1: This week, we’ve been exploring the intersection of faith and work as outlined in Tim Keller’s terrific book Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work.
Tim writes from a Christian or gospel-based worldview, but his perspective also applies to other religions.
“Becoming a Christian is a lot like moving to a new country,” he writes. “In the long run, the gospel helps us see everything in a new light, but it takes time to grasp and incorporate this new information into how we live and pursue our vocations.”
2: Tim believes bringing our religious beliefs into our work is possible.
Which “means much more than just being honest or not sleeping with your coworkers,” he observes. “It even means more than personal evangelism or holding a Bible study at the office.
“Rather, it means thinking out the implications of the gospel worldview and God’s purposes for our whole work life.”
3: How do we do this? Self-reflection.
Tim poses the following questions:
• What’s the storyline of the culture in which I live and the field where I work?
• What are the underlying assumptions about meaning, morality, origin, and destiny?
• What are the idols? The hopes? The fears?
• How does my particular profession retell this storyline, and what part does the profession itself play in the story?
• What parts of the dominant worldviews are basically in line with the gospel, so that I can agree with and align with them?
• What parts of the dominant worldviews are irresolvable without Christ? Where, in other words, must I challenge my culture? How can Christ complete the story in a different way?
• How do these stories affect both the form and the content of my work personally? How can I work not just with excellence but also with Christian distinctiveness in my work?
• What opportunities are there in my profession of (a) serving individual people, (b) serving society at large, (c) serving my field of work, (d) modeling competence and excellence, and (e) witnessing to Christ?
In grappling with our answers to these questions, we begin to clear a path with how we show up at work.
More tomorrow!
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Reflection: Think through my answers to Tim’s questions.
Action: Discuss with a family member or colleague.
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