[Monday's Devotional] - Work

Work is a big part of our lives for the majority of people, whether at home or in places of paid employment, yet often it is not given the airtime in churches that it perhaps deserves.  Many churches will readily pray for the ordained and lay ministries of the church, but what about those in secular employment?  Are they not part of the church too, and equally following God’s calling to be his witnesses in those places of work?  You could argue that Christians in secular employment are more critical in taking the gospel message to the world, as they are in the mission field of the workplace.

Work can also be a big source of stress for many, normally due to too much or too little work or difficult working relationships.  Often such pressures will dominate people’s thinking, even as they gather to worship God on a Sunday morning.  Surely this is something that needs more prayer.

These are some of the arguments put forward by Mark Green, Executive Director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.  He argues for stronger integration of the sacred and secular, so we are fully equipped to live non-compartmentalised lives of faith, and be sure of God’s purpose and presence with us as we work.  As we do so our work can become our worship, and we become “whole life disciples of Christ”.

Yet, for many Christians, there is a divide between work and faith.  It can feel so hard to talk about God at work, which only makes the gap seem wider.  Despite being told that  God loves us on Sunday, it might not feel like it when the boss hauls us into the office on a Monday morning, or we have a pile of tedious paperwork to go through.

So this week, I will be relating the experience of some members of m2o, most of whom have either recently retired or are approaching retirement, and therefore have a whole career to report back on. I will try and draw something each day that is “devotional” – to help us see God is alive in our workplaces and that will hopefully encourage us in our work

Today, if you are feeling weighed down by your work, your lack of witness there, lacking a sense of calling or finding it difficult for whatever reason, remember that Jesus said his “yoke is easy and his burden light”.  That is not to say that work is easy, it often isn’t, but sometimes the guilt or expectation we place on ourselves, or our work places on us, is greater than the one we should be bearing.  Hopefully as we learn who we are in Christ our workload seems lighter.  Ask Him today what you should take up and what you should put down.  Is there something you could do to transform a difficult relationship?  Maybe seek out someone to talk to about these things.

Jon Seaton