What Is God Doing In Ukraine?

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, you have certainly heard of the troubles Ukraine is having with its aggressive neighbor, the Great Bear. As I write this post, Ukrainian friends of mine are gathering wood for the winter, under the looming specter of Putin shutting off gas supplies that flow from Russia. Yet God is alive and well in that part of the world, and the Spirit is moving in ways I'd like you to know about. 

Last month I spoke at a conference in Kozin, just outside of Kiev, hosted for Christian educators and professionals. The compelling theme of the conference was: Connecting School, Society and the Professions in the Light of Christianity. 

While Ukraine is at war, Christian educators, mostly elementary and secondary teachers/administrators, along with leaders from higher education and working professionals, came together for three days to focus on ways to better prepare students to apply the biblical worldview to their future professional occupations throughout society, in such areas as business, law, and civil service.

Was I dreaming? Indeed I was not! Here are some of the titles of presentations given at this conference: 

A Biblical View of Work and its Significance for Education, The Role of the Professions in the Kingdom of God and their Relationship to the School, The School as a Moderator in the Formation of Future Professionals, The Influence of Christian Thinking on the Professions, A Christian’s View on the Profession of a Business Leader and its Significance for School Education, The Foundations of the Professions in the Elementary and Secondary School Curriculum, and, How to Help Schoolchildren Choose a Profession. 

I have not seen anything like this in my own country, the USA. Here was a Christian educators' conference devoted entirely to the matter of elementary and secondary schools, along with universities, preparing the next generation to fulfill the Cultural Mandate by honoring God through professional vocations as followers of Christ in society.  I hope the Ukrainians will carry this idea further, and create a model for other countries--including Russia, whose language they share. Why let something like war hold them back?

What is God doing in Ukraine? Plenty! Most of which you'll not hear about on CNN. 

Below are some photos of the conference, courtesy of Ray Le Clair, the primary organizer: 

Standing is Viktor Kuzmenko, coordinator of Mission Eurasia, the organization partnering with the Association of Christian Schools International in hosting the conference, called CrossLinks. Ray Le Clair, Regional Director of ACSI for Ukraine and the Baltic Countries, is seated to his left. 

I introduced the group to my wife, Kathy, by showing them the photo on the screen taken at our wedding, 44 years ago. It is hard to see, but Kathy looks the same today as she did back then. Actually, better! 

Most of the participants were teachers and principals from elementary and secondary schools. Representatives from higher education also participated.

Why were we all wearing coats? Because it was cold, with no central heat! 

One of the most inspirational messages was by this Ukrainian business leader, Andriy Vasylenko, who runs a multi-million dollar company in a nation where many claim it is not possible to do business "by the rules," or to pay the required taxes. This highly successful Christian businessman boldly declared the opposite.  You may visit his company at www.zeelandia.ua

Was I dreaming? Indeed, I was!

Not Part Of The Muslim Mindset

This post first appeared on September 6, 2013, and has risen to the 4th most viewed post in the past 5 years. I'm repeating it here because it speaks to the need for eliminating the Sacred-Secular Divide:

[This map of Indonesia is public domain.]

Indonesia is a fascinating country. It has some 17,000 islands (I say "some" because a few disappear at high tide─an Indonesian joke), with 250,000,000 inhabitants. It is the fourth most populous nation on the planet.

Many non-Indonesians are surprised to learn that 88% of the Indonesian population is Muslim. In fact, Indonesia has more self-proclaimed Muslims than any other nation on earth. The number of Muslims in Indonesia exceeds the number in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, Yemen, Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan combined! 

How did it happen that this part of the world, so far from the Middle East, came to have such a large body of Muslims? Michael Baer, in Business As Mission, writes: 

"I once asked an Indonesian Christian why the country had become so predominantly Muslim...She said that when the Western Christians came, primarily from Holland, they built missionary compounds and missionary churches and expected the Indonesian people to come to them. The Muslims, on the other hand, came as traders, farmers, merchants, and businesspeople and simply lived among the natives."

The significance of this answer cannot be overstated. 

Dr. Darrell Furgason, a friend of mine who holds a Ph. D. from the University of Sydney in Religious Studies, and is an expert on Islam, has this to say:  

"In places like Africa and Indonesia, the church has been intellectually crippled, with one hand tied behind its back. Western missionaries generally brought the Gospel in the way they learned it, as a purely soul-saving faith, with no real bearing on anything else--religion was a mostly personal matter, nothing to do with things like politics, science, law, economics...African people were given the Gospel, but not how to build a righteous nation, how to apply Christianity to everything...Muslims see their faith as all-encompassing..."

Many Christians use the word "Gospel" to mean the "Gospel of Personal Salvation." But the Gospel is much more. It is the Gospel of the Kingdom. This is a much larger Gospel than our personal salvation, and bigger than the human soul. It is all-encompassing. That's good news!

The Sacred-Secular Divide is not part of the Muslim mindset. Yet, regrettably for all nations, it is the mindset of many Christians. Take a moment to hear what Dr. Aila Tasse told me about the problem of SSD in Africa, where his organization, Lifeway Mission, plants churches in Muslim communities: 

If this video does not play, click http://youtu.be/o5qHFe6O1uU

Here is the experience of my friend David Oliver, author of  Work: Prison of Place of Destiny: "I visited Kuala Lumpur capital of Malaysia and was doing some work for the Focus On The Family folks. On one day off I was doing the tourist thing walking round the 360 observation platform on the Menara Tower. There were 12 observation stations, each one with an audio sound track, and when I got to the final station (12) I pressed the number on the MP3 player. Whilst looking out over row after row of golden domed Muslim mosques, I heard the following narration which is etched into my memory as clearly as if it had been yesterday: ‘In the 18th century Indian traders came to our land, and showed us by their faith and lifestyle that we could be freed from the shackles of Buddhism. So we embraced their faith their language and their life style and have done till this day.'  [Jamek Mosque, in Kuala Lumpur, photo by Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams (Earth), reprinted with permission.]

 

The Ultimate Policy Manual

In the past few weeks, we've touched on keys to bringing extraordinary meaning to"ordinary" work:

1. Understand that God had a special role in mind for humans before He created Adam and Eve: to govern over things on earth. This is God's First Commission, and our seminal job description. 

2. Recognize that the world and everything in it is God's stuff, broken due to sin, and in need of restoration. This includes office things, shop things and kitchen things. It's all His stuff, and we are here to engage with it "as unto the Lord," so His will may be done in the shop as in heaven.  

3. Reject the notion of a "secular realm." It's pure fantasy, and must be discarded. 

Here's another key, which may be first:

4. Read the Bible as the Word of God (which it is), applicable to the totality of worklife.

All Scripture is “God breathed.” Human writers put stylus to papyrus in such a manner that the words they wrote expressed thoughts God Himself would have written had He been holding the pen. This does not mean God necessarily dictated the words. Yet, He guided the human authors in expressing thoughts with particular meanings to Him. The authors may not have always understood what they were writing, but the Divine Author behind the human writers did.

Meanings of words can change over time. But the words put into print by the human writers of Scripture had particular meanings in the mind of God at the time they were "breathed."

Why is this so important? Because if we are going to make faithful and authentic connections between God's Word and our work, we must see Scripture as "divine breath," with meaning untainted by our own opinions.

Recognition of biblical Truth in our day is increasingly subjective, being individualized beyond recognition. Discovering Truth in postmodern times is seldom a matter of endeavoring to understand what the Ultimate Author meant by the words human writers used in the days they were written. Instead of discovering what the Bible means to the Divine Writer, it has devolved into, “What does this Scripture mean to me?” 

Asking “how does it apply to me?” is different than asking “what does it mean to me?” The latter approach wreaks havoc with our ability to work in accordance with The Ultimate Policy Manual. 

For tips on Bible study, click here.

Jeff Myers, President of Summit Ministries has noted: "The Bible is the best-selling book in the world. It is printed, in part or in whole, in 2,800 languages worldwide. On average, 85 percent of U.S. households own a Bible; the average number of Bibles per household is 4.3. Unfortunately, while the Bible is widely owned, it goes largely unstudied." 

God's Work In God's World

It's one thing to say we must rid ourselves of the "Sacred-Secular Divide," but it's another thing to actually do it. For most of us, it requires a major shift in thinking. As mentioned before, seeing our daily work as God's work begins in the head.

In short, the Sacred-Secular Divide looks like this:

The "sacred” things include Sunday morning worship, Bible study, prayer, and going on mission trips. These activities are thought to have real significance, because they deal with matters of the soul, related to spiritual, eternal concerns.

"Secular” things, on the other hand, don’t have as much significance, being related to the physical, temporal realm. Things like mowing the lawn, managing a bank, or cucumber farming fall into this category. They simply are not as important to God. They are “things of earth” that should "grow strangely dim" as we "turn our eyes upon Jesus."

Here is what to do with that way of thinking:

The fact is, both things in heaven and things on earth are Jesus' things. And when we turn our eyes upon Him, it all grows remarkably clear. [Would someone please write a song to that effect?]

The problem is, things on earth are broken, due to sin, and in need of restoration. The answer, however, is not to divorce ourselves from the earth-things [they are still God's things], but to engage with them in a reconciling way, as the Spirit enables us.

Try this view on for size:

In this way of thinking, any sphere of human activity may be done in harmony with God or in conflict with Him; in alignment with Him, or in opposition to Him, to one degree or another. Christ died to reconcile people and things to Him, so that "in all things He may have the preeminence," both things in heaven and things on earth. See Colossians 1:15-20.

This includes business things, legal things, artistic things and civil things. No earthly "thing" lies outside the realm of Christ's authority and redemption. He is as relevant to what goes on in medicine as He is to what goes on in church. He is as relevant to things in the temporal world as to things in the eternal world. And when we engage with God's things in God's way, by God's grace, we are doing God's work in God's world.

Again, it starts in our head.

A Place Of Destiny

Martin Luther maintained that milking cows is as much the work of God as any deed of a monk, if the one milking does her work by faith. This understanding was articulated later by the Puritan pastor George Swinnock, who said, “The pious tradesman will know that his shop as well as his chapel is holy ground.”  

The current re-awakening of this liberating truth has the marks of an authentic move of God, international in scope. While I am most familiar with what is going on in the US, I know from others, such as David Oliver in the UK, that the Spirit is at work on both sides of the pond, as well as around the globe.

David is the founder of Insight Marketing. He is an international speaker and business consultant, who regularly appears on British television and radio. I have known him for nearly a decade, and have the utmost respect. He is not only a man who understands the biblical concept of work, but lives his understanding in the “real world” of business.

I am pleased to announce that David’s book, Work: Prison or Place of Destiny, has just been re-issued in a new edition with added chapters by Mark Greene, Director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, and myself.   

Mark Greene says, “David Oliver’s gracious perseverance of purpose and clarity of vision provides a fresh way forward that, if heeded, could see a decisive shift in church culture. And thereby in our nation.” John Beckett, author of Loving Monday, says David’s book, “may be just what you need to reset your focus onto God’s agenda for your life.” I agree!

As mentioned last week, the Apostle Paul elevated the work of slaves to the work of God. It is such an understanding of work that turns the workplace from “prison” to "a place of destiny.”

Whether you’re a bus driver, a banker, or a biologist, David’s book, Work: Prison or Place of Destiny, will motivate you to live out your destiny in the workplace like never before.

If you read just one book in the next year on the topic of living out your faith in the workplace, let it be this one. And give a copy to your pastor. 

In the US, e-books are available at http://bit.ly/WPOPDUSA. In the UK, at http://bit.ly/WPOPDUK. 

Here is a personal message from David: 

If the video does not play, click here: http://bit.ly/WPOPDVID

Make It God's Work

Paul wrote to slaves in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily as unto the Lord.” 

These slaves had no choice about the kind of work they did every day. They could not take aptitude tests to discover their strengths, nor sit down with career coaches to figure out better job fits. If their masters were demanding, ego-centric, or downright cruel, they had to live with the situation. (Do you think you've got it bad? Really?)

Thankfully, Paul did not write, “You are not alone, my dear friends! Nobody’s work in this world really matters. Not even the tents I make have any lasting value! They all deteriorate in time. Focus only on the next life. Keep the faith.”

On the contrary, Paul’s remarkable words to slaves hold a great key for bringing extraordinary meaning to "ordinary" work. His directive is particularly helpful when our jobs are difficult and painful, or the work we're doing makes us feel like slaves.

If you do car repair work, housecleaning work, or longshoreman’s work, and your work doesn't really seem like “God’s work,” there is something you can do about it, without a change of location: you can make it God’s work.

Make it God’s work? How?

By doing what Paul advised slaves to do: think differently about the work you are currently doing. Specifically, think of doing your work “as unto the Lord.” 

This means, if you repair cars, approach your next repair job as though your customer is Christ. Repair the car as though it is Jesus’ car. If you clean houses, clean your next house as though Christ lives there. If you carry wooden beams off a ship all day, carry each beam as though it were to be used by the Lord Himself for some great purpose. (It can’t be as heavy as His cross.)

For many years we have heard the saying, “WWJD: What would Jesus do?” The implication is, “What would Jesus do if He were in my shoes?” I suggest a different question: “WWID: What would I do if Jesus were in my customer’s shoes?” “What would I do if the money I’m managing were Jesus’ dollars?” and, “What would I do if the clothes I’m ironing were to be worn by Christ?” 

This is what it means to do our work “as unto the Lord.” Try it for just one hour. Then another. And another.

Again, it starts in our heads.

Are you feeling like a slave in a "dead-end" job, wishing you were doing something else? Maybe you should make a change, if you can. I don't know. But try a change of mind before you make a change of location--or your clothes.

It Starts In Your Head

When we think of Jesus, we usually think of Him preaching to thousands, healing people, and dying for the sins of the world. But Jesus spent the majority of His days doing carpentry work. Certainly He was helping Joseph full time by the age of 13, and continued doing carpentry work until 30. Jesus worked at least six times longer as a carpenter than as an itinerant teacher and miracle worker. 

We don’t know much about the life of Christ during His carpentry years, but we do know this: Jesus “grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men" during that time (Luke 2:52). This is a remarkable statement.

By Christ's own testimony, He only did what His Father showed Him to do (John 5:19). The question is, when did this arrangement begin? Did it just start when Jesus was baptized at the age of 30? Or was this the case during His carpentry years too?

When Jesus was baptized, His Father proclaimed: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased  (Matthew 3:16-17).” This was before Jesus healed anyone, and before He called a single disciple.  

Certainly Christ’s character and obedience were pleasing to the Father. But I suspect the Father was also pleased with what Jesus had done with His time up to that point, and how He spent His daily energy, doing what His Father showed Him to do: carpentry. For Jesus, this, too, was the work of God.

Jesus did not struggle with a "sacred-secular split." There is no doubt in my mind that Christ modeled what it means to govern over wood. I do not believe He would have grown in favor with the folks of Nazareth had He done shoddy carpentry work. Justin Martyr, the 2nd century historian, wrote that plows made by Jesus and Joseph were used in his day. If this is so, Jesus and Joseph must have done superior work!

Imagine what would happen if all followers of Christ engaged in their daily work as the work of God. It would turn the world upside down--again.    

If that's too big to wrap your mind around, just think about turning your own office, shop, or kitchen around. Do your work as the work of God for just one hour. And then another. And another. It starts in your head.

The 800 Pound Gorilla

In a telephone interview with Nancy Pearcey, author of Total Truth, she articulated why so many Christians fail to see work in politics, business, education, the arts, and science as ways to serve God. She pointed out that many Christian young people think that if they really want to serve God, they should go into "ministry," which means being a pastor or missionary.

The problem, Pearcey maintains, is accepting a "sacred-secular distinction." That is, putting work in "sacred" and "secular" categories. The Sacred-Secular Divide is a mental stronghold that's hard to remove. I am convinced, however, that ridding ourselves of SSD is the first step (and perhaps the biggest step) toward bringing significance to any human endeavor.   

Have you ever heard a Christian say, "Someday I'm going to quit my job and go into the ministry?" The unspoken message is: "I don't see my current work as a sacred task." Seeing fish management as "full-time Christian service" is unthinkable. It does not come easily to the evangelical mind. 

SSD is the 800 pound gorilla in the room. I don't want to be critical of pastors [they have a tough job], but when was the last time you heard a sermon on how to get rid of the Sacred-Secular Divide? When was the last time the car mechanics in your congregation were brought up front to be prayed for, and sent out with a commission to service automobiles well, repairing each car as the Lord's car (doing their work "as unto the Lord"), and seeing their repair work as the very work of God? 

Yes, the car does belong to Christ! The whole earth is the Lord's, and everything in it. And ruling well over grease and ball bearings is part of what God had in mind for humans before He created Adam and Eve. Repair work itself is sacred, when done in response to the First Commission of Gen. 1:26-28, and in fulfillment of the Great Commandment of Mark 12:29-31. 

Yes, we need pastors and missionaries. But we don't need to justify car repair work as an opportunity for evangelism, or a way to earn money to support the others who are in..."the [real] ministry." Because car repair is ministry too.  

Ask Jesus. He was a carpenter.

Here's my interview with Dr. Pearcey: 

If you cannot play this video, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypID1NXF2Bw

The Good Works Of Biologists And Car Mechanics?

This photo shows our oldest son at work, radiotracking tagged fish. He works for the State of Washington Department of Fisheries, spending his days doing the highly scientific and demanding work of fish management. Is he doing the work of God? Is he doing something God wants done in the earth? Is this work really important to the Lord? Is this part of Christ's purpose for humans today? If a young man came to you for advice, saying he wanted to go into "full-time Christian service," would fish management be on your list of possibilities?

A slow reading of the First Commission of Genesis 1:26-28 will cause most people to conclude that ruling over fish, as our son Nathanael does, is an outworking of the governing role and function God planned for human beings when, before creating Adam, He declared:  "...let them rule...over all the earth." This includes trout and salmon. 

Would it be a stretch to say that in governing well over fish, Nathanael is doing a "good work" which God "prepared beforehand for him to do," as Ephesians 2:10 puts it? A decade ago, I would have said, "You've got to be kidding!" But today I say, "Why not?"   

Why should I limit my scope of "good works" to helping old ladies with groceries, and volunteering time at the mission on Saturday? Does a biblical "good work" only qualify as "good work" when it's done without pay? 

When Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven," was He excluding good work done by a follower of Christ at the Boeing Company, making airliners beautiful and safe, or at Starbucks, making a latte that's a work of art?

I believe God calls us to share the Good News of salvation with those who don't know Christ. I believe we are saved by faith alone, and that good works don't earn us eternal life. But while we aren't saved by good works, we are saved for good works. Can this include the good works of biologists and car mechanics? Or longshoremen and janitors?

Ask Josh Kelly about this. After serving as a full-time pastor for 14 years, his church ran out of money, which led him to take a job at Starbucks. Here Josh asked himself, "How spiritual is making $4 lattes? What is the eternal value of blending up an extra-caramel Caramel Frappuccino?" 

But Josh realized that mopping the Starbucks floor was part of his call to rule over dirt. And in the process, Josh discovered the Holy Spirit was also guiding his conversations with co-workers and customers. He learned about the struggles of people in the "real world," and was able to share God's love with those who walked through the door, from the panhandler, to the gay couple, the businesswoman, and the retiree. 

For the full story, read Josh Kelly's new book, Radically Normal.

Some people actually get paid for doing this sort of thing! But Nathanael has the added bonus of knowing he's doing what God created and commissioned humans to do. Managing trout! Like this beauty from the Cedar River. If this isn't God's work, I'll eat my tackle box.

What On Earth Was God Thinking When He Created Human Beings?

In the Bible we read of God's acts, but we don't often read of His thought process and rationale behind the acts. Being privy to the "why" behind God's "what" is rare. Yet in Genesis 1, we see God's deliberative thought process behind the creation of human beings, and it's mind-boggling!

What on earth was God thinking when He created human beings? What purpose did God have in mind for us? What role did He intend for us to play?

In Genesis 1:26-28, the Trinity confers: "Let us make man...and let them rule...," followed by this human-targeted directive: "Fill the earth, and subdue it." 

Wow! We were created for the role of governing over God's stuff on Planet Earth! Not only governing over fish and fowl, but over electricity, wind, minerals, trees and waterways. Sound waves, laser beams, silicon and Teflon. This is our God-given responsibility and mission!

Can this really be God's intention for us? Can it really be this practical? This concrete? This...well...down-to-earth?

Sometimes we're oblivious to the obvious. The Bible tells us God has a wonderful plan for our lives, and His plan is that we govern rightly over the planet! Some over animals, some over vegetables. Some over water, some over air. Some over wood beams, some over gold.

Chuck Colson summed it up this way: "On the sixth day, God created human beings and commanded them to pick up where He left off." 

Who rules Planet Earth? News flash! God gave us the job:"...let them rule..." And this requires all sorts of work! Some may think God gave the job to Satan at the Fall, but the First Commission was not rescinded when sin entered the world. While the Fall makes our assignment more difficult, Earth-Tending remains our purpose, privilege and "glory." See Psalm 8.

Governance over God's stuff in God's way is the first principle of theology of work. This embeds the First Commission into the Great. When we "observe all that Christ commanded" [see the Great Commission of Matthew 28], this "observation" surely takes place at work, where we spend the bulk of our waking hours, right?

We are here to occupy, and this requires occupations: from fish farming to politics, plumbing to neurology, longshoreman's labor to agronomy. In a fallen world it requires pastors, missionaries and social workers, too. But the former occupations are as much "God's work" as the later.

Right?

Carrying Beams Off A Ship All Day

I took this photo while in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2007, on board a wind-powered sailing vessel [no engine--just sails] loaded with wooden beams that were hand carried down a narrow plank to the dock below by men working from 6am to 6pm for $9 a day. 

Last week I quoted a Coca-Cola executive who said, "we don't find meaning in our work, we bring meaning to our work." Bonnie Wurzbacher went on to say that until we understand "there is no secular and sacred split," and we "see how our work truly fulfills and advances God's purposes for the world," we cannot bring meaning to our work.

So how does a man carrying beams off a ship all day bring meaning to his work?

Watching those men do their back-breaking work in Jakarta tested my theology of work. In Indonesia, where the average wage is $100-$200 per month, these workers were at the upper end of the scale. But putting money aside, I had to ask myself: could I even do this kind of work? And for how long?

I wasn't asking this question in light of the physical challenge. That was easy to answer! I figured I could last about 45 minutes. I was asking in light of the mental challenge. Could I really bring meaning to this kind of work? Month after month? Year after year? If so, how?

Over the next few weeks I'll be discussing the matter of bringing extraordinary meaning to "ordinary" work. Even the so-called "mundane." But before I get into this, let me say that if you really feel like you're "carrying beams off a ship all day," and you have the means to do so, I suggest you meet with a trained job coach who can assess your situation and provide counsel regarding a better job fit. I once advised a young man to see a Christian "calling coach," who later told me it was the best $200 he ever spent.

But most people in developing nations don't have the luxury of a job change, and many in the "first world" don't either. Furthermore, all jobs have "chores." Perhaps the "chores" are not as dramatic as that shown in the photo above, all jobs have difficult, unpleasant, and sometimes loathsome aspects.

If your work "energizes" you 60% of the time, consider yourself blessed! But would you like to bring more meaning to the remaining 40% of your time? And if you are "energized" by only 10% of the work you do each day, would you like to bump that percentage up?

You don't have to change your job to bring extraordinary meaning to "ordinary" work. It's a matter of thinking differently about the work you're already doing.

Stay tuned.

What The Whole World Wants

On the basis of Gallup's World Poll, Jim Clifton, CEO of the company, concluded that what the whole world wants is a "good job."

But what makes a job "good?"

Pay is not the most important factor. Having a job that doesn't provide for the basics is a problem, of course, but pay alone does not determine whether a person feels his or her job is a "good" one.

Matching one's strengths with one's work is an important factor. George Washington Carver's boss, Booker T. Washington, remarked that Carver was a poor administrator. It would have been a mistake for Carver to have been "promoted" to an administrative role. His best fit was in the lab.

But matching one's strengths with one's work is not the only factor in a "good" job. Making progress is important, too. Yet making progress alone is not enough. Making progress in work that lacks meaning won't cut it over the long haul. 

Making progress in work with meaning, while using one's gifts and strengths to go somewhere worth going, is quite another matter! For most people, personal meaning is essential for a truly "good" job. That's because personal meaning addresses the why behind one's work, and this provides staying power.

The big question for many people, then, becomes, "How can my work have personal meaning, if it really doesn't?"

Bonnie Wurzbacher, while serving as Vice-President of Global Accounts for The Coca-Cola Company, once told me, "we don't find meaning in our work, we bring meaning to our work." This is a profound idea.

She went on to say that until we understand the theology of our work, and truly embrace a biblical worldview that allows no "secular and sacred split," seeing how our work truly fulfills and advances God's purposes for the world, we cannot bring meaning to our work.

This is important: work has meaning when we bring meaning to it.

A biblical worldview allows us to see how all work fits into the larger context of God's purpose for the world and our work. The key lies in our ability to "contextualize" the work we do. That is, putting it in the context of the "larger frame of reference" which a biblically-shaped view of the world and our work provides. This is how to bring meaning to work.

We'll explore this in detail over the next few posts.

The amazing thing is, the biblical context provides as much meaning for retail clerks and taxi cab drivers as it does for CEOs and college professors.

To hear part of my interview with Bonnie Wurzbacher, play the video below:

If the video does not play, click here: http://youtu.be/PRdpT-KZv_4

"The Single Most Searing, Clarifying, Helpful, World-Altering Fact"

There is a lot of data out there showing what people around the world are doing, but what the Gallup organization wanted to find out is what people are thinking. With this in mind, they created a unique World Poll and collected data from over 100 countries. Gallup is committed to conducting the World Poll for 100 years.

After the first round in 2007, Chairman and CEO of Gallup, Jim Clifton, wrote: "...we may have already found the single most searing, clarifying, helpful, world-altering fact." He went on to call it "one of the single biggest discoveries Gallup has ever made."

What was Gallup's great discovery? Clifton summarized it this way: "What the whole world wants is a good job."

How interesting! This says something about people, throughout all cultures, whether Muslim, Christian, atheist, black, white, communist and capitalist. We share a common desire and hope. That desire and hope has to do with work!

No surprise. In the beginning, human beings were created in the likeness of a working God, and when we work, we exercise that God-given drive. But note Clifton's words carefully. He didn't say the world "wants to work." He said the whole world wants "a good job."

Here is where things get interesting. In the most recent World Poll findings, published in October, 2013, Gallup found only 13% of employed people across 142 countries are engaged in their work, that is, "emotionally invested in and focused on creating value for their organizations every day."

Furthermore, Gallup found that the number of employees who are "negative and potentially hostile to their organizations" outnumber engaged employees by nearly 2 to 1!

Remarkably, an astounding 63% of workers "lack motivation and are less likely to invest discretionary effort in organizational goals or outcomes."

Could this be because they don't feel their job is a "good" one?

What makes a particular job “good?” Is it the pay? The people we work with? The compatibility of our work with our particular gifts and talents? These are important factors, but it is possible to have excellent pay, great people to work with, a fitting job compatibility, and yet still lack that "something" which makes a particular job “good.”

What is that "something?"

We'll explore this next week.

Great Summer Reading

Before I take my customary break from blogging, I have some great summer reading to recommend.

First: Dr. Erik Strandness’s delightful new book, The Director's Cut: Finding God's Screenplay on the Cutting Room Floor. 

You don't find many medical doctors with degrees in theology. 

After practicing neonatal medicine for twenty years, Dr. Strandness went back to school to study theology, and he obtained a master’s degree in that field. This turn in his journey, and the book that ensued, was born out of his loss for words when someone asked him why he was a Believer. 

Once in a while, someone manages to put ageless Truth into such a fresh package that it cries out, "Read on!" That’s just the way I felt while reading The Director's Cut. It's not just Dr. Strandness’s engaging word images that make this book such a great read, but the profound Truths communicated in such a creative and thoroughly enjoyable manner. It's a fun read! 

I got to know Erik when he was part of the Colson Centurions Affiliate Program in Seattle, and I can tell you he is "the real deal."  Today, Erik is teaching science, religion and history at a Classical Christian school in Spokane, Washington. To learn more about Erik's move from medicine to theology, click here. To learn more about why Erik wrote the book, what it is about, and how you can obtain a copy, click here.

Next, I recommend Henry's Glory: A Story for Discovering Lasting Significance in Your Daily Work, by John Elton Pletcher.

John Pletcher is a pastor who gets theology of work. His book is unique in that it deals with this topic in the form of fictional story. Jesus used parables to communicate Truth to the masses, and great Christian writers of the past, such as John Milton and C.S. Lewis, used this technique with success.

Pletcher follows the story-telling tradition by skillfully weaving Truth into a contemporary narrative about Zach, Maggie, and a classic old pickup truck named "Henry." But don't let the story-form fool you. His treatment of theology of work is not superficial, by any stretch of the imagination. Pastor Pletcher engages with big issues, including eschatology and platonic dualism, and does so with excellence, in a winsome way!

To read a review of Henry's Glory that appeared in The Marketplace magazine, click here. To obtain a copy of John's book, click here.

Happy reading!

I'll see you in September.

Henry's Glory makes a great family read, suitable for ages 9 to 99.

He Bettered The Condition Of A Nation

Jesus identified the two most important commandments: "Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and, "Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.”

What greater motivation can there be for our daily work? Loving God and loving people. It's pretty basic.

Through some vocations, people love others directly, as in the work of a nurse. Through other vocations, people love others indirectly, as in the work of a truck driver who delivers supplies that empower the nurse to nurse.  

Through his work as a botanist, chemist, professor, and entrepreneur, Dr. George Washington Carver loved God and loved people. If there ever was a person who combined Weslian-Haugian faith with a Moravian-Haugian approach to the marketplace, it was Carver.

Carver asked God to give him “orders for the day” during morning walks. And Carver continued to commune with God throughout the day, particularly in his lab at Tuskegee Institute, where he created new products from peanuts, sweet potatoes and soybeans. Not for his own glory, but for the common good and human flourishing to the glory of God.

Carver said: “God is going to reveal to us things He never revealed before if we put our hands in His. No books ever go into my laboratory. The thing I am to do and the way of doing it are revealed to me. The method is revealed to me the moment I am inspired to create something new. Without God to draw aside the curtain I would be helpless.”

Carver’s love for humanity shaped his work at Tuskegee. He came to Tuskegee in response to Booker T. Washington's invitation: "I cannot offer you money, position or fame...I offer you in their place work─hard work─the challenge of bringing people from degradation, poverty and waste to full manhood." Carver replied: "I shall be glad to cooperate with you in doing all I can through Christ who strengtheneth me to better the condition of our people."

He did just that! And in the process, he bettered the condition of a nation.

Of all the video clips Worldview Matters has produced, none has generated more hits than the following clip about Carver, nearing 10,000 views. Find out why:

If the video does not play, click here: http://youtu.be/1wv4qYIyJoM