Weeks 15 & 16 (11) - Blessings of Divine Guidance

The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism is a rich resource of Christian learning. One Occasional Paper I came across is No. 40 - Marketplace Ministry.

Mark Greene says in “Evangelism Isn’t Working” that the workplace is incredibly strategic for mission and ministry. We spend 50 to 70% of our waking hours there. It is:

• the one place where Christians and non-Christians have to meet

• the one place where the playing field is even, where Christians and non-Christians are subject to the same corporate culture and the same pressures

• the one place where the non-Christians can actually see the difference that Christ can make to a life – not for a couple of hours over dinner but for 20, 30, 40, 50 hours a week over a couple of years or more.

Often the people who know us well don’t live next door; they work at the next desk. Many TV shows are set in the workplace – police, law firms, offices, hospitals. That’s where the drama and life-changing decisions take place.

We need a rediscovery of the priesthood, prophethood and kingship of all believers, teaching/pasturing, proclaiming and wisely ruling/managing God’s people and creation respectively [Jeremiah 18:18].

Spirituality is about discovering and responding to the presence and purposes of God in every context, every task, every relationship and every moment of every day.

The dominant model of spirituality in today’s evangelical community depends heavily upon ‘monastic’ practices of withdrawal and disengagement. The following comparisons highlight the problem.

The ‘Spiritual’ Realm vs The Marketplace

Withdrawal vs Engagement

Solitude vs Community
Silence vs Noise
Stillness vs Movement

Serenity vs Chaos

Peace vs Stress

Simplicity vs Complexity

Meditation vs Multi-tasking

Order vs Interruption

Centred vs Scattered

Focused vs Busyness

Seriousness vs Humour

Quietness vs Raised voices

In order for Christians who spend a large part of their daily life in the marketplace to discern and respond to the presence of God ‘in every moment of every day’, we need models of spirituality that engage the realities and challenges of daily life in the marketplace and not away from it.

The post-conversion counseling commonly given to a new convert comprises (i) begin daily Bible reading and prayer; (ii) find a Bible-believing church to attend and (iii) tell someone about your decision. These 3 indicators, commonly known as ‘edge’ activities become the measure of spirituality of the believer. But what do the daily activities of work, recreation, sleep, shopping, friendship, family life, eating, commuting – activities that take up so much of the average Christian’s day – have to do with living in the presence of God?

Marketplace Christians can expand their understanding of spiritual discipline – typically understood as ‘edge’ activities – to include activities more often associated with the everyday. If a spiritual discipline is broadly understood as any activity undertaken intentionally and routinely that nurtures us into the likeness of Christ, then such activities as nurturing friendship, acts of service, perseverance, providing for the family, community building, the sharing of meals, attentive listening, helping a colleague, doing one’s best in the job etc. can be embraced in a new and liberating way.

Marketplace Christians can reclaim aspect of their work as spiritually significant when they see what they do as a reflection of the work of God. A simple exercise list of some of the working roles of God – Creator, Provider, Redeemer, Judge, Architect, Gardener, Healer, Teacher, Reconciler, Administrator – and then to reflect on what aspects of his or her daily work connect with the work of God.

Marketplace Christians can find support and fellowship in naming and responding to the presence of God in their work by linking up with other Christians in similar profession or fields of work.

Spirituality in the marketplace is not an exercise in solitude but one pursued in community.

Indeed our job in the marketplace can be a mission and a ministry if what we do glorifies God. God is glorified when our activities reflect His glory.

Being Christ-like in a predominantly secular world is challenging, to say the least. And we can only do so with God’s help. God will back us up when we walk in His way. God will come to our help when we cry out to Him. “Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends……..I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life. But I trust in you, O LORD…….Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love. Let me not be put to shame, O LORD, for I have cried out to you…….Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous. [Ps 31:9-18 NIV]

For us to be an effective Marketplace Christian, we need to have confidence in the might of our God. "He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses……."Every man is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. His images are a fraud; they have no breath in them. They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish. He…..is the Maker of all things…….the LORD Almighty is his name. [Jer 51:12-19 NIV]

Marketplace Christians can grow spiritually if they are determined to do God’s bidding in a secular world. They shall not remain as babies like the Corinthians whom Apostle Paul addressed. “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready………So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow…….By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds…….If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work…..” [1 Cor 3:1-15 NIV]

Let us seek God’s knowledge, understanding and wisdom. “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength; for waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisers…….[Prov 24:3-7 NIV]

Amen and amen!