Whatever you do, do well Ecclesiastes 9:10
Everyone Participates in God’s Work
the Christian’s labor has its orientation toward God himself, and we must ask how it can be done distinctively and for his glory.
Christians work with radically different inner motives than those who don’t believe, and this can certainly make a difference in the quality, spirit, and honesty with which a believer labors.
Christians should place a high value on all human work (especially excellent work), done by all people, as a channel of God’s love for his world.
My work as a Christian should be different from others. If I search my heart for my motives, they should be rooted in Christ, his redemption of my sins, my need for Him, and His desire to show Himself to those around me. While outwardly my work may not look that different, certainly the Gospel should be recognizable in my work.
The Balance of Common Grace
In Romans 2, verses 14-15, Paul says that God’s law is written on the heart of every human being.
This extends to our work itself, that our own discoveries are a reflection of God’s creation and Him revealing His truth. My own talents and gifts are given by the Spirit of God (James 1:17, Exodus 31:1-4, Isaiah 45:1, and Genesis 20:6-7) .
The mind of man, though fallen and perverted from its wholeness, is nevertheless clothed and ornamented with God’s excellent gifts. John Calvin
Everyone is operating from a worldview that either denies Christ or worships him. No one is objective or neutral; no one can avoid the question.
The Freedom of Common Grace
Sin should be making life on earth here much more unbearable than it is — and in fact, all creation and culture should have fallen apart by now. The reason it is not worse is because of the gift of common grace.
Christian’s work with others should be marked by both humble cooperation and respectful provocation
As the rocks cry out, so should I be vocal of the place of the Gospel in my life!
An understanding of the gospel worldview means that we should at times respectfully pursue a different path or winsomely point out how our own Christian faith gives us powerful resources and guidance for what we are doing.
I really do think by praying consistently at work, I will better be able to see the Gospel in my role and take the opportunities God gives me to communicate this, whether verbally or through my actions. Obedience!
The Dialogue of Popular Culture
In general, Christians’ reaction to popular culture in the last eighty years has been some form of disengagement.
Essentially, Keller argues that we should have a humble, critical engagement of culture.
Every artifact of human culture is a positive response to God’s general revelation and simultaneously a rebellious assertion against his sovereign rule over us (Romans 1:21)
Human culture is an extremely complex mixture of brilliant truth, marred half-truths, and overt resistance to the truth.
Dualism vs. Integration
Both Christians an non-Christians are distorted by sin and receive God’s grace.
The Gospel reframes all things, not just religious things
Because Christians are never as good as their right beliefs should make them and non-Christians are never as bad as their wrong beliefs should make them, we will adopt a stance of critical enjoyment of human culture and its expressions in every field of work.
Critical enjoyment… wow. That’s a lot to unpack…
A grasp of the gospel and of biblical teaching on cultural engagement should lead Christians to be the most appreciative of the hands of God behind the work of our colleagues and neighbors.
This leads me to ask, how is God working in my coworkers and in Workday? How can I join Him in His work? I really do think as I get closer to God, naturally these things should be more clear to me. And it will be all the more easier — though still difficult, especially at first — to obey God’s will in my life in work and life.