The Fallacy of Full-Time Christian Work

If you are a Christ follower, you are a minister regardless of what you do for a living. Fourteen years ago I would not have said that nor would I have agreed with the notion of marketplace ministry.

Over the last 5 years, as the Lord has grown our business, we have seen Him touch many people through our work. We find people talk to us more as ‘secular’ workers than ministers of the Gospel. Often folks would put on their ‘church’ face when we were the official chaplain of a series. Rarely would they be real in how they spoke with us or what they would share with myself or my wife simply because they did not want to offend us because of who we were.

That changed dramatically the further we got from being a series chaplain. New places bring us new faces with opportunity after opportunity to simply be Jesus to a hurting world. Often folks just want to talk about what’s happening in their lives, the good, the bad and the ugly. Listening is very important, talking is not. If they are looking for guidance, they will ask for your opinion on their situation.

As you work today, take time to stop and listen to the heart of those around you, what you hear may surprise you.

Blessings

The Fallacy of Full-Time Christian Work
by Os Hillman

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” – Colossians 3:23-24

“I didn’t know you were in full-time Christian work,” said my close friend as we were driving. “I didn’t realize that,” she went on. I responded, “Every person who has followed the will of God in their life is in full-time Christian work.” God calls some to the mission field, others to be accountants, and others to be advertising executives, and still others to be construction workers. God never made a distinction between sacred and secular. In fact, the Hebrew word avodah is the root word having the same meaning of “work” and “worship.” God sees our work as worship.

We have incorrectly elevated the role of the Christian worker to be more holy and committed than the person who is serving in a more secular environment. Yet the call to the secular workplace is as important as any other calling. God has to have His people in every sphere of life. Otherwise, many would never come to know Him because they would be separated from society.

I learned this lesson personally when I sought to go into “full-time” service as a pastor in my late twenties, only to have God thrust me back into the business world unwillingly. This turned out to be the best thing He could have done for me, because it was never His will for me to be a pastor. He knew I was more suited for the workplace.

We are all in missions. Some are called to foreign lands. Some are called to the jungles of the workplace. Wherever you are called, serve the Lord in that place. Let Him demonstrate His power through your life so that others might experience Him through you today and see your vocation as worship to His glory.