Today, we spend the majority of our waking hours at work, yet frequently struggle to see our faith and vocation intersect.
All too often, as followers of Christ we are caught in either a paradigm of cultural accommodation or cultural withdrawal. We tend to pick sides, having our reasons and "justified" fears for why one is more right than the other. In both cases, work is not seen as an environment where one lives on mission with the gospel to see renewal. Jesus' encouragement to be both salt and light in the world for the common good can seem so simple and yet so complex. On the one hand, the main danger is stated as cultural indifference, and yet on the other is one of withdrawal and irrelevance. One is never persecuted and the other is never seen (though some would argue both are neither seen).
So much has been written about work over the centuries. From Karl Marx's economic idealism to Max Weber's commentary of "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism", from Dorothy Sayers' "Why work" to Michael Novak's "Business as Calling... we could speak of Aristotle, Tolstoy, Calvin and Augustine who all speak at length on work as vocation and co-creation, along with its necessity as well as its limits.
In the end, we desire to see the gospel shape the way in which we live, the story
in which we live, and how the church operates with authenticity within the broader community. God has called each one of us with our gifts, talents and calling, whether in finance or the arts, education or health care, administration or another vocation to be light and salt...
...evidencing wisdom and grace to the community of people we work amongst.
It's here we journey together, learn together, go together in humility and faith to
see renewal and hope season our city for their joy and God's praise.