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God at Work: An Appendix for the Laity (Section 1)
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, January 22, 2008
In the series: God at Work: A Review of the Book by David Miller
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I’ve just wrapped up a five-part review of David Miller’s fine book, God at Work. In this strongly positive review, I offered only one substantial criticism: namely, that Miller’s recommendations for the church are oriented too much for clergy. In fact, he offers no specific recommendations for the laity, those who constitute more than 99% of the church. Without giving clergy a free pass for failing to offer greater support for people in their workplace ministry, it seems to me that if lay people wanted their church to help them in this matter, they could do many things to advance their cause.
I plan to offer a possible appendix to God at Work. In this appendix I’ll include some recommendations for lay people who would like the church to support them in their workplace calling. But before I offer my recommendations, I’d like to hear from you, my readers. Either by adding a comment to this blog entry, or by sending me an email, please give me your answers to the question:
What can lay people do to help their churches support them as they seek to live out their faith at work?
I look forward to your input. Stay tuned . . . .
Topics: God at Work |
4 Responses to “God at Work: An Appendix for the Laity (Section 1)”
Comments
Thanks for your willingness to make a comment. Note: I do not moderate comments before they are posted, though they are automatically screened for profanities, spam, etc., and sometimes the screening program holds comments for moderation even though they're not offensive. I encourage open dialogue and serious disagreement, and am always willing to learn from my mistakes. I will not delete comments unless they are extraordinarily rude or irrelevant to the topic at hand. You do need to login in order to make a comment, because this cuts down on spam. You are free to use a nickname if you wish. Finally, I will eventually read all comments, but I don't have the time to respond to them on a consistent basis because I've got a few other demands on my time, like my "day job," my family, sleep, etc.
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January 22nd, 2008 at 8:50 am
Reorient to view church as community rather than resource.
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:51 am
Fellowship with others working in the same or similar arenas…and specifically and intentionally talking about challenges to your faith in the workplace. I’m now retired, but during many years practicing law, I received great blessings from other Christian lawyers while discussing our challenges. And, I hope, I’ve been able to help others in a similar way.
I intentionally put a Bible and a Waterford cross in plain view on my credenza. Having them in plain sight helped ME keep my faith in mind, and they also provoked questions or comments that allowed me to share my faith with others.
Discussion of things as simple as that are a huge help to those who feel the pressure of a secular world in their workplace. Get together and talk with your church friends.
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I think the laity can take some concrete steps to make the everyday faith-work connection more visible on Sunday morning, as we generally already do with some high-profile positions. When it’s election time, congregations may regularly offer prayers for the candidates; when it’s tax time, however, do we offer prayers for the accountants? Do the accountants themselves request the prayers of their brothers and sisters in the faith?
In J.P. Moreland’s “Love Your God with All Your Mind”, he tells of a congregation that, week after week, had people of various professions come forward to be, not quite ordained, but “commissioned” for service–the businesspeople, the scientists, the artists, and so on. The service envisioned in Moreland’s particular example was primarily to be performed within the church (the scientists might be the congregation’s “go-to” people for insight on the creation/evolution/intelligent design debate, for example), but it is at least a start. There’s nothing preventing any congregation taking this model of commissioning “regular” members and applying it to service to the Kingdom of God performed outside of the church.
January 25th, 2008 at 12:01 am
[…] I do wish we had done more in worship to highlight and celebrate workplace ministry. In a comment on one of my recent blog posts, Kyler says this: In J.P. Moreland’s “Love Your God with All Your Mind”, he tells of a […]