{"id":629,"date":"2008-12-08T19:51:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-09T02:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.195.124.95\/~redletu4\/elephants-in-the-pews\/"},"modified":"2008-12-08T19:51:00","modified_gmt":"2008-12-09T02:51:00","slug":"elephants-in-the-pews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/elephants-in-the-pews\/","title":{"rendered":"Elephants in the pews"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>Amidst the songs and sermons and outreach and discipleship that goes on in today\u2019s churches, there is an elephant in the sanctuary \u2013 a silent, unspoken force.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the workplace.<\/em><\/p>\n

Secular work is rarely discussed from the pulpit, despite the fact that the vast majority of Christians spend most of their time at the workplace. We have sermons, seminars, Bible studies and workgroups that support Finances, Family, Spiritual gifts and even sex are given full measures of support.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s a rare sermon about how to do our work \u2018as unto the Lord.\u201d It\u2019s a forgotten 12-week Bible Study on how to function as a believer in the workplace. It\u2019s a nonexistent commissioning of a person to \u2018go out the world\u2019 of a new secular job or profession.<\/p>\n

What is your suggestion on how to bring this creature out into the open? How can we make this taboo subject an integral part of modern ministry?<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
Please, share with a friend if you feel moved.
\nRead all past issues at http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amidst the songs and sermons and outreach and discipleship that goes on in today\u2019s churches, there is an elephant in the sanctuary \u2013 a silent, unspoken force. It\u2019s the workplace. Secular work is rarely discussed from the pulpit, despite the fact that the vast majority of Christians spend most of their time at the workplace. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2375,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[936],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-value-of-work"],"yoast_head":"\nElephants in the pews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amidst the songs and sermons and outreach and discipleship that goes on in today\u2019s churches, there is an elephant in the sanctuary \u2013 a silent, unspoken\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/elephants-in-the-pews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Elephants in the pews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amidst the songs and sermons and outreach and discipleship that goes on in today\u2019s churches, there is an elephant in the sanctuary \u2013 a silent, unspoken\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/elephants-in-the-pews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-12-09T02:51:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_Y6qRWSwMJs8\/R6CsB6q21II\/AAAAAAAACGg\/lh-MFY4aSWs\/s320\/elephant.bmp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@rupzip\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/elephants-in-the-pews\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/elephants-in-the-pews\/\",\"name\":\"Elephants in the pews\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-12-09T02:51:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-12-09T02:51:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81\"},\"description\":\"Amidst the songs and sermons and outreach and discipleship that goes on in today\u2019s churches, there is an elephant in the sanctuary \u2013 a silent, unspoken\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/elephants-in-the-pews\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/elephants-in-the-pews\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/elephants-in-the-pews\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Elephants in the pews\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/\",\"name\":\"David Rupert\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81\",\"name\":\"David Rupert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Rupert\"},\"description\":\"I am a communication professional who has a passion for people. 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