Every
Christian is called by God to advance the Kingdom of God as we support human
flourishing. Our support of individual and community flourishing may take “spiritual”
forms such as preaching, prayer, mercy ministry, etc. but it may also take “secular”
forms such as nursing, home repair, gardening, feeding your family, etc. In the
work of bringing order to our sphere of influence in this world, there is no
sacred – secular dichotomy as we labor “as unto the Lord”. (Col 3:23)
I’ve been tackling these themes
over the last 3 months in my ministry. But a conversation last week convinced
me that this sacred-secular dichotomy is deeply ingrained and will not be
uprooted in a sermon series or even in a season. I was visiting with
long-standing members of our congregation, folks who grew up in the Church and
have been following Jesus personally for decades. They are gifted, articulate,
balanced, conscientious servant-hearted and intelligent. So I was taken aback
when one person mentioned that increased hours for a large employer in Madison
was causing them to step back from.
“I am so busy right now at work
that I don’t have the time to do ministry.”
“Why? What has led to the increase
work load for you? A promotion with more responsibility?,” I probed.
“No. My coworkers have so many
needs. Now that my kids are married I have more flexibility and time than I had
previously. I often volunteer to cover for coworkers who need time for
themselves and with their families.”
From this point I explained to my
dear friend that this was ministry!
In serving their coworkers in this tangible and practical way they were serving Christ and advancing the
Kingdom of God. They were not stepping back from ministry, they were stepping
into greater ministry and opportunity – albeit not within the four walls of our
local church.
This conversation has convinced me
that linking my parishioner’s current labors in the “secular” workforce to the
purposes of God will take diligence. But the effort to persuade every lay
person that they are a missionary is worthwhile. I think that when this dear
saint saw that their current sacrifices and energies beyond the organization of
our church were labors unto the Lord it unloaded a truckload of self-imposed
guilt and gave new purpose and meaning to their efforts.
In her book Kingdom Callings Amy Sherman quotes a relevant statement from G. K.
Chesterton: “You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the
concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace
before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing,
boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”
May we understand that every Christian is a missionary right
now where we are planted and may we say grace as those who are dependent on it
for the discharge of our duties – to the glory of Christ Jesus our Lord!
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