Jun 09
Rumble in the Jungle
Uncategorized 3 Comments »
If you’re in Perth and you’re a worker there’s a good conference on this Saturday dealing with the world of work and being a Christian.? It’s called “Welcome to the Jungle” – an apt name in many peoples’ minds.
I’m running a workshop with John Raston “Godliness in the Workplace” and we’re trying to push things beyond the “don’t steal the pencils and don’t swear all the time” (though we don’t advise either of this).? It’s been quite challenging.? One of the things we want to stress is that godliness in the workplace is actually an extension of godliness in the rest of life.?
I dunno about you, but that’s pretty challenging.? After doing the nine-to-five again thing this year after a long lay-off I can say that the biggest challenges I have faced in the workplace revolve around that level of consistency.? When I worked in ministry it was a little easier to be outwardly “consistent” because generally I was surrounded by co-workers (did he say “generally? – Ed) who held to the same moral framework.? There wasn’t a tendency to slip into the more degenerate conversations that seem to permeate most workplaces.? Now I find myself less enamoured with my own conversation from time to time.? It’s something to watch.
Conversely one of the other key issues that John and I want to discuss is the need to avoid moralism and the sense of superiority it betrays to work colleagues.? In fact if anything we have the opportunity to show how liberating it is to not always have to be seen to be right.? After all if we do believe the gospel then the need to be right? all of the time should have been left waaaay behind. Part of our discipleship (and of our evangelism) is having the freedom to be transparent about who we are and our own struggles.
I have to admit? work this year has? taken me by surprise – not so much with its difficulty because it hasn’t been – but because I’ve really struggled to put my theology of work into practice.? I often? end up speaking to large groups of people and that is something I? can do fairly well.? But? occasionally it feels a little hollow and I’m left asking myself “If in the end I am not telling them about Jesus is this a waste of time?”? I? know that sounds a little extreme, but? you’d be surprised at the number of times I’ve stopped myself? in a meeting just as I was about to open it in prayer!?
What I have to remember is that work itself is something that will make it into the new creation.? When we work we are reflecting God’s actions in the Genesis 2 account of creation – bringing order out of chaos.? That’s important to remember and perhaps has some bearing on the title of the conference – the jungle being the very epitome of chaos in many respects.? ? As God’s image-bearers we have been given the gift of? using work to? bring order out of chaos.? Whatever way we see the new creation – and I am going to assume there won’t be any chaos in it – there will be a role for work in it.? So when I stand up to talk to a bunch of 180 fifteen year olds about how they need to become work-ready and pick up some employability skills I can see it as bringing some order to the chaos of their thinking.? I’ve noticed too that I actually have some compassion for some of the more “challenging” young people I work with – a compassion that doesn’t come from me, I can assure you.
? ? ?
?
?
?
Recent Comments