Some Thoughts
I was reading Ravi's book, The grand weaver. Very good book.
But something struck me as being very true:
We say there is a sacred secular divide. That is not true. The opposite of sacred is not secular; it is profane.
What Zacharias was trying to put forward was his thesis that we are all temples of God; every place that we are in in actually a sacred place. Every job we enter is a sacred task. Set apart for God's purposes.
Then i was thinking: So many times we christians are called into the working world, we think we are not doing God's work. Actually, if you are working in the so called secular world, then you have two jobs.
Some definitions before i go on. I come to see that there are some jobs that should be held separate from the rest, no matter what people say. Church work is one. Full time church staff must be called; the levities are a chosen people out of a chosen people, set apart for service in the temple. I take it that unless we are called, do not consider church as a vocation. Do not close the door, but do not pray about it unless you feel there is a call. Church work is not of equal standing, not because it is holier, but because it is God's temple and He calls people to it.
Secondly, mission work. I define it as when a person, out of a call of God, goes out to the field to evangelise through the love of Jesus to the people. Such a person does not hold a job; they are funded by either church or others. I set these vocations apart for the reason, you are doing the work of God only. Spreading his love.
Why that definition? I have come to see people who are called into the marketplace, whether in business, in government, in non-church, non-missionary organisation, they will hold two jobs.
One is to evangelism through the love of Jesus. The default of any christian. The second, is to do their job the best they can. Neither is more important. Jesus never said to neglect our day jobs; when the tax collectors and army people asked Him what they should do, Jesus simply told them to do what was right and not collect more then authorised, in other words, fulfill your function. I believe that this call is as important as the first. In any job, we must do it well. We must excel at what we are called to do, in that field we must excel.
Ultimately, being a christian is the working world is not more glamorous nor more important nor less than those of the church or mission. It involves the christian to be fully who God made him to be. A light of the world. To shine for Jesus.
But something struck me as being very true:
We say there is a sacred secular divide. That is not true. The opposite of sacred is not secular; it is profane.
What Zacharias was trying to put forward was his thesis that we are all temples of God; every place that we are in in actually a sacred place. Every job we enter is a sacred task. Set apart for God's purposes.
Then i was thinking: So many times we christians are called into the working world, we think we are not doing God's work. Actually, if you are working in the so called secular world, then you have two jobs.
Some definitions before i go on. I come to see that there are some jobs that should be held separate from the rest, no matter what people say. Church work is one. Full time church staff must be called; the levities are a chosen people out of a chosen people, set apart for service in the temple. I take it that unless we are called, do not consider church as a vocation. Do not close the door, but do not pray about it unless you feel there is a call. Church work is not of equal standing, not because it is holier, but because it is God's temple and He calls people to it.
Secondly, mission work. I define it as when a person, out of a call of God, goes out to the field to evangelise through the love of Jesus to the people. Such a person does not hold a job; they are funded by either church or others. I set these vocations apart for the reason, you are doing the work of God only. Spreading his love.
Why that definition? I have come to see people who are called into the marketplace, whether in business, in government, in non-church, non-missionary organisation, they will hold two jobs.
One is to evangelism through the love of Jesus. The default of any christian. The second, is to do their job the best they can. Neither is more important. Jesus never said to neglect our day jobs; when the tax collectors and army people asked Him what they should do, Jesus simply told them to do what was right and not collect more then authorised, in other words, fulfill your function. I believe that this call is as important as the first. In any job, we must do it well. We must excel at what we are called to do, in that field we must excel.
Ultimately, being a christian is the working world is not more glamorous nor more important nor less than those of the church or mission. It involves the christian to be fully who God made him to be. A light of the world. To shine for Jesus.
posted by W | Wednesday, November 07, 2007
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