{"id":1369,"date":"2013-01-22T09:20:54","date_gmt":"2013-01-22T16:20:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/?p=1369"},"modified":"2013-01-22T10:22:45","modified_gmt":"2013-01-22T17:22:45","slug":"work-as-mission-vocation-and-learning-what-to-count","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2013\/01\/work-as-mission-vocation-and-learning-what-to-count.html","title":{"rendered":"Work as Mission: Vocation and Learning What to Count"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/iframe>Most of us will spend somewhere around 65% of our waking hours working. If work is not seen as a holy thing, if work is not counted as an essential aspect of our contribution to the mission of God, then no wonder our work isn\u2019t fulfilling. No wonder it feels like toil. Work is one of the most significant ways a human being can participate in the mission of God. Churches do a great disservice to their congregations when they do not teach them that work is a holy thing. The Christian concept of vocation transcends profession\/occupation. Our vocation \u2013 our job \u2013 is to image God to all creation in every aspect of our lives including work.<\/p>\nWhen people do not experience this it can cause all sorts of problems.<\/p>\nI feel very fortunate that a big part of my job involves writing, which I love to do. From blog posts to articles, books to sermons, I spend much of my time trying to create something beautiful and interesting in the hope that these sentences might provoke others to an experience of the divine, a\u00a0transcendent\u00a0experience of true understanding. That I get to do a lot of this at Panera on 119th and Black Bob in KC is a perk of the job.<\/p>\nI work while sitting at a cafe table in Panera so often that I\u2019m beginning to get to know people who work there a little bit. One person in particular has worked there for a couple of years. She\u2019s an outspoken Christian and often talks to me about what I\u2019m writing. At the same time I\u2019ve noticed that she has a very antagonistic relationship with her fellow employees and her bosses. They are treated as thought they are the enemy, a distraction or temptation which must be resisted and overcome, and as a result she is constantly at the center of the workplace drama of the day. My friend is hedging her heart against those she works with so as not to be tainted by their decadence or (what she would call), lax morality. I wonder if she is missing the beauty of work as mission, work as participation in the mission of God \u2013 the redemption of all things.<\/p>\nEven the worst job or working situation can be a great place in which to participate in redemptive living. Even the most soul-crushing job can be an essential part of our own discipleship, and beautiful part of how we have been called to bear witness to the goodness of God. Your mission is always the person sitting next to you: at home, at work, at church, at play, and at rest.<\/p>\nThis is the subject of Chapter 02 in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Public-Jesus-Exposing-Nature-Community\/dp\/0834127695\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358874868&sr=8-1&keywords=public+jesus\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Public Jesus<\/em><\/a>. It\u2019s called Vocation: Learning to Count the Right Things. I hope you\u2019ll take the time to pick up the book. Here\u2019s a link to the 5 min. video that accompanies this chapter.<\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/40538537\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Public Jesus \u2013 Chapter 02 Video<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most of us will spend somewhere around 65% of our waking hours working. If work is not seen as a holy thing, if work is not counted as an essential aspect of our contribution to the mission of God, then no wonder our work isn\u2019t fulfilling. No wonder it feels like toil. Work is one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[381,95,11,379,6,380],"class_list":["post-1369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-mission","tag-missional-leadership","tag-public-jesus","tag-the-house-studio","tag-tim-suttle","tag-vocation"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Work as Mission: Vocation and Learning What to Count<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Most of us will spend somewhere around 65% of our waking hours working. 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