Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

• Moses Doubted His Leadership Abilities – Can You Relate? Russ Gehrlein shares part two of an article that explores the long conversation Moses had with God at the burning bush. Moses expressed five doubts about his qualifications to fulfill his calling as God’s co-deliverer of the Israelites in Egypt.
• “I Feel Guilty When I’m Not Overworking.” Reagan Rose writes “We often focus on vocation as one area God has given us to steward. While it’s important to do our work well and treat it with care, problems arise when relationships, recreation, rest, or our spiritual lives are pushed aside because we’re working too much.”
• Called to Lead. My book Called to Lead: Living and Leading for Jesus in the Workplace is available in both a paperback and Kindle edition. Read a free sample (Introduction through Chapter 2).

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:

• More links to interesting articles
• The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
• Faith and Work Book Review ~ Work: A Kingdom Perspective on Labor by Ben Witherington III
• Quotes from the book Working in the Presence of God: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Work by Denise Daniels and Shannon Vandewarker

• 5 Tests of a Leader. Steve Graves writes “Here are a few common, but dangerous, storms that can wreak havoc in the heart of a leader. Every time we pass the test, our moral authority goes up. Every time we fail, our composite leader score is weakened.”
• 6 Myths that are Robbing Your Work of Meaning. Chip Roper delivered this message at the 2024 Center for Faith & Work Los Angeles Annual Conference.
• Navigating Change in a World of Flux. On this episode of the Denver Institute Faith & Work Podcast, we hear from Lisa Pratt Slayton and Michaela O’Donnell, authors of Life in Flux, on the fluctuating aspects of life and how we can more mindfully and faithfully navigate change.
• You Had One Job – Biblically Significant Relationships. Russ Gehrlein writes “I encourage you to examine your own marriage, family, and work relationships. If you need to make adjustments to focus on the main thing the Bible teaches us that will set us up for success as we love our biblically significant neighbors, then pursue that.”
• 4 Common Marketplace Leadership Sayings That Don’t (Fully) Apply in Ministry. Eric Geiger writes “There are some marketplace leadership insights (even ones that are widely accepted as wise) that don’t translate fully and should not be applied to a local ministry context. The ministry leader is wise to look at all learnings from the marketplace through the lens of God’s Word and His heart for His Church.”
• Whole-Life Stewardship with Murdock Trust CEO Romanita Hairston. On this episode of the Denver Institute Faith & Work Podcast, Romanita Hairston, CEO of the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, delivers a powerful reflection on leadership, faith, and purpose.
• Mere Christians: Ricky Dickson. On this episode of the Mere Christians podcast, Jordan Raynor visits with Ricky Dickson, former CEO of Blue Bell Creameries about faith in the face of crisis and critical feedback.

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Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week

• A gospel-centered business has a unique vision, avoids adversarial relationships and exploitation, prioritizes excellence and product quality, and fosters ethics throughout the organization, even at a loss of margin. Profit is just one of many bottom lines. Tim Keller
• Meaningful work is found not in success or financial reward but in sacrificial service. Jeff Haanen
• The daily work of Christians is the church’s greatest opportunity to complement God’s work. Yet for centuries, that opportunity has been largely ignored and often squandered. It must not continue. Ross Chapman
• We worship and serve a God who knows our limits, and because he does, he has called us to a Sabbath of rest. Paul Tripp
• Jesus wants us to be salt and light. Salt makes things better, and light makes things brighter. We are called to make a positive difference in the lives of others. John Maxwell
• Work is the greatest vehicle many of us have for loving our neighbors as ourselves. It’s at work that we find our most frequent opportunities to serve the public good by using our talents and skills to serve others. Ross Chapman
• Vocation is a moment-by-moment relationship with God, for the benefit of our neighbors, and through our daily work. Jeff Haanen
• All work — paid and unpaid — is good, but it needs to be boundaried by the practice of Sabbath. Peter Scazzero
• The Master finds great joy in watching you pursue excellent stewardship of the talents he has given you – especially if you find joy in your work. Jordan Raynor

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FAITH AND WORK BOOK REVIEW:
Work: A Kingdom Perspective on Labor by Ben Witherington III. Eerdmans. 186 pages. 2011
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I found this book to be a mixed bag. I appreciated much of what the author wrote about work, play, and rest. But the author writes from an Arminian theology perspective, and as a result, I am going to disagree with him on some theology issues. For example, he writes that “Jesus does not think salvation is a finished product.” He states that scripture suggests that the relationship of our work to reward and even to salvation (my emphasis) is far more complex than those in some Christian circles would like to admit. He also appears to believe that a Christian can lose their salvation. He confusingly refers to “initial salvation or conversion.” He criticizes Luther’s view of vocation, which reformed theology holds highly, and has criticism of Gene Veith’s excellent book God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life. In addition, the author justifies abortion if the mother’s life appears to be in danger.
On much of what the author writes about our work I can agree. He states that modern Americans, including many Christians, have little or no understanding of what the Bible actually says about work, and that Christian theologians have seldom addressed the topic of work.
Similar to Os Guinness in his book The Call: Finding and Fulfilling God’s Purpose For Your Life, the author writes that in terms of vocation, every Christian has a primary obligation to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. There are secondary callings we may be called to in addition to this — being doctors, lawyers, businesspeople, ministers, parents, etc.
The author discusses the parable of the talents and the parable of the day laborers. He quotes extensively from Miroslav Volf’s book Work in the Spirit: Toward a Theology of Work, which I have not read, but have read critiques of. He devotes an entire chapter to Andy Crouch’s book Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling.
Although I appreciate much of what the author writes specifically about work, I cannot recommend this book because of its questionable theology, some of which I have mentioned above. Below I have listed some helpful quotes from the book about work.

• Work was part of the original creation design, and it appears to be in the works for the new creation as well. Work should be neither demonized nor divinized.
• Work, then, should be seen as one’s vocation — what one is equipped and trained or gifted and experienced to do.
• The right question to ask about work as a Christian is, Does this activity help or hinder the coming Kingdom? Does this activity promote the cause of Christ? Does this activity glorify God, and can it be offered up to God in thanksgiving?
• Before we engage in any sort of work, we have to ask whether it will glorify God and edify other persons, whether it can be an expression of love of God and love of neighbor. If the answer is no, we should not be doing it.
• Work is not a secular activity; it is a sacred one originally ordained by God, and so it must be undertaken in holy ways.
• Even when work seems like drudgery, if it is done to God’s glory it is good in character, and if it is done for the edification of others, it is at the very least divine drudgery, not mere toil, not mere activity. It has meaning, purpose, and direction. It is Kingdom-bringing.
• God is delighted when we do our work well and to his glory and in his service and for his purposes.
• We should evaluate our work by whether we have done it well, done it to the best of our ability, done it honestly and in good time, done it to the glory of God, whatever the human response to the work may be.
• Regardless of the work a Christian does, it should be seen as a calling, not merely a job, and it should be seen as a ministry done in service of the King and his Kingdom, not merely a task.
• Any work that is good and godly, any work worth doing, can be done to the glory of God and for the help of humankind. And while we are at it, any such work is full-time ministry.
• As Christians we have to take the position that we have been blessed in order to be a blessing to others, including in the workplace.

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Faith and Work Book Club – Won’t you read along with us?

We are reading Working in the Presence of God: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Work by Denise Daniels and Shannon Vandewarker. This book was recommended by the Nashville Institute for Faith + Work.
The Amazon description of the book reads in part:
“How do we invite God into our everyday lives? Working in the Presence of God discusses the incorporation of spiritual disciplines into the ordinary rhythms of everyday experience. God is already present and active, so by becoming aware of workday rhythms and focusing on where various spiritual practices might be implemented in our jobs, we can be transformed into Christ’s likeness through our work.”

This week we look at Chapter 8: Lamenting Work. Here are a few helpful quotes from the chapter:

• While hard work was given as a gift at the creation, hard work with toil becomes difficult and sorrowful – work that does not result in much progress or joy.
• When we lament, we invite God to be our companion in the sorrow and despair of our work, in the places where we are feeling miserable and stuck.
• Through lament, we invite God with us to our work, giving him the space to bring insight about where we may have contributed to the suffering. We also give God the space to do what only he can do—heal and bring newness and hope.