Malyon Workplace

The Gospel at Work – the Gospel in the Workplace (Chapter 3)

The Gospel at WorkChapter 3 of?The Gospel at Work?(TGaW) explores the way the gospel should frame our approach to work. If, as Tim Keller says, ‘The Gospel changes everything’, how exactly does the gospel impact the workplace??

So, the TGaW asks this question: ‘In a world where most?people?think of their jobs as necessary evil or as a source of their?identity and fulfilment, what is it that uniquely brings meaning and purpose to their jobs as Christians?’

Great question!? [Read more…] about The Gospel at Work – the Gospel in the Workplace (Chapter 3)

The Gospel at Work – Idleness in Work

The Gospel at WorkChapter 2 of The Gospel at Work explores the second way that we can experience work (having explored work as an idol in Chapter 1)

Whereas idolatry is an over-identification with work, idleness is an under-identification with our work: We care too little about it and find ourselves being idle in our work.?

Here’s a few ways that we can fail to recognise God’s purposes in our work, e.g.

  • We see Christian work as what we do at church
  • We regard work as a necessary evil to endure so we can support the work of the church?
  • We regard ordinary work is not our true calling
  • We work to live not live to work – work gets in the way of real life

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]

Andy Crouch on why we can?t see the faith-work connection: ?We?re missing chapters of our Bible.?

Read the full article here. ?Two quotes worth pondering:

We hear the results of this foreshortened reading in the words of many worship leaders, says Andy. Many he?s heard have said: ?There?s only one eternal thing we will do in heaven: Worship.???Well,? he continues, ?that?s a very flattering thought if you?re a worship leader. It?s as if to say ?I?m doing something of eternal significance ? I don?t know what?you all?do . . . So sorry for y?all who have to go out Monday and do temporal things.???

In other words, the ?very goodness? of our world comes to existence only through intentionality. That is why God put his image bearers in the world: the abundance of his created order is potentiality, raw material.?Flourishing?is what happens when the possibilities are unfolded through caring human action.

 

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:

The High Calling of Our Daily Work – 3 sermon outlines from Tom Nelson

26671Each quarter, the people at The High Calling publish sermon notes.

In the first quarter, 2013, they published sermon notes from Tom Nelson, author of Work Matters – Connecting Sunday Worship to Monday Work.?

The three sermon titles that can be accessed here are:

  • Sermon 1: Work is More Than a Curse
  • Sermon 2: More Than a Carpenter, But Not Less
  • Sermon 3: Working in the Spirit

You can watch Tom Nelson being interviewed about his book here. ?This video is highly recommended for pastors and church leaders.