Don’t Quit Ministry

“Don’t Quit Ministry”

That is what I heard at the age of 27 as I transitioned from working in a Christian ministry to high school students to working for a fortune 500 company in the information technology industry.  The guy who said it to me may have meant well, but his comment stung and reflected a pervasive and thoroughly unbiblical view of work and ministry.  Let me explain.

Unfortunately, much of my Christian life up to that point (from the age of 15-27) had been dominated by a spiritual/secular divided view of the world.  The teaching from the pulpit of the massive church I attended, with a larger-than-life evangelist-pastor was that there was ‘spiritual’ work and then there was ‘secular’ work.  Spiritual work was identified as anything related to that particular church: the work of the pastors and staff, the work of ‘normal’ people in getting their friends and family to attend on Sundays and Wednesdays, the efforts to raise huge sums of money for capital campaigns, and the few specific outreach ministries of that church.   All of these activities were promoted with dramatic Biblical illustrations of crossing the Jordan, rebuilding the wall, and Esther’s brave stand before King Xerxes.   It was also typically identifiable on the promotional material by the logo of the church and a picture of the senior pastor.

The net effect was not lost on me as a young man growing up.  I couldn’t have put words to it at the time, but I sadly concluded that much of my time and energy was spent in the more base and secular realms.  You see rather than attending the local Christian school (where all the pastors’ kids went), I attended the local public high school.  Rather than head off to one of the  approved list of universities (Wheaton, Taylor, Moody Bible Institute), I attended a ’secular’ university (NC State).   And, rather than pursuing a spiritual course of study, I chose mechanical engineering as a major.   I wrongly concluded that much of what I did was not very important to God.  It was not very important to His work in the world, apart from providing some funding for the ‘spiritual’ activities of the church.

So, it was with great surprise later in life, when I began to have this secular-sacred divide smashed.  First, I saw that most of the great heroes of the faith in Scripture did not have ‘spiritual’ jobs like pastors, prophets, and priests.  Instead they were ship-builders (Noah), ranchers (Abraham, Jacob), public officials (David, Daniel, Moses), and military men (Joshua, David).  These were God’s men of faith.  This was a shock to me!  Second,  I read the opening chapters of Genesis, where human beings are universally described as being created in the image of God.  That meant that everything I did could reflect God’s nature (building, bringing order, organizing finances, distributing goods, and even procreating)  Crazy stuff!  Third, I read my hero Jesus say “seek first the Kingdom of God”, not “seek first the church” and I was liberated!  The old secular-sacred paradigm was dismantled.  Now, everything I did, whether working, studying, playing, organizing, building, talking, competing, etc. could be my participation in Kingdom activity. Now that Christ was redeeming me, everything I did could be a ‘spiritual’ activity, done to glorify God, and done with the passion of participating in His Kingdom on earth.

So, why do I write all of this?  Because this weekend we celebrate Labor Day.  And, many of you unfortunately look at much of your labor as secular, unspiritual, unimportant to God , and disconnected from His rule over the Universe.

Here’s my challenge:  As you take a break from your work this Monday, consider that the Bible reveals a very different view of labor from what we often hear.   The truth is that everything  you do can be a spiritual activity. It can reflect your relationship with God.  You have the dignity of reflecting God’s image in the world.  The daily activities of life can be the material of a redeemed life.  It can be an opportunity to live out the Kingdom of God. Seriously!   Your life and your work matter to God.  Thank Him for it.  Recommit yourself to do it in a way that pleases Him.  Do it in a way that reflects His greatness.  You are a priest.  It is ministry.  Don’t quit!