Three Simple Principles of Faith and Work
It was not my intention as a pastor to spend a lot of time thinking about the intersection of faith and work. I fell into it as I began to work at a church that ran a yearlong faith and work intensive called Citizens. However, what I stumbled into has now become a firm conviction about discipleship.
When Paul discusses how Christians should respond upon hearing the gospel (Romans 12:1-2), he speaks of offering one’s whole self as a living sacrifice back to God. The whole person—every aspect—is to become an offering in light of grace. When exploring the dynamic of this offering further, he calls for believers to be transformed by the renewing of their minds. The alternative is being conformed to the pattern of this world. There is no third option. In every realm of life, we are either being conformed or transformed. Either we are growing into Christ's image, or we are growing into the world's pattern.
As a pastor, if I am not speaking to God's people about the work they do throughout the week, I am ceding one of their most significant domains to be conformed to the ways of the world. On the other hand, if I let God's word and gospel speak into the everyday tasks of his people, their work can become a place of extraordinary transformation to the glory of Jesus.
As a pastor, if I am not speaking to God's people about the work they do throughout the week, I am ceding one of their most significant domains to be conformed to the ways of the world.
But I know I may be speaking to busy pastors. For many, it may not be possible to add a new ministry that disciples people in their workplaces right away. So, here are a few suggestions on altering things you’re already doing in order to turn your people’s workplace into a transformative space.
1. Use Language That Connects Faith and Work
A simple reality of church life is that a pastor’s words can create norms for God's people. Every word spoken on Sunday has the power to form the spiritual vision of God's people. And it is often the case that our language unwittingly reinforces a dualism between spiritual Sundays and ordinary Mondays. Sometimes it is as simple as the way we speak of the holy thing happening in here and the mess happening out there.
Just recently, I made some remarks on how the media comments on Christian churches during our announcement time. Unknowingly—I still can't quite remember how I said it—the way I spoke of the media was entirely dismissive and disparaging. Afterwards, a journalist in the audience told me after how he felt that I was speaking directly to him. Someone else spoke of how they were surprised at how I cast a whole industry in such a bad light! In one small comment, I separated journalism and the church and reinforced a sacred-secular divide.
We can reverse this trend by using language that joins faith and work, rather than separating it. Including a prayer for an aspect of our city like its government, media, teachers, doctors, or businesses in the service’s prayer is a good start. By doing this, we explicitly connect the church with the city.
We’ve included interviews with a deputy principal, a manager of a health provider, and a management consultant in our services. We asked them about their work, the joys and pains of it, and how their faith has helped them navigate it. The principal shared how he was currently managing 800 students from another school in addition to his own, and how he might be able to make this community a little closer to heaven by managing them as best as possible. What a beautiful motivation for God's people! Highlighting church members like this can give your congregation specific examples of how to connect their faith with their daily grind.
2. Be Present in the Workplace
As pastors, one of the most powerful things we have is our physical presence. Some people even consider where we are to be holy, though this can be overstated and is not truer for us than the rest of God's people. However, it does mean that where we go, people see God going with us.
So, we can demonstrate the spiritual importance of workplaces by being present in them and visiting our people where they work. Our interest in them and what happens there shows that their work holds significance.
I bet this isn’t something that will be an addition to what many pastors already do. We are always seeing people and praying with them across our city. Maybe it's only a matter of intent—meeting with people not just to talk 'church,' but to talk 'work' as well. Ask questions like,
“How is work?”
“What kind of pressure are you under?”
“How is Jesus meeting you in that?”
“How can I help you deal with that?”
I remember how one of our artists, a videographer, invited me to check out his workspace and have lunch one day. Before we ate, he said a prayer and took me around a warehouse in Marrickville filled with artists in every nook and cranny. A vast diversity of art was being made there. He went around, introducing me as his pastor. It was so interesting—like he was inviting God into the space as he walked me through it. Afterwards, we stood in front of the warehouse, and I told him how important it was that he was in this place, praying for his work.
Imagine if I had gone to this meeting with the sole intent of talking about how he could help the church or how his small group was going. I would have missed something remarkable! Being present in people's workplace affirms it as a space of transformation.
3. Share Theology
One of the mistakes we can make as pastors is to believe we need to offer practical advice to workers. We are not workplace practitioners. We are servants of Christ and his word. Our gift to God's people is theology. It may be surprising to say, but giving a theology that detonates on Monday can be the most significant help for our people.
This year, our church did some teaching on how God is present in every part of our lives through the Spirit, forming us into the image of Jesus (2 Cor. 3:17-18). A couple of weeks later, I got a message from one of our leaders, an architect who was thankful for the teaching amid a week where everything was going wrong at work. He was comforted by the fact that God was with him and working through him despite his difficulties.
In a recent Sunday interview, a manager of a health provider spoke of the complexity she faced at work in managing people and projects. It seemed challenging to integrate faith and work with so many different issues happening, but she was thankful for the way the arcs of the biblical story—creation, fall, redemption—provided a lens to make sense of any issue. She could hold any problem up and ask, “What’s good? What’s wrong? How does the gospel speak about this? What could it look like in God’s future?” This theology is a way for our congregations to make sense of redundancies, frustrating emails, and impossible deadlines—and have hope to overcome them.
One alumni of Citizens, a researching teacher, said that she could not do the work she does without the doctrine of common grace. The knowledge that God by his Spirit is working in all people meant she could partner with non-Christian people to do things that bring the glory of Christ. She could work to form Christian men at her school no matter who her colleagues were.
God's word is remarkable enough to speak into the complexity of any space. Whatever someone is facing in life, the word of God is its match.
We have good theology, but we don't often apply it on the ground. We don't let it detonate. Theology is a great gift to workers. The word of God is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16), with the result that we are equipped for every good work (v. 17). Deploying good theology into the workplace is a gift. God's word is remarkable enough to speak into the complexity of any space. Whatever someone is facing in life, the word of God is its match. In my experience, it is theology—not just a verse—that speaks most clearly.
Of course, for Paul in Romans 12, everything is done “in view of God's mercy.” It is the gospel, the remarkable way in which Jesus redeemed us wholly from the state of sin, adopted us, and made us righteous, which needs to detonate in the workplace.
The grace and glory of the Lord Jesus is a match for whatever mess we find ourselves in at work. Our Christ is Lord over our work, so we can continue to work when we are powerless and things are out of our control. What a wonder for God’s people to walk in Monday morning and find their Lord at their desk before the day begins!
About the Author
Matt Aroney is a pastor at Newtown Erskineville Anglican Church in Sydney, Australia. He is married to Kass, and the two have a daughter, Lucy. He studied at Moore Theological College and developed the faith and work fellowship Citizens.