God's workers

I have recently lost a couple of good friends here at seminary. Both have felt guilty for leaving, in one respect or another. I don't know if their personal guilt is something they should feel or not, but I can be sure of this: If people are feeling guilty for not participating in God's work by leaving seminary, we have done a very poor job of helping them see what God's work really is, because it is not limited to seminary training, the pastoral office, or out-of-the-country missionary work.

I have appreciated the outlook of Nancy Pearcey, who put it this way:

From Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey

(p. 34-35) "Thinking Christianly" means understanding that Christianity gives the truth about the whole of reality, a perspective for interpreting every subject matter. Genesis tells us that God spoke the entire universe into being with His Word - what John 1:1 call the Logos. The Greek word means not only Word but also reason or rationality, and the ancient Stoics used it to mean the rational structure of the universe. Thus, the underlying structure of the entire universe reflects the mind of the Creator. There is no fact/value dichotomy in the scriptural account. Nothing has an autonomous or independent identity, separate from the will of the Creator. As a result, all creation must be interpreted in light of its relationship to God. In any subject area we study, we are discovering the laws or creation ordinances by which God structured the world.

As Scripture puts it, the universe speaks of God - "the heavens declare the glory of God" (Ps. 19:1) - because His character is reflected in the things He has made. This is sometimes referred to as "general" revelation because it speaks to everyone at all times, in contrast to the "special" revealtion given in the Bible. As Jonathan Edwards explained, God communicates not only "by his voice to us in the Scriptures" but also in creation and in historical events. Indeed, "the whole creation of God preaches." Yet it is possible for Christians to be deaf and blind to the message of general revelation, and part of leaning to have the mind of Christ involves praying for the spiritual sensitivity to "hear" the preaching of creation.

The great historian of religion Martin Marty once said every religion serves two functions: First, it is a message of personal salvation, telling us how to get right with God; and second, it is a lens for interpreting the world. Historically, evangelicals have been good at the first function - at "saving souls." But they have not been nearly as good at helping people to interpret the world around them - at providing a set of interrelated concepts that function as a lens to give a biblical view of areas like science, politics, economics, or bioethics. As Marty puts it, evangelicals have typically "accented personal piety and individual salvation, leaving men to their own devices to interpret the world around them."

In fact, many no longer think it’s even the function of Christianity to provide an interpretation of the world. Marty calls this the Modern Schism (in a book by that title), and he says we are living in the first time in history where Christianity has been boxed into the private sphere and has largely stopped speaking to the public sphere.

"This internalization or privatization of religion is one of the most momentous changes that has ever taken place in Christendom," writes another historian, Sidney Mead. As a result, our lives are often fractured and fragmented, with our faith firmly locked into the private realm of church and family, where it rarely has a chance to inform our life and work in the public realm. The aura of worship dissipates after Sunday, and we unconsciously absorb secular attitudes the rest of the week. We inhabit two separate "worlds," navigating a sharp divide between our religious life and ordinary life.

BIBLE SCHOOL DROP-OUTS

At the same time, most believers find this highly frustrating. We really want to integrate our faith into every aspect of life, including our profession. We want to be whole people - people of integrity (the word comes from the Latin word for "whole"). Not long ago, I met a recent convert who was agonizing over how to apply his newfound faith to his work as an art teacher. "I want my whole life to reflect my relationship with God," he told me. "I don’t want my faith to be in one compartment and my art in another."

We would all agree with Dorothy Sayers, who said that if religion does not speak to our work lives, then it has nothing to say about what we do with the vast majority of our time - and no wonder people say religion is irrelevant! "How can anyone remain interested in a religion which seems to have no concern with nine-tenths of his life?"

In the secular/sacred dualism, ordinary work is actually denigrated, while church work is elevated as more valuable. In his book Roaring Lambs, Bob Briner describes his student days at a Christian college, where the unspoken assumption was that the only way to really serve God was in full-time Christian work. Already knowing that he wanted a career in sports management, Briner writes, "I felt I was a sort of second-class campus citizen. My classmates who were preparing for the pulpit ministry or missionary service were the ones who were treated as if they would be doing the real work of the church. The rest of us were the supporting cast."

The underlying message was that people in ordinary professions might contribute their prayers and financial support, but that was about it. "Almost nothing in my church or collegiate experiences presented possibilities for a dynamic, involved Christian life outside the professional ministry," Briner concludes. "You heard about being salt and light, but no one told you how to do it." Lip service was paid to the idea of dedicating your work to God, but all it seemed to mean was, Do your best, and don’t commit any obvious sins.

The same secular/sacred dualism nearly snuffed out the creative talents of the founders of the whimsically funny Veggie Tales videos. Phil Vischer says he always knew he wanted to make movies, but "the implicit message I received growing up was that full-time ministry was the only valid Christian service. Young Christians were to aspire to be either ministers or missionaries." So he dutifully packed his bags and went off to Bible college to study for the ministry.

Yet the more he saw the powerful influence movies have on kids, the more he thought it was important to produce high-quality films. Finally he made up his mind: "I figured God could use a filmmaker or two, regardless of what anyone else said." Dropping out of Bible college he and his friend Mike Nawrocki started a video company. As their former classmates turned into pastors and youth ministers, they turned into the voices of Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber. The videos have become immensely popular, with their biblical messages and quirky humor. Yet if these two Bible school drop-outs had not broken free from the secular/sacred mentality and decided that Christians have a valid calling in the field of filmmaking, their talents may well have been lost to the church. Every member of the Body of Christ has been gifted for the benefit of the whole, and when those gifts are suppressed, we all lose out.

The pervasiveness of the secular/sacred split is less surprising when we realize that many pastors and teachers have absorbed it themselves. A school superintendent once told me that most educators define "a Christian teacher" strictly in terms of personal behavior: things like setting a good example and showing concern for students. Almost none define it in terms of conveying a biblical worldview on the subjects they teach, whether literature, science, social studies, or the arts. In other words, they are concerned about being a Christian in their work, but they don’t think in terms of having a biblical framework on their work.

(p. 65-66) How do we break free from the dichotomies that limit God’s power in our lives? How can love and service to God become living sparks that light up our whole lives? By discovering a worldview perspective that unifies both secular and sacred, public and private, within a single framework. By understanding that all honest work and creative enterprise can be a valid calling from the Lord. And by realizing there are biblical principles that apply to every field of work. These insights will fill us with new purpose, and we will begin to experience the joy that comes from relating to God in and through every dimension of our lives.

We are all part of God's plan and part of his work on this world. Sure, being a pastor can be a great way to be a part of that, but so can any other job which fulfills a needed part of the community. Hear what Luther says on the subject:

"Your work is a very sacred matter. God delights in it, and through it He wants to bestow His blessing on you. This praise of work should be inscribed on all tools, on the forehead and the face that sweat from toiling. For the world does not consider labor a blessing. Therefore it flees and hates it....But the pious, who fear the Lord, labor with a ready and cheerful heart; for they know God's command and will. Thus a pious farmer sees this verse written on his wagon and plow, a cobbler sees it on his leather and awl, and laborer sees it on wood and iron: "Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee." The world inverts the thought and says: Miserable shalt thou be, and it shall not be well with thee; for these things must forever be endured and borne. But happy are those who lead a life of leisure and without labor have the wherewithal to live. ("What Luther Says", p. 1493)

Luther says also that our work is "his mask" in the world, where God chooses to hide himself and do everything. It is not as if God needs us, but for some reason, he chooses to use us to do much work. Think of Gideon, who took the field with the Midianites. Could God have defeated them without the Israelites? Of course, and yet He chose to have Gideon and his army involved in order to work through them and with them.

Luther also says: To put it briefly, God wants people to work. If you did not farm or work, you would have to lie behind the stove a long time in order to have anything given to you. It is true, of course, that God could support you without work, could let fried and boiled foods, corn, and wine grow on the table for you. But He will not do this. He wants you to work and to use your reason in this matter.

This also applies to preaching and to all other things. He gives us wool, letting it grow for us on the sheep. But the wool is not immediately converted into cloth. We must work it up to make cloth of it. When the cloth is there, it does not promptly become a coat. First the tailor must make it. And so on; in everything God acts in such a way that He will provide, but we should work." ("What Luther Says", p. 1495)

That is exactly what the priesthood of all believers is: God working in and through us in all things (1 Peter 2:5, 9-10; Exodus 19:6; Rev. 1:6; 5:10).

So, in everything, what we do and why is an important question to ask, which is why we should take everything to His Word in our daily work, whether it is as husband, wife, father, friend, pastor, secretary or garbageman, for all of these things are God's hand when done correctly. As 2 Cor. makes clear...

NIV 2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (emphasis added)

...we take everything to Christ and His Word (Scripture), redeeming everything to His glory and praise. This is our task. Total Truth will help you see that, as will a good leader in the faith. Praise God for his work in and through our lives, and may God bless us as we seek to be His ambassadors in ALL areas of our lives.

So, what are you here for? With about 6,000 years of history in the bank, why are you here now? With billions upon billions of people before you, why do you exist at this moment? What has God been training you for in the last year, five years, even your whole life? What will he train you for in the future? As we prepare to live godly lives in our whole life, may God bless our hearts, minds and hands to be HIS when He brings eternally significant opportunities to our feet.