I am serialising my first book: Workship: How to Use Your Work to Worship God.
You can access the Foreword via this link. It is on the same platform as my usual podcast: Worship on the Way to Work. New chapters will be released every two weeks. You will be able to spot them easily by the logo.
Thanks to Jaslyn Hill for the graphics, and Stephen Field for editing and producing.
My new book is available this week!
We all can think of organisations that were established by Christians that are no longer recognisably Christian. In Keeping Faith, the authors outline the key components of organisational faithfulness, that is, what is needed for Christian organisations to continue to stay true to the way of Jesus. They argue that the old reliance on statements of faith, or a set of Christian values, is insufficient. What is needed is a robust organisational theology which inhabits the enterprise’s structures, management, business policies, practices and relationships and will be tailored according to the purpose of the organisation.
In this important book you will find:
A checklist to determine if your organisation is losing its faithfulness.
An outline of some key components of organisational theology.
Examples, both positive and negative, of theological application in organisations.
Discussion questions for organisational reflection.
This book is a useful resource for Christian charities, schools, small businesses, start-ups, higher education providers and even churches. It will help you ensure that the mission of the organisation is not just expressed in forward-facing activity, but in the essential ways that the organisation is run: people and culture, marketing, fundraising and so on.
The authors have combined global experience in practical theology, running businesses and charities and integrating faith and work.
About the authors:
Dr Stephen Judd is the former Chief Executive of HammondCare – an Australian Christian independent charitable trust working within health and aged-care provision and with an annual turnover of over $A400m.
Professor John Swinton is a Scottish theologian based in the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, United Kingdom. He is Chaplain to the King of England.
Kara Martin, Adjunct Professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, is a practical theologian and author/editor of three books dealing with faith–work connection.
BUY NOW (click on the link):
Acorn (publisher)
Happy New Year!
I thought I would share the spiritual rhythms I am using for 2023 to grow my relationship with God.
There are three resources that I am using:
Hear the Ancient Wisdom: Daily readings from the Early Church to the Reformation, by Charles Ringma. This is a set of daily readings including a biblical text, and drawing on quotes from classic Christian thinkers that flow from those texts. Each day has a reading, a key thought, a devotion, a quote, and then a pithy reflection. Last year I read through the Bible in one year, so felt comfortable on choosing a more thematic resource to guide my Bible reading. I find that Charles Ringma is able to combine breadth of biblical knowledge and experience, with depth os spiritual awareness. The paperback is a little pricey but an eBook is available. Each day is a 5–10 mins read.
The Resilient Rhythms Journal is a new resource from Mitch Everingham, a pastor from Australia, living and serving in Switzerland, and studying an MTh in Missiology at Edinburgh Theological Seminary, Scotland. I really love this journal which encourages monthly, weekly and daily rhythms. It includes spaces to reflect on Scripture, to journal, to pray and challenges us to think how we are growing closer to God, and how we are seeking to love others. I’m loving the questions and the challenges, and am using it to track my ability to have a phone Sabbath. The daily journalling takes 5–15 mins.
The Examen is a practice I have been doing for over 20 years. It is a daily examination of how I have been open to God, what gifts I have received from God, how I have been closed to God, and how I will respond to these reflections. An example can be found here. This takes me about 5 mins to complete.
Now I might practise these spiritual disciplines but it leads to nothing… why? Knowledge about God does not necessarily lead to relationship and intimacy with God. Yet, an intimate relationship with God is vital to sustain a Christian in the context in which God has placed us. So, we need to have that relationship and to feed it regularly. I might know about God, but I need to know God intimately, in a living relationship.
So in doing these disciplines I am conscious that they are not just for the purpose of gaining knowledge about God, or even about me; though that will happen. The purpose of the disciplines is to be gateways to experiencing deep communion or fellowship with God. To abide with or in him (John 15:1–17).
So what spiritual disciplines will you be exercising this year?
I love Mike Baer and his pioneering with with business as mission. Recently, he spoke to me on his podcast. You can listen by clicking on this link.
Mike is a veteran of the modern Business as Mission (BAM) movement. He is a pastor, entrepreneur, theologian, and executive. Mike has led and taught BAM on every continent (except Antarctica). He is a prolific author, speaker, and founder of the Jholdas Project. Mike graduated from Flagler College and Dallas Theological Seminary. Today, he and his wife live in the North Carolina mountains.
My new book—Vocational discipleship—is currently under consideration with a publisher. It aims to go deeper to examine what Christians need to flourish in their working. I completed in-depth interviews with 20 integrated faith–workers, and analysed their responses.
The research identifies the key knowledge, skills and values that Christians need to excel in connecting their work with their faith. The participants then tell stories of what this looks like in the workplace: both positive stories, and negative stories (when that competency is missing).
The book presents these results and stories. It also provides resources to help the reader gain the knowledge skills and values they need to survive and thrive.
Work is where most of us spend the majority of our lives, yet Christians are often left to flounder and make connections for themselves. This book maps out stories to help individual Christians to live out their faith in the workplace; and provides ideas of resources to access; as well as helping Christian organisations to better equip Christians to work well.
Here are the 10 key knowledge, skills and values:
Knowledge
1 Spiritual Disciplines
2 Biblical narrative
3 Worldviews
4 Theology of Work
Skills
5 Practise servant leadership
6 Build authentic relationships
7 Transform work
Values
8 Intimacy with God
9 Godly character
10 Work as worship
Eternity News is Australia’s largest protestant Christian news site. It has been a privilege to be asked to contribute a regular column: Faith at Work. Below is my latest article, about an amazing woman who is living out her faith at work.
How would you respond if you survived an horrific air crash? How would it impact your priorities? How would it impact your faith?
One person who has lived that reality is Helen Young Hayes. At the time of the air crash, Helen was a global investment superstar, running funds worth over $US50 billion! She was flying from Denver to Chicago when her plane was forced to make an emergency landing. As the plane slid to a stop the flight attendant said to the passengers, “This plane is on fire, run!” Helen ran. She survived. More than 100 passengers and crew didn’t make it. The plane had become disabled in midair without steering or stopping capabilities, and it broke into four pieces on landing.
Helen comments that the night before that flight she had prayed, “Lord whatever you want me to do, I want to do it. I just want to do something for the kingdom.” After the crash, she was even more eager to do God’s bidding.
She continued to work in finance for a while and then she walked away. To work for the church? To start a not-for-profit? No, to focus on caring for her children. (This is a Faith at Work column, and caring for children is some of the hardest work I have ever done.)
For Helen, it was a very rich time. She describes it as a Sabbath time. During that time, she was studying the biblical book of Esther, and the classic verse stood out, “For such a time as this …” To Helen, it was an invitation from God for the next step in her work journey.
She founded ActivateWork, aimed at helping employers find and keep loyal and engaged employees, while connecting untapped talent with long-term career opportunities. They do this by recruiting, training and giving ongoing mentoring to vulnerable individuals, enabling them (and their families) to escape the poverty cycle and flourish economically, emotionally and spiritually.
You can read more about that program in this wonderful short film by Faith & Co, Second Chances.
What work has God prepared for me to do, for such a time as this?
After several years of flourishing, ActivateWork’s program was significantly impacted by the COVID pandemic. Instead of giving up, Helen used that time to strategise about post-COVID realities for under-represented communities. She knew that the pandemic would hit the vulnerable the hardest and that they would bounce back slower. So, she formed a coalition of CEOs of the city’s major employers to commit to prioritising the vulnerable in their employment strategies when the economy recovered.
That has sparked the Colorado Inclusive Economy Movement, which has the goal of seeing over 10,000 people of diverse talents and backgrounds in jobs that pay more than $US45,000 over five years.
I caught up with this amazing woman in Denver, Colorado recently and asked her some questions about her work:
How do you see Jesus in the work you do?
I see Jesus firstly in his calling of me, whereby he placed in me the challenge and invitation of Mordecai’s words “Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.”
My work to help individuals achieve economic flourishing is the culmination and synthesis of all that I have been blessed with; to participate in his work of shalom and restoration to those who experience struggle.
I also see Jesus in the work itself – how hard it has been, how much I have had to rely on him to open doors, grant wisdom, bless and prosper the work itself. I have been out of my own league, beyond my own capacity and walking by faith in the work.
What spiritual practices sustain you?
I find the older I am the more dependent on the Lord I become. Every morning I study and meditate on the Word, pray and journal. I rely on the Spirit for wisdom, discernment and understanding. I am fed by the teaching of my pastors and the fellowship of my small group.
What are you most excited about in the work you are doing now?
I love helping people move toward their fullest potential and to wholeness and economic thriving. Each person’s story is unique, and I like catalysing transformation.
What would you like to see the church do to support workers like you?
I’d like to see the church engage in moving beyond direct aid (food, clothing, shelter – important ministry, but it doesn’t break the cycle of poverty and economic struggle). I think the church could understand the forces that keep people in economic bondage and assist them to achieve economic freedom by looking at people holistically, rather than attending only to spiritual needs and not physical needs (Jesus told the disciples to feed the 4000 after they heard the Word).
Specifically, the church could:
1. Understand the forces that cause economic bondage and struggle (such as the decline in low-skill jobs, the increase in skilled jobs, the obsolescence of professions due to automation, how to upskill oneself to prepare for the knowledge economy).
2. Be a platform for helping individuals connect with the resources and skills necessary for economic thriving (partner with workforce development organisations and organisations that equip people for good work).
3. Teach biblical principles that address economic dysfunction such as overspending, lack of planning and stewardship, and a lack of understanding of God’s purpose for work.
Helen’s story raises a useful question to be asking ourselves: “What work has God prepared for me to do, for such a time as this?”
Kara and Helen
NEXT TIME: What do we need to do to thrive as a Christian at work?
Kara Martin is an Adjunct Professor at Mary Andrews College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, author of the Workship books and co-host of the Worship on the Way to Work podcast.
I recently travelled to Denver and had the joy of having a conversation with Joanna and Abby at the Denver Institute of Faith & Work in their ‘Virtues and Vices’ series. I talked about love in the workplace: how Christians can express it appropriately, and how God might use our work to develop the virtue of love in us.
Here is the link to the podcast, a transcript of the episode. Below are some highlights.
We also recorded 25 minutes of bonus material which is available to listen to. Joanna asked me about the sacred/secular divide and some of the differences between expressions of Christianity in Australia versus the US. Here is the transcript for that.
On learning love:
“Our life is the school of love. It’s how we learn to love, and the workplace is a beautiful place to learn how to love.”
On love in the highest model:
” It’s putting one’s self down to love the other. I think that’s probably biblically our highest model of what love is. It’s actually being willing to sacrifice some of your own desire so that you can do what is good for the other. That’s how I define love.”
On worshiping God not our work:
” If we don’t think about worshiping God through our work, the default position that most of us have is that we actually worship our work…”
Eternity News is Australia’s largest protestant Christian news site. It has been a privilege to be asked to contribute a regular column: Faith at Work. Below is my first article, explaining the title, and the need to consider these issues.
Can I take my faith to work? It is the question most people ask me nervously. For many, work is the place you lie low, keep quiet, get defensive. That is an understandable response. Andrew Thorburn and Israel Folau are just two high-profile examples in Australia of the way that faith and work seem like oil and water, they just don’t mix.
However, I have a couple of issues with the question. Firstly, it implies that we are separating two things that cannot and should not be separated. How can we NOT take our faith to work? I would ask.
From a Christian perspective, we see right at the beginning of the Bible that we are made in the image of a God who works, in the beauty of creation. And the first command to us is to work, to steward God’s good creation (Genesis 1:26–28). We are meant to work for God and with God in every area of our lives.
Even from a secular perspective, it seems unreasonable to deny that something as intrinsic as one’s faith or religion should be expressed in some appropriate way in a public setting.
The workplace is not just a place for Christians to survive; it is a place where our faith can thrive.
The problem is that our theological colleges and churches have been infiltrated by Greek thought that compartmentalises our bodies (and what we do with them) from our souls. We have been taught that what happens in church is sacred, and everything else is at best ‘secular’ and at worst is in the devil’s domain. We have been taught that God’s work is to pray, read the Bible and share the gospel, and not that God’s work is also to provide for the world, to be agents of reconciliation, to create beauty, to do acts of compassion, to give people a fragrance of the kingdom.
So, when society says that faith or religion is a private matter, and has no place at work, we can hardly disagree; when that is what we have been told and taught by our faith or religion.
My second problem with the question is that it implies a threat, that it needs courage to take our faith to work, and that it is something we tend to do timidly. It suggests that God is not present in the workplace already. However, Colossians 1:15-20 declares that Jesus is sovereign over all creation, including every workplace.
The workplace is not just a place for Christians to survive; it is a place where our faith can thrive. It is, as Eugene Peterson asserted, the “primary location of spiritual formation” (in Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places).
God is interested in everything we do with intent or purpose, paid or unpaid.
My third problem with that question, is that it stops us thinking about all our work, and how God can use it. When we say the word “work” we unconsciously are assuming paid work. However, God is interested in everything we do with intent or purpose, paid or unpaid. There is no unemployment and no retirement in God’s economy.
For the name of this column, we decided on Faith at Work. The idea was that we should see our faith as something that is present in our working. We should also see that our faith can be exercised – we can grow spiritually mature, while we work, whatever that context.
We could also have called it Faith that Works. I like that inference that faith is something not just present, but positive for our work. It could reframe some of our negative ideas.
“The healthiest, most productive workplaces are the ones where employees are encouraged to be whole people.”
In the middle of the Andrew Thorburn versus Essendon furore, Baptist pastor Scott Morrison wrote a blog – ‘Can’t I bring my faith to work anymore?‘ – which included this reflection:
“Interest in spirituality at work in all its forms and definitions, is not simply the domain of pastors, priests and clerics. It is now widely accepted and backed by validated data, that the healthiest, most productive workplaces are the ones where employees are encouraged to be whole people. Not simply human resources, or labour hire, but integrated whole, and often messy, human beings. We are physical, social, emotional, spiritual beings who function best when all those parts of our lives are integrated (Jurkiewicz et al).
“When people live dis-integrated lives—being someone with a particular set of beliefs and values in one context and someone entirely different in another—they tend to become disillusioned and frustrated. Moreover, human beings inherently seek meaning and purpose to their lives, of which work undoubtedly contributes to that pursuit (Viktor Frankl).
“After all, work (paid or unpaid) can easily consume well over 50% of our waking hours, year in year out across the span of life. So, it is not surprising that we increasingly want to spend this largest chunk of our life in an environment where we feel authentically ourselves and personally energised by what we are doing, and who we are doing it with.”
Faith is not a liability to our working, but an asset.
We should be encouraged by this, that our faith is not a liability to our working, but an asset, increasingly recognised by research as something that brings capital to an organisation.
Perhaps the pendulum of tolerance that is swinging in our society seems like it has swung too far toward intolerance of Christianity. However, that is a denial of how we were made as human beings, of the Christian heritage of our society, and of validated researched data.
In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of faithful Australian Christians are living out their faith at work in workplaces, neighbourhoods, communities and homes. They are a testament to the kingdom that Jesus has brought by working lovingly, joyfully, peacefully, with patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23). That is faith at work!
NEXT TIME: Read a story of a Christian living out their faith at work.
Kara Martin is an Adjunct Professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, author of the Workship books and co-host of the Worship on the Way to Work podcast.
I am co-host of a new podcast giving people the opportunity to have a worship experience as they commute to work. It is a 15-minute podcast which includes Bible readings, a devotion, prayers and reflection questions as the founder Stephen Field, Senior Pastor of Canterbury Baptist Church Melbourne explains, “I pastor a church of people who have satisfying jobs but who are time poor. They want to engage with faith, but they don’t have much time or headspace.
“One of my congregation members said to me, ‘When I go to church I leave my work at the door, and when I go to work I leave God at the door. But that’s not the way I want to live.’
“This podcast is a way of addressing the second part of that issue, seeking to connect a sense of God with the workplace.”
As a co-writer, I became involved in the project because this is the first time I’ve heard of something which is focused on helping people enter the workplace with a heart of worship.
I’m hoping this podcast will enable people to start a rhythm on the way to work of pausing, encountering God, and reflecting on the week ahead, as well as praying for what is going on at work.
Stephen and I both have backgrounds in media, HR and business, and bring that awareness of the world of work to their understanding of the Bible. “I’ve admired the way that Kara’s heart is not just about content, but also about devotion,” says Stephen, “In her books—as well as great content—each chapter also has questions to reflect on, and a prayer.”
My concern is that we need to know God, not just know about God, that is, have a deep relationship with God, recognising that he is interested in every part of our lives.
As part of the podcast there is a core theme each week, which people can reflect on, as well as a call to action, a practical way that people can apply what they have heard to their day-to-day work.
In addition to the weekly podcast, which could be replayed each day, Stephen and Kara are working on special episodes. I’m excited that we’re also planning some episodes that address particular issues that might come up during their work life.
People will have a chance to worship on the way to a new job, or a conflict with a work colleague, or when they are dealing with a toxic workplace.
“The weekly episodes will be available early on a Monday morning,” explains Stephen, “So you can listen to this literally on your way to work. And the special episodes will be released once per month as we build up a library of those.”
As well as the podcasts, there is a Facebook group and a LinkedIn group where there is an opportunity to form a community of people interested in worshipping on the way to work.
Links:
Podcast: https://worshiponthewaytowork.buzzsprout.com
An introduction to my story, and essential ideas about faith and work.
Bec and Penny from Run like a Woman podcast had a great chat with me.
Click on this link to find out more: https://share.transistor.fm/s/e054dd32
“How do work (both unpaid and paid) and God fit together?
Faith and work expert, Kara Martin, reveals how Christianity and motherhood shaped her own career, and how her six-year-old daughter's leukaemia diagnosis changed Kara's outlook on life.”
I was delighted to have an article published in Faith in Business Quarterly, Cambridge, along with my co-author Peter Cumming. The article is called “Who am I?”
Here is the abstract:
An exploration of identity, identity work and leadership development for Christians in the workplace
Peter Cumming and Kara Martin use the Book of Ruth to illustrate how we develop our identity in the workplace as Christian leaders. They explore three theories of identity - Who am I as a leader? (Identity theory); How do others see me as a leader? (Social identity); How does my sense of self get impacted by the leadership role assigned to me? (Social construction). But they affirm that ultimately, our identity as Christians is stable and secure in Christ.
Below is an excerpt:
In the 2020s, even without the impact of a pandemic, our careers are being subjected to almost continuous change. This is especially so in relentlessly shifting organisations which are intent on transformation. Such change results from a business being under pressure to respond promptly to either disruption or opportunities. Not to change could result in either business failure or a lack of exploratory growth. These changes have an impact – often a negative one - on the long-term mutual obligations between an institution and an individual leader within the organisation, also termed the ‘psychological contract’. The relationship is felt to have weakened or deteriorated. Importantly, organisational change also disrupts our sense of self, the way we see or describe ourselves, known as ‘identity change’.
The Book of Ruth and ‘identity work’
For very different reasons to our own, Ruth’s time was also very disruptive. It was the age when ‘the Judges’ ruled. It was a time of civil, religious and moral chaos in Israel’s history. Notably, it was not a safe environment for women (Ruth 2:9). For us, the events of the last five years with increasing reports of the abuse of women, and more recently, COVID-19, all make it easier to empathically enter into the period of the Judges.
Our entry into this topic on identity is a simple question, “Who am I?” Orpah and Ruth answer this question with two different responses. Orpah stays in Moab, but Ruth follows Naomi as she returns to Israel. Ruth’s ‘identity change’ begins with discarding the identity of being a Moabite, and that region’s gods, to become part of Naomi’s people and her God, as described in one of the most poignant passages in Scripture (1:16–17):
“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”
Kara’s story:
Like many workers these days, I have multiple employers. I lecture for a theological college, I coach for a business incubator, and I do contract work for various organisations. At times I am dealing with shifts in many of these organisations. I find myself sometimes overwhelmed by the amount of change, and that can lead to me caring less for each organisation that engages me.
The challenge for me is to continue to do my best work despite whatever is happening in the organisation. Sometimes I yearn for a simpler time when I worked for just one organisation, and my identity felt more contained and secure. However, there was a temptation then to identify more with the work itself, than to find my security in my relationship with Christ. I relate to Ruth taking on the risk of leaving what was familiar and known, and I am challenged by her flexibility, loyalty and initiative.
Identity as both ascribed and accomplished
In our post-modern world, identities are more often crafted - accomplished - by us than ascribed - that is, given to us. In the biblical context, it is helpful to link the granted or ascribed vertical dimension with our crafted or accomplished horizontal dimension. For instance, Abram’s blessing is granted or ascribed to him (Gen 12:2). In the New Testament, Paul names our ascribed identity as being “in Christ” (amongst others). Furthermore, Scripture also accommodates a horizontal dimension of identity as accomplished or crafted by us. Abram, and later Israel and the Church, are to be “a blessing to the nations” (Gen 12:3). They craft this identity to be a blessing, springing from their God-given vocation as priests and vice-regents (Ex 19:6; 1 Pet 2:9), carrying out the inherent responsibility of Genesis 12:2-3 to be a blessing to all peoples.
This theme of being given and also shaping our new identity in Christ is developed in Ephesians 2:10, where Paul explains that as God’s handiwork, and being in Christ Jesus, we are freed so as to “walk” in the good works that God has prepared in advance for us to do. This should be our lived experience in the workplace.
For Christians in the workplace, having a secure identity ‘in Christ’ allows us to experiment in crafting our identity, living out our Christian vocation of being a blessing in our workplace. We should increasingly be freed from the insecurities we see in our workplace culture and from the need to shore up our social or professional identities; instead, we can take risks and explore what it means to create opportunities for flourishing in the context in which we are placed.
Conclusion
We recognise that we live in a time where there is constant change within the businesses in which we work, and this impacts our own sense of identity which is complex and influenced by personal factors, how others see us, and by our professional roles.
However, as Christians, we are freed from some of the ‘identity games’ that our culture may nudge us to play, because amidst the change our identity is stable and secure in Christ. This frees us to embrace both the identity ascribed to us, and also to craft our identities so they align with God’s purposes.
It is important for us to be self-aware, to recognise how much our identity is being shaped by our work, and/or shaped by how others see us. However, working on our identities in work settings also gives us the capacity to change our situation. This is illustrated through the narrative of Ruth, who was transformed from a marginalised woman to one who is heralded as a woman of valiant character, and goes on to be named in the lineage of Jesus.
Email me at workship@gmail.com for a copy of the full article.
Photo by Denniz Futalan from Pexels
In the United States they are calling this The Great Resignation, as many people have used the Pandemic as an opportunity to stop and reflect on their work, and their future, and resigned from their job. In Australia, it appears there is a similar process underway. Regardless, this time of year is often a time of change, as people wonder if they want to start the new year in the same role or organisation.
I am currently chatting with a woman who has just resigned and wondering what the future holds. In the process she is learning that her work represented too important a part in her life. She has also discovered that she is frightened to let go of control of her future. She is not sure whether she can trust God to provide for her.
These are important issues that she is wrestling with, and she has accepted my challenge to use this time as an opportunity to reflect on her relationship with God, and what he is teaching her.
Psalm 139
1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Psalm 139 is a poetic and beautiful reminder that only God truly knows us. He searches us, watches over us, and knows our thoughts. He is familiar with everything we do, everything we say.
I love the image of him hemming us in… He’s surrounding us with his warm arms of love and protection. It is almost impossible to comprehend, but reading this psalm reassures us that we are known and loved.
As we take the ‘risk’ of surrendering to God, we are putting our trust in an all-knowing, all-powerful being who knows our future as well as our past.
In thinking about her future job, I am telling my friend to do the three Ps:
Pray deeply, seeking God’s prompting and leading, and let him know your desire to align your future work with his purposes.
Push on any doors that might be in front of you, praying that God would keep closed the ones that you should not do.
Carefully choose an option, and trust that God will give you peace about the right choice.
Think it through
How much do you trust God with your career? How do you demonstrate that?
What areas of your working do you need to surrender to God?
Prayer
Loving Lord,
Thank you that you have searched me, and that you know me.
Thank you that you know when I sit and when I rise; and you know what I am thinking.
Thank you that you are familiar with all my ways.
I know that before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely.
Thank you for hemming me in behind and before, and laying your hand upon me.
I admit, Lord, that I am in wonder that the all-knowing, all-powerful God would care about me.
I believe, Lord, help my unbelief.
Amen
Photo by Designecologist from Pexels
I was working through some old articles recently, and came across this account of an event I was involved with almost seven years ago. This is such a beautiful insight into the value of our ordinary work, I feel it deserves re-posting, particularly as we begin a fresh year of work. You will hear from two exceptional faith–work integrators: Wendy Simpson and Katherine Leary Alsdorf.
For Christians in the workforce, it can be a struggle to know how to meaningfully live out their faith in that context. Sometimes they enjoy their work, they are good at it, but they feel a sense of guilt that maybe this is not the work that will last. Sometimes work is simply tough, with conflict and toxic workplace culture, and a job that drains their energy and spirit.
In our churches, there is often a vacuum in response to these concerns. The Bible is full of work metaphors and language, but the message we may get in the pews is that it is only the spiritual things, not our physical work, which is valued.
In March, 2014, two women spoke into this vacuum, breathing wisdom and hope.
The occasion was the Faith and Work Award Dinner, co-hosted by Ethos and Ridley College’s Marketplace Institute. The winner of the inaugural award, commemorating the achievements of an individual in integrating their faith and work, was Wendy Simpson, OAM, an entrepreneur, networker, mentor, and prayer warrior.
She told the story of being eight and hearing a teacher tell her Mum she was not doing very well, and Wendy’s childlike response: “I didn’t think I’d amount to much.” Then in Grade 6 she had a teacher who created the expectation that you would be called upon to contribute if she felt you were ready. One day the chalk was offered to Wendy, and that teacher’s trust in her was repaid.
She went on to tell the story of the Gospel in four parts: Creation, The Fall, Redemption and Glory, and how her working made sense in each area. Work is good, work is hard, there is potential for renewal, work can be a glimpse of heaven on earth when we do it to God’s glory.
“I can say after 40 years of work, that God wants our work to make sense in this bigger story of what is happening,” she explained, “We are God’s handiwork, and he has prepared the work we are to do, in advance, made in the image of the original worker, God himself.”
The guest presenter at the dinner was Katherine Leary Alsdorf, founder of the Center for Faith and Work at Redeemer Presbyterian, New York, and co-author with Tim Keller of the best-selling Every Good Endeavour.
She too referred to the biblical story as her anchor when considering work.
She told some of the alternative stories that we might hear around us:
The survival of the fittest: I need to work because that is what is necessary to survive, and I am a survivor. To win, I need to get to the top so that I reap the rewards and I can stay at the top. This version of the story of work, means I need to do a lot of striving, I need to be driven because I have a lot to prove. It makes work about me, and me surviving.
The rational hedonist view: I only work as hard or long as I need to, to buy the leisure or play that I want. If I work smart I will be able to get more time off, or retire early. The goal of work is to get leisure and play.
·The self-actualisation story: We work to meet our basic needs, but if we are really moving up Maslow’s triangle, we work to become self-actualised: to use our gifts, be a bit like God, be all I was meant to be.
“Ultimately, all these false stories make work about ‘me’: my survival, my play, my needs being met.”
Katherine contrasted this with the power of the gospel story that says we need to die to self! She explained that this makes work easier because we are relying on God’s strength to work to please him. She talked about some of the burdens we load ourselves up with in our work: little idols of identity and self-esteem that can never be satisfied through our working.
She talked about the power we get for our working by seeing ourselves as the church scattered:
Our Sunday should be our basecamp, where we are equipped, and we are renewed for our work in the world. From Monday to Saturday we are the church, in every vocation, in every institution, in every city, in every neighbourhood, out there.
Katherine finished with an acknowledgement that making these connections is not easy. Joining with God where he is already working can be a good place to start:
I wish I was far more gifted and competent than I am to live out this biblical story, to have a vision for my own work that is always filled with joy and grace and love. I wish I could be that kind of witness on a regular basis. With God’s grace, I live this story so much more than I ever would without him.
Photo by Timon Studler on Unsplash
Note: This article first appeared in Sight Magazine
There is a fundamental misconception in this headline, I wonder if you can spot it? It is the problem that stops many Christians from expressing their faith in a Biblical way.
It assumes that we are compartmentalised. That, somehow, we can choose whether or not we take our soul to work. Our soul is part of who we are. Whether we like it or not, our soul is always at work when we are.
Yet many Christians do think of their faith in this way: as something they carry to work in their backpack, which they sneak out every now and then, very briefly.
“What did you do on the weekend?”
“I went to church.”
“Oh, that’s nice. I went mountain climbing.”
Maybe it comes out in a meeting.
“We need to offload a thousand widgets. They aren’t selling well because they keep breaking, so do what you can to move them.”
“Um, isn’t it a bit unethical not to tell our customers that the widgets could break?”
“We can deal with any issues through customer complaints, in the meantime, be a team player.”
The reality is that we are soulful bodies. We cannot be separated out comfortably. The concept of a ‘private faith’, a ‘personal faith’, is a misnomer. Talking about church on the weekend in some ways just reinforces the stereotype.
Our faith is the fundamental organising point of who we are. It is not simply a set of beliefs or a lifestyle choice. It is not a club that we are part of, or a community group.
Accepting Jesus as our Saviour and Lord means that we are in relationship with God the Father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit; it means we enter into their relationship, and are seeking to show others what they are like.
Christianity is not a religion in which we enact certain rituals to guarantee reward in the next life; but a way of life - modelled after Jesus - which seeks to give people a taste of the Kingdom of God in this life.
So, our souls are always with us, and always want to be freed from their cage.
Living our soulful lives at work may have a few different expressions:
• In the quality of our character. Our soul yearns to be holy, showing the fruit of the Spirit: being loving, joyful, peace-making, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled.
• In our defence of truth. Whether it is proclaiming the Gospel (illegal in some work roles) or upholding integrity, we have an opportunity to defend what is true and right and wise.
• In our prayerful attitude. Our soul loves talking with God, praying for every work decision, every work colleague, and for God to reveal himself in our work context?
• In our modelling of Jesus. When we identify as Christians, people will look at us and expect to learn about Jesus, not just from what we say, but from the way we work, and relate to our colleagues, and by what we are prepared to tolerate.
• In our willingness to be Spirit-empowered. In the Old Testament God’s presence was in the at Tent of Meeting, and then in the Temple. Since Jesus died, and Pentecost happened, God’s presence is in us. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are Spirit-empowered wherever we go.
• In our desire for justice. Throughout the Bible, God reveals a bias for the poor, the weak, the vulnerable. Jesus focused His attention on those who needed healing, and the outcasts of society. How can we care for the vulnerable at or through our work?
If we live our soulful lives at work then our conversations would be different.
“What did you do on the weekend?”
“I heard a really great talk about the need to be spiritually open, and the benefits of an attitude of gratitude.” (That was the sermon recently at my church.)
“Wow, tell me more about that.”
In the meeting:
“We need to offload a thousand widgets. They aren’t selling well because they keep breaking, so do what you can to move them.”
“Um, I have a problem with offloading a product that doesn’t meet our quality standards”
“We can deal with any issues through customer complaints, in the meantime, be a team player.”
“Hang on, before we rush in, how does this fulfil our values of ‘excellence’ and ‘customer first’? What if we promoted the fact that we were protecting customers by refusing to sell widgets that might break? We could turn this into a positive message to build customer respect and loyalty.”
Being soulful at work is more demanding than being a hidden Christian, but helps bridge the gap between Sunday and Monday, and ultimately leads to flourishing in our faith, as well as positively impacting our workplace.
https://www.workandworshipbook.com/
Note: part of this review appeared first in Sight Magazine
Book review:
Work and Worship: Reconnecting our Labor and Liturgy, Matthew Kaemingk and Corey B. Wilson, Baker Academic, 2020. Access to galley proofs of the book was made available by the publisher.
One of the most interesting titles to emerge in the last 12 months in the bustling world of Faith–Work literature is Work and Worship. This book addresses a serious problem facing Christians in pews, as the authors explain, “Modern Christians are living their lives in pieces, and the pieces are dying”. They list the following ways that churches fail to provide worship experiences that nurture workplace Christians:
The worship service often focuses on the institution of the church: its programs and practices and people as the centre of God’s attention and work. Instead, the church should include all the contexts of those present.
It can focus on the spiritual, creating a barrier with the material world. The material is seen as less important, and far from God. Instead, the church should model Jesus who was both human (material) and God (spiritual).
Western spiritual practices can make faith seem like an individual journey, between “me and God”, rather than faith being expressed and grown as the gathered and scattered people of God.
Sometimes worship can be overly positive, ignoring the real struggles that many Christians face in the workplace. It can be thin in content and spiritual depth, not allowing for a full expression of the hurts and struggles faced.
Sometimes the worship service is presented as entertainment to consume, rather than practices to engage in, and there is no opportunity to participate, reflect or respond.
We can go to church to receive a spiritual adrenalin shot. Rather, worship should be formative.
Sometimes, church worship can reinforce faith as a private affair, which can seem to have no place in our public lives. However, Jesus came to reconcile all things in heaven and on earth to himself. God cares about the public square.
Rather than simply focusing on how churches fail workplace Christians, this book demonstrates that there is a rich biblical and Christian history of worship shaping work practices. It is a corrective to the trajectory of much writing in this genre. As Nicholas Wolterstorff points out in the preface, knowing a theology of work alone does not help us cross the divide between Sunday and Monday, church and work, sacred and secular. Instead the authors suggest that “theologies of work need to be practiced, embodied and embedded in communities of worship”.
While there are several books that suggest this, most recently Neil Hudson’s Scattered and Gathered, this is an academic integration between theology of work and Christian worship, with a proposition that the key to integrating faith and work is through worship.
To present their argument, the authors work through the Old Testament and early church history, bringing to light some interesting connections. Their examination of the Torah, including the Sabbath, harvest celebrations and the Jubilee, reveals the indelible link between worship and work. They analyse the Psalms for the way these songs both mention work, but also reshape work around God, by touching our minds, hearts, spirits and hands. They point out that the prophets railed against Israel’s tendency to idolise work, as well as injustices in the marketplace. They claim that, “According to Isaiah, the integrity of your work directly impacts on the integrity of your worship.”
They then trace practices in the early church where Christians brought the tangible fruits of their labour to services, as an offering to God, including “articles of clothing, bread, currency, cheese, oil, wine and a variety of crafts.” These offerings were either distributed to the poor, used in ministries or became incorporated in the worship service, thus being transformed into acts of love, mission and adoration. Ancient mosaics in early worship places in Venice are filled with images of “work, workers and workplaces”.
They provide evidence that the church service was the place where there was an exchange of work between worshipper and God, and a continual offering and receiving of work that continued outside the church service. Unfortunately, these tangible work offerings have been replaced by symbolic bread and wine, and the collection.
This is a useful addition to the Faith–Work movement, because it is a formal and academic approach to including work in worship, rather than merely pragmatic. It reinforces that each worker is a priest as they go out to their workplace, and sees worship services as places of formation for workplace Christians.
Although academic in approach, it is accessible in language and concept, and workplace Christians will find it helpful, since it answers the question about how we move head knowledge (a theology of work) to impact on our hearts, spirits and hands. The book also suggests helpful patterns of worship to enable individual workplace Christians develop spiritual disciplines to deepen their awareness of God in their ordinary work. There is also a diagnostic, yet beautiful, discussion of the exchange between God’s work and our work in communion through the processes of examination, approaching, thanking, sharing, holding and consuming.
Along with a critique of current worship practices, pastors will find this volume helpful because it reinforces the significance of church worship in shaping Christians for all of life. It provides a considered biblical argument for the integration of theology of work and vocation into ecclesial practices, creating a lived liturgy for daily life. There is also some excellent biblical theology grounding the ideas, for example, that “the concept of holiness in Israel encompassed the spiritual and material, private and public, liturgical and economic.”
The book provides many practical ideas about how churches might assist workers to bring their work to worship, including aspects of art and architecture, an invitation from the front, celebration and lament, prayers, as well as offerings and interviews of workers. As well, there are practical ways that we might help workplace Christians as they scatter to orient them to Monday, including commissioning services.
Where the book over-reaches, is its claim that the central idea is radical. Authors such as Steven Garber, in Visions of Vocation, have explored in detail that it was Greek philosophy and western modernity that split what the Scriptures have always testified as ‘whole’. Worship and work were always integrated in the tent of meeting, in the Temple worship and feast days, in the synagogue, and in the early church, because it never occurred to Hebrews, Israelites, Jews or Gentile converts that work and worship should be separated.
However, providing the evidence for lived liturgy in the early church, and applying it to the modern church (an extension of some of James K. A. Smith’s work) is really helpful in thinking through levers to enable that rediscovery of wholeness and integration for church leaders and workplace Christians alike. The next step will be to imagine how worship-shaping work can be enabled outside the four walls of the church.
Sharon Cheung
Sharon Cheung is a staff worker at City Bible Forum Melbourne and loves helping women and young workers connect the dots between faith and work. She is also a big fan of writing, music, theology and art, with her own business: Scripted by Sharon. Recently, she agreed to be a writer for an exciting new Australian Christian magazine: Soul Tread, and I interviewed her about her new column exploring issues at the intersection of faith and work.
You are doing a regular Work and Faith column for the new Soul Tread magazine. Why did you say yes?
I absolutely love telling a good story and that's exactly what the column is all about: sharing stories of how men and women are following Jesus in their work. When Rachael (Editor) asked me to consider interviewing workers around Australia for this column, I thought it was a marvellous opportunity to get a front row seat to how God is actively sustaining his creation through the willing hands of others.
What are some of the assumptions Christians in their 20s and 30s might make about how work and faith mix together?
It's interesting how, as you grow older, you tend to classify parts of your life into categories that make it seem manageable. Here are my tasks and responsibilities for the home. Here is my to-do list for school/work. Here is my portion to serve as an active member of church etc. The vision of new life in Christ that the apostle Paul presents us in Romans 12:1 dashes these categories completely, or rather, helps us to see that the Gospel transforms who we are as we occupy the spaces of home, school, work, neighbourhood etc. It is such a wonderful yet challenging call - but it's also really exciting to realise that even in our toil, there are opportunities to worship and glorify God.
What is your vision for the column?
My prayer for the column is that it becomes a space where men and women of God gather on the pages of Soul Tread: whether as the worker featured in the story or the worker reading the story. In every way, it is an opportunity to give thanks to God for how he continues to work in the world through ordinary people. I also hope it inspires our generation to declare and display Jesus in their work!
What is your personal story of re-integrating work with faith?
I stumbled into full-time work after completing my uni degree without giving too much thought about how God might be involved in my work. Having grown up in church culture where the word 'missions' was largely attached to overseas missionary work and 'worship' was what we did on Sundays, I hadn't really understood what it meant to follow Jesus and entrust my whole life to him. Work was a means to enjoy life and I soon became frustrated with this 'purpose'. At that time, one of my youth leaders who had stayed in touch with me suggested I check out City Bible Forum - a workplace missions organisation. I went along to one of their breakfast events and was so captured by how the speaker applied the Bible to everyday life! It was like someone had switched on a light bulb and reminded me that I am first a Christian before the title in my email signature. Shortly after, I joined a prayer team and began meeting with other Christians throughout the working week where we prayed for our colleagues that they may come to know Jesus. I began to realise that God was with me every time I walked into work and that he cared about how I worked as well as who I worked with.
The article on Tov & Co
Your first interview is with Bek from Tov & Co. What excited you about that conversation?
Oh goodness! I am a design nerd and absolutely adored getting to know the maker behind the furniture. Before I got the chance to meet Bek, I stalked the Tov & Co furniture instagram account and fell in love with the beautiful wood work. Bek is a thoughtful Christian woman who is stewarding her gifts of creativity, excellence and community in a beautiful way. Her faithfulness to the vision God has given her is inspiring.
You have your own passion projects involving creativity. What is your journey of understanding how God can use the aesthetic?
It is not hard to see the relationship between beauty and value in God's creation. For example, even those who do not know God can agree that nature reflects a greater glory. For this reason, I have always been interested in creative projects that help others connect to something bigger than themselves. My latest project is called From My 5km to Yours and was born out of the lockdown restrictions in Melbourne. For six weeks and counting, Melbournians have been ordered to stay within a 5km radius of their homes. My mission is to create connectivity across our physical barriers through art and sharing stories; creating a common space for humans to create meaningful interactions and conversations about the bigger things in life.
An example of Sharon’s latest art project
Note: If you would like to support Soul Tread Magazine, they have a Kickstarter campaign and one of the rewards is an online Workship Workshop (try saying that five times quickly!) run by me, Kara Martin.
Recently I was asked to speak to a theological college about some of the changes happening in the wider world of work and how they might impact on Christian organisations, including churches, as well as the experience of workplace Christians in our congregations. The changes have been and continue to be massive.
Employees don’t want to go back to work the way it used to be
A large Australian company conducted a survey recently and discovered that only 7% wanted to go back fully to the office. Almost a third wanted to continue working from home, and 40% wanted some form of hybrid situation. These figures are extreme without factoring in that a further quarter of the workplace have to work in the factory, that is, they have no choice.
These figures are pretty consistent: if employees have a choice they want to spend more time working from home. A survey of 1,000 workers by Boston Consulting Group found that for those who can work from home, between 41 and 60 per cent surveyed revealed a preference that sees them doing two or three days a week from home.
The biggest reasons for this preference are people wanting to avoid the commute, and increasing their flexibility of balancing caring responsibilities with work. This means that the workplace is valued for very specific reasons:
Informal social interaction: catching up with colleagues, conversations at the "water cooler" and staff kitchen which provides the social capital for effective working.
Formal collaboration: working more effectively in tight groups on specific tasks.
Access to better resources: many offices have better technology and a more distraction-free environment than home offices.
Many people have lost jobs, are working less than they want, or have given up
The rate of unemployment has increased from 5.2% in March to close to 8% in June which represents more than a million Australians who are currently unemployed. Underemployment is also high rising from 8.8% in March to close to 12%, representing 1.5 million Australians who want, or are available for more hours of work than they currently have. These figures are currently buffered by Job Keeper payments that will eventually have to end, as well as various support payments for businesses in crisis.
The financial and mental health impacts are significant and widespread
McCrindle surveyed 1,000 Australians in May and reported that more than two in five (42%) believe COVID-19 has most negatively impacted them socially, as they have missed seeing friends and family. Almost three in ten (28%) have been most negatively impacted financially, while 17% have been most impacted in their mental health. A further 13% said the biggest negative impact on them has been physical – either fearing for their health or getting less sleep and exercise.
The financial and mental impact of COVID is expected to rise sharply as businesses fold, unemployment rises; and particularly in Victoria where a second lockdown is having dire consequences on households.
COVID-19 has challenged myths about work
There are four areas which have been challenged by the pandemic:
“If I can’t see you working, you aren’t working.” There is a large body of sociological theory which underlies this myth that we control people by watching them. A leader managing their team by watching them at work has been the norm. The pandemic has undone this myth by proving that productivity has actually increased with employees working from home.
“Work and looking after kids can’t mix.” This myth has been firmly buried by the necessity of working from home. It is closely linked to: “Admitting parenting struggles at work is unprofessional.” It is now much easier to talk openly about juggling care. The compartmentalisation of work and home has been broken down.
“Working from home is less effective.” While studies have shown for years that working from home is productive, the pandemic has ramped up our skills in providing technology to make it happen, as well as assessing that work. Working from home is effective if it is resourced and managed well.
The way we structure our workplace is changing fast
Steelcase is a furniture and design organisation that is at the forefront of mapping what needs to happen to enable workplaces to function moving forward. It suggests we are going to move through three stages:
Retrofitting our current work environments to reduce density; change geometry so that workers don’t face each other; add screens or panels to divide; ensure only single use of space per day; increase working from home; use visual cues to maintain distance; establish protocols for shorter meetings; clean frequently; consider making masks a norm.
Reconfiguring for the medium term: choice of own workspace but individuals responsible for their own cleaning; design smooth services for easy disinfecting; have barriers for deflecting the virus; have flexible furniture configurations; ensure technology for collaboration over distance; utilise standing meetings; put in systems for quick contact tracing.
Reinvention for the long term by designing for adaptability not permanence; using more hands-free/contact-less methods; using new materials that are easily disinfected; sensors to measure wellbeing; ensuring inclusive design for equal participation whether present or at home; policies for less travel / more video; seeing remote work as the norm; creating community and connection in spite of hybrid spaces.
All of this means we need to have some new conversations about work
Prioritising trust in relationships: With more employees working from home there needs to be greater trust both to ensure work is productive, and to enable effective communication. This is necessary for all working relationships, including with customers and suppliers.
Evaluating by tasks completed rather than hours worked: This is a better way of working generally, but there must be understanding for those impacted by sickness, impairment or caring responsibilities.
Prioritising employee wellbeing: We need to be creative to monitor employee wellbeing in hybrid working situations. Mental health issues may take a while to arise, and may be harder to spot in an employee that is not physically present. Further, some employees may not work effectively at home; and some employees may be cautious about returning to work, so flexibility is key.
Expect increased scrutiny from government, community, and for churches: the denomination and the congregation: Public health orders have gone further than we could ever imagined in curtailing our individual freedom to move and meet together, as well as for businesses and churches to operate normally. This is for the greater common good. However, moving forward, there will be increased regulations for a long period of time, and increased expectations from customers and congregations that organisations are providing a safe environment.
What does this mean for churches and Christian organisations?
It will be important to offer flexibility of working: for employee wellbeing, to minimise risk for all, and because it is an effective way of working. However, as Christians we value embodiment, meeting together—as celebrated in the incarnation—so flexibility needs to be balanced with what it means to be the physical body of Christ working together.
Work out when people are most needed in the office: to work effectively in hybrid situations we will need to be more strategic about when we insist everyone is together. How can we ensure meetings are tailored to maximise performing rather than just informing, when the latter can be done before the meeting? Training and delivery of frontline services are other reasons why meeting in person might be prioritized.
Be organisations more mobilised by compassion: We need to see how we can be mobilised to assist those who have been and will be impacted by COVID-19. The financial and mental health stresses are going to increase, and churches and Christian organisations are on the frontline of offering support and hope. A church in Kuala Lumpur has been offering business mentoring from experienced business leaders for small business owners who are struggling. A Presbyterian church in Sydney offered a support group for those needing pastoral care after experiencing unemployment.
Develop fresh expressions of neighbourliness: COVID-19 has reconfigured our experience of work from the workplace to the neighbourhood. This is wonderful news for churches who are geographically based. How can we make use of this greater access to people in their homes by reaching out and providing support? A church in Wellington, New Zealand, has been opening its doors as a work hub during the week for those who want to get out of the house. They also offer a space for those working from home to gather to have a lunch break together. These ideas work well for students as well.
We are a long way from ending the pandemic, as well as the unfolding economic crisis, but it is helpful to see the opportunities that lie beneath the surface to work more effectively and flexibly, build trust, focus on wellbeing, and be creative in reaching out to others with compassion.
Photo by Ivan Bertolazzi from Pexels
There have been a lot of terrible things that have happened in the area that takes up most of our lives, that is work, during this time of coronavirus:
Many people have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic; and hardest hit are people with precarious work in hospitality, the arts, and tourism
Some people have lost their businesses, from entrepreneurial endeavours to manufacturing companies to restaurants
Some people have been underemployed and bored at home
Some people have been ‘crazy busy’ trying to pivot or learn new skills: teachers taking school online, nurses retraining for intensive care, people packing shelves
Some people have been stretched to breaking point with their multiple roles, such as parents homeschooling or minding little kids while trying to work from home.
However, I also want to point out a few remarkable things that have happened that will change the world of work going forward, if we continue to be intentional:
Work is going to be much more flexible in the future. When I was a working Mum, I had to work at my job as if I wasn’t a Mum, and when my mothering impacted on my work: parental leave, sick child, important assembly to attend… that was frowned upon as showing a lack of commitment to my work. If I spent time working from home, I always felt as if I had to be twice as productive to prove I wasn’t ‘wasting time’ at home. Now, we have learnt the tools and means to be able to work effectively from home; and that should provide more opportunities for flexibility moving forward. For Christian parents in particular, who value quality time shaping their children, this should mean more options for combining parenting and paid work.
We have broken down some of the compartmentalisation of our lives. Early during the pandemic, Reverend Dr Jill Firth posted on Facebook:
Joining my church on zoom today, I enjoyed a connection from my home to others in their homes at key moments of the service. We can be a little disembodied at church, but more grounded in our everyday reality at home. I’m wondering if this will also help to break down the Sunday–Monday divide. Sins committed at home are confessed at home. A commitment to love and serve made at home then has to be carried out in the same home, not partitioned off into Sunday-land during the journey home from church. Feeding on Christ in the Eucharist at home reminds us that he dwells here at home, in our hearts, by faith.
While her musings were focused on the compartmentalisation that of church and home, this experience also allows us to break down the partition between faith and work. Right now, for the first time since the Industrial Revolution, many of us are no longer leaving home to go to a job and then returning; but church, family and work are all happening in the same place.
We have broken down the distinctions between paid and unpaid work. With paid work and other work all happening at the same time in the same place, we have learnt to be jugglers of many work balls. A friend told me how she finished up a zoom meeting to quickly help her daughter do a long division, then rush to assist her husband upload a video to his work’s sharepoint, then popped outside to hang up a load of washing. Fitting all the different tasks into her day has meant she sometimes starts at five in the morning, and goes through until six at night; but what is interesting is the way that paid and unpaid work are all mixed together. Our oft-undervalued caring work, house work, partner work, is all mixed up with our paid work; but we recognise that all of it is important to get done. Of course, all work is equally valued in the eyes of our Lord, if it is done with a heart of service toward him (Colossians 3:17, 23–24).
Our concept of ‘kingdom work’ is shifting. In the eyes of many churches, ‘kingdom work’ is the work carried out through church programs, and communicated on a Sunday. However, during this time, all of us have become more alert to the opportunities available in our everyday lives. There has been a greater emphasis on the church scattered at a time when we haven’t been able to gather. As we have been located more deeply in our neighbourhoods, we have naturally been making connections. How can we turn that friendly conversation into an opportunity to bless? Also, our homes and ‘private’ lives have been more on display during Zoom meetings with work colleagues or club meetings. How can we display or communicate the source of our purpose, meaning, peace and joy during such times?
We are beginning to value work like God does. Sometimes overtly, sometimes subconsciously, we have practised a hierarchy of vocations within Christian communities: the minister and those doing overseas mission work on the top, then those who work for the church, then those who work for Christian organisations, then doctors and those in helping professions, then business leaders, then stay at home mothers, and down the bottom all the ordinary ‘secular’ workers… However, during this time, we have learnt to value the work of cleaners, grocery store shelf stackers, truck drivers, school teachers, postal workers, and so on. The ordinary workers who have kept the world turning: ensuring there is food on our table, children are taught, and needed goods are delivered to our homes. They are doing the providential work of God, continuing to sustain creation, for the common good. Perhaps all of us will see the work we do with fresh eyes after this.
I have been an advocate for a greater faith–work connection for more than 30 years, and this is the point at which I feel most hopeful of a paradigm shift… if we just open our eyes of faith, to see what is happening around us.
Some have described this as a liminal time: that space between things. A dear friend and poet, Miriam Dale, wrote a poem for me before either of us knew a pandemic was about to break in on us. Her words seem prophetic. I want to conclude with a portion of her poem:
Liminality
That sense of being untethered in the
In-between, waiting on some new thing,
Life or job or lover,
Open roads and marked down maps-
Any certainty discovered.
Liminality,
When all the threads of known are now blowing
Free, in the breeze, the air full of uncertainty,
The different limbs of our lives risking
Lift-off, afraid that they might float away and
Never come back down…
It’s in this breathless state that we drift, for a time.
Each new day, leaning into people and practices that
Ground us, core muscles shaking, tense like Pilates,
Hold identity tight in the waiting.
Steadiness looks like the little things, or sometimes nothing, and it
Could be (sometimes is) completely overwhelming if not for the
Constancy, companionship, camaraderie of
Our fellow-adventurer, best-friend, soul-lover, patient-waiter, One who
Stays the same, is better than best, and yet still understands fear.
The room might still spin and change might still come, but
He never leaves our side, holding tight
His grip always stronger than our own.
Liminality
Then one day, we awake,
And it’s over.
Our feet, which had been
Kicking through murky water without touching
Bottom, are on solid sand once more, and have been for
Some time.
Uncertainty has given way to something like
Stability, and we move, at last, like we are
Home.
Liminality
It has no deadlines,
But it does not last
And I know we are held in the
Meantime.
In my Bible Study group, we are working through the book Boundaries by Cloud & Townsend. For me, it is a revisiting after about 15 years, and so it was particularly interesting to read the chapter on “Boundaries and Work”. Here is my summary of the chapter, noting the Nine Common Problems we experience at work, and suggested responses.
Impact of the Fall (Genesis 3) on Work:
Work isn’t fun anymore (the ground is cursed, there are thorns and thistles)
Like Adam and Eve, we blame others when things don’t work out (disownership)
With the advent of sin, love was separated from work = we don’t work because we ‘want to’ but because we ‘should’
Work and character development:
We make the distinction between secular versus ministry = yet we all have a vocation/ministry
Jesus uses parables about work to teach us about
Dealing with money
Completing tasks
Faithful stewardship in a job
Honest emotional dealings in work
Work is a spiritual activity, that is, we are made in the image of God the worker; and we co-labour with God
[Kara’s addition: it is where we can be most tested, and have an opportunity to develop the fruit of the Spirit]
Problems:
1. Getting saddled with another’s responsibilities
How do we avoid doing someone else’s work?
Don’t do it, you are enabling their irresponsibility
Let them own their own responsibility
Don’t fear their anger
Make sure you explain clearly what is your responsibility and what is their’s
Don’t respond to their anger with anger
Don’t justify why you won’t do their work
Exception: genuine need, once-off help
2. Working too much overtime
How do we respond when there is an unacceptable amount of work?
Your working overtime is your problem; don’t be a victim of an abusive situation
An example of a good response, “You have a problem. You hired me for 20 hours a week and have given me 40 hours’ work. Which 20 hours do you want done?”
Set boundaries on your work = decide what overtime you will do, taking into account seasonal crunch
Review your job description (if you have one)
Make a list of tasks you will complete
Make an appointment with your boss to discuss job overload
If your boss is intransigent: decide whether to stay or leave
3. Misplaced priorities
Know your limits and enforce them. Strive to do excellent work, and spend time on the most important (not urgent) things.
Make sure you, your boss and your team are agreed on what is important
Say no to the unimportant
Beware distractions
Prioritise
Work will grow to fill the time allotted therefore set boundaries on start and finish
Delegate (Just as Jethro advised Moses in Exodus 18:13–27)
4. Difficult co-workers
The Boundary Law of Power: you can only change yourself, not someone else
Don’t make the other person the problem
You are the one in pain, fix it
Change your own reaction
5. Critical attitudes from boss/co-worker
When working with people who are critical don’t try and win them over (it’s impossible) or allow them to provoke you
Keep an accurate self-appraisal (rather than their opinion)
Confront them about their impact (possibly with others affected)
Follow the organisation’s grievance policy
Limit your exposure to them: physically and/or emotionally
6. Conflicts with authority
If you have issues with your boss, you may be experiencing transference (transferring past feelings onto the present person) = resulting from unfinished business in the past with authority figures (parents/teachers/other bosses)
If you react strongly, attend to those feelings to seek the source
Work out your feelings = they are your problem/distortions
·If you are very competitive = it might be a result of unresolved sibling rivalry
Leave the past in the past
7. Expecting too much of work
Work is not a family; or a social support structure; work colleagues are not paid to be your friends
The workplace should be safe, supportive and nurturing but focused on work e.g. to learn, improve, and get the work done
Work cannot make up for what is lacking in other areas of your life e.g. relationships, self-esteem, need for approval
Meet your social, relationship and emotional needs outside work
Keep personal boundaries and work boundaries firm and separate
8. Taking work-related stress home
Have boundaries = don’t allow work stress to affect home
Emotional issues such as conflict need to be dealt with and not allowed to impact on home relationships. Work issues stay at work; attend to any strong feelings and sort them out.
Time, energy and resources need to be managed so there is enough for all areas of your life
9. Disliking your job
Work can get caught up in your identity. We may constantly look for the perfect job (there isn’t one!).
We may struggle to meet expectations of others
Boundary issue may flow from lack of proper separation from family = whose dream job are you seeking? May also be issues of comparison with friends.
Tips to finding your life’s work
Establish your identity, separating from those you are attached to, and knowing your own gifts and desires
Pray and step out as God leads you = see Psalm 37, focus on verses 4–6.
You are accountable for the work you do to God (Colossians 3:17, 23–24)
See your work as a partnership with God; seek his ways; ask him for help.
Married nurse anaesthetists Mindy Brock and Ben Cayer, wearing protective equipment, look into each other's eyes, in Tampa General Hospital in Florida. CREDIT:NICOLE HUBBARD/AP
As I visited Laurel the other day to drop off a pre-recording of our weekly church service, Handel’s Messiah was pumping from her house. Laurel is over 80 and needs voices and music to be a little louder for her to appreciate them fully.
I gave her the DVD and asked how she was going. We talked about some of her fears about going outside. She was looking forward to getting some work done in her garden on a beautiful day. We chatted about the music and her cat, which had been on guard at the front gate but was now sunning itself luxuriously near our feet. Then I offered to pray for her.
Before Coronovirus, I had minimal contact with Laurel and other frail members in our church, not because we have a huge church, but because opportunities for conversation were minimal, and there was no functional reason to connect.
Now the world has changed. Now I connect weekly with several frail members of the congregation every week, and I am intentional in those conversations to check on their spiritual health.
One woman mentioned that she was thinking about God more and praying more. Another said that she is handing her anxieties and fears to God and feels comforted. As I pray with them some have become teary, and many say they have never been prayed for so personally before.
I feel there has been a palpable positive shift in the status quo.
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross pioneered our understanding of grief, clarifying five stages, and I have been watching the world pass through them in the last couple of months: denial (young people partying on Bondi Beach), anger (crowds in the US rebelling against lockdown), bargaining (hairdressers protesting against the 30-minute limit imposed by the Australian government), depression (all of us in lockdown grieving the loss of celebrations, trips and work), and acceptance (our understanding that this is what is needed to protect the vulnerable). (Note: not all these stages are sequential, and it is possible to revisit them.)
David Kessler worked closely with Kübler-Ross and recently published a book about a sixth stage he has discovered: meaning making. And while much of the world is still navigating those early stages, this is the stage reached by many of those countries where the curve is flattening.
My social media is being flooded with more hopeful articles. The significant early voice was Arundhati Roy, the brilliant Indian novelist, with her metaphor of the pandemic as a portal:
Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.
We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.
She is right about the historic shifts caused by pandemics. David Griffin and Justin Denham are Australian infectious diseases experts who also know history. In an article in The Conversation they talk about some of the key shifts that have happened.
1. The Plague/’Black Death’ (14th Century) brought about understanding of quarantine, better working conditions, deeper studies of religion and philiosophy, and widespread questioning of authority.
2. Spanish Influenza (1918) brought about the use of face masks and bans on mass gatherings in response to infections.
3. HIV and AIDS (20th Century) led to the development of sophisticated public health campaigns, and contact tracing techniques, and led to an understanding of the impact of stigma associated with such diseases.
4. SARS (2002–3) revealed the need for transparent information-sharing across borders, including international health regulations requiring mandatory reporting. It also showed the link between human and environmental health, with changes in climate impacting on animal susceptibility to viruses, which could then be passed on to humans.
Andy Crouch points us to an even earlier plague, and Rodney Stark’s analysis in The Rise of Christianity.
The first Christians, who saw themselves as the household of God in their cities, did not flee the plagues. They stayed, and they served. In his book The Rise of Christianity, sociologist Rodney Stark develops a statistical argument that this commitment to providing meaningful care to people stricken by the plague was, all by itself, a major contributor to the growth of the church in the first centuries of the common era.
Already we are seeing that people do not want to go back to the way things were. A Sky News story reported on a recent YouGov poll in Britain which indicated that more than half (54%) of 4,343 people hope to learn from the crisis by making some changes in their own lives, and hope changes will be made for the country as a whole.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the Royal Society for the Arts which commissioned the poll said, “This poll shows that the British people are increasingly aware that the health of people and planet are inseparable and it's time for radical environmental, social, political and economic change.”
What does this mean for the Christian community? How can we respond?
Here are some of my suggestions for what a post-pandemic world could look like, with Christian input.
1. A renewed appreciation of physical connections
While the church has responded heroically in obeying bans on mass gatherings by moving services online, this should not become the new norm.
I support Brian Zhand who warns “Don’t let a pandemic turn you into a Gnostic”. Gnosticism was an ancient heresy that compartmentalised the physical from the spiritual, leading to a denial that Jesus could be both fully human and fully God.
While it has been a novelty to experience church from our loungerooms, and I have appreciated still meeting as a church, Christianity is a way of life that incorporates the material world. As Zhand says, “To prefer digital over enfleshed is a gnostic move; it’s a move away from what it means to be human; it’s an insult to the Incarnation.”
Instead, we should take the positives of the online experience: widening our reach, understanding that the church is people not a building, and enjoying that our faith impacts our home-life not just the one-hour gathering on a Sunday… but weave that into a deeper expression of our church experience post-pandemic.
2. Fresh expressions of hospitality in the neighbourhood
An amazing thing has happened, we are recognising our neighbours. Instead of furtively avoiding people as we drive to and from work and shops, we are taking the time to walk around the block, to smile and greet people, and to take part in neighbourhood activities such as teddy bears in the window for “bear hunts”, or dressing up to put bins out.
I loved the innovation of street Facebook or WhatsApp groups to coordinate shopping or help. Some people I know put a card in everyone’s letterbox offering them a free home-delivered coffee.
Karina and Armen at Neighbourhood Matters have some wonderful resources to help individuals and churches pivot in this way, toward expressing compassionate renewal geographically.
These themes are expressed in an innovative exercise posted by Melinda Cousins, Teaching Pastor at Richmond Baptist Church, who captured ideas from the congregation of God at work at this time in the infographic below.
3. A willingness to talk openly about spiritual matters
There’s nothing quite like an incredibly contagious virus with deadly side effects to get people thinking about mortality and what matters. Friends of mine said recently that they had not realised how focused on material things they were until the most important thing in the house became toilet paper, and cans of soup, and pasta; until they had to weigh up our ‘need’ for things with reduced income, and the danger of a simple trip to the shops. Suddenly the lure of luxury items and experiences did not seem as important as relationships, and purpose and meaning.
Even within Christian circles, I would have been hesitant to ask people directly about their spiritual welfare, or they may have been evasive in their response, but those conversations are opening up now.
4. A renewed commitment to the value of the earth and its inhabitants
In our busy, selfish existence, we may have occasionally signed a petition, joined a march, or written to a politician about the rushed approval of a brown coalmine; or even ignored those requests in our social media feeds. However, this pandemic has heightened our awareness of our interconnectedness, not just as people, but with the environment. Although the source of the virus is still unsure, the likelihood is that it was caught from a live exotic animal in the markets in Wuhan, China.
One result of the pandemic, and reduced industrial activity and vehicle movement, is that the air is cleaner, and wildlife is more visible. As many have commented, we can hear the birds sing.
Will we be willing to make more permanent changes to help the earth breathe more easily? The British poll noted earlier suggests yes.
5. A church more mobilised by compassion
Our church now has approximately half the congregation involved in running online services, contacting frail members, delivering services to the community, as well as doing all the background coordinating.
Tammy Tolman, a pastor at a church in Dapto south of Sydney has noticed a similar change in her church, “If we don’t take this opportunity now to reassess and rethink what God calls the Church to be then we miss an incredible opportunity. Going back to having one or two people up the front doing everything while everyone else sits passively would be tragic.”
6. Christians leading the way in innovation for the common good
I have noticed a renewed commitment by Christians toward use their gifting, skills and businesses to respond to recent crises, including the devastating bushfires and now the pandemic. They are living out what Andy Crouch describes as the responsibility for all Christian leaders, “to speak, live, and make decisions in such a way that the horizons of possibility move towards shalom, flourishing for everyone in our sphere of influence, especially the vulnerable.”
I see it in a friend of mine who runs a Christian dance company and is having conversations with ballet dancers who do not want to return to an industry marked by bullying, sexual harassment, discrimination and an obsession with the myth of a perfect body. They are mobilising for change.
I see it with a Christian school which is not weighed down by current circumstances but sees potential: “We are making the transition and looking at ways to make this an opportunity for growth and development. Very exciting to think we are paving the way into new territory. And again, we are referring to it as workship. This is what we do to be faithful stewards.”
7. An understanding of the need for a foundation of spiritual health
While health workers, teachers and supermarket workers are busier than ever, many have noticed the difference working from home, reduced commute times, and changed circumstances.
I was speaking to some Christian entrepreneurs recently for whom this unexpected and unwelcome pause in activity has had unexpected benefits.
“I can’t remember the last time I had eight hours sleep at night,” commented one.
Another mentioned the way she and her family members have reconnected more deeply, and they have been able to get into better rhythms of encountering God in his Word and prayer. “We are laying a more firm foundation for when things begin moving again.”
A young friend has drawn comfort from the prophets during the pandemic, and particularly Isaiah’s contrast of light and darkness, such as Isaiah 60:1–3:
‘Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
This is a glimpse of the new kingdom under the reign of the Messiah. Paul reminds us in Colossians 1:15–20 that this Messiah, Jesus is reigning, and fulfilling his purpose of reconciliation:
For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
As Tom Wright in God in Public has said, Jesus rules now through his people, the church, continuing this work of reconciliation:
Jesus rules the world today by launching new initiatives that radically challenge the accepted ways of doing things: by jubilee projects that remit ridiculous and unpayable debt, by housing trusts that provide accommodation for low-income families or homeless people, by local and sustainable agricultural projects that care for creation instead of destroying it in the hope of quick profit… That is how the sovereignty of Jesus is put into effect. Jesus went about feeding the hungry, curing the sick, and rescuing the lost sheep; his Body is supposed to be doing the same. That is how his kingdom is at work.
The pandemic has given all of us, and especially the church, the time to reflect on the way things were, and the way things could be. It’s not a new story, it’s an old story given fresh expression. I sense there is the real possibility that we could live out Lisa Sharon Harper’s vision at the end of her book The Very Good Gospel:
Evidence of the presence of the Kingdom of God is thick wherever and whenever people stand on the promise of God that there is more to this world—more to this life—than what we see. There is more than the getting over, getting by, or getting mine. There is more than the brokenness, the destruction and the despair that threaten to wash over us like the waters of the deep. There is a vision of a world where God cuts through the chaos, where God speaks and there is light. There is a vision where there is protection and where love is binding every relationship together. There is a call for humanity to exercise dominion over self and the rest of creation in a way that serves all, not just self. And there is a promise that as long as we follow God’s way, there will be life, healing, and love. There will come a day when all the world stands before God in shalom, and there will be only one tree, and its leaves will heal our wounds.
Come, Lord Jesus, in us and through us, and ultimately to bring about the New Earth.
In Part 1, I 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”. In Part 2, I looked at the Old Testament for clues as to what it means to live wholly for God. I said that it mirrors the way God acts toward us: consistency in word, thought and action. Now we will look at the particular application of being whole-hearted: living with integrity.
Integrity is the concept that most captures the idea of living wholly for God, of being a living sacrifice. Integrity is also in the semantic range of tamim, as it is used in Amos 5:10 to describe a society which has fallen away from God:
There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court
and detest the one who tells the truth (tamim).
Integrity points to the core of what it means to be integral, to be whole-hearted. It is being honest and truthful in word and action and thought. It refers to consistency in all areas and at all times.
NT Wright describes this as being the core of John’s Gospel:
In his letters, John expresses delight at believers who are 'walking in the truth': those who behave with an integrity that reflects the gospel. For him, such people show their love for God by obeying him. Obedience involves not just understanding correct doctrine and proper outward behaviour, but also loving fellow believers. This love for God and humanity, John writes, shows that the truth of the gospel has really been grasped not only as an abstract idea, but as the very life of God himself at work in his people.
And Tim Keller talks about prayer as being the key to discovering integrity:
If we give priority to the outer life, our inner life will be a dark, scary room. We will not know what to do with solitude. We will be deeply uncomfortable with self-examination, and we will have an increasingly short attention span for any kind of reflection. Even more seriously, our lives will lack integrity. Outwardly, we will need to project confidence, spiritual and emotional health and wholeness, while inwardly we may be filled with self-doubts, anxieties, self-pity, and old grudges. Yet we won’t know how to go into the inner rooms of the heart, see clearly what is there, and deal with it. In short, without putting a priority on the inner life, we turn ourselves into hypocrites.
You may speak a great deal about what a “blessing” your faith is and how you “just really love the Lord,” but if you are prayerless—is that really true? If you aren’t joyful, humble, and faithful in private before God, then what you appear to be on the outside won’t match what you truly are.
Prayer is the key to our relationship with God, just as speaking and listening are the key to all our other significant relationships. Through prayer and God’s Word we open ourselves up to being shaped by the Spirit, to learn what it means to be integral again.
This is what has been enabled for us through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Through his sacrifice, he has opened up the way for us to live as a living sacrifice, for all the different areas of our lives to be fused together.
However, for many of us it will take intentional acts, such as prayer and other spiritual disciplines, to be shaped in the image of Christ.
As we rediscover our identity in Christ, we will be able to live wholly for God, being people of integrity, consistent in thought and word and deed.
