The Significance of Your 9 – 5 Job

by Brian Brenberg at byFaith Magazine

On Labor Day, we should honor those who serve the Lord 9 to 5. But if you think I’m talking only about pastors and preachers, then you need to meet a man named Stephen.

Acts 6 opens with the Greeks complaining that their widows aren’t getting enough to eat in the daily distribution. The apostles, meanwhile, are working so hard to feed the widows that they can’t find time to preach. And as the church grows, the problem gets worse. So, like good economists, the apostles propose a division of labor: They’ll stick to preaching and let the disciples find somebody else to serve tables.

When we talk about “full-time” ministry today, it’s the apostles we usually have in mind—people whose daily work is devoted to preaching and teaching. The problem is that most of us aren’t preachers, and probably shouldn’t be. Most of us are much better at jobs that fall into the “non-preaching” category. To put it in the language of Acts 6, most of us are table servers. And most of us have no idea if this work matters to God.

So does it?

Learn the answer as you read the rest of this article by clicking here.

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How Then Should We Work?

with Hugh Whelchel (and the good folks at the Institute of Faith, Work & Economics)

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Three Principles of My Ministry

I have been thinking and rethinking the purpose and trajectory of my ministry lately. It’s good to fine-tune your purpose/mission statements, etc., from time to time and that’s what I’ve been doing. In my case I’ve had to make sure that I’m grounding my own ministry in the sure foundation of clear biblical truths. Here’s what I’ve been chewing on during this latest brainstorming (or, light drizzle, as the case may be)…

The goal of my blog is to provide an online version of my ministry, which is…

To help men (but not only men) become all that God has created, redeemed, and called them to be in every sphere of their lives.

This purpose or ministry statement is built on my belief that there are implications to the fact that God has done just that… created us, redeemed us, and called (and continues to call) us. However, the truth is, we often don’t know what those implications are or what they should look like in our lives. My own calling from God is to help others discover what that threefold work of God means in their lives.

1.) God has created us. Therefore…

• We are created in God’s image.
• Though sinful, fallen, and broken, we have dignity.
• We have an ultimate purpose in the here and now (to glorify the God who created us).
• We have meaning and significance because we aren’t the results of some random accident of the universe.

2.) God has redeemed us. Therefore…

• We can know that we are loved by God (however, we must respond in trusting dependence to God’s loving initiative in Christ).
• We are new creatures in Christ, redeemed to know God as well as to grow in the grace and knowledge of God.
• We are commanded to become more like Christ by loving, trusting, following, and obeying him.
• We have the universal purpose of all who follow Christ to bear witness to Christ in this world through evangelism of those who don’t know Christ, edification of those who do know and follow Christ, and engagement with the world on behalf of God’s Kingdom.
• We can have confidence that our identity is in the Word (made flesh and revealed in and through holy Scripture) and not the world around us.
• We have a new family with whom we can grow, love, minister and worship.

3.) God has called us. Therefore…

• We can know that we have a unique purpose to which God has called us and are thus encouraged to pursue it with humility, focus, confidence and passion.
• Our work matters to God.
• Our relationships matter to God.
• It matters, if we are called to be married, how we think, speak, and live as husbands and wives.
• It matters, if we are called to be parents, how we think, speak, and live as mothers and fathers.
• We have particular gifts for ministry to discover, cultivate, and use in service to God and others.

I realize I have only touched the tip of the iceberg with these remarks. As I learn and grow I will certainly edit what I have written. But, for now, these thoughts help me with my own calling as a follower of Christ as well as what my ministry might focus on in service to those God has entrusted to my care. I pray that I will never cease to learn and grow with either one.

Grace and Truth,
Dale

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Vocation: A Biblical View of Work (Lifelong Learning)

Part of my ministry focus is working with folks, particularly men, who are seeking to faithfully understand and follow God’s call in their lives. This search naturally and rightly leads to a discussion (and often, even a study) on discovering one’s overarching purpose as well as their unique vocation.

Here are two really helpful online video classes on the topic of vocation… our calling from God and how it relates to our “work.”

1.) A Biblical View of Work by Ken Boa (a couple of the videos aren’t presently working, but hopefully those glitches will be corrected by the time you get to those particular videos.)

• Lesson 1
• Lesson 2
• Lesson 3
• Lesson 4
• Lesson 5
• Lesson 6
• Lesson 7
• Lesson 8
• Lesson 9
• Lesson 10
• Lesson 11
• Lesson 12
• Lesson 13
• Lesson 14

2.) A Theology of Work by Gerry Breshears at BiblicalTraining.org

Here’s a description of the course…

We are created in God’s image and God invites us to be co-workers with him. By developing and using the spiritual gifts God has given us, the tasks we perform when we work have eternal significance in themselves. We also have opportunities to interact with our co-workers, promote justice and enjoy times of rest.

Both teachers and courses are superb. I’ve been blessed by what I have learned for my own edification as well as what I might pass on to others with whom and to whom I minister.

Blessings,
Dale

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Men at Work

I wrote the following post a few years ago but have lately been revisiting the themes of work, vocation, and calling as they relate to ministering to men. Since I’ve established my “ministry purpose” (at least, one of them) as helping men become all that God has created, redeemed, and called them to be, it’s been much on my mind.

I’m hoping to write more on this in the coming days, but for now I thought I would share this again because it has some great links to websites and ministries that are doing important work in this area of ministering to men.

Grace and Truth,
Dale

One of the men in our men’s ministry began his talk a couple of yeas ago by introducing himself as an ordained lawyer. That was the point that he and I were trying to drive home to all of our men that morning… to think of themselves as ordained ________ (fill in the blank with whatever it is that they do.). In other words, your work IS your ministry.

To think of your job as your ministry is foreign to many of us. Many of us grew up thinking that only the pastor did ministry. Thankfully, there has been a surge of books and studies that have tried to steer folk away from that sort of thinking.

What we want to get people thinking about is “vocation” or calling. This is a horrible paraphrase, but Martin Luther once said something like, “A cobbler who makes shoes to the glory of God during the week is every bit the minister as a pastor who preaches a sermon on Sunday morning.” The Bible does not draw a distinction between the sacred and the secular. All work should be for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). Paul wrote in Colossians 3:23-24,

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, [24] since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

While God may give you the opportunity to communicate the gospel, hold a Bible study, or wear a John 3:16 button in your workplace, it’s more likely that your faith will be exercised by simply doing your job well. Beyond that, it may include representing Christ faithfully to hurting, lost, angry, bitter, fearful, restless, or despairing people. How can Christ use you to minister to those sorts of people in your workplace? What might that look like?

In order to help you with those questions, here are a few links to enable you to discover what your faith at work might look like in your spheres of influence…

Faith In The Workplace

The High Calling

Christian Business Men Committee

How to Build a Ministry through Your Work by Pat Morley at Man in the Mirror

Work and the Man in the Mirror (audio and video messages) by Pat Morley

A Biblical Worldview of Work by Ken Boa

The Theology of Work (print and mp3 audio available) by Robert Rayburn

Working out a Theology of Work by Justin Taylor (also see the related resources at the bottom of the article)

Theology of Work (website)

Business for the Glory of God (book) by Wayne Grudem

God at Work (book) by Gene Edward Veith

Blog posts on vocation by Gene Edward Veith

Blessings,
Dale

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This Week in Godly Manhood

I’ve started a new blog that I’m calling, Pursuing Godly Manhood. Below are a few highlights from this week’s postings. I would love for you to take a look around it and let me know what you think… what’s missing… etc.

Enjoy,
Dale

About

• About Pursuing Godly Manhood

Godly Manhood

• Tony Evans on Biblical Manhood, Part 1
• Every Man, God’s Man
• The Upright Man
• The Godly Man and God’s Word

Marriage

• Reforming Marriage

Fatherhood

• Our Life for Theirs: A Multi-Generational Vision

Fathers & Daughters

• You Want to Date My Daughter?

Shepherding Sons

• From Boyhood to Manhood
• Shepherding Sons

Work & Vocation

• Men at Work

Worldview

• A Godly Man’s Worldview

Men’s Ministry

• Leave No Man Behind

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Prayer for Work

O God, we thank thee for the sweet refreshment of sleep and for the glory and vigor of the new day. As we set our faces once more toward our daily work, we pray thee for strength sufficient for our tasks. May Christ’s spirit of duty and service ennoble all we do. Uphold us by the consciousness that our work is useful work and a blessing to all.

If there has been anything in our work harmful to others and dishonorable to ourselves, reveal it to our inner eye with such clearness that we shall hate it and put it away, though it be at a loss to ourselves. When we work with others, help us to regard them, not as servants to our will, but as brothers equal to us in human dignity, and equally worthy of their full reward.

May there be nothing in this day’s work of which we shall be ashamed when the sun has set, nor in the eventide of our life when our task is done and we go to meet thy face. Amen.

Taken from The Book of Worship for Church and Home of The Methodist Church, 1965

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