A Christian Perspective on Work

After I committed my life to Christ during university,  I was hungry and devoured the Bible and read dozens of books on following Christ. I wanted to succeed as a Christian and be as useful as possible in the kingdom of God. I was inspired by the biographies that I read and wanted to be like those great heroes of the faith. Passionate to follow Christ, I was ready to risk everything for the gospel. While my passion has not waned since those days, my understanding of what being a radical follower of Christ has changed because the Lord ripped a deeply embedded lie out of my life.

You see, while I would not have admitted it, I believed that those who were really used by God were full-time Christian workers. They were pastors and missionaries who did not have time for "secular" employment. Even as I write those words I cringe at their absurdity. This lie was fed by the fact that none of the books that I read were written by mechanics, executives, or bus drivers. They were all written by, or about pastors and missionaries.

To pull this false idea out of my life the Lord led me into the marketplace. I spent most of the first fifteen years of my working life in the insurance and investment world. I started in an entry-level clerical job, moved into management, and eventually opened a consulting business. I discovered that often there seemed to be little immediate connection between what I was dealing with at work and the preaching that I heard on Sunday mornings. The preaching that I heard was good, but it was apparent that the preacher had not spent much time in my work environment.

I found that I needed to dig into the Scriptures for myself in order to truly understand how following Jesus related to my work life. Over the course of this year, I intend to share some of the things that I learned during those years. Hopefully, it will be informative, challenging, and liberating for the majority of you, who are not pastors or missionaries. 

Work and the Curse
It is a sentiment widely held by people: work is the result of the fall. When the alarm clock goes off and it is time to start another day of work it is easy to understand the thought. But is work the result of the curse? Most people seem to think of the Garden of Eden as an endless Club Med vacation. Perfect weather, delicious food, great scenery...and no work! But is that what the Bible says?

In Genesis 1, God makes humankind in his image. He tells the man and woman, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves" (Genesis 1:28). The image is of the world being a wild and untamed place that needed to be brought into subjection. Far from being a vacation, this would take time and would involve effort. And God declared that it was very good! (Genesis 1:31).

In Genesis 2, we read the details of the creation of Adam and Eve. It begins in Genesis 2:5 with a land that lacked "bushes and small plants of the field." These two terms specifically refer to cultivated plants. Why were there no cultivated plants? Because there was no one to cultivate them! So God planted a garden, formed man and put him in it "to work it and keep it" (Genesis 2:15). Mankind was given the responsibility of working the land (to subdue and have dominion over it) and to keep watch over it.

Subduing the land, having dominion over the animals, cultivating the land, and keeping watch over creation sounds like a lot of work!

We must begin understanding our jobs as something that has been given to us by God. We were never intended to sit on the couch watching reruns on television. We are created and designed to work.

How Does the Fall Impact Work?

Thorns and Thistles
The most obvious result of the fall relating to work is the curse of the ground. Prior to the fall, the land had been abundant and easily cultivated. Work was relatively easy. After the fall, Adam was told that working the ground would be painful. It is a rich Hebrew word which means pain, toil, and hardship. Thorns and thistles would always seem to grow faster than beans and carrots. The piece of bread would only be produced with much sweat (Genesis 3:17-19).

The image of the world before the fall is one of untamed abundance. After the fall, food would only come through lots of hard work. Implied in this picture is the idea that without the hard work there would be no bread. If abundance marked the world before the fall, scarcity was the picture of life after the fall.

Relationship Issues
Not only was the ground cursed as a result of the fall, but relationships were severely affected. Adam blamed Eve for their sin (Genesis 3:12). One of their sons murdered his brother (Genesis 4:8). It quickly becomes evident that sin has completely pervaded the hearts of everyone (Genesis 6:5). The pages of the Bible are filled with stories of murder, rape, theft, and deceit. If working the land wasn't hard enough, now the wickedness of others threatens to rob us of the bread we labored so long to produce!

The Gospel
Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for our sin. Those that repent and believe in him are born again, receive eternal life, and have the Holy Spirit dwelling within. This results in a transformed life that is perhaps no more better demonstrated than in Ephesians 4:28: "Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing something useful with his own hands so that he may have something to share with those in need." The selfish thief turned into a benevolent worker!

Modern Life
But there is something beyond the transformed life that catches my eye in this verse. Paul tells the thief to "do something useful" so that he has something to share. That is an important concept in our age. For most of human existence, working the land has been the most common job. As recently as 200 years ago, 90% of people worked on farms. The biblical idea of working being the cultivation of the land was immediately transferable to daily life. Today almost no one works on farms. For example, in the United States, only 2% of the people are professional farmers!

Next time you are tired of staring at the computer
screen, remember that you could have spent your
day staring at the rear end of a horse!

The productivity of farmers has resulted in many people needing to find work that is not agricultural in nature. That's where the idea of "doing something useful" fits into the picture. As followers of Christ, we are called to work, doing something good and useful that will not only provide for ourselves (earning our bread) but be a blessing to others. The variety of occupations that are now available that will be a benefit to others is almost limitless.

It is important to make the connection between how we spend our working days and the benefit we are providing to others. Sometimes this link can be difficult to see. My first job was as a health insurance claims examiner. As I sat at my desk in my first job entering claims into the computer for payment, it was easy to feel like I was a nameless worker who made little difference in people's lives. I needed to take a bigger view: the company I was working for was a mechanism that helped people pay for medical care that was otherwise catastrophically expensive. That was a good thing that helped lots of people. As I focused on the good that we were doing as a company, I discovered that my attitude at work improved.

Those who have been born again by the Spirit seek to live life by the principles that Jesus taught us. And that begins with the very idea that work itself is not a bad thing. It is a good thing that we were created to do for the glory of God. As we walk in obedience to him, we will spend most of our lives working. Good work, done to the glory of God, is holy and deeply spiritual.

Remember that when the alarm clock goes off tomorrow morning!

The next article in this series is found here.

What Are You Doing that Requires Faith?

I used to teach a group of sixth-grade boys every year. They were rowdy and sports-minded like most 12-13-year-old boys tend to be. In order to capture their attention, we talked about sports. We talked about the sports halls of fame that were scattered around the country that enshrined the great sports figures of the past. The Hockey Hall of Fame was just an hour away from where we were living and it was a rare boy who had never been there. It was a fantastic way to help them connect with one of the most inspiring chapters of the Bible: Hebrews 11. In that chapter, the writer recounts the exploits of the heroes of the faith. I called the chapter "God's Hall of Fame." We met every week to talk about the exploits of people like Abraham, Moses, and Samson. The boys loved it!

After class one day, I was walking back to my office from the church kitchen carrying a cup of coffee. Suddenly, the question popped into my mind, "What am I doing that requires any faith at all?" I talked to the boys each week about being "men of faith", but life had settled into a comfortable an predictable rhythm. There was little risk in what I was doing. Life had become a pleasant routine.

The Christian life is not routine. Oh, there are seasons where things can be mundane, but if we read either the Old or New Testaments we discover that God frequently called people to take risks. Consider Noah building an ark or Daniel daring to pray. It doesn't get less risky in the New Testament. Consider Peter getting out of the boat or Ananias going to visit Saul/Paul. The call to follow Christ is a call into the unknown and unexpected. The security lies in Jesus, but he will lead us into situations that will challenge us to trust him.

Ponder the fact that each of us is to be connected to the task of making of disciples of all people. This is not the task of specialists like missionaries and pastor, but of ordinary Christians. Sure, the biblical history of the church is called "The Acts of the Apostles", but if you read its pages you will find that there were many non-apostles that were doing "acts" just as faith-filled as the apostles. The first great wave of evangelism outside of Jerusalem was not done by the apostles, but by "regular" Christians sharing their faith as persecution nipped at their heels (Acts 8:1-4).

As I sat down in my office that morning, I contemplated the fact that  Ephesians 2:10 tells us that God has prepared things for us to do. I realized that if I was to walk by faith, it meant doing the things that God had planned for me to do. It wasn't about thrill-seeking. It was about obeying God.

Walking by faith cuts in two directions. First, there were many things that would be mundane, but could be transformed by understanding that God was using what I was doing even in the ordinary things of life. Jesus asked his disciples to pass out bread and they became part of a miracle. Walking by faith means seeing that things like teaching my class of sixth-graders could be used to call people to the mission field. Or that a job on the factory floor could strategically place a believer into the lives of co-workers. Or changing another diaper or washing another plate could be used by God in ways beyond understanding. So seeing our daily tasks as part of God's plan energizes and directs our work.

Second, there will be times when God will call us to step out of the routine in acts of radical obedience.   This is to be expected and it will be uncomfortable. It happened regularly to the first disciples and we can read these accounts in the gospels and Acts. God has not changed, nor has the pattern of walking with him. There are moments when Jesus will call you to get out of the boat and walk on water. It may be to share the gospel with a co-worker, start a bible study, or pray for the sick. It may be to mow the neighbor's grass or stop to change a flat tire. We don't get to choose the task or the moment. We listen to the voice of the Lord and obey.

 If this never happens to you, something is wrong. You are missing something vital in your Christian life. My advice to you is that you need to begin telling God that you are willing to do whatever he wants you to do. Ask him to show you the adventure of keeping in step with the Spirit. But let me warn you: he will take you up on that prayer, and it will lead to places you would not normally go. It will be risky and uncomfortable. That's why faith is required. You have to trust him.

I am not going to share, in this post, where God led me because my story isn't your story. The works he is calling me to do are not the same as yours. Instead, let me encourage you to ask him to increase your faith and use you to build his kingdom. Then listen to him and then obey. You may be surprised what he tells you to do. It may be a big thing like going on a missions trip. It is easy to see how that might be risky. But beware that sometimes the adventure will lead in an entirely different direction. It may lead you to the prayer closet to intercede for those that go rather than taking the trip yourself. It may lead you to talk to your Muslim neighbor about Jesus. It may lead you to pray for your sick co-worker. Or teach sixth-grade boys. You never know where the Lord will lead, but joining him in what he is doing will always lead to adventure.

So let me ask you, "What are you doing that requires faith? Are you willing to step out in obedience to God?"

Lord, Why Do You Stand So Far Away?

Trials come in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes it seems like "normal" problems pile on top of one another so that it feels like life is coming apart. The toaster burned your last piece of bread and you rush outside only to discover that your bike has a flat tire. It is only then that you realize that you forgot to take your keys with you and you are now locked out of the apartment. It wouldn't be so bad, except that you overslept because for some reason your phone didn't charge so the alarm didn't go off.  Now you are standing outside rideless, breakfastless, phoneless, and very late. Then it starts to rain.

We've all had days like that, haven't we?

But there are other trials that don't involve the simple piling up of circumstances. They involve people who act wickedly. They lie and cheat in order to get ahead at work. They love to intimidate and use their power to bend people to do their will. They take selfish advantage of every situation. They are the schoolyard bully who never grew up. In the corporate world they are like sharks in business suits. On the city streets, they are like schools of piranhas committing crimes and threatening people. When they gain political power they plunge the nation into darkness while their egos are stroked and their bank accounts grow. 

The Bible is well aware of people like this and the troubles that they cause on the earth. They are known collectively as "the wicked." Consider how Psalm 10 describes the activity of the wicked person:

• He hotly pursues the poor.
• He is greedy for gain.
• He is extremely confident in his strong position of power.
• His speech is full of deceit and evil plans.
• He sits in ambush in the villages taking advantage of the unsuspecting to destroy the innocent and the poor for his own benefit.
• He believes that there is no God that will hold him accountable for his actions.

Even though the wicked are so destructive to people and society, they are often successful in gaining money and positions of power. They justify their selfish actions believing that they are entitled to whatever they can get their hands on. It is a "dog eat dog world" and "only the strong survive" are their mottos. The weak, the poor, the fearful, and those too "polite" to oppose them are crushed under their feet.

It can be easy to feel like God is not just in allowing them to terrorize the earth. When we see someone surrounded by a school of piranhas it is easy to cry out, "Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?" When we find ourselves swimming with sharks we find ourselves crying to God, "Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" (Psalm 10:1). 

The psalmist gives some wise words for dealing with this situation. 

Turn to God as your source of hope. 

Even the simple cry "Why?" is a sign of faith rather than a rejection of God. It is the response of a soul trying to reconcile the promises of God with the injustice that they see and feel around them. God takes no offense in this struggle if it comes from a heart that is in pursuit of him. Faith shines brightest in the midst of difficult situations and questions like this indicate that our faith in God is being stretched. Like the disciples in the boat during the storm, we are alarmed that Jesus is asleep in the boat and doesn't seem to care about our desperate need (Mark 4:35-41). Trials, as painful as they are, can serve to strengthen our walk with God if we honestly cry out to him (James 1:2-4).

Ask God to act on behalf of the afflicted.

The entire psalm is a call for God to act on the behalf of the oppressed. The writer recounts the evil deeds of the wicked and asks God to intervene. He proclaims that God will strengthen the heart of the afflicted and that he will do justice on the earth. God wants us to join in prayer and intercession on behalf of the oppressed. He wants us to cry out for justice to be done on the earth.

Call on God to break the arm of the wicked.

The "arm of the wicked" is their strength. Ask God to destroy the strength of the wicked rendering them powerless. Pray that the schemes and plans of the wicked would come to nothing. Pray against their plans. Ask God to send them into confusion and that their power would be broken. Pray that they would be caught by the traps that they have set for others. 

Ask God to call the wicked to account until they are no longer doing evil.

Remember that God sees everything that is done on the earth. There is nothing hidden from his sight. He "notes mischief and vexation" and will see that justice is done (Psalm 10:14). There is coming a day of judgment and the wicked will be cast into hell forever. One of the reasons that the wicked continue to do evil is that they scoff at the idea of divine judgment (Psalm 10:4, 11,13). To call the wicked to account is to pray that they would recognize that they are under the wrath of God and are destined for hell.

To pray for the arm of the wicked to be broken and for them to be called to account is an act of love. The momentary rewards of doing evil spur the wicked on to more and more wickedness. We pray that this reward cycle would be destroyed and that their wicked schemes would come to nothing. When we pray for the wicked to be called to account, we are praying for the conviction of sin to fall heavily upon them now. Their wickedness will end either with their salvation or their damnation. We pray that the conviction of sin would be strong upon them now so that they will be saved.

Called to Welcome People from All Nations

In the New Testament era, the Roman Empire dominated the Mediterranean world. They developed a system of roads and shipping that knit peoples from various cultures into a single economic system. But another factor played a significant role: Greek. While many people spoke different languages at home, Greek was the common trade language. This allowed people from many cultures to communicate with one another and exchange ideas and information.

The roads and common language allowed the gospel to cross both cultural and linguistic barriers. The conditions were ideal for the growth of the church.

We live in the same situation today here in Europe. English has become a common trade language, with about 850 million people speaking English as a second language. Almost half the people in EU understand English well enough to have a conversation. This means that English has become a tool that can help the gospel leap from one language group to another...just like Greek did in the first century!

People are on the move and we see that here in Strasbourg. Transportation systems have made travel easy. Walk around our streets and you will see people living here that have come from around the world. As a result of being one of Europe's capitals, we also have a large number of people from various European nations. Many of these people speak English.  As an international church, we are strategically placed to reach these people. There are people here from countries that are closed to the gospel. We must reach out to them. There are others who are from countries that are open but they find themselves here in our city. We are called to open our arms to them.

Not only that, but as Christians from multiple cultures gather together there is a cross-pollination that takes place that causes everyone to be more effective and fruitful in their Christian lives. For those of us who remain here in Strasbourg, these people will help us grow in our relationship with Jesus. For those who return to their home country, we will have had an impact on their lives that will cause them to be dynamic servants of Jesus. It is an incredible God-given opportunity to be a part of what God is doing in reaching the nations in these last days.

Where Do We Start?

Our ministry begins with welcoming people. We need to be the ones who walk across the room and greet other people. There is a risk in this, particularly in our church! You never know where the other person is from or whether they even speak the same language as you. It is not unusual to find people from the other side of the planet at our church. Sure, there are many French people, but just last week I met people from India, Indonesia, the United States, and South Africa! I often meet people who are not Christians. Some come to the church because they are interested in Christianity, but others come simply to work on their English. You never know what will happen when you walk across the room to say hello!

I am not by nature an outgoing person. I prefer to hang out with people that I already know. But I have come to realize that walking across the room is a spiritual discipline that is essential for my Christian growth. By "discipline" I mean something that I must do whether I feel like it or not. It is a simple act of obedience that positions me so that I can either give or receive, depending on what God wants to do at that moment. Perhaps this new person simply needs to be encouraged and God wants me to do it. Or maybe they are going to be used by God to teach me something! Every trip across the room to welcome others is a spiritual adventure that I have learned to relish.

What about those awkward moments when I discovered that I do not speak their language? The answer is amazingly simple: I find someone who can! This is another way that God uses the discipline of walking across the room. I need to learn what languages other people in the church speak so that I can make the connections. This helps build community.

One of the advantages of meeting strangers in a church setting is that religious conversations are perfectly acceptable. Because others are here in the church setting we can quickly turn the conversation to the Lord. Even if the person is not a Christian, they will not be offended. After all, they are in the church! But what happens more frequently as the other person is a believer and we can begin to explore what God is doing in one another's lives.

I have seen the trajectory of people's lives change because they were welcomed at Trinity. People have been healed of past hurts. People have become followers of Christ. People have been called into missions. People have learned how to relate the gospel to their employment. People have learned to serve. And it all started because they were welcomed. Without that first step by someone else, they may have missed what God had in store for them.

What Specifically Does TICOS Do To Welcome People?

• We work at creating an atmosphere where people feel comfortable, where cross-cultural conversations are enjoyed, and difficulties caused by cultural and language barriers can be met with laughter and joy rather than fear and embarrassment.

• We welcome people at the door. A simple greeting and short conversation are aimed at helping people feel comfortable as they arrive. Some of our greeters are true polyglots and they can respond in the heart languages of people from a variety of nations.

• We hold regular social events. These events include things like potlucks, bowling, picnics, and hiking. They are designed to help us build relationships with one another and are an important part of our strategy.

• We provide translation services. We currently translate our services into French via headsets. We realize that in our setting, French is more commonly spoken than English. While English is an international trade language, many people living here are more comfortable in French than in English. You may also notice we have a great tolerance in our services for informal translation that takes place as someone is translating for others who are unfamiliar with French or English.

• We have coffee and snacks after church. It is a fact of human nature that many people will stay and talk with others if they have a cup of coffee in their hands. So we intentionally provide refreshments after each service so that people will be encouraged to stay and build relationships with one another. 

How Can I Be Involved?

• Change a sentence in your head. Most of us scan the room looking for people we know. When we see a stranger we think, "I am not going to talk to them because I do not know them." Cross that out like this: "I am not going to talk to them because I do not know them." and replace it with the sentence, "There is a friend I haven't met yet!" Try it and watch what happens as you replace a negative statement with a positive one.

• Invite people for a meal. Building relationships takes some time. Invest in relationships by inviting people out for a meal or having them over for dinner. There is something about eating together that builds bonds between people. 

• Volunteer to welcome people on Sunday mornings. If you would like to help welcome people on Sunday mornings become a greeter! There is a sign-up form that can be accessed through our weekly ebulletin. If you are not sure about what is involved there is also a person to contact listed there as well.

• Volunteer to set up the refreshments. Perhaps you would like to welcome others in a practical way by making the coffee and setting out the other refreshments on Sunday mornings. There is a sign-up form in our ebulletin where you can pick a Sunday to volunteer. Of course, we can also help you learn how to do everything that is involved so do not worry if you don't know how to make coffee in a large pot!