Canceled When Adam And Eve Sinned?

Some people believe that when Adam and Eve sinned, they forfeited their role as God’s representative governors over all the Earth. Like ambassadors caught in an act of treason, Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden and removed from their positions as God’s delegated vice-regents over all the earth. “Earth-tending” was no longer the job description of human beings.

Was the First Commission canceled when Adam and Eve sinned?

If this is the case, then we are prisoners on a cursed planet, sent out to wander, spending our days toiling for food. Our work is no longer a way of fulfilling the role God had in mind for us when He created Adam and Eve: “Let Us make man...and let them rule…over all the earth.”

Beyond providing for our own subsistence, then, work on planet Earth could no longer have any significant purpose or meaning.

Some people believe the world (and all it contains) was given over to Satan at the point of Adam and Eve's act of disobedience.

If we embrace the idea that “the earth is the Devil’s and all it contains,” and we accept the notion that our original job description (the First Commission of Genesis 1:26-28) was rescinded at the Fall, we will have a very difficult time seeing how carpentry, software development or truck driving can be "the work of God"--unless perhaps we are building orphanages in Africa, developing software for Bible translation, or driving trucks for the Salvation Army.

I can't say exactly how or when it happened, but as a youth in my church, I picked up the idea that this planet is now Satan’s, and we are living on a sinking ship. Only the work that I would do "for eternity" had any real significance, and that didn't include things like selling shoes or processing insurance claims.

What possible significance could there be for Joe the carpenter in spending his life working for the XYZ construction company, pounding nails into 2 x 4s?

This is why, as I mentioned before, I told my mother when I was twelve years old that there were only two occupations in this life worth doing: being a pastor or a missionary.

Thank God that George Washington Carver didn't see it that way!

We'll visit him next.

More Than A Paycheck

Last week we suggested that during Jesus’ 17 years as a carpenter, He was doing the work of God, based on the idea that He always did what His Father showed Him to do, whether as a carpenter or an itinerant teacher.

At age 12 Jesus was doing "His Father's business" in Jerusalem, talking with religious leaders in the temple. When He went back home with Mary and Joseph, He continued to do what His Father showed Him to do, "growing in favor with God and man" as a carpenter.

Imagine what might happen if hundreds of millions of followers of Christ around the globe were to go to work tomorrow morning with the conscious awareness that they are doing the work of God as farmers, taxi cab drivers and bankers?

Beyond imagination?

Maybe. So, let’s bring it down to one person—or, better yet, two.

What if you and a friend were to go to work tomorrow morning with the conscious awareness that each of you are doing the work of God, no matter what kind of work you are doing (assuming you have legitimate jobs)?

If you have some difficulty seeing your work as the work of God, I'd like to suggest a helpful resource. It's a curriculum called, "More Than A Paycheck."

"More Than A Paycheck" was written with the conviction that what the work-world needs now is a different kind of stimulus package. What we need is a recovery of "farming theology," "taxi-cab theology" and "banking theology."

Since the topic of the M-TAP curriculum is work of all kinds, it is as applicable for CEOs as it is for homemakers.

"More Than A Paycheck" consists of two texts [God's Pleasure At Work and The Difference One Life Can Make] each with accompanying DVDs that illustrate and augment the text. (The video clips included in this blog are from this curriculum.)

I invite you to join with me in helping followers of Christ to engage in their work as the work of God by forming a small group to complete the “More Than A Paycheck” curriculum.

To view a brief video endorsement by Chuck Colson, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWVf4xlbM1o.

You may order the curriculum by visiting http://www.biblicalworldview.com/bookstore.html, or calling toll-free 877-624-0230.

Carpentry, Too, Is The Work Of God

Ordinarily when we think of the Spirit of God flowing through Jesus, we think of Christ raising someone from the dead, turning water into wine, or healing a blind beggar by the side of the road.

Yes, these are dramatic examples of the Kingdom “actualized,” the Good News "incarnated," and the Kingdom “come.” Clearly, they are examples of "the work of God."

But have you ever stopped to consider that Jesus spent the majority of His days on earth doing work as a carpenter/stonemason? (Some scholars think He may have done both carpentry and stonemason work. Perhaps He was a general contractor.)

So here’s the big question: Did the Kingdom "come” through Christ during His carpentry years, too? When Jesus did carpentry, was He doing the work of God?

By His own testimony, Jesus only did what His Father showed Him to do (John 5:19). Was this the case during seventeen years of doing carpentry work in the little town of Nazareth?

We don’t know much about the life of Christ during His carpentry/stonemason years. But we do know two things: Jesus “grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men" in Nazareth (Luke 2:52), and He spent about six times more time doing carpentry/stonemason work than He did itinerant preacher/teacher work.

It is significant that when Jesus is 30 years old, at His baptism, God the Father audibly proclaims: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:16-17).”

Think about this. Before Jesus heals a single person, or feeds 5,000, or preaches to multitudes, His Father is “well pleased” with Him.

The Father does not elaborate on what is so pleasing to Him. Certainly Christ’s character pleases Him. But I suspect He is also pleased with how Jesus spends His time and energy up to that point in life, reconciling carpentry with the will of His Father. For Jesus, carpentry, too, is the work of God.

Justin Martyr (2nd Century historian) claimed that plows made by Jesus were still in existence around the year 120 A.D. If so, Jesus must have done superior work.

But whether it was building houses or making plows, certainly Jesus found God's pleasure in His work, knowing He was doing what His Father showed Him to do: carpentry!

For me, this casts “the work of God” in refreshing light.

Two Legs Of A Marathon Runner

The Gospel of the Kingdom is Good News for both Heaven and Earth. This is not an "either-or" proposition, but a "both-and" deal.

Participating in the fullest outworking of the Great Commission [that is, participating in the joy of leading non-believers to a point of conversion, and participating in the on-going process of helping believers to observe all that Christ commanded] is like two legs of a marathon runner.

We must certainly share the Good News that Christ took our sins upon Himself at the cross for the personal salvation of human beings. People must hear that Christ died for their sins in order to believe it (Rom. 10:14).

At the same time, we must be diligent to help those who have received Christ as their personal Savior to fulfill the on-going purpose for which they are saved.

A big part of this on-going purpose involves Christ living out His life through His people in the context of their whole lives, which, for nearly half our waking hours, takes place at work.

We begin our new life in Christ through personal reconcilation to God by His grace, putting our trust in Christ alone to save us. And we continue our earthly role of reconciling all things to Him, including our work things, by means of that same grace.

Apart from Him, we can do nothing to save ourselves. And by the same grace that we exercised for our personal salvation, we are to let our salvation be "worked out" [expressed, or demonstrated] in the world around us, even as we're pounding nails, driving taxis or selling real estate. "...for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:12-13)." That's grace in action, and it's a 24-hour deal.

Personal salvation is the critical starting point. It is essential to the Gospel of the Kingdom. But we must also bear in mind that we are not just saved from something. We are saved for something. And that "something" has a lot to do with our everyday work in the world.

We are not saved by good works, but we are saved for good works (Eph. 2:1-10). What better place to live out those works than in the workplace?

What “Good News” Are We Talking About?

The word “Gospel” means “Good News.” But what “Good News” are we talking about?

For most of my life, when I heard the word “Gospel,” I reduced it to this: “Jesus died for the sins of the world so people can be forgiven and go to heaven when they die.” (John 3:16)

That statement is very true, and I’m eternally grateful for this reality! But is personal salvation what the Good News is all about?

Salvation of souls is an important part of the Good News, for sure. But reducing the Good News to a matter of souls and the state of those souls in the afterlife fails to encompass the far-reaching meaning of the word Gospel.

The Good News Jesus preached was the Good News of the Kingdom. He told Nicodemus one night, "Ye must be born again," and this is a fact. We must be. But is this the complete Good News?

The far-reaching thrust of the Kingdom, basically, is this:

The Kingdom of God is demonstrated via the bodily incarnation of Christ. This Kingdom keeps on "coming” [being "realized," "actualized," or "demonstrated"] via the on-going expression of Christ’s life through a great body of everyday people who have been forgiven and reconciled to God through faith in Christ's sacrificial death on their behalf. These people are indwelt by the Holy Spirit for the continuing purpose of being "ministers of reconciliation" of all things to God--including Earth things. (Col. 1:17-20, II Cor. 5:17-20, Matthew 6:9-10)

That's Good News! The ramifications of this for the workplace are enormous!

Here we have not only Good News for the soul, but Good News for the real estate market (as Jack vanHartesvelt demonstrated), artwork and carpentry, as followers of Christ reconcile all things to God (including their work things), "actualizing" or "demonstrating" His Kingdom right where we live and work.

This Kingdom is incarnational, whereby the Spirit of God flows through Christ's many-membered Body of redeemed people around the globe who are driving trucks, selling shoes and managing IRA accounts in the here-and-now, just like the Spirit flowed through Christ's single body 2000 years ago in Palestine--while working with wood in His shop, or preaching to thousands.

When I hear the word "Gospel," I think "Kingdom incarnated," and that's Good News!

Please view Paul Stevens' comments on the Gospel of the Kingdom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VitIItMXKc0

To Observe All That I Commanded You

Why did God create humans?

We won’t know the complete answer until we see Jesus.

But the functional reason God created humans is no mystery. It is spelled out in the first chapter of the Bible. God created us with one functional purpose in mind: to rule over the earth and all it contains.

The First Commission [Genesis 1:26-28] provides a compelling rationale for daily work. For Joe the carpenter, for Bev the realtor, for Peter the pilot, and Bonnie the business executive.

“But,” some may ask, “don’t followers of Christ have another commission that is more important than the First Commission? In a Fallen world, doesn’t the ‘Great Commission’ of Matthew 28:18-20 trump the 'First Commission' of Genesis 1? Doesn’t the Great give us a higher reason for living than the First?”

I was at a table with a group of Christ-followers at a conference not long ago, when a woman across the table declared: “My only purpose in life is to see souls saved.”

The question I would ask her is, “Why?"

So people won’t go to hell when they die?

I don’t mean to imply hell is not an issue. But there is a reason for saving souls that aligns more closely with the Great Commission itself, namely: so people can engage in the First Commission in a way God intended from the beginning.

The Great Commission says: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." [NASB]

I don’t believe the Great Commission trumps the First Commission, because I see them both having the same intent. The Great Commission provides the means by which the First Commission is fulfilled in a Fallen world. The Great provides the gateway for people to rightly engage in the First. It gets us back on track.

In what more splendid circumstance can we "observe all that Christ commanded” than while fulfilling the First Commission in our work? That's what work is about.

The Great Commission has more to do with what happens on earth than what happens after we die.

And this casts the word Gospel in extraordinary light.

Continued…

Polar Opposites

A reader of this blog had difficulty with my use of the word “actualization” in connection with the Kingdom of God last week.

She had no problem with the idea that God’s Kingdom is “realized” when people align themselves with God’s will. But the phrase “Kingdom actualization” didn’t fly. My use of the term seemed to contradict the truth of the Kingdom’s present reality. After all, the Kingdom is “actual” whether people align themselves with it or not.

True. The Kingdom is reality, whether people align with it or not. It is an “actual” Kingdom, and not dependent upon humans to be “actualized.”

But there is a reason I use the phrase “Kingdom actualization.”

If you google “self actualization,” you will find many references to this term as it is used by psychologists. It was first coined by Kurt Goldstein to describe “the motive to realize all of one's potentialities.” It described the “master motive” of a person, or “the only real motive a person has."

The term “self actualization” was later popularized by Abraham Maslow, a famous psychologist who included the term in his so-called “hierarchy of needs” theory. “Self actualization” is “the final level of psychological development that can be achieved when all basic and mental needs are fulfilled and the ‘actualization’ of the full personal potential takes place.” (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_actualization.)

Every college freshman taking Psychology 101 learns about Maslow’s theory of “self actualization.” But Maslow’s theory is secularized to the core. God has no honored place in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. As the very term “self actualization” connotes, "it's all about me.”

I’m of the opinion that the highest of all human needs is not “self actualization of human potential,” but “Kingdom actualization of God’s will being done through us.” This is what “Kingdom actualization” is about. It's all about Him. His Kingdom is what we "seek first" (Matthew 6:33).

Along with “Kingdom actualization” comes the amazing realization of why God created us, how we fit into His design for our lives, and His reason for sustaining our next breath.

The term “Kingdom actualization” and the term "self actualization" are polar opposites. I'm using the former to supplant the latter.

"Kingdom actualization" may not make it into psychology books, but it makes more sense to me than Maslow's idea ever did.

"Self-actualization" rings hollow.

“Kingdom actualization” is humanity's highest need, privilege and joy.

Kingdom "Actualization"

Last week we saw Jack vanHartesvelt aligning his real estate dealings with the will of God. He reconciled what he is doing on Monday morning with what he is hearing on Sunday morning. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJRU2EEqcaQ for Jack's story.)

When Jack started doing this, the Kingdom of God “came to light” in his workplace. As a result, people’s lives were touched. Transformation occurred. Over time, the city of New Orleans was blessed by a man who had been stirred through the way Jack handled business. (Sounds like that great film, It’s A Wonderful Life, doesn’t it?)

What do I mean when I say the Kingdom “came to light” in Jack’s workplace? The Kingdom of God was already there, wasn’t it? Doesn’t the earth and all it contains presently belong to God (Ps. 24:1)? Isn’t God exalted as head over all (I Chron. 29:11) presently? Isn’t Jesus presently Lord of all (Acts 10:36)?

Yes! So why did Jesus teach His disciples to pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven?”

We have such a difficult time holding this truth in tension. If the Kingdom of God is already present (Jesus is Lord), why does it need to come?

Here is how I manage this tension: I see the whole world as God’s "turf." The “field” is His (Matt 13:24-43), the earth and all it contains presently belongs to God (Ps. 24:1), and Jesus is Lord of all, right now. His Kingdom is as broad as creation is wide! At the same time, things happen in this present Kingdom that are in conflict with the King, or, "out of alignment" with God. Lots of things on earth need to be reconciled to God, including the way we handle real estate. (Remember 2008!)

But when a follower of Christ, like Jack, by the grace of God applies the "ministry of reconciliation" to a situation, and the will of God is done, the Kingdom is "actualized." It is "realized." It “comes."

Yes, legally and geographically, the present Kingdom is already here. But until it is recognized and submitted to, it remains “hidden.”

The Kingdom will fully come when Christ returns. But in the meantime, Kingdom "actualization" occurs through human recognition of the Kingdom and submission to the King right now.

God’s Kingdom [though always present] "comes to light" when God's will is done.

The Ministry Of Reconciliation

Each month, I go through the same personal ritual of reconciliation: I reconcile my checkbook with my bank statement.

When the bottom line of my checkbook is in alignment with my bank statement, I’m at peace with my bank. But when the bottom line of my checkbook does not align with my bank statement, I groan inside. I don’t feel good. I can’t rest until I reconcile my checkbook with the bank statement.

On one occasion when my checkbook did not align with what my bank was telling me, after repeatedly going over my arithmetic (I mean repeatedly), I was convinced the bank was in error.

I took my checkbook along with the bank statement to my local branch, and sat down with an employee who had the ministry of reconciliation.

To my astonishment, when this gifted person found the problem, it was as plain as the nose on my face. And the egg on my face was very plain, too. The sin was clearly mine! Admittedly, I was a bit embarrassed, but down deep it felt good to have my checkbook reconciled with the bank. I was at peace with the Bank of America.

Last week I made reference to II Cor. 5:17-20 and Col. 1:17-20, where we find that followers of Christ have been given “the message of reconciliation.” Here we see Christians having the ministry of reconciliation between people and God.

Wow! But that’s not all the reconciliation Paul mentions. He writes about reconciliation between God and “all things,” in heaven and on earth (Col. 1:20).

Things? Not just people?

What things on earth need to be reconciled to God?

Actually, everything on earth needs to be reconciled (or, "aligned") with God! This includes all work-related things. Things like how we repairs automobiles, how we sell clothing, and how we manage civil affairs.

One great example of a follower of Christ reconciling his work-related things to God, is Jack vanHartesvelt.

Jack buys and sells multi-million-dollar hotels for an investment firm. About a week prior to my video taping of Jack in his Seattle office, his firm was involved in the selling of a Manhattan hotel--for one million dollars per room.

Buying and selling hotels? Can this “thing” be counted among the "all things" on earth to be reconciled to God?

Watch Jack's compelling story, and let me know what you think.

Click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJRU2EEqcaQ

The Greatest Christmas Gift

One of my favorite carols is Joy To The World.

The words are by Issac Watts, based on his paraphrase of Psalm 98:

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth; make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together before the Lord; for He cometh to judge the earth, with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.

Some people believe Joy To The World is not about the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. They say it is about His second coming, not the first. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_to_the_World.)

The joy that is sung about, then, is a future joy that will occur when Christ returns, to “make the nations prove the glories of His righteousness,” in that full expression of His Kingdom yet to come.

But for me, the song makes as much sense as a celebration of the first coming of Christ in Bethlehem.

While I’m looking forward to that full and perfect expression of Christ’s Kingdom in the future, I’m also celebrating the Kingdom that has already come. Jesus is Lord of all. Today! Not just in the future, but at this present moment (Acts 2:36; 10:36).

No, the Kingdom of God isn't fully recognized, or perfectly expressed right now. I believe this will happen when Christ comes the second time. But that domain over which Christ is King (His Kingdomain) presently includes both Heaven and Earth!

This is the greatest Christmas gift: that Christ the King has come “to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found.” And He intends His blessings to flow through carpenters, cops and CEOs (today!) who are reconciled to God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and reconciling all things to Christ--including their work things! That's the idea behind Christ's coming in the first place. (See II Cor. 5:17-20 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=II%20Cor.%205:17-20&version=NIV and Col. 1:17-20 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Col.%201:17-20&version=NIV.)

So, no more let thorns infest the ground. By God's amazing grace, put your work gloves on, go to your workplace after the Christmas holiday and start pulling up bramble bushes--and planting redwood trees.

Joy to the Earth! the Savior reigns; Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

The First Commission

Last week I claimed that carpentry is the work of God. Even pounding nails and building a home in your neighborhood.

I justified this claim by referencing the “The First Commission,” found in Genesis 1:26-28.

It is the very first command of God to human beings.

Here's how The Message puts it:

God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them
reflecting our nature
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
the birds in the air, the cattle,
And, yes, Earth itself...

He created them male and female.
God blessed them:
"Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
or every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."

Genesis 1:26-28 is sometimes called, “The Cultural Mandate,” or, “The Dominion Mandate.”

But I prefer to call it, The First Commission.

And what a commission it is!

Here we have a commission to rule over the entire globe! It is a command to take charge.

Chuck Colson summed it up this way: “On the sixth day, God created human beings—and ordered them to pick up where He left off!”

Randy Kilgore says: “God created a world that functions on order, and requires labor for its tending. He created you and me to be a part of that order, to do that labor. Even when our acts at work don’t seem to have eternal significance, their very rendering fulfills His original commission to humans to tend His creation.”

"Creation-tending" is a very big job! Ruling over "all the Earth" (not just the animals) entails a responsibility as broad as the world is wide, and requires a lot of varied occupations, including carpentry, as well as civil service, high-tech work and homemaking.

Earth-tending involves physical work ( as with Adam the landscaper, tending and keeping the Garden), and mental work (as with Adam the zoologist, naming the animals.)

Both kinds of work occurred before the Fall. Work is not a curse. The curse just made work more difficult.

Did the Fall cancel The First Commission?

I don't think so.

Ruling over trees, metal, electricity and water pipes is all part of what goes into building a good house. And when Joe builds that house, he is participating in The First Commission.

That's the way I see it.

What do you think?

Like Discovering A New Continent

If someone said to you, “My friend, Joe, is doing the Lord’s work,” what work would come to your mind?

Most people would imagine Joe is a pastor or a missionary. Maybe a doctor, if Joe is practicing his medicine overseas among the poor, with nothing in return, that is.

But if Jonathan Edwards were alive today, I dare say Edwards would ask: “In what line of work? The aerospace industry? Farming? Retail sales?”

Yet, we no longer put those kinds of jobs in the category of "the Lord's work."

In Paul Stevens’ excellent book, The Other Six Days, he writes: “What is needed is a comprehensive biblical foundation for the Christian’s life in the world as well as the church, a theology for homemakers, nurses and doctors, plumbers, stockbrokers, politicians and farmers. Recovering this, as Gibbs and Morton said decades ago, would be like discovering a new continent or finding a new element.”

There’s that idea again: recovering.

I expect Stevens says “recovering this..." because he knows people such as Jonathan Edwards would have taken it for granted that God does His work through carpenters, cops and CEOs.

To limit “the Lord’s work” to the work of a pastor, a missionary, or a volunteer doctor in Africa would have been off the radar.

Am I saying "Joe the carpenter" can be doing the work of God by pounding nails?

That’s exactly what I’m saying.

And I am not talking about Joe volunteering his carpentry skills to build homes for needy families in Mexico, as commendable as that is.

I am talking about Joe pounding nails for the XYZ Construction Company from 7:00am until 4:00pm, Monday through Friday, while building a new house down the street in your neighborhood.

How can this work be the work of God?

Well, if Joe puts his work with the XYZ Construction Company into the context of a biblical worldview that sees every nail and 2x4 as belonging to God (Ps. 24:1), and every swing of the hammer as a response to The First Commission to "rule over all the earth" (Gen. 1:26-28), then it starts to make sense.

But there's more to how Joe's work for XYZ Construction can be the work of God.

Stay tuned.

In the meantime, please view the new video of the month. It is Paul Stevens again, this time speaking about "ministry" and the work of the Lord: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkm89trY9zM

Bring Meaning To Your Work As The Work Of God

A recent Wall Street Journal article provides a good follow-up to last week's post. The article, Idle Hands: Some Puritan Advice for the Unemployed, appeared November 19:

“…the Puritans... had a view of work in which God looms large. [They] believed that all of life, including their work, was God's, and, as such, infused with purpose and meaning…

...Martin Luther, in his doctrine of vocation, taught that God gave each individual an occupational ‘calling.’ Man's vocation was not seen as impersonal and random, but as from a loving and personal God who bestowed each individual with natural talents and desires for a particular occupation...

…17th-century tradition held that sacred occupations (like priest or monk) trumped secular ones (like farming or blacksmithing). The Puritans, however, rejected such a distinction. Holding to 'Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might' (Ecclesiastes 9:10), the Puritans sanctified the common, believing that all work, however lowly, if done for the glory of God, was good…The farmer's plow became his altar, his tilling an act of service to God every bit as holy and valuable as the priest's….

Now, I’m not suggesting the Puritans did everything right. Nor is the WSJ article suggesting that. But the Puritan view of work was biblically motivated, and this is what interests me most.

“Biblicity” (did I just invent a new word?) is what allowed Jonathan Edwards, and his forerunners, Luther and Calvin, to view work in a profoundly remarkable way.

Last week I asked if "worklife discipleship" could be restored. I think it can. But to get there, I believe we have to re-learn how to view our work in the context of a comprehensive biblical worldview and an explicit theology of work.

This begs the question, "What is a biblical worldview and a theology of work?"

I'll fill that in as we go along. But for now, I'd just like to say that when you see your work in the context of a biblical worldview and a theology of work, as Luther, Calvin, and Edwards did, your work (no matter what kind of work it may be) takes on previously unimaginable significance.

In fact, seeing your work in the context of a biblical worldview and a theology of work allows you to bring meaning to your work as the work of God.

To be continued.

For the full Wall Street Journal article by Amy Henry, see http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704431804574541403268485712.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

Can Such A Vision Be Restored?

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) was a pastor, a missionary to Native Americans, and the third President of Princeton University. Among his descendants have come scores of pastors and missionaries, 120 college professors, 110 attorneys, 60 authors, 30 judges, 13 college or university presidents, 3 congressmen, and one Vice President of the United States.

But there's more to the story.

While doing eight years of Ph. D. research on Jonathan Edwards, Dr. David Scott discovered something remarkable:

“One day…I came across the discipleship curriculum that the puritan pastor Jonathan Edwards had been trained in by his church in how to have a God-filled work life. They even had a name for it…'technologia,' a Latin term for their little-known method of teaching the art of God-centered work.... Edwards and his fellow students—future pastors and merchants alike—were tested in it in order to graduate from early Yale. The Puritans knew what it meant for the church to purposely pastor people in their work. We do not.”

The above is from an article published by WorkLife, Inc. (formerly called, "His Church At Work"), an organization founded in 2003 by Doug Spada for the purpose of helping churches to be effective in worklife discipleship today.

Dr. Scott, who is now a history professor at Southern Evangelical Seminary, goes on to say: “If you asked an engineer in one of our churches what designing computer components has to do with the kingdom of God, my bet is that he or she probably could not pass the test. The reason is that we modern evangelicals have no functional equivalent for the systematic work life discipleship teaching that Edwards took for granted…”

The former custom of teaching people "the art of God-centered work" is no longer customary. For the most part, worklife discipleship has gone the way of men's powdered white wigs.

I'm glad the wigs are gone. But somewhere between Jonathan Edwards' day and our own, we lost something really vital: a systematic method for training followers of Christ in God-centered work. All kinds of work. As the English Puritan Pastor George Swinnock put it, "The pious tradesman will know that his shop as well as his chapel is holy ground."

This concept of work held by the Puritans was passed on by design, being systematically built into the mind and habits of "pastors and merchants alike."

But the vision to "purposely pastor people in their work," as Dr. Scott put it, has vanished, not only from formal education, but from nearly every church and home in the country.

Can such a vision be restored?

I'd like to think out loud with you about this in the weeks to come.

I highly recommend that you read Dr. Scott’s full article, at http://filemanager.silaspartners.com/dox/hischurchatwork/AnotherGreatOmission-WorkLifeandtheChurch.pdf

Primary Location For Spiritual Formation

“I’m prepared to contend that the primary location for spiritual formation is the workplace.”

This remarkable statement is by Eugene Peterson, in his recent book, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places. Peterson is the author of The Message (the Bible in present-day English), who served as a Presbyterian pastor for several years.

I’m curious to know when Eugene Peterson developed this contention that the workplace is “the primary location for spiritual formation.” If he held this conviction while he was a pastor, his church must have been very unusual.

Not many churches have a budget line item directed toward spiritual formation in the workplace. Not many churches have programs that specifically help people integrate their faith with their work. Marriage? Yes. Parenting? Yes. Foreign missions? Yes. Evangelism? Yes. Music? Yes. Community service? Sometimes. Workplace? No.

In 2005, I interviewed twenty senior pastors in the greater Seattle area, asking them about their own church-related beliefs and practices regarding faith in the workplace. 20 out of 20 indicated they believed the local church should play a role in influencing the Monday-through-Friday workplace. A strong majority felt the church should be training, equipping, encouraging, instructing and/or supporting its members in this endeavor.

But when I asked what their level of satisfaction was with how their own churches were doing in this regard, the average response was 4.58 on a level of 1-10 (10 being the highest).

Twelve pastors (60%) gave themselves a 5 or lower. Six pastors (30%) gave themselves a 3 or lower. 80% of the responses were 6 or lower.

About 75% of the pastors felt that having classes at church that focused on how to specifically apply Christianity to practical matters in the workplace would be a positive thing to do. However, only one pastor indicated that such classes had ever been taught in his church.

When I mentioned the idea of publicly commissioning professionals and trades-people during Sunday morning services for the service of Christ in the workplace during the week, most pastors liked the idea. But hardly any had done so.

A couple of pastors indicated they had Sunday service prayer for teachers, police officers and firefighters. Apparently, accountants and car mechanics are off the radar.

My intention is not to be critical here. Churches have enough criticism directed toward them. But why is there such a disconnect between Sunday and Monday?

Any thoughts?

If you haven't viewed the video of the month yet, take a moment to hear Paul Stevens' thoughts on the role of the church in equipping saints for workplace service: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4jLkPzdkuc

The Deepest And Most Significant Changes

One of the first books that opened my eyes to the faith-at-work frontier was Doug Sherman and William Hendricks' landmark piece, Your Work Matters To God, published in 1987.

Of all the formats the authors have used for teaching followers of Christ to integrate their faith with their work, Sherman and Hendricks say the small group experience, when effectively done, produces "the deepest and most significant changes."

I have a feeling John and Charles Wesley would agree. Along with William Wilberforce.

For those who want to live out the biblical worldview in real life, and to play an effective role in transforming culture, Sherman and Hendrick's advice is as fresh today as it was 22 years ago: "Consider forming an on-going group of associates who purpose to bring biblical principles to everyday work situations.”

The authors suggest such groups be discussion-oriented around specific workplace situations, where participants can experience accountability as well as mutual support and encouragement in making the connections between those workplace situations and authentic Christianity.

Sherman and Hendricks also recommend that such work-focused small groups be homogeneous. As they put it, “…it will obviously be easier for a secretary to think through what it means to serve Christ as a secretary with other secretaries and clerical workers than with vice presidents and CEOs.”

I’m wondering if any of you (readers of this blog) are presently in a work-focused small group such as the kind Sherman and Hendricks describe.

I am not talking about a group of working people who meet together for general Bible study. I am not talking about a group that meets for prayer, unless that prayer is specifically focused on workplace matters. I am not talking about a group that meets for a Christian book study, unless the book is about biblical applications to specific work issues that group members are facing.

What I am talking about are work-oriented small groups that meet regularly for the specific purpose of bringing biblical principles to specific workplace challenges and opportunities that participants in the group are currently facing. A true support group.

Are any of you part of such a work-life support group? If so, would you mind posting a comment, sharing how it is working for you and those in your group?

If you are not in such a group, but have thoughts on this matter, please post a comment.

Posting comments helps others. But if you are reluctant to submit your comments for the whole world to read, please send me a direct e-mail at overman@biblicalworldview.com. I’m truly interested in your thoughts, and in your experience along these lines.

The Most Fitting Place

One reason I am passionate about helping followers of Christ to connect their faith with their everyday work is because authentic Christianity is not just something for the individual soul, but for the community as a whole.

If you take William Wilberforce’s passion for the reformation of society, and combine it with John Wesley’s passion for "real Christianity," then mix it together with regular gatherings of a small "Clapham Circle" of Christian businessmen, bankers, and other politicians for advice, encouragement, accountability and perspective, what do you get?

You get what the English poet William Cowper described as, “the better hour.”

There are four big take-aways from the Wesley-Wilberforce story that are meaningful to me:

First, while Wesley's work as a full-time preacher-teacher was the right thing for him to do, if Wilberforce had left politics to go “into the ministry” it would have been a great loss. A Christian politician can be “in the ministry” too, directly by doing his or her daily work in that field.

Second, a small group of believing friends to provide encouragement and accountability in connecting one's faith with one's work is indispensable.

Third, the application of real Christianity to all of life is transformational, not just for individuals, but for whole communities and nations.

Fourth, there is no better opportunity to live out the application of real Christianity than in the context of everyday, regular work. This is what Wilberforce did.

When it comes to "salting" and "lighting" the world, isn’t the everyday workplace the most fitting place for followers of Christ to apply the biblical worldview to real life, in natural and normal ways?

I’m not talking about sharing the Four Spiritual Laws with co-workers here. I’m talking about living out authentic Christianity in the context of our work relationships, decision-making processes, policies and procedures, marketing and sales, product development and production, pricing, contracts, accounting, management, strategic planning and community service.

Right now millions of followers of Christ are already sprinkled throughout the workplaces of the world, at all levels of society, in all arenas of influence. What might happen to whole communities and nations if we all did our daily work, in all spheres of human endeavor, "as for the Lord?"

Os Guinness was profoundly correct when he said: "God has His people where He wants them. The problem is that they are not being His people where they are.”

Wilberforce demonstrated a keen understanding of the full-orbed Gospel of the Kingdom. This understanding changed the face of his nation—and the world. I think it is time for a refresher course.

A Practical View of Real Christianity

“[It is] impossible to tell from a typical sermon whether the preacher [is] a follower of Confucius, Muhammad, or Jesus Christ.”

Sir William Blackstone made this statement over 200 years ago “after visiting the churches of every major clergyman in London,” reports Chuck Stetson in his 2007 foreword to the reprint of William Wilberforce’s A Practical View of Real Christianity.

What led to Blackstone’s comment? For one thing, in 1661, punitive and vicious anti-Puritan legislation was passed by the British Parliament. As a result, priests who were Puritans (1/5th of all British clergy) were expelled from the Church of England.

By the time Blackstone toured London's churches in the 1700s, he “did not hear a single discourse which had more Christianity in it than the writings of Cicero,” writes Stetson.

But in 1739, John Wesley (1703-1791), his heart having been “strangely warmed” by the Holy Spirit, began to preach a different message in open-air meetings. Over the next fifty years, Wesley commissioned many preachers who were not ordained or licensed by the Church of England.

At the same time, Wesley encouraged small groups of believers to meet for the strengthening of their faith. Wesley’s new small group “method” of discipleship became a hallmark of “Methodism.” Sometimes persecution produces wonderful things, as was the case in early 20th Century Korea, when the Japanese imprisoned Korean believers who would not bow the knee to the Emperor.

Forty-seven years later, in 1786, when the "Methodist" movement was in high gear, William Wilberforce experienced his own personal spiritual awakening, just five years before Wesley passed on. Wilberforce called this his “great change.”

I wonder if William Wilberforce’s conversion would have occurred at all, apart from the spiritual awakening of 18th Century England in which John Wesley played such a significant role. I also wonder if Wilberforce’s “Clapham Circle” would have become a reality had it not been for Wesley's small group “method” whereby believers received encouragement in the practice of “real” Christianity," which they were not learning about in church.

Merry Olde England?

In the time of William Wilberforce, 25% of the single women in London were prostitutes. Liquor flowed so plentifully that it became known as the “Gin Age.”

Chuck Stetson, in the Foreword to a 2007 reprint of Wilberforce’s work, A Practical View of Real Christianity, writes that “gambling was a national obsession and ruined thousands.” And, “daylight fornication [was practiced] on the village green.” Stetson also writes of “auctioning one’s wife at a cattle market,” and “executions, known as Hanging Shows,” that “attracted huge crowds.”

Stetson writes: “…murder, general lawlessness, thieves and highwaymen were so prevalent that Horace Walpole warned, ‘One is forced to travel, even at noon, as if one were going to battle.’”

In addition, false signals were lit at night on the seashore to lure ships into rocks where the shipwrecks were plundered, with no regard for drowning sailors.

Merry Olde England?

William Wilberforce (who is Chuck Colson’s model and the model for the SALLT Academy I wrote about last week), was one of those followers of Christ who, like the 9-11 fire fighters, headed into the problem rather than away from it.

As a member of 18th Century British Parliament, Wilberforce was active in politics when converted to Christianity in his 20s. At first, he thought about leaving politics and going into “the ministry.” But John Newton, the former slave trader who wrote the words to Amazing Grace, persuaded Wilberforce that a strong follower of Christ was needed in Parliament. Thank God for Newton’s good advice!

Wilberforce is most famous for his tireless efforts to abolish slave trading in England. This was a goal that took twenty years to accomplish. But Wilberforce had a second stated mission in life: “the reformation of manners.”

Wilberforce was not talking about British table manners. He was referring to British culture. The culture described above. And this might be another reason Newton urged Wilberforce to use his influence as a follower of Christ in Parliament.

But there is more to the story of the reformation of Merry Olde England. God raised up another man whose name begins with W: John Wesley.

The stories of Wilberforce and Wesley go hand-in-glove. (To be continued.)

The SALLT Academy

Recently I was invited by the former District Attorney of Oklahoma County, Wes Lane, to meet with a group of about twenty-five members of the Salt And Light Leadership Training Academy (SALLT), in Oklahoma City. I spent the day with them on October 9.

In my thirty years of teaching about biblical worldview, this is the most unusual group I've had the pleasure to address. Among its members are two sitting Oklahoma senators (one currently running for Lieutenant Governor), the County Commissioner, the President of Oklahoma Christian University, a former Miss America, an owner of the city’s baseball team, a member of the Oklahoma City School Board, the Director of the Oklahoma Memorial, prominent business leaders, numerous lawyers, and the list goes on.

The SALLT Academy is an eight-month curriculum in which members come together for one day per month to receive instruction, pray, and focus on city issues in light of the biblical worldview.

We spent the day looking at how to assess matters through the lens of a biblical worldview, and how to propose solutions to city challenges and opportunities that are specific, winsome and consistent with that worldview.

The group was very responsive to what was shared. By the end of the day, they were applying what they had learned to a particular issue that is facing one of their peers. It was truly an amazing thing to watch, and a privilege to be a part of it.

The model for the SALLT Academy is William Wilberforce, the 18th Century Christian who served in the British Parliament. By God's grace, Wilberforce, along with a small group of friends known as the "Clapham Circle," worked tirelessly to abolish slavery in Britain. They succeeded after 20 years of effort.

Wilberforce's Clapham Circle consisted of about ten followers of Christ who were businessmen, bankers, and politicians living in the village of Clapham, near London.

Wes Lane's vision is that many "Clapham Circles" will be spawned in Oklahoma City as a result of leaders' participation in the SALLT Academy curriculum.

Please remember Wes and the SALLT Academy in prayer. What is happening in Oklahoma City could be a model for other cities throughout the world. Pray that God will have His way in the development of the curriculum, and the birthing of "Clapham Circles" to follow.

For more about the SALLT Academy, see http://saltandlightleadership.com/