Finding God at Work

It feels awful when someone looks down on us. When they treat us as "less than." When they're snooty toward us. But we can be snooty ourselves. How do we break that spiritual habit? Is there anything we can do? Timothy Keller and Richard Foster share insights about how we can grow in humility. Sources: Luke 6:45 (TLV) Mark 10:35-45 (ESV) Tim Keller, "The Advent of Humility," Theology, Christianity...

What can nursing mothers teach us about life with God in the workplace? In our work relationships, we have the opportunity to give the gift of ourselves to others. The Apostle Paul uses the image of nursing to describe this kind of gift of the self: "But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. . . . we were ready to share with you . . . our own selves" (1 T...

It's difficult to be honest about our weaknesses. When we don't have the courage to humbly admit how we come up short, we instead project an image of a stronger, better self to others. This image is how we want to be perceived, even though it's not the truth about us. It's a false self, an inflated balloon of our fragile ego. So what does it look like to pop that balloon? Sources: 2 Corinthians 12...

Sometimes we're ashamed about our weaknesses. Sometimes we're ashamed about our sin. When we come clean about our sin, we're owning something wrong. But when we "come clean" about our weaknesses, we realize they're nothing to be ashamed of. It takes humility to name them. But there's freedom and growth when we do. Sources: Genesis 2:25 (ESV) 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV) 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (ESV) Ps...

Humble pie does not taste great. It's hard to eat it, to get it down. It's hard to admit that we're wrong. It's hard to revise our estimate of ourselves in a downwards direction. But it sure is good for us. Sources: Philippians 2:8 (ESV) Deuteronomy 8:11-18 (ESV) Donelson R. Forsyth, "Self-Serving Bias," International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences , edited by William A. Darity, 2nd ed. Vol....

What can you do when you can't hack it at work? When you just can't get it done? When you hit the wall? Sometimes our limitations surprise us. But they aren't a surprise to God. The Bible tells us that "he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14 ESV). In God's compassionate embrace, we find that we can be compassionate toward ourselves, even (and especially) on our worst work...

How do we make sense of "normal life" when it feels like the world is on fire? In the midst of global and national crisis, thoughts like these go through my mind: At such a time, is it right for us to keep following our routines, working and playing, resting and reading? Isn't this an emergency? Shouldn't we disrupt our lives to go take decisive action on behalf of the vulnerable? But what would t...

Chris interviews attorney Kevin Drendel about how his faith has intersected with his practice of law, both at work and through a nonprofit legal aid ministry. Hear how God showed up when he realized he could do nothing to help a client, coming to the end of himself. Kevin Drendel is Managing Partner at Drendel & Jansons Law Group in Batavia, Illinois, a board member and local Justice Champion for...

We are all creatures of habit. We have a routine for how we start our workday, even if we've never given it much thought. That means you already have a workplace "liturgy." A pattern and order to your work day. What would it look like to shape that liturgy intentionally, so that it helps you stay present to God as you work? Sources: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (ESV) Daniel 6:10 (ESV) Henry David Thoreau, Wa...

Chris interviews Pastor Daniel Small about his unusual vocational journey, his experiences dealing with workplace anxiety (including at least one unexpected bout of sleep-talking), how practices like prayer walks and the prayer of examen help him spiritually ground his work, and how he's seen people in his community discover the spiritual meaning of their "secular" jobs.   Daniel Small is Communit...

What if the mild annoyances we face from our coworkers can build a spirit of forgiveness in us over time? If we engage them as "little weights" of forgiveness to lift, we build our muscle. Low weight, high repetition!   Eventually, we may get strong enough in God's grace to forgive even more serious wrongs. After all, Jesus calls us not just to love our friends, but also our enemies. What could he...

God is crafting your soul, like a woodworker in a shop.   What if God is using the abrasive experiences in your life like spiritual sandpaper, sanding down the rough edges of your character?   The minor inconveniences of our working life may have value in helping us become more patient, gracious people.   And even in more serious moments of suffering, we can find grace to grow through it. Sources:...

Sometimes God calls us to do things that are pretty unstrategic.   As Gideon is leading his soldiers to battle, God has him *reduce* the number of troops. And then reduce them again. When Gideon courageously obeys, God still carries the day.   Could it be God is asking you to do something unstrategic in your career?   What would it look like to let him carry the day in your work?   Sources: Matthe...

You've been on a journey your whole life long to become the kind of person who can do the things that you are doing today.   God has been at work on you to prepare you—in your heart and in your character—for the challenges you are facing today.   Jesus teaches that God doesn't judge us based on how impressive the results of our efforts are. Instead, he's concerned with the quality of our response...

Is a sanitation worker called to their job in the same way that a classroom teacher is?   How do we make sense of the idea of calling in jobs that people don't often dream of getting?   Our egalitarian impulses may lead us to say that "Every job is a calling." But it doesn't seem quite true that every job is a calling in just the same way.   Maybe it's not so helpful to ask, "Is this job a calling...

Chris interviews Dr. Elaine Howard Ecklund about her new book, coauthored with Denise Daniels, Working for Better: A New Approach to Faith at Work . Hear about how less than half of Christians view their work as a calling, how there can be more than one dimension to our calling at work, what standing up for coworkers of other religious traditions can look like, and how we can influence the systems...

Think about making career decisions like preparing a soup. The questions you ask while discerning what's next are like the different ingredients that mix together to form the final product.   One key ingredient that we sometimes leave out is this question: Who is God calling me to love?   Sometimes God gives us a "who" that's even more important than the "what" of our career. Sometimes it's a fami...

When we think about callings, we often ask, "What is God calling me to do?" But some other questions are just as important: "Where is God calling me to go?" "Is God calling me to stay?" In Scripture, we see examples of God sending people to specific places, sometimes with no substantive change in what they were doing. Sometimes, the *where* matters more than the *what* to God's purposes. We also s...

Chris interviews Zack Wilson about his experience helping start LINK Kalamazoo . On a few prayer walks during the pandemic, Zack started asking, "Why couldn't something great happen here?" An initial idea for networking events evolved into a group that's helping make Kalamazoo a more vibrant place, from business partnerships to influencing the city's ten-year master plan.   LINK Kalamazoo is helpi...

When you're at a significant career juncture, how do you involve other people in your decision-making process?   It can get dicey. On the one hand, we want helpful counsel. On the other hand, we risk being judged or getting unhelpful advice. Parker J. Palmer writes about this tension that "we often privatize these vital questions in our lives: at the very moment when we need all the help we can ge...

It can be helpful to think about what God calls you to as the intersection of three circles: What You Desire (Your Deep Gladness) What the World Needs (The World's Deep Hunger) An Economic Engine (God's Practical Provision) Sometimes, a single brilliant job hits all three areas. More often, we need a combination of jobs, responsibilities, and projects that help us hit all three. And that's okay! W...

Chris interviews Dr. Karen Swallow Prior about her new book, You Have a Calling: Finding Your Vocation in the True, Good, and Beautiful . Hear about how "follow your passion" is terrible career advice, how doing ordinary things well can deeply honor God, and how calling can transcend profession and pay. Regardless of what we do for a living, all of us are called to pursue truth, goodness, and beau...

The language and idea of "calling" sometimes gets thrown around a lot in Christian circles. Not everything we tend to think or say about calling in our particular Christian subculture is necessarily rooted in the witness of Scripture. In this episode, Chris tackles four myths about calling that sometimes surface: Myth #1: You only have one, lifelong calling. Myth #2: Calling is first and foremost...

We kick off a new series with this episode— Meaningful Work: Calling, Formation, Service, and Love .   Work often feels meaningless. So what can we do both to find the meaning that's already there, and to make the work as meaningful as it can be?   As disciples of Jesus, we mean something in the world; we communicate the reality of who God is when we live in love. "As he is so also are we in this...

Chris interviews executive coach and author Melissa McCormick about her unexpected career journey. In her years as a leader at the Taylor Company , Melissa was known as a Christian for going on mission trips. But when it came to work itself, she would "leave Jesus in the car" after her morning commute. Her approach changed when she realized she could take Jesus to work with her. When she invited h...