In this article, I continue exploring the idea of “What is Church?”
I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine about work in general and this idea of “working for the Kingdom.” There were many things brought into the conversation. Once again, I chewed on this idea of church, faith, work, and our assumptions. It made me realize that I do sometimes get lost swimming in my home culture here in Atlantic Canada. These are not new ideas but are deeply rooted in old arguments and assumptions. I do think it is always good to continue the conversation. I will confine this opinion piece to two points: I put forward that all Believers work for the kingdom of God and all Believers live by faith. Or at least should.
clean up after the South Asian tsunami
Work is good. We had work before the Fall. After the Fall we wound up with toil mixed in with work. As with everything, Jesus needs to be the centre. Jesus should be the centre of all that we are as Believers. It is not about achieving any kind of balance but some dynamic bit of astrophysics. All that we are revolves around the weightiest thing in our universe—Jesus. All Believers work for the Kingdom of God. It isn’t just pastors and full-time church folk, every disciple works for the kingdom. Whether you work in healthcare, sciences, education, the arts, or service industry, you work for the Kingdom and all you do should be for the growth of the Kingdom with Jesus at the centre. You are a family in the Kingdom of God and you attend meetings in fellowship with the rest of the Church. The Church is everywhere in many industries. Is Jesus the centre of all you do?
This means there is no hierarchy of job. The assumption that only those who are in full-time ministry of some sort are ‘working for the Kingdom’ is false. Or at least it is a false assumption of what should be. People treat things differently in practice. They do not operate like a follower of Jesus in their job. This is the classic secular-sacred divide. The fact is, everything is sacred and the only thing that is secular is sin. Regardless of who signs your cheque, Believers work for the Kingdom. There are many implications to this fact. It should mean that one works to the best of their ability, cares for others, builds community, and more.
This helps us to understand money and provision too. All the money in a Believers pocket belongs to God. Believers are stewards (remember the story of the talents). All Disciples live by faith, or should. It isn’t simply those who raise money while in full-time ministry that live by faith. The fact that you have a job should be one of faith in God’s provision. The fact that you have the ability to work, that there is even an industry for you to work in, and that you have a job tomorrow is one of faith. Is it faith in Jesus? Or is it faith in your employer? Or faith in capitalism? It is definitely faith IN something? So where is the faith you live in placed?
There is a lot of culture wrapped up in the idea of work itself let alone this misleading statement ‘working for the Kingdom.’ Western culture dictates busyness is work, the amount of hours spend busy and doing is work. There is also this false idea of leading a balanced life which is a subject for another time. The ideas of ‘my money’ and ‘I decide what to do with my money’ are very influenced by culture.
I realized I haven’t referenced any Bible verses directly. Look at the first bits of Genesis, the parables about the Kingdom, read about the Church exploring theses things in different cultural contexts. Talk to people who have broader experiences.
It is very easy for me personally to work a lot. To work so that Jesus is not the centre of the work, or my family, or my community but work is the centre of work, my family, my community. That is bad. I want Jesus to be the centre. I will continue to explore the conversation that all Believers work for the kingdom of God and all Believers live by faith.
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