Jesus is scattering his people as kingdom seed into the soil of their workplaces. But they typically have not been made fully ready to serve as agents of his kingdom out there. Wasted potential. How, then, can their church leaders help them become fully ready for their work in the world?

For a fish, being “off the hook” means no frypan. For people, the idiom means being freed from some kind of responsibility. Bob, a Christian man, is off the hook in that sense. Although a follower of Jesus, he sees little need to seek God’s Kingdom first in every area of his life.

God’s Kingdom will come in fullness in the future. But is Jesus somehow exercising his kingdom authority today? In a world full of war . . . and homelessness . . . and greed and. . . bullying, it does not look as if God is in charge. How can God be ruling in the here and now?

Typically, a workplace will put us into relationships with non-Christians. Philippians 2:15 speaks specifically about our conduct among people who are not following Jesus. “Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.”

Through his common grace, God supplies our physical needs. For example, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” As a result, “The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us.” How does God get these common-grace blessings to us? Mainly through the work people do.

Your work—whatever it is—serves as a light stand. Are you a janitor? A graphic designer? A grocery checkout clerk? Each of those roles serves as a lampstand, because it positions you, the light, in a specific part of God’s world.

“In reality, the sacred-secular divide has had a devastating impact on two key areas of Christian life: our mission and our living.” —Mark Greene, The London Institute of Contemporary Christianity

Have you ever scratched your head over this puzzling question: Why are we here? Why did God put us in this world? What on earth did he have in mind?

Some say work started as God’s curse, his punishment for the sin of Adam and Eve. But did it?

How can you seek first the Kingdom of God while working in a regular job in the world?

In composing Creation, God wrote it with a seven-beat measure: work, work, work, work, work, work--rest. This means Creation carries within its own history this work-rest rhythm. God’s own work-rest rhythm set the pace for those made in his image.

We hear a lot about the need to bring people “under the sound of the gospel.” The sound is vitally important but is not enough by itself. People also need to be within the sight of the gospel--the sight of temple-bodies living it out. Demonstrating its reality day after day.

In some places the Bible seems pro-money. In other places it seems anti-money. What, then, should we do? Are paychecks a blight or a blessing?

We especially need encouragement in our places of work, which often leave us feeling spiritually isolated and unsupported. In that context, we first need to seek one another. And then we need to support one another.

Shirking work is not a new problem. In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul called out those who were refusing to work. Withdrawing from work is not acceptable, because it amounts to disobeying God.

What a high privilege! Through your work, you can help unwrap the good gifts hidden within the ground God created. This offers you one more reason to get up and go to work—and to praise God as you do so!

Most of us who follow Jesus want to grow spiritually. But do we usually see our daily work as faith’s fitness center?

This blog is the text of the video: WORSHIP AND WORK? To view the video, click HERE.

This blog is the text of a 5-minute video: WHY WORK? To view the video, click here.

I was twenty-six. A Christian. With a new job working as a state government employee. During those first few days, it didn’t take long for one seasoned worker to size me up. He saw a young man who had been raised in a Christian home, a fresh graduate of a Christian college, and unsophisticated in the ways of the world. I heard later that he had commented to a coworker: “This guy won’t last three weeks.”