Here’s the question for the week: do you take your faith to work? Do the values you profess on Sunday, have a bearing upon what you do on Monday – and the rest of the week?
It may be true that we’ve got to muster the courage to go out to John’s desert and visit the bug-eating wild man, to hear the Word for our lives (last week's sermon theme, based on Luke 3:1-6). But in this part of the scene (Luke 3:7-18), John’s advice to the folks coming out to him is not, ‘join me in the revolution.’ Nor is he exhorting people to partake in the wilderness lifestyle with him (and the extreme cuisine that goes with it, for you foodies).
Surprisingly, he’s exhorting people to live the life befitting repentance – the Kingdom life of the transformed mind – right where you are. Don’t quit your job, even if you’re a despised tax collector working for “the man” (Caesar). Even if you’re a soldier in the goy army who is occupying you – John’s surprising answer to the people’s guilty question (“what shall we do?”) is this: for the time being, serve God right where you are.
I find that most interesting, and surprising – especially given the diatribe that John levels at those folk coming out to him, looking for a seat on the lifeboat (C’mon, read the text).
So – email me (which seems to be the most frequent way of responding, I’m finding). Or, gosh darn, use the Blogger system to weigh in here: What bearing does your faith have for the rest of your week?
To add a bit of nuance: I recently heard a friend talk about someone he was close with, who said, “the place I work is truly evil.” Are there folks out there in similar situations? And so, can one do “good” in such a place? Can one bloom where one’s planted with the goodness of one’s convictions, even in an evil environment?
And, who says you need a job, to serve God? It's interesting that I've encountered a good number of folk in - and outside - the congregation who've used the occasion of a layoff to put more time into ministering to others, which I sense many feel is in a way their real calling and vocation.
Love to hear from ya.
Jeff
PS – I mentioned the movie Into the Wild in my sermon last week - someone made a very interesting comment on that, and I posted it here as a response to last week's entry....
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I worked for the U.S. Department of Defense every summer while attending college and for several years following graduation. This job allowed me to live near my little sister, who desparately needed me (and I needed her) after the untimely death of my mother during college. But earning my living by supporting improving the armaments of war bothered my conscience...my schoolmates were generally against war and all things military. Was I rationalizing my employment or did I lack the courage of my convictions? If working for the "military-industrial complex" was immoral, were all of my colleagues immoral? I simply could not answer these questions as a 20-something year old.
And, at irregular times, events in my life forced, or perhaps provided the opportunity, to make change. So I did...leaving the entire issue of the morality of working in the defense industry behind me - or so I thought.
Working in corporate America, I met professionals with high character, and those with questionable values. My own organization made business decisions that had extremely destructive impacts on the employees. I asw co-workers, committed Christians, endure the difficulty of working in an organization that embraced un-Christian values to achieve business and personal goals. It was discouraging to feel so powerless.
And I left...believing that, for me, there was a better way. For the last 12 years I have worked in as an independent consultant, thriving professionally and personally, free to follow Christian values in my work and making a seamless transition from Sunday to Monday. I no longer have attacks of conscience about the choices I make in my work, about how I treat people who work for me, or people who are my clients. I can act generously and kindly, compassionately and righteously in my workplace without fearing reprisals or inhibitions from management. The last 12 years have been full of challenge and learning new skills, but they have been spiritually liberating in a way that I never expected that day, 12 years ago, when I tendered my resignation from corporate America.
I would tell John that, "Sometimes quitting your job is exactly what you need to do, but God still calls you to a vocation. When your work becomes your vocation, you will know that God has blessed you."
All I can say is Amen, Loraine. Your story is indeed inspiring. I feel very humble, and also I suppose curious, to hear stories about what life is like for people working in such places (what I often think of, strangely, as the "real world".
John's words from Sunday's text are a challenge, and perhaps a comfort, to people who choose both paths, I think: those who continue 'working for the man' and trying to make a Christian witness in that context, and those who courageously strike out on their own terms, seeking to make a witness that way.
Either way, perhaps the key element revolves around this question: how can you best make a witness, when any work situation will involve more or less "evil" to deal with.
Really appreciate your response, Loraine. See you soon.
Jeff
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