (Colossians 3:10). Now, “as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” He concludes, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:12­–14). Notice the other centred emphasis, summed up in love.

This explains why Jesus told his disciples, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

Jesus did not say “By your accomplishments or church attendance
everyone will know that you are my disciples.”
He said love!

 By our love everyone will be able to tell that we belong to Jesus. Just as you can tell where people are from by their accent or skin colour, so too you can tell those who belong to Jesus by their love for one another. Love is the defining characteristic of God’s family (Matthew 22:36–37; Romans 13:8–10; Colossians 3:14; James 2:8). But not just any kind of love, this kind of love:

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:16–18)

Paul puts it like this: “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1–2, NIV84). When our lives resemble Jesus on the cross, we are imitating God.

So, you see imaging God has always been God’s intention. And for Christians, we “have been called according to his purpose,” namely, “to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:28–29). This is our calling. But here’s my problem, and I suspect I might not be alone:

My greatest desire, my passion—above all passions—is not always to be holy/to be conformed to the image of Jesus. My passion is to contribute, to make a difference, to feel useful, to feel like I have an identity related to my accomplishments.

I came across the following news article a number of years ago that well illustrates what we sometimes struggle with:

ANDREW Griffiths worked seven days a week, starting each day at 6am and not finishing until 9pm. He put on 50 kilos and his marriage of 10 years broke apart.

His job ruled his life. 

“I’d always been a workaholic,” Mr Griffiths, owner of the Oceanic Marketing Group said. 

“I based a lot of my self-worth on my success or failure in business. 

“That translated to me working harder and harder to prove to the world I was successful. Everything else in my life became secondary.”[6] 

“I based a lot of my self-worth on my success or failure in business.” Now, it might not be business that we find our self-worth in, it could be our qualifications, our speaking ability, our wisdom, our creativity, our possessions, our reputation, and so on. But God always calls us back to something greater, not greater according to our egos, but greater according to his Spirit (see Galatians 5:22).  

To be focused on imaging Jesus means to be focused on people, and how best we might serve them. This was Jesus’ focus (e.g., Matthew 9:11; 11:19; Mark 10:45; Luke 15:1–2).

Here is how I am trying to work this out in my own life. It is always tempting to look into the future. But God is more interested that we focus on who we should be today (Matthew 6:33–34). The future is not unimportant of course, but so often our future obsessed thoughts are merely bags of balloons.

So, I ask myself, “What is in front of me right now?” It might be my wife, one of my kids, someone I am talking to after church, a friend I am meeting at a café, a sermon I am preparing, dishes to wash, a meeting to attend, dinner with family or friends, an article to write. In each one of these situations God is calling me to image Jesus. We struggle, I know, because our minds are often running ahead to our real passion—the business, work, the appointment later on, our spare time, the sermon to prepare. We are so prone to getting caught up with our own perceptions of greatness (Matthew 18:1–4). But whatever is right in front of us now is where God’s heart is. If it is a conversation, to listen well; to give the person our undivided attention, to be Christ to that person. Have you ever been talking to someone, but your heart and mind is somewhere else? We need to understand that God’s heart is not somewhere else. It’s right in front of us.

If it is a task or activity, to be conscious of who the task is for and perform it with an attitude that basically says, “I am helping someone by doing this.”

Currently as I write I need to be thinking, “How can I best serve those who read this?”
rather than, “How can I write in a way in which impresses those who read this?”

For those who are accountants, think about your clients and how you can best serve them. If you are mechanic, think about the person who owns the car you are working on and how you can best help them. Whatever job it is, be people focused. This is what it means to serve. Even when we pray, we are to do so as though we were in the shoes of those we pray for, “as if you were together with them . . . as if you yourselves were suffering” (Hebrews 13:3). To image Jesus in every situation is to love the people in front of us, to show them mercy, to act justly toward them (Matthew 23:23); to love them as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:36); to carry their burdens (Galatians 6:2); to be concerned for them as a whole person, their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Jesus modelled this better than anyone (Matthew 4:23–24; 9:35) and the early church followed his lead (Acts 2:42–47; Romans 12:9–21).

Whenever I lose my focus and caught up with those bags of balloons, there is a beautiful song that serves to remind me of my calling. I imagine it won’t be popular—not with our egos anyway. It’s by Josh Wilson and is called Dream Small:

It’s a momma singing songs about the Lord
It’s a daddy spending family time 
That the world said he cannot afford
These simple moments change the world
It’s a pastor at a tiny little Church
Forty years of loving on the broken and the hurt
These simple moments change the world

It’s visiting the widow down the street
Or dancing on a Friday with your friend with special needs
These simple moments change the world
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with bigger dreams
Just don’t miss the minutes on your way, your bigger things, no
‘Cause these simple moments change the world

Out of these small things and watch them grow bigger
The God who does all things makes oceans from river

[And here’s the chorus:]

Dream small
Don’t bother like you've gotta do it all
Just let Jesus use you where you are
One day at a time

Live well
Loving God and others as yourselfFind little ways where only you can help
With His great love
A tiny rock can make a giant fall
Dream small[7]

Alan lives in New Zealand with his wife and three teenage boys. In addition to preaching most Sundays, he regularly teaches at theological colleges in Asia and is trains pastors to preach. For 15 years he lived in SE Qld where he pastored and lectured, his most recent position being lecturer in New Testament and Theology and Director of Postgraduate Studies at Brisbane School of Theology. For family reasons, he returned to New Zealand in late 2017. He has a PhD in New Testament and is the author and editor of three books, currently working on a fourth on the Sermon on the Mount.

[1] Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis Chapters 1–17 (NICOT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 372.

[2] John I. Durham, Exodus, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, 1987), 263 cited in Craig Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen, The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story (2nd ed.; London: SPCK, 2006), 44.

[3] John Goldingay, Reading Jesus’s Bible: How the New Testament Helps Us Understand the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017), 164.

[4] Craig Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John’s Gospel (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), 122.

[5] N. T. Wright, John for Everyone Part 1 Chapters 1–10 (vol. 5; Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 33.

[6] Myles Wearring, “Beating Workaholism,” (Oct 23, 2009): https://www.news.com.au/news/beating-workaholism/news-story/af20ba94cafd20fa072543004c22f871.

[7] Josh Wilson, “Dream Small.” Listen to it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOBaLrItEyc

11 ways that a biblical understanding of work helps us during Corona 2020

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Coronavirus (COVID-19) is having unprecedented impacts on our lives, with apparently worse to come. Setting aside the health effects, our working is being impacted in many ways: the context (working from home where possible), the amount of work (casuals losing shifts, work suspended for months, being made redundant), and the culture of work (from positive to crisis) are among the changes. Below are eleven outcomes, and some biblical responses.

1. I have to work from home
   This is the new reality for many people who are able to continue their work from home. “Business continuity plans” have been activated, which shifts the focus from production to survival. Working from home brings a whole new reality, and for many the biggest thing is that it simply doesn’t feel like work anymore. That is because we define work as something we get paid to do, or a job we commute to. For those who go to work, staying home seems like a sick day or a holiday. However, work in the Bible is anything we do with intent or purpose. We are made in the image of a God who works, and who commissions us to work (Genesis 1:26–28).
   Idea: the context for work doesn’t change the fact that it is still work; work that should be done for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31) and in the name of Jesus (Colossians 3:17).

2. I miss working relationships
   One of the downsides of working from home, is realising how significant the relationships in the workplace are. Human beings are made for relationship. God wants relationship with us (John 3:16), and we were made for relationship with each other (Genesis 2:18).  Working is a social activity.
   Idea: we can look for ways to stay connected. Some create a morning Zoom/Skype tea break, where people can join in and chat for half an hour.

3. I can’t switch off from work
   Working from home may make it harder to switch off from work. You are physically at work 24/7.
   Idea: at the end of the day, walk outside your front door and around the block, and change your clothes to signify the end of the working day. Another reason for not being able to switch off is anxiety, which we will look at in #7.

4. I feel less important now
   Once you are out of the normal work environment you may begin to realise how much of your identity and self-esteem has been caught up in your work. This is an ever-present temptation. Working from home gives us an opportunity to rethink the place of work in our lives. Has love for our job replaced love for God as the central motivation of our thoughts and actions?
   Idea: ultimately, we have one boss: the Lord (Colossians 3:23–24).

5. I’m having to pivot from work I love
   One of the distressing aspects of Coronavirus and its impact on our economy is that many jobs have changed suddenly and possibly irrevocably. For creatives, the entertainment industry has shut down. For event planners and florists and photographer, gatherings of more than 100 have stopped and work has dried up. Some small businesses will need to close overnight, while others sweat it out. Teachers and lecturers who love personal interaction are having to adjust to an online environment. Everyone has had to pivot from working for productivity, to working to survive.
   Idea: work is useful for income (2 Thessalonians 3:12), as well as being an opportunity to do good work (Genesis 1:31). There are times when we need to do diligent work to get by, and other times when we will find joy from the work. A mindset of working for God and others will help us see the joy more easily.

6. I have less work than I need to feel busy
   Many people are having shifts reduced, contracts cancelled, or business operations interrupted. There is a danger here. Our work is not just what we are paid to do. Not having enough work is not an excuse for idleness (2 Thessalonians 3:11).
   Idea: we can use the extra time to serve others (2 Thessalonians 3:13): shop for the elderly, phone or write to those who are housebound, connect in with your neighbours.

7. I am always anxious when working
   The current climate is breeding anxiety: for our health, for our workplaces, for our ability to pay our rent or mortgages. These are real and grave fears, and it may be easy for them to overwhelm our thinking, leading to panic attacks.
   Idea: at such times it is good to pray through a psalm (Psalm 91 is a good place to start). It can also be helpful to separate out each worry and package it up for God to take care of, as he has instructed us (1 Peter 5:7, Philippians 4:6–7).

8. I no longer know the purpose of my work
   During these times of rapid change, the purpose of work may become confused. This may reveal a false idol in our hearts. It may be that we were caught up in the temptation of those in Babel, who built a tower to make a name for themselves (Genesis 11:4). The true purpose of work is to use it as a means of worshipping God and serving others. The Hebrew root for work is the same for that as worship and serve. This is an opportunity to examine our motivation for work and see if it aligns with God’s heart.
   Idea: We need to look at our work differently: it is a place where we can learn to be holy, which we can saturate in prayer, where we can reveal God’s truth, where we can show people what Jesus is like, where we can demonstrate justice and we can reveal the Spirit’s power.

9. I’m a leader and my work just seems negative now
   It is particularly tough being a leader during a crisis. Rather than the fun work of building a team, creating an opportunity to flourish, and celebrating the wins… it becomes a time of making unpopular decisions, of conveying bad news and sometimes of wrapping things up because of the losses.
   Idea: the primary biblical image of a leader was a shepherd, which might be a helpful image at this time, when the people we lead may feel as vulnerable as sheep. Our example is Jesus who describes himself as the Good Shepherd who cares, loves, protects and knows the sheep (John 10:11–18).

10. I was just made redundant
    Sadly, many businesses have collapsed, and many more will in the coming weeks. This is a very difficult time for many people, for whom this is a shock. As well as the financial and social impacts, there are existential impacts from such a change. The reality is that much of our identity, self-esteem and security are caught up in our work.
    Idea: God wants our identity to be rooted in Christ. Read Ephesians 1 and notice how many times Paul reinforces our identity as being ‘in Christ’. Our sense of value should be embedded in the fact that we are made in the image of God, and that he loved us so much that he sent his son Jesus to die for us, and we are a beloved child of God (Romans 8:38–39).

11. I am on the frontline and have never been busier

    Some people may be working in areas which are very busy, whether ensuring essential supplies through supermarkets, or building ventilators, or caring for the elderly. Then there are the health professionals and support staff (including cleaners) working under immense pressure.
    Idea: this busy work is for a season and will not define your priorities and relationships forever. After this you will need a season of rest, reflection and recovery, so plan for a Sabbath (Matthew 12:12, Hebrews 4:9–10). You may also need to make some difficult ethical decisions, in tight time frames. It is important to ask God for wisdom (James 1:5), recognising that godly wisdom is marked by peace, gentleness, reason, mercy, flourishing, impartiality and sincerity (James 3:17).

I have found great comfort in Proverbs 16:9: that, while I might seek to plan the way, it is God who “establishes my steps”. However, often the way we have been guided only becomes obvious when we look behind us.

Work and meaning-making

Photo credit: Pixabay

Recently I was asked to speak on a panel on the topic of ‘Meaningful Work’. I loved the title, and the opportunity to breakdown some common misconceptions Christians have about work:

• Work is a result of the Fall

• There is no intrinsic value in work

• There is a difference between secular work and sacred ministry

• To serve God you must leave work

• If you are not called to ministry then you are called to fund ministry

• If you enjoy secular work then it has become your idol

Work is not a result of the Fall

Instead, I pointed out that work existed before the fall. In Genesis 1:26–28, human beings (men and women equally) are asked to work to steward creation. The first command from God is for the human being to work in the garden (Genesis 2:15). Work is impacted by the Fall (Genesis 3:17–19), but that impact is on the process of working, and the context of work (the ground is cursed), rather than on the activity of work itself.

There is intrinsic value in work

We are made in the image of a God who works, creating a beautiful place for us to work and rest in. Therefore, work is intrinsic to what it means to be a human being. Throughout the Bible work is assumed to be an activity of humans, as a good thing, and there are suggestions in Isaiah 65:17–25, and Revelation 21:24 and 22:2, that there will be work on the New Earth to come.

There is no hard line between secular work and sacred ministry

We are encouraged to work, rather than to be idle (2 Thessalonians 3:6–10), and the Apostle Paul rarely makes a distinction between his work to feed himself and his companions and the proclamation of the Gospel. In fact, he suggests that our work becomes sacred by the attitude of our heart (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17).

We can serve God while in our secular work

Thus, all work is ministry, done with the right attitude, as an act of worship to God and service to others.

This means that we can serve God wherever we are, with whatever we have, and all the gifts he has granted us. Using the descriptors from Robert Banks (Faith Goes to Work), we are continuing God’s work of creating, sustaining, revealing, redeeming, bringing justice and showing compassion through our ordinary work, paid or unpaid.

All are responsible for funding the work of the church

If all work has value, the important thing is to be faithful to the work and the place that God has called us. We can be called by God to work in the church and work outside the church. It means we have to be seeking God, and praying about our choices.

All people are called to be generous to the causes God lays upon our hearts. All work is to be treated as if it is ministry, since all work (other than criminal or exploitive activity) has the capacity to be done in a way that serves God and others.

It is good to enjoy work as a gift from God

It is good to enjoy work, since work was created to be a good thing. Much of our work is impacted by sin, with things failing, conflict amongst workmates, and the frustrations of complications that prevent us from being as fruitful as we had hoped. However, some of us get into the flow of work which brings us much joy, whether it is a burst of creativity, the thrill of a team completing a project, or the sense of having endured and finished solving a complicated problem.

Work can become an idol

Unfortunately, if we have been brought up on a church diet of our ‘secular’ work having no value, then we may feel guilty about enjoying work, or separate it from God as something worthless to God. Ironically, this may mean that we end up treating work as something opposed to God, or competing for our attention and affection.

Derek Thompson, writing in The Atlantic, has warned that work has become a new religion for many people. While historically, our sense of meaning and purpose flowed from our religious faith, now work is seen as a place where we can discover our “identity, transcendence and community”.

If you think you are immune from this, consider how we respond to people we haven’t met before when they ask us what we do for a living… Often we respond with an “I am…” statement. I am a lecturer, and author and a speaker. “I am…” is a statement of identity.

We used to talk about work as our “job”, then it became our “career”, and now it is our “calling”.

Thompson warns against this subtle move to make work our god. While Christians worship a God who is good, the output of work is rarely all good. Making work “the centrepiece of one’s life is to place one’s esteem in the mercurial hands of the market. To be a workist is to worship a god with firing power.”

However, our work is an important part of how God made us. It finds its rightful place when we align our loves, with God at the centre, and when we see work as a gift from a good God, and the means of continuing God’s work of repairing and renewing the earth.

Meaningful work

My friend Gustavo Santos was born into a working-class family. He now studies and teaches faith and work theology, and often reflects on how his Dad saw his work: simply as a job well done, as service, as a means of providing for his family. He sees parallels with the story of Ruth in the Bible, a poor immigrant woman seeking to work to glean enough food for Naomi and herself, who ends up in the genealogy of Jesus. Gustavo writes in an article in Comment Magazine:

[Ruth’s story] tells us that God is always working through us—even if we don’t realize it. At the end of the story, God redeems his people through the faithfulness of two women living in an obscure corner of the world. The lineage of David is established and the providence of God takes another step as daily, wise, diligent work is undertaken by one pair of hands in an interconnected web of thousands.

To be integrated at work is to be fruitful

There is another twist in this message about expressing our faith and finding meaning in our work, revealed in a Barna Group research publication called Christians at Work. In that study they found some surprising results about Christians who were both faithful at work (‘integrated’) and faithful at church (‘practicing’).

The research found that if people were more involved in church activities (including personal devotions), then they were more integrated at work, seeing it as a place where they find meaning and purpose because it is aligned with their God-given calling and gifting. It ended up correlating with improved satisfaction in all areas of life: physical wellbeing, quality of life, emotional health, friendships, spiritual wellbeing, mental health and family relationships.

What is more, they had a transformative effect on their workplaces: speaking the truth, demonstrating morality, practising humility, withstanding temptation, moulding the culture and sharing the gospel.

The results of this research should not be surprising at all.  God made us as whole creatures, not as compartments. When we work well with God in our workplace, in our community, and our church, then it is going to have flow-on benefits. We were made to be integrated, in our beings, and in our lifestyles. Anything less is dis-integrating.

What we want to hear from our preacher about work

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/juvhadamar/?ref=pexels

A couple of weeks ago on Facebook, Nathan Campbell from Living Church in Brisbane explained that he was going to be preaching on the topic of work the coming Sunday.

He posed the following question:

“This week I’m preaching on work, like the stuff we do to bring order and beauty to the world, sometimes for money. What’s one thing you, as a worker, wish a preacher might one day say about work?”

The responses were wonderful, and show us some of the deep frustrations, misconceptions and profound hopes workplace Christians have in seeking a biblical view of work.

Here are some of the frustrations that Christians have about work:

• “Your work might not feel satisfying or fulfilling. It might be mundane and boring.”

• “That work is not our identity but also tie in the idea that only privileged educated people can choose their workplaces.”

• “That bosses should not exploit their workers or abuse their skills, time, and pay them a fair wage for a fair day's work.”

Here are some of the misconceptions that Christians want busted:

• “Sometimes your calling (what you are made to do as God’s representative in the world and part of Jesus’ body) might be a thing you get paid to do, sometimes it won’t, but our work isn’t exhausted by our job. Work might include gardening.”

• “On this theme I'd like to hear that I'll have projects in eternity, and to what extent the work I do in this creation will matter/last in eternity. (If you think it will at all) For people built like me, a forever without work does not sound appealing, but heaven often comes off sounding like a sort of workless, formless day spa. Will eternal rest include making stuff, thinking about stuff and enjoying challenges?”

• “Heard a lot while at undergrad uni of all places: that our ‘secular’ work wasn’t gospel work and was inferior to it. At best, we could provide the cash but anyone doing ‘gospel work’ was doing God’s best for us.”

• “If your manager is a bully you are not obliged to put up with it. A part of being a Christian is speaking truth to power and this may mean telling someone a few things. Not in a mean and humiliating way, obviously. But some people I know have lost jobs doing it.”

• “What if I work in medicine versus working in a supermarket does that change how I am viewed when I am asked to work Sundays to serve people?”

• “Work for the Lord rather than work for retirement, that is, ‘me, me, me’ culture of indulgence at end of work life.”

• “When your idea of your own worth is bound up with your paid work, that's a problem —our worth ought to be seen in God's creation of and redemption and sanctification of us.”

• “Work and ministry aren’t so separate. Working as a lawyer for justice, as a parent to raise children, as a tradesperson to repair or create are as much a vocation as church ministries. Likewise, feeding the poor, visiting the sick, curating worship, administering the sacraments and teaching the gospel is real work, not just a hobby we support with money made from work. Churches seem to either assign spiritual value to secular work or assign training, funds, staff and resources to ministry, but not both. We need both.”

• “I'm convinced Jesus subverted the whole ‘work six days then rest’ thing. I believe that self-care was a priority for him, making sure he was as rested as possible before engaging in his ‘work’.”

• “The focus of work is often on paid work, and so the interpretation of scripture on work can tend to reward only paid work. But there is a lot of important work we do which is not paid. Like raising kids, doing chores, volunteering, etc.”

Here are what workplace Christians hope for, from work:

• “A follower of a Jesus, going about their day job, has the chance of meaningful connection with those outside the faith that most pastors would die for. Don’t let those chances to build relationships and welcome people into your Jesus-shaped life go by!”

• “That work is good for us, idleness is not.”

• “Choosing a workplace that aligns with personal values and blesses people is good for the soul.”

• “I’d love to hear a preacher encourage us to use our work to dance or play beautifully before our Father in heaven by being creative, inspiring etc, and producing amazing results for our employers, clients, customers etc.”

• “The question with our approach to work should be ‘are we worshipping God in this work’ — the two masters thing is about God v Money — which is ultimate in your heart. You could put career, or motherhood, in that slot and worship either instead of God, you could worship your ability to juggle both successfully, or you could bring wisdom to the decision-making process and make the decision as a family (or network of people who might be part of a village/community).”

• “Some of the best advice I ever received was to carefully think about the differences between your job (what brings in the $) your career (what gives you personal satisfaction, challenge, progression) and your calling (what God wants your priority to be, what focuses on others, what advances his kingdom). These can be separate, or combined in any way but it helps steer between the perils of denigrating one's daily toil and making it an idol. It helps when work is difficult too.”

Using social media was a great technique for a preacher to understand the concerns of a congregation (and a wider audience), before he applied biblical wisdom; and the comments were a great insight into the unresolved questions workplace Christians have about how work relates to their faith.

Reflecting on a year of work

Photo from Pexels by Alex Powell

2019 was unsatisfactory from a work perspective.

Perhaps you can relate to some of these glimpses of my year at work:

• I spent a year working on a project which apparently others higher up knew was impossible from the start.

• I scored a permanent role that seemed like it would be wonderful, but it turned out I worked harder, for less money, than if I had stayed a casual.

• I did some writing which was published (for no financial reward), which was then picked up and published in other places (also with no compensation). When I commented on this to the second publisher, they stopped using my work (a double penalty).

• I have multiple roles, and one of the people who hired me resigned, so I took a while to work out who my new manager was, and my first discussion with him was about workload. When I asked for a second meeting about workload he accepted my ‘resignation’.

• I contacted a human resources department about a role ending only to find that all records to do with my employment had gone missing.

• A couple of students (in different colleges) have really struggled with my teaching content and/or method and given me poor reviews.

Now, I could whinge about this, which is a favourite past-time of all Australians, or be defensive, but my research suggests that the workplace is a primary place of spiritual formation.

So, a much more useful question to ask is: How is God forming me through these experiences?

Even as I begin to ask the question, one of the realisations is that the negative experiences have disproportionately impacted on the positives of my working:

• Wonderful speaking opportunities in several cities in Australia and overseas.

• Receiving income that has enabled me to provide for my family and be generous to others.

• The opportunity to deeply impact others through teaching and mentoring.

• All that I have learnt as I developed material to teach three new units.

• Building relationships and networks globally.

• A deeply satisfyingly increase in the size of my personal library.

A second insight is the way that the setbacks have forced me to depend on God by:

• Reminding me that I am not in control of my destiny.

• Questioning any arrogant assumptions in my teaching.

• Submission to prayer, and seeking scriptural wisdom.

Thirdly, each of these disappointments have been developing my character:

• Patience, as I become disenchanted with individuals and institutions that I ridiculously expect to be perfect.

• Resilience, as I deal with frustrations and hindrances.

• Persistence, as I contend with roadblocks or apparent failure.

• Self-esteem, as I learn to measure myself by more enduring qualities rather than superficial objectives.

• Discernment and wisdom, as I navigate perplexing organisational cultures and the mystery of human interaction.

Finally, if I tally what I have learnt, and how I have grown, then I am encouraged:

• There is a confidence in my purpose and message that continues to grow.

• I have learnt how to write more effectively; taking time to craft the document, and to value the particular audience more than I might have in the past.

• I’ve been forced to reconsider how I work out what God wants me to do. Did I imagine that God wanted me to follow a certain path? Was I asking God to just rubberstamp my own plans? Have I seriously waited on him in prayer?

• I’ve also had to think through how the paid work mosaic fits into all the other areas of my life. What are the relative priorities? Has God been carving me out some respite from other areas of pressure?

• Then there are all the pockets of knowledge and skills I have gained: deeper thinking on leadership and mentoring and integration; how to appreciate and work with people from other cultures; developing the crafts of speaking and preaching; and the ability to record and edit lectures for online teaching.

• I have greatly developed in my understanding of how complex organisations work.

We often see work as a necessary evil, or as something that just continually disappoints; however, seeing work as a tool for discipleship, is much more positive. It enables us to work with God as he develops our character, points out faults in us or others, and increases our awareness of our need for deeper relationship with Him.

When do people start thinking about how their faith relates to their work?

The Healer by Nathan Greene. https://www.nathangreene.com/prod_detail_list/88

I wonder when you first started thinking about how your faith relates to your work?

I remember asking a friend once while talking about an issue he was facing at work and saying: “You really need teach people how you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Integrate your faith with your work?”

He was genuinely surprised, since he thought it was obvious. However, the more I write and work in this area I realise that it is not obvious. It’s actually very difficult.

Partly, that is because we have been enculturated in the Christian world, and at work, to separate out our faith from our work.

However, even once we have leapt across the sacred-secular divide, it may still be difficult.

So, how can people do this better?

In part it is nature, some have a natural gift.

In part it is nurture, it can be learnt (perhaps unlearnt is a more accurate description).

I have done a series of interviews on this subject and here are some of the responses:

For some it was something that was natural:

I always wondered, even as a student studying. I always relied on God, asking what he wanted me to do with my studies. I have always committed my work to God. It was part of my formation as a person. I’ve always seen work and study as part of God’s plan.

For others, it occurred as they were considering career options at school:

I was thinking about courses I could do at university, and which would provide the best opportunity for serving God.

For some, it was a sudden realisation when they hit the workforce:

Once I started working. I was naïve before that, simply focused on study. However, then came a decision point about where to work, and I started praying about it and asking God for a job.

Sometimes the connection comes as a reaction to negative experiences one has received:

I learnt from bad experiences with previous bosses. That negativity was replaced with positivity. It wasn’t just the bad things they did, but things they neglected to do.

Sometimes, it comes with a sudden elevation in responsibility:

When I came to Australia, taking up a senior position, it dawned on me that I did not want to be a Christian in name only, or just not do bad things; but I needed to be proactive. Not just be a nice guy, but helping and caring, empathising, serving others, and not doing things for my own interest and benefit.

However, on the weekend I was at the Nurses Christian Fellowship Australia conference, and it was the first time someone said: a painting! She had been moved by a picture of a nurse at work, with Jesus standing behind her with his hand on her shoulder. In creative form it captures the deep truth that Jesus is with us always, wherever we are, and whatever we are doing. It helped this young nurse to realise that her work is important to God, that Jesus is present in the workplace and that she can worship God through her work.

Faith and Work Integration

Sheryl J. Anderson has worked as a writer-producer for television (including Charmed, Flash Gordon, and When Calls the Heart). She has sold pilots to Disney Channel, SyFy, and Lifetime and written several television movies, and was a creative consultant for Canada’s What’s Up, Warthogs! Her essay “What Would Jesus Write?” appears in the book Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film, and Culture. 

In it she says:

If we want Christ to be seen everywhere, we have to be willing to see him everywhere. We have to be willing to write and to watch stories of redemption, charity, and love, and celebrate the Spirit inherent in them…

I want to write so that the Good News is so entwined in the muscle of what I am writing that it can’t be stripped away, can’t be disregarded… I want to write the way I live—completely integrated, so the Christian flows into the mother, is bound to the wife, is enmeshed with the friend. So you can’t tell where the faith begins and stops because it doesn’t. Because it is continuous and eternal, just like the love that inspires it.

Sheryl Anderson is one of the ‘exemplars’ of faith-work integration in a new study by Barna Group called Christians at Work in the US context. The first report in a multi-year initiative came out in the last 12 months. It is based on in-depth interviews with 33 ‘exemplars’ — practitioners and thought-leaders — which helped frame the quantitative survey of 1,459 self-identified US Christians; and was followed up with 424 US Protestant senior pastors.

One of the key areas of the study is looking at how people integrate their faith and work.

Barna scored and group individuals according to their response to the following four statements:

1.     “I can clearly see how the work that I am doing is serving God or a higher purpose.”

2.      “I find purpose and meaning in the work I do.”

3.      “I am looking to make a difference in the world.”

4.     “As a Christian, I believe it is important to help mould the culture of my workplace.”

Christians who agree strongly with these attitudes are referred to by Barna as Integrators of faith and work. In the middle are Onlookers, with whom these ideas moderately resonate. At the opposite end of the spectrum are Compartmentalisers, who express a low level of agreement with these mindsets.

The study participants divided up according to the following breakdown:

• Integrators: 28%

• Onlookers: 38%

• Compartmentalisers: 34%

Integrators tend to score strongly for the following statements:

• I feel “made for” or called to my current work

• My work utilises my unique strengths, talents and capabilities (% strongly agree)

• I am very satisfied with how my work is preparing me for my future plans

• I am very satisfied with how well my work fits my calling

• I am very satisfied with future opportunities in my work

• My work aligns well with my educational background (% strongly agree)

• I am very satisfied overall with my current job

• I find ways to use my unique strengths, talents and capabilities outside the workplace (% “very true”)

This suggests that Integrators are more satisfied in their work context; but importantly they are also thriving relationally, spiritually, and in a church context.

What does it look like? Barna’s interviews with the ‘exemplars’ give a clue as to what this might look like in our daily work:

“You can be called to be a plumber or a fisherman or a venture capitalist, as long as you live your values and faith through what you do—that’s what matters. We need more Christians
to approach their work this way and not decouple their faith from their vocation.”
—Phil Graves, senior director of corporate development for Patagonia

“It is my duty as a Christian artist raising the next generation of Christian artists to protect them from bad art, just as much as it is to protect them from bad theology. I want to make sure that I’m telling compelling stories as well as convicting stories, that I’m creating embraceable, recognisable characters who are going to make people think and they’re going to make people feel. And if I’m lucky, they’re going to shake people up a little bit.”

—Sheryl J. Anderson, television writer

I think that the way to be the best example of living out your faith in the marketplace is to do incredible quality work and create products and services that are like the top one percent. And then that gives you the right to talk, and people will listen to you. And then that leads to questions.”

—Woody Faulk, vice president of innovation & new ventures for Chick-fil-A

“To listen to people, to be an ear, and to create community—I think that’s the purpose. Hopefully, through the chair and through loving and understanding and listening to people, they would, to put it in Christian terms, ‘see Christ through me.’ And they would see that and want to experience it for their own lives .”
—David Martinez, barber shop owner

“[My work] is the Kingdom; it’s new creation. I am new creation. God is pruning and refining me to inspire, but whatever is left, my identity in Christ, is the new creation. My job is to bring that out in my art.”

—Makoto Fujimura, artist, writer

Attitudes toward faith and work: US versus Australian Christians

Barna Group in America have put together an epic research study into Christians at Work in the US context. The first report in a multi-year initiative came out in the last 12 months. It is based on in-depth interviews with 33 ‘exemplars’ — practitioners and thought-leaders — which helped frame the quantitative survey of 1,459 self-identified US Christians; and was followed up with 424 US Protestant senior pastors.

The key findings are very interesting. I’ve listed them below with some of my comments from an Australian perspective.

1.     Most Christian workers don’t see a strict spiritual hierarchy of professions or a divide between “sacred” and “secular” jobs. Two-thirds agree on some level that it’s clear to them how their own work serves God.
Kara: Anecdotally, I see much more of a split in an Australian context. When I speak and teach I often hear the comments about how ‘new’ and ‘refreshing’ it is to hear their work talked about in a church context, let alone seeing it as connected to God’s purposes.

2.     Christian workers seek (and often find) meaningful, purposeful employment. Six in 10 believe they have God-given gifts, and one in three wants a better understanding of them.
Kara: The link between God-given gifts and applying them to work is not instinctive for Australians.

3.     ... especially if they attend church regularly. Practising faith is consistently correlated with feeling well-suited to one’s work and wanting to have an impact.
Kara: I think this is a critical point. Many Australian Christians feel (and some are explicitly told from the pulpit) that their ‘secular’ work only has value in providing money for Christian mission, and making relationships for potential Gospel-sharing. This negative messaging at church prevent them connecting their faith with their work.

4.     For faith-work Integrators, high expectations accompany high satisfaction. Barna identifies a special group for whom professional curiosity, generosity, integrity and gratification are a package deal.
Kara: In contrast, I think many Australian Christians feel guilty if they enjoy their ordinary work. I have heard this on many occasions.

5.     However, the majority of Christians could use more urgency or certainty in their vocational pursuits. 72 percent are defined as Compartmentalisers or Onlookers when it comes to their calling and career, and only 28 percent qualify as Integrators.
Kara: I’ll be writing an article specifically about these definitions, as they are useful for understanding different responses to faith and work.

6.     Christian men and women have similar experiences of calling and career—just not at the same time. While working fathers and single women thrive, working mothers and single men struggle for vocational fulfillment by comparison.
Kara: I have said previously that working mothers are a forgotten group in the Australian church culture and have the double accusation of prioritising work over children (at church), and prioritising children over work (at work). Those who are struggling are not fulfilling the gender stereotypes most pushed in church: the working father and the stay-at-home mother.

7.     The generational ends of the labour force naturally have different career needs. Millennials could use some spiritual direction to anchor their ambition, as Boomers’ attention transitions from career.
Kara: There needs to be a more nuanced conversation about these needs in a whole church context in Australia.

8.     Only half of churched adults feel their church supports them in their career. 53 percent say their church helps them understand how to live out their faith in the workplace.
Kara: the Australian National Church Life Survey has similar statistics for Australian Christians; and yet I see that SO much more could be done. I believe most Christians don’t know the equipping that they need, and might be possible, for the workplace.

9.     ... though not all groups also serve the Church in return. Job commitments are a hindrance to church involvement, especially for those who approach their work with great spiritual intention.
Kara: This is one of the big complaints I get from pastors in Australia. There needs to be an understanding of the delicate dance between the voluntary needs of church programs, and church having a missional view of people’s jobs.

10.  Pastors appear well-positioned to be vocational leaders and mentors. The majority of pastors are content in their career, mentor others and think about how their church can equip workers.
Kara: In the Australian context, pastors are most focused on discipling future church leaders and missionaries, and feel inadequate to speak into the professional experience of workers. There is a distinction made between ministry and work. They rarely know how to equip workers beyond a three-sermon series on theology of work.

The full report is available to buy here: https://shop.barna.com/collections/all-products/products/christians-at-work (note: prices in $US).

This is a quick review of the key findings from the report. In the next article I will look at the report’s distinction between Compartmentalisers, Onlookers and Integrators. Find out which faith and work grouping you fall into!

Finding purpose in daily work

I loved running a workshop on "Finding Your Purpose" with City on a Hill's Faith & Work initiative in Melbourne recently. It was fabulous to see so many young workers wanting to wrestle deeply with how faith applies to their working, how they can fulfil God's purposes, and how they can give others a taste of the kingdom.

One of the innovations from the coordinating team was to get people to write up ideas on post-it notes. Each person took an idea written by someone else as they left.

Here are some of the ideas:

• Be more understanding toward work colleagues

• Pray for a colleague and ask them how they are going

• Don't be ashamed of the Gospel

• Be more patient

• Take time to pray for what God wants to do in your workplace

• Find and share a strength you see in a co-worker in a generous and deep way

• Keep your behaviour at work consistent with your faith

• Do everything to glorify God

• Tell someone at work about how your Jesus-loving community makes a positive impact on your working life

• Do everything as if working for the Lord (Colossians 3:23)

• Don't seek approval or praise, or expect it

• Ask your staff how you can help them

• Enjoy your work, it is God-given

• Demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit each day at work this week (Galatians 5:22–23)

• As you walk into work, pray that God's light shines through you in all we do

• Don't get swept up in the mundane and detail; step back in wonder at how you are using your God-given gifts at work

• Show patience and empathy when someone at work is angry or having a bad day

• Continue to form and maintain fruitful relationships

• Show care to your work colleagues by inviting them on your morning coffee run

• Try and identify one really positive characteristic/outcome in each person within your team and celebrate this with your team and team leader

• Find a younger person in your workplace whom you could informally mentor

• Go the extra mile for someone so that they might see Christ in you

[Photos credit: Sharon Cheung]

Workship 2 shortlisted for Australian Christian Book of the Year 2019

So excited to hear that Workship 2: How to Flourish at Work has been shortlisted for Australian Christian Book of the Year 2019. It is one of ten books shortlisted. 20% of the books are about whole-life discipleship, the other being Simon Holt’s Heaven All Around Us: Discovering God in Everyday Life. It is an honour to now have both Workship books shortlisted.

Video on Kingdom Imagination

Uploaded by Kara Martin on 2019-06-19.

On July 2 I will be speaking on Kingdom Imagination at a dinner with Mark Greene.

Here is a teaser which explains how Kingdom Imagination is a lost spiritual discipline; and how it can be the means of transforming workplaces.

Propel article: Offering our Work as Worship

It was a delight to be asked to write a piece for Christine Caine’s Propel Sophia Newsletter. The full article can be read here.

I walked into the newsroom with a huge sense of excitement and anticipation. Ever since I had learned to read by asking my mum to sound out letters in newspaper headlines, I wanted to be a journalist. Finally, I had arrived.

It was a regional television station and I was the most junior reporter. One of the things I was passionate about was expressing my faith in my workplace, but right from the start I realised that would be difficult.

Journalism is a stressful work culture. We had to file three stories a day, while our city counterparts worked on one. Stress alleviation in the office often included swearing, crude humour, and drinking. Though I didn’t initiate any of those, I could not escape them either.

Then there was the temptation to flattery. We flattered politicians and celebrities to get interviews. We flattered ourselves with the mini-stardom of being recognised on the streets because our faces were in people’s living room each night. I worried about getting caught up in smooth-talking and mirages, and how that might compromise my integrity.

So being Christian for me in journalism meant being good, humble, hard-working, and taking every opportunity to witness. But I soon suspected God was interested in more than how I worked.

I started to ask why God had placed me there. My church had few answers that satisfied, but I sensed it had something to do with revealing truth and upholding Gospel values. 

The thought that God might be interested in the work I was doing was a revolutionary thought in my Christian circles: could it really be that God is interested both in what I am doing and who I am when I am doing it?

I reflected on his purpose for humanity: to join in relationship with God in stewarding his creation (Genesis 1:26).  His first command, after all, was to “work the earth and keep the garden” (Genesis 2:15). We had been made to work, but how could we work in a context that seemed so far from the garden? 

The clue for me came in the Hebrew word for “work” (avad) and “keep” (shamar), which are the same words for worshipping God and keeping his commandments. Our work is a means of worshipping God.

I also began to realise that I didn’t have the burden of taking God to work, though I was the only Christian there. I became aware that God was already there, doing his thing, and asking me to join in. After all, Jesus was sovereign over everything; he was Lord even of the newsroom since “all things have been created in him and through him” (Colossians 1:17)

From that time on I’ve been learning how to connect our Sunday worship with our Monday work . . . how we can workship.

Living our faith out at work

In a couple of weeks I will be inducted into a PhD program as I get serious about researching how we can better equip Christians for the workplace.

In my experience there is a variety of content offered through theological colleges, professional organisations, churches, parachurch groups and Christian higher education providers.

There are some basic distinctions in this material that cause issues for anyone wanting to genuinely integrate their faith with their work:

Internal (example: character) vs External (example: worldviews)

Sacred (example: Bible studies) vs Secular (example: ethics)

Ministry (example: evangelism) vs Work (example: calling)

Knowledge (example: biblical narrative) vs Skills (example: apologetical conversations)

Foundation (example: spiritual disciplines) vs Expression (example: church-work balance)

Being (example: theology of work) vs Doing (example: working excellently)

These binaries mean that individuals have to make the connection between the lists on the left and the lists on the right. To make the issue more difficult for the individual workplace Christian, the list on the left is always prioritised and valued more highly than the list on the right.

I am excited to begin asking workplace Christians what they would prioritise to help them in the process of integration.

Commissioned to be a light to the community

Photo by Artem Bali from Pexels

When we are on holidays we like to go to a local church, situated in an industrial estate.

There are several things we enjoy about this church:

• We are warmly welcomed by several people (and now recognised as the ‘once a year’ crowd).

• The music and signing is whole-hearted.

• The sermon is always Bible-based, honest, and real, and features some banter with the congregation.

• There is barista coffee served after the service, using organic fair-trade coffee beans.

This year there was even more to like, as the pastor invited up all those who were small business owners and/or entrepreneurs from the congregation. Amongst them was a woman starting her own side-hustle from home. There was a guy who runs a building business. There was a farmer. There was a woman with her own coffee shop in town.

The pastor prayed over them and their businesses by name. He mentioned that we often separate our Sunday and Monday, but they carried the Christ-light into the world of their business.

He acknowledged the long hours of their working, and the fact that it was often hard for them to switch off from business problems.

He prayed for opportunities in their business to promote the Gospel through conversation and actions.

He prayed God would bless their businesses and enable them to be fruitful in developing relationships and providing for their families.

He commissioned them for 2019, as a year when they might experience imagination, the joy of kingdom work, and a greater awareness of God while they worked.

In his sermon he referenced Matthew 5:15–16 and Jesus’ words about being a light on the stand which might encourage people to honour God: “You know those itty-bitty lights on the Christmas tree that blink on and off, that’s not what Jesus wants us to be. He doesn’t want us to be itty-bitty, sometimes on, sometimes off. Jesus wants us to be a strong light on a hill that shines for the whole community to see.”

He pointed out that these words apply to our whole lives, not just the church gathered.

Our work as calling

Eileen Atkins as Queen Mary in Netflix The Crown, 2016

I have been bingeing on The Crown over the holidays, and in one episode I heard some wonderful advice from Queen Mary to her grandchild, the young Queen Elisabeth II about calling:

“Monarchy is God's sacred mission to grace and dignify the earth. To give ordinary people an ideal to strive towards, an example of nobility and duty to raise them in their wretched lives. Monarchy is a calling from God. That is why you are crowned in an abbey, not a government building. Why you are anointed, not appointed. It's an archbishop that puts the crown on your head, not a minister or public servant. Which means that you are answerable to God in your duty, not the public.”

I think there are some important statements here that Queen Elisabeth clearly still follows, as she speaks about the significance of faith, most recently in the Christmas message:

"The Christmas story retains its appeal since it doesn't contain theoretical explanations for the puzzles of life," the 92-year-old monarch said. "Instead, it is about the birth of a child and the hope that birth 2,000 years ago brought to the world. Only a few acknowledged Jesus when he was born, now billions follow him."

However, rather than only monarchy being a sacred calling, I believe all our work is a sacred calling. I believe that we should all see our work as anointed, and that ultimately, we are all answerable to God for how we conduct ourselves in our ordinary working.

Colossians 3:23–24 says:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

The significance of what Queen Mary said impacted on the way Queen Elisabeth viewed her working. If we see our ordinary work as a sacred calling, it should also impact on the way we see our working, as something bigger than us, as something separated from the petty political squabbling and selfish ambition and greed that so mars our working experiences.

I wish that we, like Queen Elisabeth, would be commissioned for our work in our local churches, as this would situate the source of our inspiration and calling in Jesus, rather than the workplace.

The Faith & Work Movement has a Problem

Well, now that I have your attention, it has quite a few problems. Read all the way to the end for some possible solutions.

First, it tends to be theologically nerdy. That is always a temptation with any spiritual topic of interest, but seems particularly ironic when it comes to something as practical as work, affecting almost every Christian. We risk ending up catering only to the intellectual elite, as a recent Christianity Today article by Jeff Haanen has warned.

Let me say that while I think over-examination of incidental theological issues is an issue, deep biblical reflection is not. And that would solve problem two, which is that where the movement is practically useful it can be very superficial. While there has been an explosion of books on faith and work in the last two decades, rarely do they move beyond Faith and Work 101: a basic theology of work and some superficial practical responses.

This is partly a mea culpa, because I have contributed two books in the space. I would contend, however, that I have sought to address some under-developed areas in the movement: spiritual formation, and biblically-thoughtful practical responses.

Third, different groups tend to stay in their own camps:

• Theological educators have rarely worked in secular settings

• Church leaders tend to only want to listen to fellow church leaders

• Many excellent practitioners have eschewed theological education and been very critical of the church.

In response to these issues, there will be a Transforming Vocation Conference in Sydney next year focused on bringing together those three groups in dialogue with each other and presenting rigorous and biblically informed contributions.

However, the biggest problem that the Faith and Work Movement currently has is that it is “male, pale and stale”, a term being used to describe boardrooms, politics and of course the church generally.

This makes me mad. It makes me mad because I live in Sydney, Australia where it is increasingly difficult as a female evangelical to have the opportunity to preach, let alone be an elder or (Paul forbid!) lead a church. I am happy for the ecclesial brigade to continue to seek resolution on those troublesome texts, but surely the faith and work area is different. Here we have women who have significant corporate experience, have made deep biblical reflection on that work, and are experienced as leaders and speakers and teachers. Surely this is the arena where we should see women model what good faith–work integration looks like… but sadly, no.

In three critical areas, women are missing in action.

1. As speakers at major faith and work events. I commend the recent Faith & Work Summit in Chicago for having a woman on stage for most of the major sessions; but she was accompanied by two men; and two men led the final session. In the workshops there were (by my rough count) 35 women and 92 men. I am sure that is a huge improvement, but we can do better. At the Karam Forum my inbox has been inundated with promotional pictures of men, and the official promotional speaker box has pictures of ten men and just two women. In the latest update, only men are mentioned.

2. As featured in resources. Just a couple of examples here. In listings of top ten books on faith and work, women hardly feature. In a popular post from the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, there were 2 books by women: Amy Sherman and Diane Paddison; while Gea Gort and Katherine Leary Alsdorf appeared on bookcovers as a co-authors of two other books, only their male co-authors were originally recognized on the blog. In the Economic Wisdom video resources used in curricula at Christian universities, there are just two talks by women, and 18 by men. This means that the students are going to receive teaching and modelling by men 90% of the time. In one of the best faith and work books produced this year: Work, Theological Foundations and Practical Implications, editors Keith Loftin and Trey Dimsdale commissioned contributions. All 14 were written by men. The foreword is by Mark Greene. The only work by a woman is a two-page afterword, which says it all.

3. As leaders of Faith & Work centres. Of the significant centres of faith–work outreach around Australia and the US, all but one are led by men: Marketplace Institute (Ridley and Regent), Malyon Workplace, Princeton F&WI, TIFWE, Redeemer Center for F&W, Mockler Center, Opus: The Art of Work, The De Pree Center, the Office of Faith, Work & Economics, the Acton Institute, the Theology of Work Project. Only Amy Sherman stands out, as Director of the Sagamore Institute’s Center on Faith in Communities.

What can be done?

I recently contributed to a chapter on improving women’s participation and leadership in theological colleges in Australia. Some of the recommendations we provided at the end of that chapter could also be helpful here:

1. Encourage female representation in all areas of resourcing.

2. Increase the number of female role models at senior levels in organisations.

3. Establish pathways for women including appropriate opportunities, coaching, and training.

4. Provide focused mentoring for female researchers by male and female supervisors, providing advocacy, sponsorship, publishing, and teaching experience.

5. Consider flexible and non-linear career paths for academics and those in work ministry who are parents of young children, and strategies to allow career continuance after a career break.

6. Target female students in recruitment to longer coursework awards and HDR in this area.

7. Promote connections with peers: support opportunities for female students and faculty to build collegiality through colloquia and social media.

Note: This article was published at The Green Room Blog

Eternity News publishes my blog on toxic workplaces

Photo by bruce mars from Pexels

What to do when what you do is bad for you

KARA MARTIN | NOVEMBER 15TH, 2018 02:15 PM | 

I meet many people who feel their workplace is toxic. I have spent a lot of time thinking and writing about the good of work. I’ve also considered the bad – and I have an ultimatum for the toxic situations: Stay, pray and persevere as long as you can, especially if you have good support. But if you feel the battle is impacting on your soul — the deep connection with God that keeps you grounded — then leave.

I spoke at an inner-city church on the good of work. Afterwards, the minister introduced me to his daughter who was working for a prestigious management consulting company. He was concerned she was struggling in her job, and it was impacting on her faith.

There was a complete mismatch with her values and the values of the organisation.

I met Louise and she was delightful, but there was a tightness about her face which I recognised. She was someone who was holding her outer self together.

I asked her about her work. She enjoyed the work itself, but the workplace was becoming increasingly difficult.

She felt there was a complete mismatch with her values and the values of the organisation.

She was being encouraged to cut corners to save money, to over-inflate good results and cover up or minimise bad results, and to convince clients to take on additional work that they didn’t really need. Several times she had protested these directives, but been over-ruled, and now her team did not trust her.

She felt isolated, and did not feel valued for the good work that she was doing. Increasingly there was a sense that she was being squeezed out, made to feel so uncomfortable that she would have to leave.

Would God want her to stay and fight? To make a difference for the clients who hired her? Was there a way of changing the corporate culture? If she left, would that be removing Christian influence from the organisation? What about this other worker, should she stay to support him?

We talked for a while, and I shared with her my ultimatum: Stay if supported, leave if your faith is eroded.

It was at that point she told me another point of pressure in terms of her work: she didn’t want to disappoint her father who had been so excited about her getting the role.

Leaving would impact on her career, and the success he had invested in. I was able to reassure her of his concern for her, and encouraged her to speak openly with him.

Toxic versus flourishing

Workplaces can become toxic, impacting not just the ability to work, but health and wellbeing. Sometimes the toxicity can extend to clients, customers, suppliers … all those impacted by the organisation.

God’s vision for business is the flourishing of individuals who work there, and innovation in products and services that add to creation. A toxic workplace is not just a workplace routinely impacted by sin; it is a place that negatively impacts on people to such an extent that it hardly seems sustainable.

Louise was not the only one impacted by the organisation, but often our silence is mistaken for complicity. She was also not simply uncomfortable because of her Christian faith. The organisation was disingenuous in its dealings with clients as well as employees.

The occurrence of toxic workplaces is quite widespread. I know a teacher who is desperate in a school that has become toxic as a new leader has caused major divisions among staff and parents. Her job is crumbling around her, and she is finding her self-confidence being undermined.

In her case, as in Louise’s, there is a sense of being trapped. Louise felt she didn’t want to let her parents down. The teacher faces demotion if she leaves, and the possibility of being posted to a school a long way away.

Biblical advice for survival

Chapman, White and Myra have written a book Rising Above a Toxic Workplace which has some advice for surviving toxic workplaces:

• Don’t expect people in a toxic workplace to respond “normally”. Give up your expectation of a healthy response to your good work. Instead, serve the Lord (Colossians 3:23).

• Accept the fact that you cannot change the culture unless you are the leader.

• Set clear boundaries regarding what you will or will not do, and stick to it. Do not lose the person you are “in Christ” (Romans 8:1), for the sake of pleasing your manager or your company.

• Don’t accept false guilt, from those trying to blame others.

• Don’t take it personally, remember that toxic culture is an outworking of rampant sin, not your personal responsibility. Pass the burden to Jesus (Matthew 11:28–30).

• Have people who will affirm you, preferably who can give you clear feedback on your working, so that you can evaluate yourself with sober judgment (Romans 12:3).

Making Ethical Decisions

Christie worked for a large toy-making company in sales. She enjoyed her job which involved playing with the products to get to know them and plenty of travel.

We talked a few times about how she applied her faith to her job, and she was really challenged. She could not work out how to do her job without exaggerating the benefits of the product, and misleading outlets about what deals she had with their competitors.

She seemed very comfortable with being a Christian and, basically, lying.

Values Framework from the Bible

Michael Cafferky, author of Business Ethics in Biblical Perspective, has developed a biblically-based Values Framework for considering the decisions we might make. It can be summarised as a series of questions:

• Is it creative and sustaining? (creation)

• Is it the right thing to do? (holiness)

• Does it enhance relationship? (relationship)

• Will it lead to flourishing? (shalom)

• Is it a just thing to do? (justice)

• Does it have integrity? (truth)

• Is it a wise thing to do? (wisdom)

• Does it show compassion? (love)

• Does it set someone free? (redemption)

If Christie applied this framework she might come up with an entirely different set of actions. Her decision to do or say anything to get a sale may have short-term benefits but long-term consequences.

It is probably not sustainable to continue lying and pretending. It is certainly not a holy thing to do, because we know the Bible explicitly forbids lying.

It does not enhance her relationship with her customers, because it is a relationship based on lies rather than trust. It will not lead to flourishing because it is a controlling situation. It is not a just thing to do, because the price that is determined is based on false premises, and differs between customers. It is not based on truth. It is not wise, because once found out, it will impact on Christie’s reputation, and the reputation of her organisation.

It does not demonstrate love, since her desire is to trick and manipulate the customer for personal gain. Finally, her behaviour actually binds her, because she is fearful of being found out, and it restricts the freedom of the customer also.

Making the best ethical decisions

When faced with a difficult ethical decision, the following steps will help ensure that you make the best decision possible:

• Stop and think: don’t be tempted to rush a difficult ethical decision; it is better to take time and make a solid decision.

• Determine the facts: make sure you have all the information you need.

• Think through the Values Framework.

• Develop options: while being conscious that you must also represent the needs of your organisation.

• Consider consequences: trying to be creative about possible even if improbable consequences.

• Ask questions: make sure you involve the key people making or being impacted by the decision.

• Monitor and modify: don’t feel that you cannot change tack; too many poor decisions are made worse by people too proud to modify the decision after the event.

A wise man once told me that the final question he asked himself when making a difficult decision is: “How will I feel if that decision is portrayed as the lead story on a digital news source tomorrow morning?”

Integrity and service

Recently, I was speaking at a church and I heard a fantastic story of the cost of obedience in the workplace, and the fruit of good work.

Ross (not his real name) told me about working in the insurance industry for several years. There was tremendous pressure to make a sale, since such a large part of his salary was commission.
He had made several sales, being a very relational person, when he suddenly discovered that the information he had based the sales on was untrue. His manager justified telling lies by focusing on the importance of making sales for both the company and the salespeople.
Ross was appalled and felt guilty, such that he went back to the clients to apologise and paid them back the commission he had earned.
During his first three years he barely earned enough money to survive because he had made a vow that he would never exaggerate the benefits of a product, or sell a client something that wasn't suited to their situation.
After that time, something extraordinary happened. His clients were so impressed by his integrity and service that they started referring their friends.
Suddenly, with the sheer volume of clients that he didn't have to go looking for, Ross finally started making decent income, and winning the kudos of his manager and team.

To me, this shows that God's way of doing business is the best way of doing business. Our honesty and acts of service are the best foundation for doing good work.