“What matters to God is the way we work, not what we do for work.” This is a common perception of work; assuming, of course that your work is ethical. But apart from this assumption, does God really care what we do for a living? Does God really care whether we install urinals or pacemakers? Or is God primarily concerned with how we do our work?

More Than Ethics

To be sure, God is concerned with the how of our work, that we don’t lie, cheat, or steal.. But assuming that your vocation and ethics are God-honoring (or, the “what” and “how” of your work are good), I suggest that God still cares what you do for a living, that he is intimately concerned with the essence of our vocation. In fact, if we can identify the essence of our vocation and reflect on it theologically, work can even become worship.

The Essence of Your Vocation

The “essence of vocation” is shaped by its principal goal or discipline. For instance, the principal discipline of medical surgery is biology. In order to make the proper incisions, a surgeon must know where human organs are located and how circulatory systems function. After you have identified the principle goal or discipline of your vocation, try to connect that principal to the nature and character of God. For instance, medical surgery reflects God as an orderly, creative Designer and as a merciful Redeemer. Here’s how.

Surgery exists because God created the human mind and body. Surgery works because God made the body in an orderly fashion. Surgery repairs because God has built redemption into the very fabric of life; our bodies can be restored. With the discipline of surgery in view—biology—and a little theological reflection, we can worship God through our work. In this case we get to witness his creativity, orderly providence, and merciful redemption. As a result, we worship God in Christ as Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer (Col. 1:16-17, 20). Another term for this activity is theological integration, the integration of academic disciplines and/or vocational principles with the knowledge of God.

Integrated Work in the Bible

Theological integration is not an esoteric practice, but rather a mundane activity celebrated by Jesus. In the Gospels, a Roman centurion came to Jesus seeking healing for his servant. Jesus agreed to go with him; however, the centurion replied by saying that Christ need merely speak the word, not come to his house, and his servant would be healed. The centurion came to this conclusion by considering the essence of his work—authority—present in military principles. His reflection on the essence of his work, joined with faith, led him to conclude: “For I, too, am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it” (Matt. 8:9). In response, Jesus praised the centurion for this great faith. By reflecting on the essence of his work through faith, the centurion was able to glorify God. His work must have never been the same.

God is concerned, not merely with how you work, but what you do for work. Consider the essence of your vocation and try connecting it to the nature and character of God. Identify what discipline or principle drives or sustains your line of work—science, math, language, arts, sanitation, service, construction—and trace it to the nature and character of the triune Creator. In cultivating theological integration, work can become worship.

This article originally appeared at The High Calling.

The challenges of parenthood begin before the baby is born! The nine months before birth are a microcosm of the liberties and limitations of parenthood. Sonograms, name selection, baby room shopping, morning sickness, loss of time, money, and sleep all transpire in those few months — serving as an introduction to the diverse joys and pains of parenting. Fear sets in early on. Will the baby be born healthy or at all? How will we financially support another person? What about breast-feeding and diaper-changing? How will my spouse change? What if I screw up my kid? Can I do this?

Read the Rest

Acts 29 Quarterly – Omaha, NE from Core Community on Vimeo.

This video is from the Acts 29 Quarterly event in Omaha, NE where I spoke on “The Failure of the Missional Church.” I explain Syncretistic Missional Ecclesiology (SME), the fusion of missional church values with institutional church structures, and how to move out of SME. We examine three things:

1) OUR PAST: How our inherited form of institutional church affects us.
2) OUR PRESENT: How we can transition away from its shortcomings.
3) OUR FUTURE: How to cultivate an intuitively missional church.

I’m honored to be speaking at the BUILD: the construction of a gospel formed man October 22-23. Register here. I’ll be speaking on Gospel Identity & Missional Community. Joining me will be all these fine men:

MAIN SESSIONS:

Main Session #1:  Jonathan Dodson, Lead Pastor of Austin City Life (Austin, TX)

Main Session #2:  Joe Thorn, Lead Pastor of Redeemer Fellowship (Saint Charles, IL)
Main Session #3:  Dr. Bob Smart, Lead Pastor of Christ Church PCA (Normal, IL)

Music led by Stephen Miller, Worship Leader of The Journey (St. Louis, MO)

BREAKOUTS:

Jon Bricker, Lead Pastor // Charis Community Church // “Viewing Marriage through a Gospel Lens”
Tom Cheshire, Pastor of Discipleship // Delta Church // “Father Factor:  God the Father, Your Father, and You”
Jonathan Dodson, Lead Pastor // Austin City Life // “The Church as a Missional Community”
Kevin Galloway, Lead Pastor // Countryside Church // “Leading Your Family with the Gospel”
Ryan Huguley, Lead Pastor // Redemption Bible Church // “Gospel Movement:  Pushing Through Passivity”
David Keithley, Pastor of Youth/Family // Christ Church PCA // “Gospel Implications for Adolescent Culture”
Robert Livingston, Lead Pastor // The Source Church // “Gospel-Driven Prayer”
Jeff McCord, Pastor of Ministries // Christ Church PCA // “Reconciliation & the Gospel:  Hope for People in Conflict”
Jerry McCorkle, Executive Director // Spread Truth Ministries // “Sharing God’s Story”
Duane Otto, Pastor at Large // Ithaka Fellowship // “A Rooted Hope: The Gospel & Creation”
Joe Thorn, Lead Pastor // Redeemer Fellowship // “Practicing Our Theology”

The Resurgence is running a slightly expanded blog I wrote a while back on 4 Ways to Love Your City. It’s a timely arrival with the two vision messages I’m preaching through on Renewing the City at Austin City Life.

1. Ask Questions.

2. Read Local Authors.

3. Study Your City’s History.

4. Enjoy the City!

The Resurgence posted on my talks at the Missional Living Conference. Several people have contacted me about the broken or incorrect links there. I sent the corrections to Resurgence but also wanted to provided the correct ones here. Hope they are helpful!

• The Gospel & American Christianity: This message deconstructs the dualism of American Christianity in order to reconstruct a whole Gospel around Jesus Christ as Lord.
• Community in American Christianity: This message demonstrates the communal character of the Gospel, unpacking very practical ways to cultivate “steady state community.”
• Everyday Mission in America: This message shows how mission is not optional but essential, spending considerable time on how to live “everyday life with gospel intentionality.”
• How a Church Renews a City: This message shows how Gospel communities on mission is God’s design to renew cities.

Joe Thorn was kind enough to interview me on the topic of discipleship. I’ve included an excerpt from one of the questions below.

What is the biggest mistake the church is making when working to make disciples?

I can’t answer that question definitively. However, the dearth of suffering, the absence of hope, the trivialization of the Spirit, and the lack of mission among disciples of Jesus is terribly concerning. We have tried to minimize suffering through convenience, eliminate hope through self-made retirement, reduce Jesus to redeemer of the past, and surrendered any sense of discipleship as a call to die to ourselves that others may live. Instead, discipleship has been reduced to having a good marriage, handling finances well, raising good children, securing a future, and knowing your Bible. Our mission is very different than Jesus’ mission, our lives very different than Jesus’ life. This should scare us.

Read the rest of the Interview

The very helpful people at New Fathom are hosting a webinar with me and Byron Blesdoe of C3 Church on Missional Strategies at 12pm CST.

I will be:

• Sharing the story of Austin City Life
• Discussing the formation of Missional Core Teams
• Explaining Missional Communities

This should be helpful for church planters and missional church folk. We would love to have you join us!

REGISTER HERE

Redeemer Church recently invited me to speak at their Missional Living Conference. The conference was built around the Three Gospel Conversions based on Colossians 1:15-20. Those familiar with my talks at LEAD ’09 will note that these new talks introduce a fresh theological and practical perspective on the Three Conversions. Each talk has both Audio and Video.

Conversion to Christ: This message deconstructs the dualism of American Christianity in order to reconstruct a whole Gospel around Jesus Christ as Lord.

Conversion to Church: This message demonstrates the communal character of the Gospel, unpacking very practical ways to cultivate “steady state community.”

Conversion to Mission: This message shows how mission is not optional but essential, and spends considerable time talking about how to live “everyday life with gospel intentionality.”

Bonus Sermon on What Kind of Church Renews a City?

Viral Hope: Good News from the Urbs and the Burbs (and everything in between)

“ViralHope is a bold call to reject any and all reductions of the Gospel that minimize it to ‘cosmic fire insurance’ on the one hand, or on the other, to reduce it to ‘social action.’ This is a full Gospel and a vision that our world desperately needs to hear.”

- Jim Belcher, Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emergent and Traditional Church