By Ann Boyd It’s not even 8:00 in the morning and I’m looking at a list of over a dozen things to get done — editing to take care of, dishes to wash, laundry to fold, and my email inbox is raging out of control. As I sit for a few minutes to pray and plan the day, I think again about Mary and Martha. Mary “chose the better part,” and I do appreciate that — but what about the... Read more
By Gregory F. Augustine Pierce There are many Christian virtues that managers can practice. I define a Christian virtue as “a habit based on a long-standing belief that God is love.” Here are seven such virtues, with a quote for each from the Letter to the Romans as translated by Rev. Eugene Peterson in The Message. The Virtue of Empowering/Teaching This virtue is based on the idea that helping others reach their potential is our vocation (or at least one... Read more
By Ann Boyd For the past few years, I’ve been ruminating on the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10 — a relevant passage for this period in my life as a wife, mother, writer, editor, teacher, and household manager. It’s very easy to be a “Martha” these days that are not full of “Mary” moments, but I find that I sometimes resent the distinction. Do we have to set Martha and Mary up in a sinner/saint comparison? Don’t... Read more
Our Twitter handle for the Patheos Faith and Work Channel has changed: the channel now tweets under @PatheosFthWork. Same great content, better reflection of the fact that “MISSION:WORK” is just one of the great blogs on the channel. And, I promised to feature our 700th follower. It turned out to be Joel Hamernick of Sunshine Gospel Mission, who was part of our Community Development Forum. Follow Joel and SGM for more on how they are bringing hope and economic renewal... Read more
We’re returning to our occasional series of posts on work and vocation (linked at the bottom of this post) in Christian history by Faith and Work Channel senior editor and Christian History magazine senior editor Chris Armstrong. Enjoy! The contemplative vs. the active life A key moment in Christian thought about economic work came in the 6th-century papacy of Gregory the Great. Gregory was a monk, and remained one during his papacy—the first pope to do so. He had been... Read more
By Brian Gray Earlier this year, the New York Times helped you answer the question “Why You Hate Work.” But before you balk at that massive assumption, research by Gallup suggests that only 30% of Americans “feel engaged at work.” That drops to only 13% when the population extends internationally across a sample from 142 countries. “The way people feel at work profoundly influences how they perform,” claims The Energy Project, the business consultancy group behind the research and writing... Read more
We’re returning to our occasional series of posts on work and vocation (linked at the bottom of this post) in Christian history by Faith and Work Channel senior editor and Christian History magazine senior editor Chris Armstrong. Enjoy! Having laid a biblical basis for thinking about work, I’d like to take us now on something of a whirlwind tour through some of the different ways the historical church has viewed work, vocation, and economics. Is there a theological tradition, rooted... Read more
We’re returning to our occasional series of posts on work and vocation (linked at the bottom of this post) in Christian history by Faith and Work Channel senior editor and Christian History magazine senior editor Chris Armstrong. Enjoy! The current series of posts (starting here) has been sketching a theological understanding of work and vocation, drawing from Tim Keller and Katherine Leary Alsdorf’s excellent book Every Good Endeavor. The last two posts have tapped traditional Christian understandings of Creation and Incarnation... Read more
This poem is shared here as part of a Patheos-wide series of Advent meditations. Read the others here. Anything Useful If you came to church for anything useful today, forget it. Anything practical: three points to help you in the Monday workplace, two tips for witnessing to your coworkers, five guides to a good marriage. If you came to church for the hats, coffee, cookies, friends, family, cheese, pew cushions, happy songs, warm feelings, or even a blessing, forget it.... Read more
(Originally published in September 2014 at the KPN Resources blog.) I recently was asked a truly startling question while giving a talk on the church and economics. It was a question that shows how some efforts to speak out for justice can actually undermine justice. If we misidentify the source of injustice, we will not only fail to fight it, but may actually become its unwitting accomplices. I had argued that in spite of the serious challenges it creates, the... Read more
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