Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

• The Crazy Badge of Honor. Dan Rockwell writes “We falsely believe that busyness reflects significance.”
• Lead Like Jesus Podcast. I’m excited about this new leadership podcast.
• Introducing First Graders to Words. Carey Anne Bustard interviews Sharon Strawbridge, who has been the first-grade teacher at Veritas Academy in Leola, Pennsylvania.
• We Can Coexist and Not Compete. Dave Kraft writes “After years of watching organizations and teams, I have come to the strong conviction that any, and all, teams need to have a combination of dreamers and implementers–some with their heads in the clouds (in a good way) and some with their feet on the ground.”
• Leadership Differences by Generation. In this episode of The 5 Leadership Questions podcast Todd Adkins, Brad Lomenick, and Barnabas Piper discuss the differences in leadership styles between generations.
• 9 Things Managers Do That Make Good Employees Quit. Travis Bradberry writes “Managers tend to blame their turnover problems on everything under the sun, while ignoring the crux of the matter: people don’t leave jobs; they leave managers.”
• Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast. In this edition of this excellent podcast, Andy talks with Frank Blake on creating and communicating vision for your organization.
• Lessons Introverts Need to Learn to Become Leaders. John Rampton writes “Introverts make excellent leaders, not necessarily by being social, but by applying their keen thoughts, sense of reflection, and attention to detail in all their projects; as well as by forming deeper and more meaningful relationships with their cohorts (everybody knows: small talk is an introvert’s anathema).”
• The Business of Faith. Read this interview with Al Erisman, author of The Accidental Executive.
• 11 Things Every Leader Must Learn. Jarrid Wilson writes “Over my last eight years of ministry, I have had the opportunity to be in various roles, and under the leadership of some incredible people. Although I don’t know everything, I believe these 11 points are vital for anyone looking to develop great leadership.”
• The Value of Goals. Art Rainer writes “So whether you are leading a team or are trying to right your current financial situation, let me encourage you to consider identifying your goals by giving you the value they provide.”
• When Does Your Religion Legally Excuse You from Doing Your Job? Eugene Volokh writes “Can your religion legally excuse you from doing part of your job? This is one of the questions in the Kentucky County Clerk marriage certificate case.”

Faith and Work Quotes

• Want to be a world changing leader? Great. Lead yourself first. Change you and you will change others. Internal change creates external impact. Brad Lomenick
• Being a leader is one thing; developing others is another. Dan Rockwell
• If you aren’t leading without a title, a title won’t help. Dan Rockwell
• We don’t need a title to lead. We just need to care. People would rather follow a leader with a heart than a leader with a title. Craig Groeschel
• Be humble. Be yourself. People would rather follow a leader who is always real than one who is always right. Craig Groeschel
• Leaders want to help. Servant leaders love to serve. We also want to help others win. Mark Miller
• If everything is a priority, nothing is. Mark Miller
• Surround yourself with people that tell you what you NEED to hear, not what you WANT to hear. Coach K
• Never look down on anyone unless you’re helping them up. Coach K
• Followers want to be taken care of. Leaders want to take care of others. Be the leader you wish you had. Simon Sinek
• Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily, even if you had no title or position. Brian Tracy
• If we give God service it must be because He gives us grace. We work for Him because He works in us. Charles Spurgeon
• Failures will happen. But your success will be determined by how you respond to those failures. Dr. Alan Zimmerman
• First become a winner in life. Then it’s easier to become a winner on the field. Tom Landry
• Clock builders rather than time tellers, Level 5 leaders are comfortable with the idea that their companies will tick on without them. Jim Collins

Kingdom Calling BOOK CLUB – Won’t you read along with us?

Kingdom Calling: Vocational Calling for the Common Good by Amy L. Sherman

I first read this book in a “Calling, Vocation and Work” class with Dr. Michael Williams and Dr. Bradley Matthews at Covenant Seminary two summers ago. King Jesus is on a mission to bring restoration in every sphere of society and has invited His followers to join Him in this Kingdom-advancing work. Learn to deeply, creatively and intentionally steward your vocational power in ways that advance foretastes of the coming Kingdom of shalom for our neighbors near and far.

It’s an excellent book, so let’s read it together. This week we’ll look at Chapter 6: Inspiration.

• It is from this high view of members’ daily work that pastors are positioned to offer inspiration to their flock. Carrying out this task of inspiration involves teaching a biblical theology of work and providing practical advice to members regarding the “vocational sweet spot.”
• To inspire their flock about their daily work, congregational leaders need to start with the vital truth that work preceded the Fall. This truth is foundational for faithful vocational stewardship. Work is not a result of humankind’s fall into sin. Work is central in Genesis 1 and 2. There it is-right in the midst of paradise, right in the picture of God’s intentions for how things ought to be. Work is a gift from God. Work is something we were built for, something our loving Creator intends for our good.
• Human beings are made in the image of God, and God is a worker. Human labor has intrinsic value because in it we “image,” or reflect, our Creator.
• Pastors can explain the various ways in which God is a worker, and then encourage their congregants to identify where their own labors fit. God’s labors include the following: • Redemptive work (God’s saving and reconciling actions). Humans participate in this kind of work, for example, as evangelists, pastors, counselors and peacemakers. So do writers, artists, producers, songwriters, poets and actors who incorporate redemptive elements in their stories, novels, songs, films, performances and other works.
• Creative work (God’s fashioning of the physical and human world). God gives humans creativity. People in the arts (sculptors, actors, painters, musicians, poets and so on) display this, as do a wide range of craftspeople such as potters, weavers and seamstresses, as well as interior designers, metalworkers, carpenters, builders, fashion designers, architects, novelists and urban planners (and more).
• Providential work (God’s provision for and sustaining of humans and the creation).
• Thus, innumerable individuals-bureaucrats, public utility workers, public policymakers, shopkeepers, career counselors, shipbuilders, farmers, firemen, repairmen, printers, transport workers, IT specialists, entrepreneurs, bankers and brokers, meteorologists, research technicians, civil servants, business school professors, mechanics, engineers, building inspectors, machinists, statisticians, plumbers, welders, janitors-and all who help keep the economic and political order working smoothly-reflect this aspect of God’s labor.
• Justice work (God’s maintenance of justice). Judges, lawyers, paralegals, government regulators, legal secretaries, city managers, prison wardens and guards, policy researchers and advocates, law professors, diplomats, supervisors, administrators and law enforcement personnel participate in God’s work of maintaining justice.
• Compassionate work (God’s involvement in comforting, healing, guiding and shepherding). Doctors, nurses, paramedics, psychologists, therapists, social workers, pharmacists, community workers, nonprofit directors, emergency medical technicians, counselors and welfare agents all reflect this aspect of God’s labor.
• Revelatory work (God’s work to enlighten with truth). Preachers, scientists, educators, journalists, scholars and writers are all involved in this sort of work.
• In all these various ways, God the Father continues his creative, sustaining and redeeming work through our human labor. This gives our work great dignity and purpose.
• Our work lasts. We saw earlier that a further reason why our work truly matters is because it lasts. Work-pleasurable, fruitful, meaningful work-will be an eternal reality.
• As church leaders teach the goodness of work, they also need to unmask and reject our secular culture’s false understandings of work.
• Because we are fallen, we sometimes act as though success at work equates to a successful life. It doesn’t. Sometimes we make an idol of our careers. We need to repent. Sometimes we make decisions about jobs as though the ultimate purpose of work were self-fulfillment. It’s not. Sometimes we judge people’s worth based on their career position or status. We should seek God’s forgiveness. Sometimes we allow work-which is just one dimension of our lives-to crowd out family or worship or relationships or play or Sabbath. We must resist.
• False ideas about work emerge not just from the secular culture but also from poor theology.
• Christianity insists that our lives-including our work-are all about God and his work, his mission.
• As author Frederick Buechner says in his pithy definition of vocation, “the place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
• Church leaders should inspire their congregants to choose jobs that, to the greatest extent possible, offer them the best opportunities for directing their creative talents toward the end of advancing shalom for the common good.
• The sweet spot is that place where our gifts and passions intersect with God’s priorities and the world’s needs. To the greatest extent possible, Christians should seek to work there.
• I’m encouraging church leaders to invite people to find and live in their vocational sweet spot because of the joy it brings to the worker, the hope it brings to those served and the glory it brings to God.
• Pastors must be careful not to make parishioners feel guilty when, for any number of legitimate reasons, they are not able to be in that sweet spot.
• To inspire people with a robust understanding of work, church leaders may need to exhort congregants to examine whether they’re in the right place vocationally. Some believers may need to reassess why they are in their jobs. What are the reasons-and are they good reasons, kingdom reasons, God-honoring reasons? How much of a role do comfort, convenience, pride, fear or materialism play in explaining why we’re staying in our current jobs?
• A final aspect of inspiring the congregation involves searching for people in the church who are modeling vocational stewardship and telling their stories.

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

LEADERSHIP:

• How to be Authoritative without Being a Jerk. Dan Rockwell writes “Authoritarian leaders believe leadership is about power rather than service.”
• Five Ways to Critique without Crushing. Eric Geiger writes “The goal of a leader’s critique must be to equip and prepare, not crush and demoralize. A leader who critiques haphazardly is likely to harm team members and not help them.”
• Four Critical Characteristics of Effective Leaders. Dave Kraft shares four key characteristics of effective leaders from Mark Sanborn’s book You Don’t Need a Title to Be a Leader.
• 5 Often-Overlooked Truths for Christian Business Leaders. C Patton shares these helpful thoughts for Christians who own businesses.
• Leadership Requires the Pursuit of Joy. Trip Lee states that joy is so important for anyone who wants to be in leadership. Watch this short video.
• Top 30 Must-Read Posts On Leadership. Paul Sohn shares these 30 articles from August.

FAITH AND WORK:

• A Prayer for Mondays to be Celebrated as Fridays. Scotty Smith prays “May we see our work less as a job and more as a vocation—less as a way of just paying the bills or preparing for retirement, and more as a means of expanding your kingdom and revealing your beauty.”
• Five Questions to Ask Yourself When Considering a Job Change. Andrew Spencer writes “Here are five questions I used to evaluate my recent job change.
• This Story Isn’t About Marriage. Bethany Jenkins writes “Kim Davis, a county clerk in Kentucky, has refused to issue marriage licenses to all couples—gay or straight—since the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision in June. As a Christian, Davis objects to gay marriage. Six couples have brought suits against her, arguing she must fulfill her duties as an elected official despite her religious convictions.”
• Let Your Wine Age….Not Your Bad News. Dr. Alan Zimmerman discusses the right way to deal with bad news.
• 9 Steps to Start Growing Early. John Maxwell writes about beginnings and how to start well. He states “So whether you have children, grandchildren, students, or young adults that you’re mentoring, here are some ways you can assist young people in starting early.”
• Rethinking Work. Barry Schwartzaug writes “Work that is adequately compensated is an important social good. But so is work that is worth doing. Half of our waking lives is a terrible thing to waste.”
• Thrive. In this “Minute with Maxwell”, John Maxwell encourages us not only to strive, but to thrive.
• ‘Good’ Is a Protest Against Moral Decay. Carey Anne Bustard interviews Ned Bustard, owner of World’s End Images, is a graphic designer, art gallery director, author, illustrator, and printmaker. He edited It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God and co-edited Bigger on the Inside: Christianity and Doctor Who.
• Three Dangers of Only Looking at the Present. Eric Geiger writes “The present reality is a strong pull on leaders. When a leader wants to rise above the day and look to the future, the urgent can quickly pull a leader back to focusing on today.”
• Do I Need a Job to be able to Work for God? James Clark writes “Keep searching for job prospects. Think hard about your calling. Ponder your strengths and in what sort of job they could be best harnessed. Beware of the spiritual pitfalls that accompany joblessness. But please do not let yourself believe that apart from a job you have no work to do.”
• A Worker’s Prayer. The Getty’s write “Before You I Kneel (A Worker’s Prayer)” is a hymn for the working day, a prayer for each task we are given. The spark for the song came from our good friend, Jeff Barneson, who introduced us to a special service called “The Holy Ordination to Daily Work” that Intervarsity conducts annually at Harvard University. As Keith and one of our new Nashville friends, Jeff Taylor, put the melody together, they reflected on JS Bach who finished his working day of writing for the church by inscribing SDG (Soli Deo Gloria) at the bottom of the manuscript page. It became the hook that we built both the song and this particular arrangement on where we hear Bach’s timeless melody, “Wachet Auf,” played on folk instruments.”
• 7 Elements of a Strong Work Ethic. Jacqueline Whitmore writes “A strong work ethic energizes you and your employees to face your challenges head-on, be your best and keep you at the top of your game.”
• 5 Rude Emails You Send Every Day. Travis Bradberry writes “Even the most likable and well-mannered among us can still look like jerks in an email. Writing an email that comes across just like you do in person is a fine art. Most of the mistakes people make in their emails are completely avoidable. The following list digs into these subtle mistakes and hidden blunders.”
• To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved. Shirley S. Wang writes “Researchers say chronic procrastination is an emotional strategy for dealing with stress, and it can lead to significant issues in relationships, jobs, finances and health.”
• Five Consequences of a Life Out of Balance. Michael Hyatt writes “If you are working more than fifty-five hours a week, you are out of balance. You are putting at risk at least five very important assets.”
• The Powerful Effect of Noticing Good Things at Work. Joyce E. Bono and Theresa M. Glomb write “Before turning on the radio or getting on a call during your homeward commute, take a moment to reflect on the good things that happened at work. Doing so can help you capitalize on the small, naturally occurring flow of daily positive events — a ubiquitous but too-often-ignored source of strength and well-being.”
• Mountaintop Lessons. Jena Lee Nardella writes “When I stand on a mountaintop I am reminded of two important lessons I had to learn somewhere along the way — 1. to take on immoveable mountains, the first thing you have to do is move; 2. it’s important to take moments of true rest.”
• 5 Dysfunctions of Teams. Watch this 37 minute video from Patrick Lencioni based on his classic book, one of the most helpful books I’ve ever read.

• Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say. Andy Stanley  
• Stress is more often related to what you are doing, not how much you are doing. Andy Stanley
• The genius at the top doesn’t make the team look good. A good team makes the person at the top look like a genius. Simon Sinek
• Leaders trying to be managers — managers trying to be leaders — Frustrating themselves and others. Ron Edmondson
• Sabbath is a redefinition of how we work, why we work, and how we create freedom through our work. Dan Allender
• Mission includes our secular vocations, not just church ministry. Tim Keller
• Successful leaders release rather than control. Dan Rockwell
• Great leader: hot heart, cool head. Bad leader: cold heart, hot head. J.D. Greear
• Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments. Coach K
• A holy ambition is something you really, really want to do that God also wants you to do. John Piper
• If you stop and do nothing until you can do everything, you will remain useless. Charles Spurgeon
• In nothing has the church so lost her hold on reality as in her failure to understand the respect the secular vocation. Dorothy Sayers

Kingdom Calling Book Club – Won’t you read along with us?

Kingdom Calling: Vocational Calling for the Common Good by Amy L. Sherman

I first read this book in a “Calling, Vocation and Work” class with Dr. Michael Williams and Dr. Bradley Matthews at Covenant Seminary two summers ago. King Jesus is on a mission to bring restoration in every sphere of society and has invited His followers to join Him in this Kingdom-advancing work.  Learn to deeply, creatively and intentionally steward your vocational power in ways that advance foretastes of the coming Kingdom of shalom for our neighbors near and far.  It’s an excellent book, so let’s read it together. This week we’ll look at Chapter 4: How the Gospel of the Kingdom Nurtures the Tsaddiqim

• In 2008, InterVarsity leader James Choung did the Christian world an invaluable service when he published a new, simple diagram for explaining this gospel of the kingdom. Choung’s Four Circles illustration tells the Christian story from this creation/Fall/redemption/consummation paradigm. Unlike the Bridge illustration, Choung’s presentation centers the gospel story right away on God and God’s mission in the world, rather than on humans and their sinfulness.
• Congregants’ understanding of the gospel affects their views of three arenas crucial to living as the tsaddiqim: sanctification, evangelism and mission. This is why it is crucial that missional leaders preach the “big” gospel of the kingdom.
• Sanctification. The big gospel helps us understand that sanctification is a matter of conforming not only to the character of Christ, but also to his passions and identity.
• Becoming like Jesus also means seeing ourselves as he did, as “sent ones,” and being passionate about the things he is passionate about.
• Jesus is passionate for justice and shalom.
• Jesus is also passionate about reconciliation among diverse people.
• And, like his Father, Jesus is passionate about the poor, the vulnerable, the sick and the stranger. To become like him is to adopt all these passions as our own.
• Moreover, genuine sanctification means that we intentionally identify with the identity of Jesus.
• Evangelism. How we understand the gospel also shapes our approach to evangelism. Our presentation will include the vital good news of personal justification by faith in Christ’s atoning blood. But we will also talk about the power of Jesus in redeeming all our fundamental relationships (with God, self, others and the earth).
• Our gospel presentation will rejoice in Jesus’ victory over both the penalty of sin and the corruption of sin.
• The gospel of the kingdom should also reshape the language we use in evangelism.
• Evangelists of the gospel of the kingdom should encourage seekers to respond to Jesus’ invitation to come over and join his heart. Intimate communion with Jesus occurs when we go to him.
• The kingdom gospel also leads us to invest more thought and energy in the missional work of enacting and demonstrating the heart of God in the world.
• Our understanding of the gospel also influences our view of mission.
• First, the gospel of the kingdom illuminates our Lord’s top three missional priorities. As articulated in his inaugural address in Luke 4, they are evangelism, compassion and justice.
• Second, the gospel of the kingdom draws us to holistic ministry, to addressing people’s spiritual and material needs.
• Third, the gospel of the kingdom shapes mission by encouraging us to think more “cosmically” about evil than does the too-narrow gospel.
• It proclaims not only the redemption of individual sinners but also the destruction of the devil’s work and the restoring of all things.’
• Finally, the gospel of the kingdom shapes the direction of our mission.
• We come to see that while he loved everyone, his steps tended to lead him toward the poor. In this Jesus is simply following in his Father’s footsteps.
• The big gospel presented through tools like James Choung’s Four Circles puts the mission of God, the missio Dei, front and center. We see that God is on the move, doing his work of restoring all things.
• The gospel of the kingdom tells us not only what we’re saved from, but also what we’re saved for. We have a purpose, we have a sacred calling, we have a God-given vocation: to partner with God in his work of restoring all things.

Links to Interesting Faith and Work Articles

PRACTICAL TIPS:

• Rethinking the Rat Race: Five Reasons for Overwork. Clint Archer shares this helpful list of reasons for overworking.
• Am I Overworking? In this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper addresses the following: “Thee biblical pattern for our week is set in creation: Work six days; rest one day. Here in the United States we live on a 5-day workweek, with 2 days off — a rhythm that apparently was innovated by Henry Ford to encourage workers to work only 40 hours a week so that they could consume more. So here’s the question: Should Christians work on Saturday, too? How should we reconcile the creation pattern of working six days with our American practice of working five days?”
• Stealing on the Job. Bill Newton writes “Do you have games on your work computer or smartphone? Do you play them while on the job? If you do, do you realize you are committing robbery?”
• Seizing Your Commute. Jessica Schaeffer offers some practical ways to steward your commute time well.
• 20 Dumb Things Organizations Do. I enjoyed this article from Brad Lomenick. How many of these do you recognize?
•  10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Find Your Purpose. Dan Cumberland writes “Finding more passion, more purpose, and more meaning in your work and life is a process of identity formation. It’s a process of discovering more of who you are and what you have to offer the world.”

DEEPER THINKING:

• Does Your Work Matter in God’s Eyes? Bill Peel writes “When we meet legitimate human needs, we are working for God as much as a pastor, missionary, or evangelist.”
• Five Lies I Believed about Faith and Work. Kevin Halloran writes “Several times I had to learn the hard way of how God wants us approach work as a Christian. God, in His grace, revealed to me several lies that seeped into my work life. I pray that the lessons I learned will give you a greater view of God and His purpose for your work while strengthening you to work for His glory.”
• Albert Mohler: Work Is Not a Result of The Fall. In the latest video from Made to Flourish, Al Mohler reminds us that it’s our job as Christians to discover God’s original design for work and recover it for the glory of God.Global Leadership Summit. Here are two articles about the recently Global Leadership Summit from Matt Perman and Mark Miller.
• Is The Sunday to Monday Gap More Perilous Than We Thought? Tom Nelson, author of Work Matters, writes “I see at least four very perilous congregational consequences resulting from a wide Sunday to Monday gap.”
• The Myth of Calling. J.D. Greear writes “Every Christian, you see, has two major callings: (A) The call to use your vocation for the glory of God and the blessing of others; and (B) the call to make disciples. Thus, every believer should ask these two questions about their lives: 1. What skill has God given me by which I can bless the world? and 2. Where and how can I do it most strategically to advance the mission of God?”

TRUST:

• Trust. In this “Minute with Maxwell”, John Maxwell talks about the importance of trust in leadership.
• Forgiveness is the Path to Rebuilding Trust – 8 Principles to Remember. Randy Conley writes “There are many misconceptions about forgiveness, like it’s a display of weakness, it lets the offending party off the hook, or opens the door to people taking advantage of you. Those are misconceptions for a reason: they’re wrong. As you consider forgiving someone who has betrayed your trust, here are 8 principles to remember.”

LEADERS:

• 10 Attributes of a Humble Leader. Ron Edmondson writes “Humility is a desired, but often neglected characteristic of good, servant leadership. It seems in the day of platform-building and social media the more we promote ourselves online, the more the characteristic of humility is being forgotten and certainly is less celebrated.”
• Avoiding a Big Landmine for Leaders. Brad Lomenick writes “If you are surrounded by only yes people, you’re probably unaware of things that could be jeopardizing your leadership. This is a major land mine for leaders.”
• Seven Practices of a Listening Leader. Eric Geiger writes “How do you listen as a leader? What does a listening leader do?”
• 20 Ways to Know if You are a Leader. Paul Sohn shares 20 questions to help you determine whether or not you’re an (effective) leader.
• Recognition, Motivation, and How to Train a Whale. In this “Tuesday Tip”, Dr. Alan Zimmerman writes “So what can you do to give recognition that is not only sincere and appreciated but highly motivating as well?”
• Four Ways to Stimulate Growth in Others. Mark Miller writes “One way to drive engagement, not to mention productivity and satisfaction, is to help people grow. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of ways to do this. This is a topic we’ll certainly revisit in the future. For now, here are four things you can do as a leader to help those around you grow.”
•  Four Warning Signs You Are Not Listening to Your Team. Eric Geiger writes “Wise leaders listen to the people they lead. They recognize they are finite in their knowledge and wisdom, don’t have all the answers, and benefit from the minds of those they serve alongside.”
• Speaking Gracefully – One of the Great Joys of Leadership under the Authority of Christ. Glenn Brooke writes “Leaders must master their words as they respond to others – especially when people say and do things which infuriate us, frustrate us, or grieve us.  People are messy, complicated, and can be ungrateful, unthinking, and hurtful.”
• 16 Books Every Church Leader Should Read On Their Next Sabbatical. Katie Fridsma writes “Every church leader I know is a voracious reader. In fact, every leader of every kind is always hungry to gain more knowledge and wisdom about leadership, team building, vision casting, personal development, and strategic thinking.”
• Delegation Dilemma. In this month’s Andy Stanley podcast he continues his discussion on the delegation dilemma he started last month.

• Work is a major instrument of God’s providence; it is how he sustains the human world. Tim Keller
• A word of encouragement after failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success. Coach K
• A boss has the title. A leader has the people. Simon Sinek
• Lack of openness causes others not to trust you. Dan Rockwell
• Whatever leadership role I have is temporary, and to make the biggest impact I’m going to need to develop other leaders, not just get work done but actually develop people. Eric Geiger
• A team is not a group of people that works together. A team is a group of people that trusts each other. Simon Sinek
• If you need everyone to be happy, you should be a party planner not a leader. Mark Miller
• Look at your problems as problems and they’ll continue to hold you down. See them as blessings in disguise and that’s what they truly become. Coach K
• Employees and co-workers who feel as if their achievements are noticed will always work harder and perform at their best. Dr. Alan Zimmerman

Kingdom Calling Book Club – Won’t you read along with us?

Kingdom Calling: Vocational Calling for the Common Good by Amy L. Sherman

I first read this book in a “Calling, Vocation and Work” class with Dr. Michael Williams and Dr. Bradley Matthews at Covenant Seminary two summers ago. King Jesus is on a mission to bring restoration in every sphere of society and has invited His followers to join Him in this Kingdom-advancing work.  Learn to deeply, creatively and intentionally steward your vocational power in ways that advance foretastes of the coming Kingdom of shalom for our neighbors near and far.

It’s an excellent book, so let’s read it together. This week we’ll look at Chapter 1:

• Preeminently, the preview passages reveal that the consummated kingdom is marked by two major, closely related features: justice and shalom. A rejoiced city, therefore, is one where ever-greater tastes of justice and shalom are made real.
• When the righteous prosper, justice prevails. The tsaddiqim seek to bring into reality three dimensions of justice that mark the consummated kingdom.
• Rescue. The consummated kingdom is marked by the end of all oppression. In it, the poor, the innocent and the helpless will be rescued from all the grim realities they face at the hands of violent oppressors.
• The work of rescue is about remedying these sorts of violent injustice. It involves identifying, exposing and transforming situations where there is an abuse of power, typically perpetuated through coercion and deception.
• Equity. The second dimension of justice we see in the preview passages is equity. Equity is not a simple word to define. It denotes fairness and impartiality. Equity is about ensuring that the poor and weak are not disproportionately burdened by society’s common problems. It is about promoting public policies that do not favor the rich over the poor but treat people equally. It is about avoiding policies that unfairly burden the poor and weak.
• Equity is somewhat easier to describe than to define. Consider, for example, the process of seeking equitable solutions to the challenge of providing affordable housing in a community.
• Restoration. The third dimension of biblical justice we see in the grand story of creation/Fall/redemption/consummation concerns restoration.
• Biblical justice is not solely concerned with the punishment of wrongdoing, but with the healing of wrongdoers and their restoration to the community. Justice and salvation are linked concepts.
• In a rejoiced city, the criminal justice system includes this notion of restorative justice, as opposed to focusing exclusively on retributive justice. Certainly it calls offenders to account, yet it also seeks to address the harm of the crime, not just the legal offense against the state. It takes the victim seriously and seeks the reinstatement of the offender into the social fabric when possible. Recognizing that crime is about harm to human relationships, it seeks reconciliation of those relationships to the greatest degree possible.’
• A rejoiced city is marked by the three dimensions of justice noted above: rescue, equity and restoration. It is also a place where justice’s twin sister, shalom, is evident in increasing measure.
• Theologian Cornelius Plantinga Jr. defines shalom as “the webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight…. We call it peace, but it means far more than mere peace of mind or cease-fire among enemies. In the Bible shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight.”
• The consummated kingdom is characterized by shalom in the four fundamental relationships of life: peace with God, peace with self, peace with others and peace with the creation.
• Intimacy with God. At the center of our joy in the consummated kingdom will be our intimate relationship with God.
• An essential part of our mission now is introducing people to a personal relationship with God. Evangelism that leads people to follow Jesus offers new believers a foretaste of the intimacy with God they will one day experience for eternity. Many of us have opportunities to do evangelism through our work based relationships.
• Beauty. In the new earth, nature’s comeliness will reach its pinnacle; the wilderness itself will burst into blossom, and streams will gush in the desert (Isaiah 35). To complement all this natural beauty, human culture will flourish.
• Health/wholeness. How wonderful it will be in the age to come when we enjoy freedom from the decay of our bodies.
• Hope. There is a way in which all the preview passages are about hope. All make promises about what the glorious future life in the new heavens and new earth will be like. They speak to us in the midst of our pain and assure us that none who hope in the Lord will be disappointed.
• Offering hope to those who feel hopeless is kingdom work.
• Comfort. God cares about the wounded in spirit.
• His comfort is expressed in multiple metaphors in Isaiah 54-of those rejected and abandoned who experience embrace; of the disgraced and humiliated who receive new dignity and healing; of the widow who experiences the Lord himself as husband.
• Presence with the grieving, counseling for the afflicted-these are kingdom works.
• Unity. In the consummated kingdom, we will experience deeper, richer, more satisfying community with other people.
• Security/lack of violence. One day, God will cause all wars to cease (Psalm 46:9). In the new heavens and new earth, swords will be remade into plowshares (Micah 4:3). Nations will no longer take up arms against one another. The day of violence will be eternally ended, and God’s people will enjoy perfect security.
• Economic flourishing. The new heaven and new earth will be a place of economic bounty. All people will have access to the resources needed for their economic well-being.
• Believers advance foretastes of the kingdom when they devote themselves to the great work of relief and development; to hunger alleviation; to microenterprise; to sustainable agriculture; to efforts to find new ways to provide everyone with adequate shelter and clean water; and to advocacy for the rule of law so that just, free enterprise can flourish.
• Sustainability. So many of the preview passages speak of the healing of the creation itself as God restores what was once barren.
• We show forth his goodness and his future intentions by stewarding the creation with care.
• On the one hand, some parishioners might wrongly assume that they (or the church) can “just do it.” That is, they may vastly underestimate what it takes to usher in these foretastes of justice and shalom.
• On the other hand, we must not allow parishioners to believe that, because the full vision of the preview passages won’t by realized until the “age to come,” we don’t need to do anything now.
• To put it succinctly, we need to remember that the kingdom of God is both now and not yet.
• My hope is that the pictures painted here of Christians working to advance tastes of justice and shalom help us to see what is possible and plausible in this time when Christ’s kingdom is mysteriously both now and not yet.