Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

• When the Paychecks Stop: Spiritual Care for the Unemployed. Joe Carter writes “The church that responds to unemployment with theological depth and practical compassion bears witness to a different kingdom, where worth isn’t earned through production but freely given through grace.”
• What To Do When You Are Passed Over. Glenn Brooke writes “You want to lead, to serve in a specific area, to use your skills and abilities, to be recognized. Being passed over doesn’t feel good. We hear the sincere and polite words and feel insulted. It’s easy to become discouraged, resentful, angry. So, what’s the godly approach to this situation?”
• When Work Hurts: Building Resilience When You’re Beat Up or Burnt Out with Meryl Herr. What do you do when work isn’t just difficult—it’s downright painful? In this episode of the Faith and Work Podcast, Jeff Hoffmeyer sits down with author Meryl Herr to tackle the raw realities of workplace hurt. From crushing disappointment to full-blown devastation, Meryl unpacks why work wounds us so deeply—and how we can find a way forward.

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 ~ Leadership and Emotional Sabotage: Resisting the Anxiety That Will Wreck Your Family, Destroy Your Church, and Ruin the World by Joe Rigney
• Quotes from the book Working Blessedly Forever, Volume 1: The Shape of Marketplace Theology by R. Paul Stevens

• What is Sacred Work? Russ Gehrlein writes “What I intend to do in this discussion is to take a fresh look at and break down the sacred-secular divide. I have a new idea that may cause us to think a little deeper about this critical topic in the theology of work.”
• A Leader Worth Following. My new book A Leader Work Following: 40 Key Leadership Attributes and Applications to Masteris available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Read a sample of the book (found under the book cover in the above link).
• How Can Older Workers Learn New Tricks? Russ Gehrlein discusses from a biblical lens the following recommendations: be teachable, be flexible, and be strong.
• The Sanctity of Labor. Are you working “for the weekend”? Or counting the years to retirement? From his series Christian Ethics, R.C. Sproul explains that work is sacred and we are called to labor diligently to the glory of God.
• 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).
• What Leadership Is and Does. Guy Richard writes “Leadership is about more than influence—although it certainly isn’t about less. It is also about taking responsibility for the influence that we have.”
• How Pastors Should Lead. On this episode of The Everyday Pastor podcast, Paul Tripp joins Matt Smethurst and Ligon Duncan to discuss how a pastor can lead well for the flourishing of the whole church. The conversation touches on the importance of fostering a healthy leadership community, the gift of limits, responding to criticism and praise, the difference-making role of gospel grace, and more.”
• Brett Smith, Professor of Entrepreneurship. Brett Smith, researcher, professor, and Founder and Executive Director of the L.I.F.E Institute at Miami University, joins Dan Doriani on this episode of the Working with Dan Doriani podcast to discuss his work in the field of religious impact investing.
• The Three Callings of Every Christian. Andy Crouch writes “If you’re a Christian, you don’t have a “calling,” you have three. Two of the three are fundamental and universal—that is, they aren’t optional and they aren’t individual, but they are by far the most important callings in your life.”

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Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week

• God calls every disciple to full-time service. We deny that some work is sacred and some secular. Dan Doriani
• If you desire to be successful and to be the best leader you can possibly be, you cannot settle for the familiar. You cannot live in your comfort zone. You need to be willing to be uncomfortable. John Maxwell
• A job pays the bills; a calling fits our gifts and interests. Dan Doriani
• Work and vocation are not identical. Vocation entails service in the place where God has given gifts and a desire to make a difference in this world. Dan Doriani
• Instead of striving to be served, Christian leaders strive to serve. Harry Reeder
• The true measure of leaders is not the number of people who serve them but the number of people they serve. John Maxwell
• All legitimate work, whether with hands or head, paid or unpaid, carries honor and dignity. Larry Peabody
• All of our work allows us an opportunity to serve as redemptive agents for God’s work, no matter our industry. Missy Wallace and Lauren Gill
• As Christians, we serve others through our work because God has loved us and commanded us to love him and to love our neighbor. Meryl Herr

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FAITH AND WORK BOOK REVIEW:
Leadership and Emotional Sabotage: Resisting the Anxiety That Will Wreck Your Family, Destroy Your Church, and Ruin the World by Joe Rigney. Canon Press. 120 pages. 2024
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The author, who teaches at New Saint Andrews College, writes that for years, he has recommended Edwin Friedman’s book A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix as an essential book for Christian leaders. He tells us that this short book is his attempt to do justice to Friedman’s insights while grounding them in the Scriptures, and extending and applying them in the home, the church, and the world.
He begins his study in a surprising place – with one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known plays “Troilus and Cressida”. I didn’t find this section particularly helpful, but it does introduce us to the concept of “Degree”, which is the principle of cultural order or rule or hierarchy. He tells us that once  you notice it, Ulysses’ idea of Degree turns up everywhere, and that Ulysses’ diagnosis of the Greeks’ problem dovetails nicely with Friedman’s account of our cultural breakdown.
He then introduces us to Friedman’s five key characteristics of our chronically anxious and agitated society: reactivity, herding, blame displacement, quick-fix mentality and failure of nerve. He tells us that they mark not only society as a whole, but also afflict the various institutions of society—families, churches, businesses, and the state.
The author tells us that both Shakespeare and Friedman identify a failure of nerve as central to the unraveling of the social order, and that this diagnosis accords with a repeated biblical pattern, with the first and foundational failure of nerve showing up in Genesis. The pattern – abdication, idolatry, and blame-shifting, shows up again and again in the Scriptures. Specifically, he looks at Aaron and the golden calf in Exodus 32 and Saul and the Amalekites in 1 Samuel 15.
The author tells us that it’s this abdication of leadership, this neglect of the duties and responsibilities of authority, this failure of nerve that lies at the root of our cultural crisis. The author then sketches the outlines of a threefold cure for this fever, organizing the prescription by three of the Ten Commandments: the Fifth, the Tenth, and the First.
Rigney introduces us to the concept of sober-mindedness. He tells us that if we live amidst raging anxiety storms and reactive social stampedes, the fundamental virtue leaders need is sober-mindedness. Sober-mindedness includes at least three elements: clarity of mind, stability of soul, and readiness to act. However, the moment that you begin to cultivate mature, sober-minded leadership, you should expect sabotage, both from within and without. Sabotage is any attempt to steer or derail you, to take you and your people off-mission. Rigney then looks at how in the face of sabotage, we grow in our ability to wisely and faithfully resist being steered, both by slander and by emotion-sharing.
The final three chapters of the book explore faithful leadership in the home, the church, and the world. These chapters read like they were delivered as sermons, with several helpful points or lessons. For leadership in the home, Rigney looks at Ephesians chapters 5 and 6. For leadership in the church, he looks at the confrontation at Antioch, recorded by Paul in Galatians 2. For leadership in the world, he looks at Paul’s final journey to Jerusalem in Acts 21–24.
Rigney tells us that your home, your church, and this world need leaders who are mature and sober-minded, filled with gravity and gladness, and grounded in the glory of Jesus. Becoming that sort of leader is a lifelong work of God’s grace in us and through us.

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

We are reading through Working Blessedly Forever, Volume 1: The Shape of Marketplace Theology by R. Paul Stevens. In this volume, the first of three, Stevens explores the shape of marketplace theology, its posture and methodology. Marketplace theology is the science of working blessedly forever.

This week we look at Chapter 7: Growing Spiritually through Work and Chapter 8: Blessing Your Neighbor. Here are a few helpful quotes from these chapters:

• Money and the lack of it or, unusually, the abundance of it, is a test we often face in the workplace.
• Use every work opportunity and every challenge to seek God in prayer.
• Welcome testing in the workplace as an arena for growth (Jas 1) but do not seek it. God may allow you to be tested, as Jesus was, in the workplace.
• We are not the only ones blessed by God through our work. Our work, if it is good work, or mainly so, blesses others.
• We will reach the world with the good news of the kingdom of God partly through work.
• The Great Commission invites us to love our neighbors through our work,
• The coming of the kingdom of God brings human and creational flourishing.
• We will flourish in the kingdom of God in our work. That means that work will be redemptive—restoring things that have been broken or debased, and work will be worshipful.