By Jordan Ballor That human beings were created to be creators, to work, is undeniable. The anthropological concept of homo faber, man the tool-maker, attests to this basic aspect of what it means to be human. From a Christian perspective, we confess that human beings make things in a way that imitates their Maker. While God creates “out of nothing” (ex nihilo) and then orders and arranges it, we create in a creaturely way, dependent on God’s primary acts of creation.... Read more
By Heidi Segal Spend half a moment in the workaday world and likely you’ll hear the phrase,”it’s nothing personal, it’s just business.” What does that mean, exactly? Is the marketplace uninhabited by people, disengaged from unique personalities and talents? For some, the phrase carries an esteemed objectivity corresponding to expeditious logic or a lifeless bottom-line. It provides assurance that a decision was made apart from personality and bears no responsibility for potential broken relationships or hardship. But if a course... Read more
By Charlie Self One of our favorite coffee shops when we lived in Washington, D.C. in the 1980s was The Daily Grind. The name’s humorous wordplay about everyday work and the delicious fresh-roasted coffee made us smile. But too many of God’s people are not smiling as their alarms sound and they head to their daily tasks. Recent surveys reveal their deep dissatisfaction in their jobs, with few finding joy and significance in their efforts. Last year, Barna Groupreported 75 percent... Read more
By Joseph Sunde In the latest addition to Mike Rowe’s growing catalog of pointed Facebook responses, the former Dirty Jobs host tackles a question on the minimum wage, answering a man named “Darrell Paul,” who asks: The federal minimum wage is $7.25 and hour. A lot of people think it should be raised to $10.10. Seattle now pays $15 an hour, and the The Freedom Socialist Party is demanding a $20 living wage for every working person. What do you think about the minimum wage? How... Read more
By Joe Carter Over the past two decades there has been an increased interest and promotion of the Biblical meaning of work and the Christian view of vocation. Many groups have contributed to this revival, but while the faith and work conversation has been exceedingly fruitful, it has also been rather limited to what can be described as “knowledge workers.” As Comment’s Brian Dijkema says: [W]e fall into the trap of taking Andy Crouch’s Culture Making and equating it with a baptized version... Read more
By Anthony Bradley Every day matters. This is the very simple message of what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God and to live one’s life to the glory of God. You don’t need to be “missional.” You don’t even need to be “radical” (especially since radical commonly means “very different from the norm”). In fact, the Bible does not encourage superlative adjectives to describe following Christ at all. Adjectival superlatives tend to create new forms... Read more
By Joseph Sunde “By putting male and female together as the image of God, there’s something very powerful being said about the rest of creation… about how the male and female together have the task of bringing the love and life and stewardship and care of creation of God into the rest of the world.” –N.T. Wright Christians believe that all humans are created in the image of God, a notion that shapes our understanding of human dignity and transforms... Read more
By Jordan Ballor One of the complaints often rendered against the market economy is that it encourages selfish behavior. This picture of the marketplace is that of a kind of war of all against all, with each participant out only to maximize his or her own individual benefit. As American social gospel advocate Walter Rauschenbusch contended in his Christianizing the Social Order, “The trader has always been the outstanding case of the man who plays his own hand and sacrifices social... Read more
By Evan Koons I think I was in kindergarten. It might have been preschool (both classes shared the same room, the same sandbox, same reading and napping cubbies, and the same head lice). I know I wasn’t in first grade (or Grade One for my Canadian friends). First grade, Ms. Knapper’s class, was at the opposite end of the hall and cluttered with old sets from school plays and art supplies. An old beehive hung from the ceiling. Somewhere in the chaos was a... Read more
By Abraham Kuyper The following is an excerpt from Abraham Kuyper’s Rooted and Grounded, reprinted here with permission from Christian’s Library Press. Creation was fashioned by God, fashioned with life that surges and scintillates in its bosom, fashioned with the powers that lie dormant in its womb. Yet, lying there, it displayed but half its beauty. Now, however, God crowns it with humanity, who awakens its life, arouses its powers, and with human hands brings to light the glory that... Read more
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