Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview

Working in the Presence of God BOOK CLUB

You can read my review of the book here.

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 the Preface: A Theological Framework for Work. Here are a few helpful quotes from this section:

  • God provided work to do and then commanded Adam and Eve to fill the earth and to subdue it, meaning that they were to make something of the world.
  • As Adam and Eve were called to subdue the earth, we are also humans created in God’s image, called to work as co-creators with the Lord of creation. We are to make something with the materials we are given.
  • We are called to be co-creators. In that co-creation, we follow the call of God to cultivate and subdue by showing up, taking responsibility for our work, and doing it to the best of our abilities.
  • Joy can be found in our work, because we have the privilege of being in relationship with the Creator of the universe who gives us the responsibility to co-create alongside the Trinity, making something of our little corners of the world.
  • In the midst of the brokenness of our work, there is hope—hope that Christ enters into our work and shows up not only as the redeemer of all humanity but as the redeemer of all of creation, including our work.
  • In Christ’s promise of restoration, each day is an opportunity for us to witness his presence, bringing redemption to our work, our workplaces, and to those with whom we work.
  • The good news about work is that God gave us good work to do: work we will continue to cultivate—in a fulfilled and redeemed form—into eternity!

Introduction: The Ordinary Rhythm of Work. The Importance of the Ordinary

  • In many of our churches, we receive an implicit message that those who are pursuing full-time Christian ministry—missionaries, pastors, or parachurch workers—are doing “God’s work” while everyone else is doing “secular work,” which is somehow not quite as important.
  • We are living in the midst of a great sacred/secular divide. But Scripture doesn’t split life into sacred and secular.
  • The Creator is the author of work; so, whatever your work is, the Lord can communicate to you, use you, and transform you in the midst of it.
  • By using spiritual practices in the workplace, we begin to be attentive to the ways in which God is already present—speaking and acting.
  • Whether you find your work mundane or interesting, physical or intellectual, by incorporating spiritual practices into your daily working rhythms, you too can be shaped by God’s transforming hand.
  • Whatever your job, the first step in engaging in spiritual practices at work is for you to become aware of the rhythms of your specific work.
  • What we consider “work” is that which God has called you to do for his glory, in a particular place and time, for the sake of loving those around you.

Chapter 1: Liturgy of Commute

  • By paying attention to the way we begin work, we begin the habit of paying attention to where God might be at work throughout our day.
  • Anytime there is a new beginning—whether the start of a day or the start of another shift of work—God’s presence, kingdom, mercy, and grace are yours to receive and to be formed by as you go about your work.
  • Your commute is shaping you whether you know it or not. How you begin your day will affect how you go about your work.
  • God can transform your commute—whether it is mundane or stressful, short or long—into an experience of worship and attentiveness to the Holy Spirit.
  • By expressing surrender both at the beginning and the end of the day, we place our control back into the hands of God, who has ultimate control over our lives and work in the first place.
  • One way to create a liturgy of commute is to write down a list of things you want to surrender to God, people for whom you want to pray, and things for which you want to thank God. Take this list with you and start going through it as you pass your commute’s landmarks.

Chapter 2: Workplace as Holy Ground

  • When you recognize that the place where you work is holy ground, you can invoke God’s blessing in that space and wherever your organization’s work is done.
  • God is in your ordinary work and workplace, whatever that space is for you.

Chapter 3: Surrendering the Calendar

  • While working hard may be positive, constantly being hurried and having the pressure to perform at a frantic pace is not.
  • Your desires, responsibilities, and even obligations may not be bad in and of themselves; but if our first priority is not offering ourselves to God and pleasing him, then we will quickly find ourselves desiring the wrong thing, working for ourselves and being pulled away from focusing on what God wants for our work.
  • When we offer ourselves to God, we are then given new things to do during our days. Or we may be given new ways of doing the things to which God was already calling us.
  • When you surrender your calendar, you open up yourself to letting go of your expectations for the day and allowing your schedule to be shaped by God’s intentions for your work.
  • By surrendering your calendar and to-do list to God each day, you allow God to change the way you think about your work, change your motivations for work, and eventually change the way you structure your work, including what you put on your to-do list and your calendar- transforming who you are in the process.
  • When we do our work as living sacrifices, we begin to engage in life as people who see our lives as Christ’s life lived through us, for the glory of God.

Chapter 4: Reading Scripture at Work

  • Reading Scripture in your work or office space, however, can dramatically change not only how you read Scripture but also how you think about and engage in your work.
  • You could choose to read a passage of Scripture when first arriving at work.
  • Another way of doing this is to read Scripture during a lunch break.
  • Some people may have the opportunity to read Scripture with colleagues at work.
  • While reading Scripture once is a great way to get God’s word in your mind, reading it multiple times allows it to sink deeply into your soul. An ancient practice called lectio divina (“divine reading”) can aid you in this.
  • Reading Scripture in your workplace begins with intentionality. Forming a new habit can be difficult.

Part Two: Engaging in Work

  • You need to see your occupation in the light of the God who called you to this work—to see it as a vocation, a divine call.
  • Your identity as a worker, whatever the job, is shaped first and foremost by whom God calls you to be.
  • By engaging in work, we become co-creators in the work of subduing creation—making something new, as artists, craftspeople, and problem solvers.

Chapter 5: Affirmation of Calling

  • When we know we are accepted before the workday begins, no matter what happens in our work that day, a transformation takes place.
  • Instead of being driven by the fear that we will not measure up, we work because we are loved by Christ. There is nothing we need to prove.
  • Being grounded in who God says we are has incredible implications for how we think about ourselves, what we believe about ourselves, and how we act at work.
  • Every Christ follower has the same general calling: to experience God’s love and saving grace poured out on us, and to live a life of obedience to God through the power of the Holy Spirit.
  • Each person’s particular call includes all of the roles and tasks that are unique to them and done in service to God and others.
  • Unlike particular callings, the direct call may or may not correspond with someone’s skill set or interests.
  • Hearing the affirmation of God upon a particular calling can give us the confidence to go forward—even if it is difficult or not what we would automatically choose for ourselves.
  • God’s affirmation can propel us into work that brings glory to the Lord and blessing to the people around us.

Chapter 6: Gratitude and Celebration

  • Success is never the result of the self alone, but of God’s ability to do in and through us what we could not do by ourselves.
  • Your work is meant to serve others.
  • Accomplishments and success at work can be impetus for two types of gratitude: expressing our thanks for others and expressing our thanks to God.
  • By thanking others, we humbly acknowledge that our work is a way of serving others through employment, livelihood, and purpose.

Chapter 7: Confession at Work

  • Confession in relationships, work, and our vocations is a central practice to being a disciple in the workplace.
  • Confession is the tool God uses over and over again to grow us, to shape our character, and to make us into the likeness of Christ.
  • The more we guard our own worth, power, and prestige, the less we are likely to confess the places where we have contributed to the brokenness of our work.

Chapter 8: Lamenting Work

  • 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.

Part Three: Reflecting on Work

  • In reflecting on our work, we train the ears of our hearts to listen to the voice of God our shepherd, guiding us in the ways we are created to work and tuned to hear our deep identities in the midst of that work.
  • Through reflection, God can bring clarity, peace, and a sense of direction for the Christian worker.
  • Practicing the Sabbath allows us space to reflect on the ways God is at work and the opportunity to engage in relationships with others.

Chapter 10: Prayer of Examen for Work

  • When we begin carrying the burden of our work on our own shoulders, we come to believe that we are not co-laborers at all—but rather sole laborers, isolated and alone, set on serving the work no matter the cost.
  • By practicing daily reflection on where we saw God at work or even where we missed God’s activity, we awaken to the reality of God’s presence around us and through us.
  • The Examen for Work systematically explores what happened in our workday. In the examen we look at, turn over, and see from all directions the events that we experienced throughout the day.
  • Engaging in the Prayer of Examen for work on a regular basis trains our minds and hearts to pay attention to God in different ways.
  • Think of the examen for work like looking through a magnifying glass: it will magnify both the blessings and the challenges in the context of God’s loving care.

Chapter 11 Sabbath: Ceasing from Work

  • Many Christians have adopted Sunday as a Sabbath day, because it is a day that memorializes Jesus’ resurrection.
  • The scriptural idea of the Sabbath involves one twenty-four-hour period during which we set aside productive work and create space for rest, worship, and play.
  • In observing the Sabbath, we do not run away from our work, but we cease letting it dictate our lives.
  • The Sabbath provides time to reflect on God’s goodness: to recognize your blessings, and to be content in your circumstances.
  • Perhaps most obviously, the Sabbath allows us a day to focus attention on our relationship with God.
  • Worship should not be divorced from our work: in fact, we should offer up our work to God.
  • The Sabbath is an opportunity for us to stop—to rest from our work, reflect on God’s goodness, and engage in relationship with others and with God.