Ready, Set, Serve!

As I write this, my family and I are preparing for an Easter weekend of poignant worship from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. In those short three days, we Christians celebrate the dramatic journey of Jesus Christ from death to resurrection. In our own lives, it is a time to remind ourselves that Jesus died for our sins so that we can live life to the fullest!

When it comes to work, this translates to servant leadership – taking the initiative to serve others at work to God’s standards – while joyfully embracing the inevitable “ups” and “downs” in the experience. We pray for God’s guidance at work and we do our best to discern His plans for us at work. Now it’s time to act.

Mobilizing Marketplace Ministers
In myriad ways, God calls us to mobilize as ministers to the marketplace. He calls us to play our part in advancing His kingdom at work. This can sound like an abstract concept, but it becomes simple when we understand the application at our work place.

For example, consider the high school teacher who recognizes that she is not just imparting knowledge to her students, but is also modeling the Christian walk at school. She internalizes the spirit of Colossians 3:23-24: she views God as her boss. And she brings her best integrity and efforts to her classroom teaching and relationships with students and faculty.

How can you act on God’s behalf through the work He has entrusted to you?

From Collision to Intersection

I have a number of Christian friends and colleagues who might describe themselves as “prayer warriors”. They take prayer very seriously, and their prayers encompass the working world. Many of them think planning in the marketplace is “unnecessary” or even “sacrilegious”. They expect that in answering their prayers, God will handle all the details.

I also have a number of Christian friends and colleagues who might describe themselves as “movers and shakers” in the marketplace. They are ambitious, and would say that “failing to plan is planning to fail”. They are intense pragmatists, typically omitting prayer from their process because they see it as impractical.

For many working Christians, combining prayer and planning seems to be a collision of beliefs. Let me encourage you to consider these two tools work best together, and that the intersection of prayer and planning is powerful. If you don’t believe me, re-read Nehemiah’s journey in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem!