In this programme the guest specifically speaks of our work
being sanctified and led by the Spirit. I don't believe this is warranted from
a study of the New Testament.
As I keep saying the Vocational/Dominionist reading of 1
Corinthians 10 is actually missing the point of the passage.
Not everything she says is bad. Many of her criticisms of
Evangelicalism are true. The busy/group model is also extra biblical and can
certainly lead to problems.
Of course I'm not saying that you have to be an officeholder
or missionary to serve the Lord.
Our calling is to be Christians. Not everyone is called to
be an officeholder etc... That's okay.
It doesn't mean I'm less of a person, but I'm sorry someone
who is labouring full time in Scriptural
teaching is affecting the Kingdom more (at least in terms of their daily work)
than someone like me who spent this afternoon putting drywall up on a ceiling.
That doesn't mean you have to feel bad about being a
bricklayer or a secretary or hanging drywall. It's legitimate even if it's not
particularly holy.
I will say this though.... viewing your spiritual time as
something not specifically tied to your work will indeed affect how you view
work in general.
You're not going to care about money and getting ahead.
You're not going to be willing to work 60 hours a week for your employer to the
detriment of your family, church life and everything else. You're not going to
care about the middle class lifestyle and its aspirations.
Not viewing your work as holy will help you to get your
life, priorities...your 'lifestyle' into perspective.
I will say this... If, my work was truly holy then I would
need to be really discriminating in the work I took on. For example, as I
mentioned today I was hanging drywall. Well I happened to be working for a
lesbian. She's a nice lady but totally lost.
Ok, am I building the Kingdom by putting drywall up in her
garage? No. If that was Kingdom work then I would most certainly refuse to work
for her. The Kingdom aspect is in how I relate to her. My conduct to be sure
must be honest and I must demonstrate integrity. But what's most important is
my conversation. The Kingdom will be built if she repents of her sins and
believes in Christ. And if she doesn't my presence (not my drywall hanging)
will ultimately contribute to her condemnation and thus in that dark
sense...also delineates the Kingdom of God from the realm of the Adversary.
The Spirit isn't leading my drywall hanging. I can stand by
my work but am I the greatest drywaller out there? Far from it. But if my work
was holy, then I should certainly aspire to be the best. Should I? I would
argue that I shouldn't. I need to do good work, but aspiring to become the best
drywaller or carpenter in the world would be not only prideful but foolish and
a waste of time.
Last year I worked on a financial advisor's office building.
If the work was holy then I would have quit. As far as I'm concerned he's a
moral wretch and I find his whole world of annuities and insurance pretty
revolting. My father was in business (investments) and the climate, attitudes,
values and posture regarding money were all familiar to me. I was having
flashbacks to my teenage years working in my dad's office.
I believe these people to be prima facie dishonest,
manipulative and unscrupulous in how they deal and relate with people. Was
wiring and plumbing his office Kingdom work? If those tasks are Kingdom related
then I would have been in sin to work for him. I was facilitating evil.
The reality is, the financial office, the garage, wiping
tables, or answering phones are all part and parcel components of Babylon. It's
fine, we build our houses, tend our gardens, raise our families, but Babylon
will never be Zion.
Ever.
To be honest in some cases I won't work for certain people.
I've walked away from some Evangelicals. After spending thirty minutes in their
home and looking over the work I find I don't want to be around them.
While I was working on an estimate for one guy he kept
forwarding sacrilegious emails to me about America and the troops. I asked him
to stop. He wouldn't. He was ministering to me don't you know. I wrote back to
him and that was the end of that job which was fine. I didn't want to work for
him anyway. To be honest, I'd rather work for the lesbian lady. Sad isn't it?
I refuse to work for any churches. I won't touch their
buildings and I don't want their money.
If I truly viewed my actual work as holy I would quickly get
into trouble because there wouldn't be very many people I could work for.
The work is just work, a means to an end. What counts are
the relationships, the interactions...which have nothing to do with the work.
The guest mentions neighbourliness. I don't agree with her
definitions. I don't think Financial Advisors or Insurance Agents are good
neighbours. Quite the contrary. I don't think most doctors are good neighbours.
Most (at least in the American system) are profiteers and usurers. I'm using
that word in the sense of those who profit from the suffering of others. I
don't accept the modern Dave Ramsey/Larry Burkett definitions of usury.
If the Samaritan is the example of the neighbour, than to
suggest a 'for profit' business is being a neighbour is kind of silly. We can
kid ourselves about why we are in business but at the end of the day the
primary reason is to make money.
I'm sorry but that's not ministry. It's business. That's
fine, but let's be honest about what we're doing. The answer is to learn to
think differently about business, profits and people.
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