Malyon Workplace

God is at work – David Benson

05. God is at Work

Dave Benson?is founding director of Traverse, a PhD Candidate, and a lecturer at Malyon College.

If you were the Son of God?with thirty-three years to save the world?how would you invest your time? If it were me, I?d kick off with some spectacular show to draw attention, and then stick it to the guys in power to reclaim my kingdom. No dilly dallying, right? Out with the mundane, and in with the miraculous. If the ?good news? is simply that the Saviour paid for our sins on the cross, then I?d want to head straight to Jerusalem for the showdown, not get holed up in some sweat shop for half my life.

And this is precisely why Jesus? life is an enigma. His path meandered.

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The Gospel at Work – The Idolatry of Work (Chapter 1)

The Gospel at WorkThe key idea that underpins The Gospel at Work is that there are two false ways for a Christian to treat their work – they can treat it as an idol or they can be idle. ?Neither of these approaches reflects that it means to work for King Jesus:

Our work can become the primary object of our passions, our energy, and our love. We end up worshipping our job.?On the other hand, we can slip into being idle in our work. ?When we fail to see God’s purposes in our work, we don’t really care much about it. ?We fail to give and attention to it, or despise it and generally neglect our?responsibility?to serve as if we were serving the Lord. Unfortunately,?idleness?in work and?idolatry?of work are both celebrated in our society … [they?are both ] deadly?misunderstandings?of how God wants us to think about our jobs. [From the opening section, The Challenge]

The Gospel at Work – How working for King Jesus gives meaning and purpose to our jobs

The Gospel at WorkThe Gospel at Work – How working for King Jesus gives meaning and purpose to our jobs?is the latest in a series of books (For example, Work Matters – Connecting Sunday Worship to Monday work by Tom Nelson and?Every Good Endeavour – connecting your work to God’s plan for the world by Tim Keller) designed to outline a clear theology work before discussing the implications of this for a range of issues facing Christians in the workplace.

?My plan is to blog my way through this book as, even a quick scan, indicates it as a highly valuable resource. ?

So here’s some basic information before we get into a chapter-by chapter look at what authors Sebastian Traeger and Greg Gilbert have to say:

Taking Your Soul to Work ? Gentleness: The strength of meekness (Chapter 14)

Taking your soul to workGentleness: Empowering others by renouncing personal agendas and expressing meekness.

Is there a place for the quality of gentleness in the ?world of the modern business – ?a world often described as competitive, cut-throat and hard-nosed and where the agenda of the strong and powerful dominates?

After a round of golf this week, I was chatting with a former student who had moved from the world of education to real estate sales. ?”It’s a tough business, ” he explained, “There are a lot of deceitful people out there.” ?While as far as I know my golfing companion is not a Christian, I could sense his struggle to remain true to his principles in the face of a culture where it is very much the ‘survival of the fittest’.

So, is it possible for a Christian to survive let alone thrive in such an environment? ?Stevens and Ung suggest that, “…it is in the shark-infested waters of the business world that the godly qualities of gentleness are most needed.”

The Greek word for gentleness speaks of the bridled horse – a horse that has learnt to accept discipline and respond to the bidding of its master. ?Moses, described as ‘more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth’ (Numbers 12:3) was such a person. ?At Christmas, we sing of Jesus as ‘meek and mild’ (Matt 11:29). ?Paul writing to the Philippians urged his readers to let their gentleness be evident to all (4:5). ?

[Read more…] about Taking Your Soul to Work ? Gentleness: The strength of meekness (Chapter 14)

Taking Your Soul to Work ? Anger: The burning Desire to Control (Chapter 5)

Taking your soul to workAnger: Using passion to manipulate people and control circumstances

How does anger express itself in your daily life?? Are you the passionate, say-it-as-it-is-type or more the quiet seething type? Do you express your anger differently at work than you do in other contexts such as home and church? What does this say about you/me?

While acknowledging that there is anger that is appropriate (see Ephesians 4:26), Stevens and Ung argue that ‘… most forms of anger residing within us are destructive’ and give plenty of examples of how this ‘soul-sapping struggle‘ impacts in the workplace:

  • Getting mad at co-workers
  • Humiliating others
  • Seething in silence when? someone steals our idea or gets the credit
  • Frustrations when our spouse tells us we are working too hard
  • General feelings of irritability directed at no one in particular

I loved this insight- “Anger freezes over a warm and generous heart, leaving behind a permafrost of politeness and niceness (punctuated by icicles or resentment and sarcasm).” [Read more…] about Taking Your Soul to Work ? Anger: The burning Desire to Control (Chapter 5)

Taking Your Soul to Work ? Joyful Relinquishment (Chapter 22)

Taking your soul to workJust yesterday, my wife and I were discussing how it might be time to start downsizing – getting rid of some of the stuff we had accumulated over the years. ?

Sadly, on reflection, my motivation was to create more space for more stuff if I am honest. The recent Christmas season has meant more booty around the house than we had a couple of months ago – even if it is just ‘socks and jocks’. ?More things need to find a home.

In the conversation that commences this chapter, Alvin Ung responds to his colleague Paul Stevens with this comment:??The wonderful thing about practicing relinquishment is that it frees us from a grasping spirit.? We relinquish things that have a stronger grip on our soul than God ? be it possessions, social standing, family ties, friendships or bodily needs.??(Alvin Ung) [Read more…] about Taking Your Soul to Work ? Joyful Relinquishment (Chapter 22)

“Following Jesus at Work” – training resources from Groundwork

Following Jesus at Work coverIt is always exciting to come across a new organisation with new resources committed to helping people understand how they can follow Jesus in their everyday lives, including their daily work.

So when I stumbled across Groundwork – training for the ordinary Christian life, I was very excited. ?

And when I realised it was an Australian mob, then I was very excited!

And when I saw that they had resources specifically to help Christians think about their work, well ….I was apoplectic! [Read more…] about “Following Jesus at Work” – training resources from Groundwork