Finding God at Work

In their journey toward Jesus, our friends eventually may get to the point where they ask, "Could this change me?" Sometimes it sneaks up on people unexpectedly. They've been exploring ideas or talking with a Christian friend, and suddenly they realize, "Something is happening inside of me." We want to be really attentive to this moment when it's happening for someone. We can help them begin to co...

In this special episode, Chris interviews Weija Chang and Rose Brucal, his coworkers and co-conspirators at Northern Illinois Food Bank. These three started an unofficial lunchtime discussion group together called Hungry for More, a place where coworkers have permission to talk about the issues that often get skipped over at work: faith, politics, social issues, and more. Listen up to hear how the...

In the New Testament, we see the Good News being proclaimed to and through communities of people.  Sharing the Good News is not a solo endeavor. It's something that we do together in community with other believers. But what does that look like when you're at work? It's not like your whole church goes to work with you. What if you could be the one to catalyze disciples of Jesus coming together in y...

Many people are not antagonistic toward Christianity, but they aren't deeply curious about it either. They're just doing life, moving along. They might have some awareness of Jesus and some Christian friends. But it's just not their driving concern at the moment. So the question is, how can we come alongside people and help gently provoke curiosity? We don't need to be anxious about it. We're just...

In Luke 18, Jesus asks a man who was blind, "What do you want me to do for you?" He doesn't assume. He asks. He lets the man speak in his own voice. He honors his autonomy. Then a moment of faith and healing occurs. We can learn to do the same as our Master: Listening well, in a way that lets others speak in their own voices. We can . . .  Q U - Ask questions to understand P - Paraphrase what they...

Who do you trust most? Trust is foundational to our relationship with God. Think about faith: In terms of covenant, faith is loyalty. In terms of the intellect, faith is belief. In terms of relationship, faith is trust. If we want to help others come to see Jesus as worthy of their trust, we have to become trustworthy ourselves. Sources: Don Everts and Doug Schaupp, I Once Was Lost: What Postmoder...

Have you ever had a really good teacher? Part of what makes a teacher great is their ability to see where their student's "zone of proximal development" is. What is the next step that this student can take that's going to be challenging, but that they can master with guidance and help? People also need guidance on taking their next steps in faith. Don Everts and Doug Schaupp, two leaders from Inte...

There's no verse in the Bible that commands everyday disciples to share the Good News with other people. The Great Commission? Addressed to the apostles. "Do the work of an evangelist" (2 Timothy 4:5)? Addressed to a pastor. If you really hate the idea of evangelism, you've got an out. You're not commanded to do it. But you are commanded to "always be ready" (1 Peter 3:15) if someone asks you. Thi...

What is "eternal life"? People often assume that this phrase simply means life that doesn't end. An unending sequence of lived experience, stretching into a future beyond the length of time we can imagine. But as many astute thinkers have pointed out, if the only thing that changes about your life is that it *keeps going,* that's not very good news. It could, in fact, be bad news.  When the phrase...

Healing is part of the Good News. It's Good News that Jesus has power to heal. It's Good News that people can come to him in faith and receive healing. It's Good News that Jesus heals not only the wound, but also the shame that goes with it. As we think about proclaiming the Good News at work, we realize we are called to minister the healing presence of Jesus to those around us. A daunting calling...

Kingdom. Redemption. Deliverance. There are so many beautiful images from Scripture that describe what God has done, is doing, and will do in the world. Perhaps no single term is as commonly referenced—or as commonly misunderstood—as "salvation." Salvation is not less than forgiveness. But it is more.  Salvation is a life. Sources: Colossians 1:13-14 (ESV) C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York:...

What is the Good News about Jesus, really?   Sometimes we use transactional language to describe atonement, what Jesus accomplished on the cross. But the Good News is much more like a wedding than a business transaction. It's not two-dimensional "barcode faith"—getting scanned the right way so you go to the right destination. It's an announcement about what God is doing in the world, and how anyon...

We kick off a new series with this episode— Gentle Witnesses: Sharing Your Faith at Work In A Way That Actually Makes Sense . If you've had a life-changing encounter with Jesus, it makes sense that you would want to share your faith with others. But have you ever felt stuck about how to share your faith?   We know that there are obnoxious and forced and even manipulative ways to "share your faith....

In this bonus episode for Series 2, Chris interviews Mike Henry, Sr., founder of Follower of One, a global community helping others move one notch closer to Jesus. Mike shares his story of coming to faith and learning that his job *is* his mission field. Chris shares a testimony of participating in a recent Marketplace Mission Trip hosted by Follower of One.   Join Follower of One for Marketplace...

Only living things can bear fruit. A rock can move around, but it can't move itself around. It can't grow. It can't reproduce. It can't bear fruit. The Bible is the story of how God gives us a certain kind of life. He gives us a kind of life that lets us bear fruit. He leads us into a way of life where we can choose our deepest and truest desires over our more superficial ones. He makes it possibl...

If you could name the one thing that matters most, what would you say?   In Galatians 5, the Apostle Paul "shows his cards." He tells us what he thinks, in the end, really matters: "The only thing that counts is faith working through love" (5:6 NRSVue).   But what does it mean for faith to "work through love"?   We know that we're saved by faith. The same faith that saves us also, by God's grace,...

Sometimes at work, I just feel stuck. Sometimes I feel stuck somewhere dangerous. What's going to happen to me here? Sometimes I feel stuck all alone. No one's got my back. No one's in my corner. I have to fend for myself. When we're stuck fending for ourselves, it's hard to feel free. We turn inward on ourselves. Jesus offers us a different way. He helps us uncoil our spines and rest in the love...

Way back in the 400s BC, the Greek playwright Euripides wrote, "For among mortals happy man is none."   In other words, nobody's happy.   It's easy to feel helpless against the vicissitudes of life. One day things are going our way; the next, tragedy strikes.   What would it even look like to experience truly *secure* well-being?   When we turn to the teaching of Jesus, we discover good news about...

Scholars describe "emotional contagion": the way we feel affects the people around us. You can "catch" anger, cynicism, and despair from the people around you. Emotions like these drive violent conflict all around the world, and the more mundane conflicts in our workplaces. But you can also catch peace. You catch it from the Lord: "I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right ha...

When do we get impatient with someone? When they throw a roadblock in our agenda. Rather than pushing ahead to whatever place we want to be, patience allows us to be present right here, right now. Whether we're waiting for the workday to be over, or for a job offer to come through, or for a coworker to finish their part of a project—there's something there for us *now* that we often miss. Get more...

Does kindness count at work? The norm at work is being nice: superficial social harmony. But the kindness that the Spirit produces starts in the heart. Going through the work day is an obstacle course. Not just in terms of everything we have to get done, but also in terms of doing each of those things *with kindness* to everyone around us. The Holy Spirit is our coach as we face this obstacle cour...

It sure seems like certain dogs are better than certain people. But what makes a person "go bad"? Or, to put it positively: What does it mean to be a good person? If we don't have a sense of what it means to be a good person, we don't know how to live. But people who try really hard to "be good"—especially religious people—often end up "going bad" in a different way: They get self-righteous, triba...

If someone is faithful, that means you can count on them. They're sturdy. They're reliable. When the Bible uses the word "faithfulness," it's often talking about the covenant God made with his people. He swore to be true to them. God proves his faithfulness by sending his Holy Spirit to fulfill his covenant in us, from the inside out. We can be true to each other because God is true to us. We can...

Our working world is often harsh.   But gentleness is part of the fruit of the Spirit.   What is gentleness? A tender response to the weakness of others.   When a coworker shows weakness, how do we respond? With judgment, or with compassion?   When we begin to view human beings as precious, like Jesus does, then we begin to respond to their weaknesses differently.   If we see Jesus as someone who...

We kick back against self-control because we want freedom, we want to be able to choose. But self-control is actually all about finally being able to choose. It's the restoration of your will to the C-suite of your life. Often, something else is in charge of our lives: our bodily habits (whether we want them to be or not). The body makes a good servant but a bad master. By the power of the Holy Sp...