Finding God at Work

Religious communities often try to solve their problems with rules. When we think about living out our faith in the workplace, some of us fall into thinking about "following the rules." People do really problematic and destructive things sometimes, so this intuition makes sense. Let's make rules against the problematic and destructive things! But the rules can't heal us. They don't address *why* w...

The Stoic philosophers had some bright ideas. The New Testament both draws on the Stoic tradition and challenges it. The Stoics' key idea was "mind over matter." If you can just *think* about things in the right way, you'll reach a joy that doesn't depend on circumstances. But there's a step missing here. We're not just brains on a stick. We have bodies. If we want to experience deep inner goodnes...

What kind of fruit am I bearing at work? Fruit pops up all over the Bible. It's there from the Garden of Eden to the New Jerusalem. It's one of the predominant metaphors in the Bible for describing human beings and their relationship with God. But what does it *mean* to "be fruitful" or to "bear fruit"? Jesus teaches that, "no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit. ....

"Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, "Oh, Lord, open his eyes so he may see" (2 Kings 6:16-17 NIV). Just like the servant of the prophet Elisha in this story, we need our eyes to be opened. The reality of God's kingdom is always there, right around us. But we often miss it. We forget that it's there. We don't nee...

An emissary is an ambassador or messenger. Sometimes, an emissary is a trailblazer. They connect kingdoms that have never been connected before. Jesus is the emissary who bridges the kingdoms of spiritual reality. Paul writes, "For [the Father] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves" (Colossians 1:13 NIV). Jesus rescues us. Then, he sends u...

Are your coworkers your friends? Are you a friend to your coworkers? When we act as a friend, we love the people around us. We will their good. In the workplace, that often means we bring two things to the people around us: productivity and presence. Productivity: The first way we can be a good friend to our coworkers is by doing a good job at our job. Presence: But often we have a unique opportun...

When Jesus faced a Kingship temptation, he responded with a Servant solution. The devil offered Jesus "all the kingdoms of the world" (Matthew 4:8 NIV). Jesus responded by saying, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only" (Matthew 4:10 NIV). A servant does their master's bidding. What gets Jesus out of this bind is his commitment to be a servant to his Master, his Father. Eve...

Each one of us has a kingdom. A place where we're in charge. It may be no bigger than our cubicle, but it matters. That means each of us needs to learn how to be a king. Bible history and world history give us plenty of examples of kings gone bad. The Jeroboam Problem still besets Christian leaders today: Clinging to authority more closely than we cling to Jesus. But King Jesus can teach us how to...

The Bible says that you can be a builder. Specifically, you can be part of a team of restoration workers. There's a promise, but it comes with a condition: "If you do away with the yoke of oppression. . .  and satisfy the needs of the oppressed . . .  you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings" (Isaiah 58:9-12 NIV). Can we do our everyday work with justice? Can...

Priests go between God and the people. They offer sacrifices. They make offerings. So, what is the offering that we can make to God? Paul guides us in Romans 12 to see what we can offer: Our whole body. Our whole work. Our whole life. It's an offering to God, but it's also an offering for the sake of the world. Any time that you love another human being in the character of Christ, God receives tha...

What does it mean for us to be artists in our work? To encounter Jesus as an artist in his work? In the Exodus story, craftsmen like Bezalel and Oholiab were filled with the Spirit of God to do "skilled work." Even if we're not literal artists or craftworkers like that, we, too, can do works of beauty just by doing our work well. We exercise the "ministry of competence" in a way that brings God's...

What does it mean to do our work as gardeners? Whether or not we literally help plants grow as part of our day job, gardening is one of the Bible's central metaphors for our work. We're not primarily hunters or builders or mass producers. We're gardeners. We cultivate. We care. We discover. We wait. What would it look like to approach your work with the mindset of a gardener every day? As always,...

The images of work that fill our mental landscape determine how we navigate our work lives. Images can haunt us, or they can draw us into beauty and life. What would it look like to fill our minds with the images that Scripture gives us to describe our work? Starting in this episode, we'll look at a series of biblical images that show us how we can work with Jesus every day: Gardener, Artist, Prie...

In the Power story, work is the castle that keeps us safe. But what do we sacrifice for the sake of that security? "Security" isn't so far off from "salvation": when we live inside this story, we try to save ourselves through our work efforts. But Jesus tells us: "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns." There's a different way to be saved, in our Father's car...

The Lifestyle story about work tells us we can "get work over with" to find fulfillment elsewhere. But is that really a fulfilling approach to our work life? When we let Jesus become the integrating center of our lives at work, he gives us a better way. Working with "singleness of heart" brings our work into one, undivided life. For more resources on faith in the workplace, visit Mission Central a...

Do What You Love. It's an enticing story about work, but a disappointing one. Pursuing passion keeps us from reconciling with the limitations of our circumstances. With Jesus' help, we can honor our longing for fulfillment at work while still finding contentment in our less-than-perfect jobs. Regardless of whether our work aligns with our deepest longings, God can fulfill his purposes through it a...

In the first episode of Finding God at Work, we look at how story and imagination influence the way we work. It's true—work often feels like drudgery. But if we look at work through the lens of psychological insights and the story of Scripture, we can confront our pain rather than numb it, and ultimately experience healing in the presence of Jesus. Join us as we explore a more beautiful story for...

Mission Central founder Chris Easley introduces a compelling vision: discovering how our everyday jobs can fulfill God's purpose in the world. Whether you're a teacher, food banker, mortgage analyst, or bus driver, your work counts in the kingdom of God. It's not just about what you do, but the person you are becoming in the process. Join Chris as he shares his personal journey from ministry to th...