{"id":1826,"date":"2010-05-19T17:37:26","date_gmt":"2010-05-19T17:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/?p=1826"},"modified":"2011-04-11T23:19:03","modified_gmt":"2011-04-12T03:19:03","slug":"praying-for-business","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/pages\/series\/praying-for-business","title":{"rendered":"Praying for Business"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Click here for an updated and reformatted version of this series.<\/a><\/p>\n

Why Don’t We Pray for Business, Part 1?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A few days ago<\/a>,
\nI commented on a feature of the National Day of Prayer that was mostly
\noverlooked by the mainstream media: an encouragement for churches to
\npray on the Sunday prior to the official National Day of Prayer.
\nChurches were urged by the National Day of Prayer Task Force<\/a>,
\nan evangelical group, to pray for seven centers of influence:
\ngovernment, military, media, business, education, church, and family.<\/p>\n

As
\nI reflected on this request, it occurred to me that Christians often
\npray for most of these centers. At least that has been true of my
\nexperience in church. When I was pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church,
\nfor example, we regularly prayed in worship services for government,
\nmilitary, education, church, and family. But we rarely, if ever, prayed
\nfor media and business.<\/p>\n

That got me thinking. Why had we – had
\nI – been so selective in praying for certain institutions but not
\nothers? I particular, I began to wonder why we neglected to pray for
\nbusiness?<\/p>\n

\"New<\/span>I’ve
\nbeen participating in church worship services for fifty years. I’ve
\nheard or offered thousands of prayers in the context of congregational
\nworship. Yet I cannot remember either hearing or offering a prayer that
\nfocused on – or even mentioned – business. In my pastoral prayers at
\nIrvine Pres, I would regularly intercede on behalf of government
\nofficials, members of the military, teachers, police officers,
\nfirefighters, parents, grandparents, pastors, churches, and mission
\npartners. But I cannot remember offering prayers for bankers, lawyers,
\nrealtors, salespeople, and the like. Nor can I recall praying for
\nbusiness institutions: banks, law firms, corporations, small business,
\nbrokerage firms, etc. This seems especially odd to me now, given the
\nfact that the majority of working people in my church were in business
\nsettings such as those I just mentioned. Why didn’t I pray for them in
\nthe activity that took up so much of their time and meant so much to
\ntheir lives? Why didn’t I pray for the companies they worked for or, in
\nmany cases, owned? (Photo: The New York Stock Exchange. Now there’s a
\nbusiness institution that could use a little prayer, don’t you think?)<\/p>\n

The
\ntitle of this post, “Why Don’t We Pray for Business?”, assumes that I
\nam not unusual in my failure to pray for business and business people.
\nI believe that this is the norm for Christians, both in their private
\nlives and especially in their corporate worship. Now I’m sure that
\nindividuals pray about their own businesses and jobs. And I would
\nsometimes pray for people’s jobs when they came to seek my pastoral
\nadvice about situations they faced in their work life. But, for some
\npeculiar reason, or set of reasons, these private prayers did not
\nimpact my public leadership of prayer in worship.<\/p>\n

Thus I continue to wonder: Why don’t we pray for business?<\/em><\/p>\n

As you read this question, you may be feeling a bit defensive. You may be thinking, “Hey, we do<\/em>
\npray for business in my church! And I pray for business and people in
\nbusiness in my private prayers as well.” If so, that’s fantastic, and
\nI’d like to hear about it. How does your church include business in its
\nlife of corporate prayer? What is said? How often? In what context(s)?<\/p>\n

But if your experience is like mine, then you might also be wondering why we don’t pray for business. What are your thoughts about this?<\/em>
\nBefore I get too far into my suggestions, I’d like to hear you ideas.
\nIf you have a moment, please add a comment below or email me.<\/p>\n

Before I finish today’s post, I’ll offer one reason I believe Christians don’t pray for business.<\/p>\n

Reason #1: We don’t pray for business because we don’t pray for business. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes,
\nI realize this sounds so obvious as to be silly. But I am serious about
\nthis answer. Our particular way of praying, both form and content, is
\ngoverned to a great extent by our practices, traditions, and habits.
\nThis is obviously true if you operate in a tradition of structured
\nprayer (such as using the Anglican Book of Common Prayer). But even if
\nyou are most comfortable with spontaneous prayers, how you pray is, to
\na significant extent, shaped by your past experience of prayer. How you
\npray is how you pray.<\/p>\n

For example, I grew up praying every night
\nbefore I went to bed. In these prayers I always asked God to bless my
\nfamily members by name: God bless Mommy and Daddy, Gary, Julie, Nancy,
\netc. etc. I did not think, nor was I taught, to pray specifically for
\nmy Dad at work, for his boss, for his company, etc. His work life was
\nsimply not something I ever mentioned in prayer. Thus, even today, it
\nis much more natural for me to pray for people in their personal lives
\nthan to pray for them in their professional roles. How I pray has been
\nmolded by my practices of prayer.<\/p>\n

If Reason #1 has in merit,
\nit also suggests a way to help people begin to pray for business. Do
\nit. Model it. If pastors and others who pray in worship services, for
\nexample, began on a fairly regular basis to pray for businesses and
\nbusiness leaders, for bosses and employees, for church members in their
\nprofessional roles, that example would have a powerful impact on the
\nprayer practices of the congregation, both in corporate and private
\nprayer.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow I’ll offer up some other reasons why Christians don’t pray for business.<\/p>\n

Why Don’t We Pray for Business? Part 2<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I began a short series on the question: Why don’t we pray for business?<\/em>
\nIn particular, I’m wondering why Christians don’t pray, in the context
\nof corporate worship, for business institutions, business leaders, and
\nthose who work in businesses. We do tend to pray for other institutions
\n(government) and people who work in the public or non-profit sector.
\nBut, at least in my experience, we don’t pray for business in its many
\nfacets.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I suggested one reason for this curious omission:<\/p>\n

1. We don’t pray for business because we don’t pray for business<\/em>.
\nOur prayers are shaped by our experience of praying, so if we don’t
\npray for certain needs, chances are we won’t pray for those needs. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today I’ll offer a second reason.<\/p>\n

2. We don’t pray for business because those who lead us in prayer have not been trained to do so.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"trinity-church-wall-st-5.jpg\"<\/span>In
\nmost churches, pastors offer prayer in corporate worship services. In
\nsome churches, this responsibility is shared with others: members of
\nstaff, lay leaders, etc. Usually the pastors are responsible for
\ntraining and encouraging those who lead in prayer. So, one way or
\nanother, the content of prayer in public worship is shaped by pastors.
\nAnd pastors, by and large, have not been trained to include business
\namong the topics for corporate prayer in worship. (Photo: Trinity
\nChurch, Wall Street, in New York City. To the left is the New York
\nStock Exchange. I imagine they pray for business at Trinity Wall
\nStreet.)<\/p>\n

Pastoral training generally happens in two contexts:
\nin seminaries and in churches. Here is where pastors-to-be learn how to
\npray and to lead people in prayer. Neither context, in my experience,
\nemphasizes prayer for business. And this is not just my own personal
\nexperience. It is common to almost all seminarians and pastors who are
\nseminary-trained. The lack of pastoral training related to business is
\ndocumented by David W. Miller in his outstanding book, God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement<\/a><\/em> (Oxford, 2006). (For my review of this book, see my blog series: God at Work: Review and Recommendations<\/em><\/a>.)<\/p>\n

If
\npraying for business is worth doing, then seminaries and churches
\nshould train pastors and all who lead in worship to pray in this vein.
\nDavid Miller offers a number of recommendations for churches so that
\nthey might encourage people who work in business settings to live out
\ntheir faith in the workplace. Among these suggestions we read:<\/p>\n

A
\nlogical starting place for change is the place where clergy are
\ntrained. Seminaries and divinity schools should recognize anew the
\ntheological, practical, and pastoral importance of the workplace with a
\nview toward training pastors to minister more intentionally and
\neffectively to their parishioners in the business world and other
\nworkplaces. (p. 144) <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This training would include prayer:<\/p>\n

Clergy
\nwho wish to equip their people to integrate faith and work will also
\nneed to develop a ministry of public preaching and prayer that
\nintentionally and constructively addresses all dimensions of [faith at
\nwork]. Sermons and pastoral prayers play a vital theological role as
\npart of a ministry of integration to those in the business world,
\nhelping people to discover their vocational identity, resist splitting
\nthe sacred from the secular, navigate difficult ethical questions, and
\ngain comfort for personal needs and hurts. (p. 147) <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of
\ncourse the lack of previous training doesn’t exempt those of us who
\nlead in worship from learning to pray for business and business people.
\nIf we believe that we should be praying in this way, then we can surely
\nteach ourselves to do so. Better yet, we can work with others,
\nincluding the business people of our churches, so as to pray in ways
\nthat connect to the real-life challenges of those who work in business.
\nI can imagine pastors sitting down with people who work in business and
\nasking, “How might we as a church pray for you in our worship services?
\nWhat are the concerns, needs, and challenges you face in your
\nprofessional life?” Not only would the answers to these questions be
\nhelpful, but also the conversations would be encouraging to those who
\nhave often felt as if their work really didn’t count for much in
\nchurch.<\/p>\n

But, before seminaries begin teaching future pastors
\nto pray for business, and before we develop this focus in our
\nleadership of prayer, we need to overcome another hurdle. I’ll explain
\nand try to surmount this barrier tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Why Don’t We Pray for Business? Part 3<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>In the last two days I have begun to consider why it is that Christians
\ndo not pray for business, at least not very often in the context of
\ncorporate worship. So far I have suggested two reasons:<\/p>\n

Reason #1: We don’t pray for business because we don’t pray for business. <\/p>\n

Reason #2: We don’t pray for business because those who lead us in prayer have not been trained to do so.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today I offer a third reason, one that helps to explain Reason #2:<\/p>\n

Reason
\n#3: We don’t pray for business because our worship leaders have been
\ntrained in settings that are indifferent or negative to business. <\/strong><\/p>\n

For
\nthe most part, seminaries, divinity schools, and pastor-training
\nchurches do not teach students to pray for the marketplace and its
\npeople. This seems odd for many reasons, including one of the most
\nobvious: Churches are filled with people who invest a major proportion
\nof their lives in business. Sure, our sanctuaries include plenty of
\npeople who work in the public or non-profit sectors of the economy. But
\na high percentage of church members work in business. If churches are
\nseeking to help people be disciples of Jesus in their daily lives, and
\nmost churches would say this is central to their mission, then it seems
\nonly natural for churches to address marketplace concerns, in teaching,
\npreaching, and prayer.<\/p>\n

Yet this is not happening on a regular basis in most churches. David Miller, in his book God at Work<\/em>,
\nsummarizes research that shows, for example, that “one can sit through
\na year’s worth of worship services and seldom hear a connection (let
\nalone a constructive connection) between one’s faith claims and one’s
\nworkplace reality” (Kindle Location 1263-66). This lack of connection
\nimpacts worship in addition to preaching, according to Miller: “While
\nsermons are often the most visible form of liturgical indifference to
\nthe workplace, other aspects of worship (including prayer, confession,
\npardon, music, commissioning, and benediction) contribute as well” (KL
\n1269-1270).<\/p>\n

Moreover, Miller explains, in many mainline churches, the basic pastoral stance vis-\u00c3\u00a0-vis business is negative:<\/p>\n

While
\nclergy may retain strong personal relationships with businesspeople at
\na personal level, socializing and indeed, courting their financial
\npledges to the church, many unwittingly perhaps continue to transmit
\nanticapitalist messages to their congregation. The perception being
\nsent from the pulpit is that businesspeople are greedy, captive to the
\nvalues of an oppressive system, and insensitive to the plight of the
\npoor. (KL 1258-60) <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Evangelical and Pentecostal churches
\nsometimes exhibit a friendlier attitude toward the marketplace, and
\nsome even try to help members live out their faith at work. But this is
\nnot the norm, as Miller’s research demonstrates.<\/p>\n

Why do so
\nmany pastors regard business with indifference, if not outright
\nnegativity? David Miller lays the blame on the shoulders of the
\nseminaries and divinity schools. I should mention, by the way, that
\nMiller is himself a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, an
\nordained minister in the PCUSA, and a former seminary teacher in
\naddition to an international banker. Moreover, his book, God at Work<\/em>, is based on extensive empirical research. Here is some of what Miller observes about seminary education and business:<\/p>\n

[Most]
\nseminaries do not equip pastors in the local church to reform their
\nmarketplace perceptions or shape their liturgy, vocabulary, and other
\ntheological presuppositions with a view toward intentionally
\nministering to the needs of the business community. (KL 1344-45)<\/p>\n

There
\nare several likely reasons that the academy has exhibited an
\nindifferent to pejorative stance toward the workplace and those in the
\ncorporate world, including a lack of business expertise among
\ntheologians; doctrinal and ideological differences; the residual
\neffects of Christian socialism and liberation theology; . . . a
\nreluctance of faculty and administrators to embrace interdisciplinary
\ntopics . . . . (KL 1314-17)<\/p>\n

Closely related to the
\nabsence of seminary teaching on [Faith at Work] issues, the evidence
\nsuggests that the overarching presuppositions among theological faculty
\nabout capitalism, business, and marketplace issues range from
\nindifferent to negative. The evidence suggests that seminary faculty
\ntend to portray the business community and its underlying dynamics as
\nsimplistic (ignoring the moral and ethical complexities); sinful (as if
\ncapitalism and its participants were prima facie theologically
\nincorrect); unsympathetic to social justice concerns (wanting merely to
\nmaximize profits with no sense of social responsibility); harmful to
\nand exploitative of people (where people become disposable assets);
\ninterested exclusively in profits (and not how the profits are earned);
\nand disinterested in the common good of society (leaving that to
\ngovernment and others to address). (KL 1347-1351) <\/p>\n

Thus
\ninfluenced by their faculty, the result is that seminary students’
\nattitudes toward business and religion, as well as to FAW [Faith at
\nWork], are “overwhelmingly negative.” Students are often left with a
\none-note song, “lecturing, not listening,” concluding that the best way
\nto address business and FAW issues is by proclaiming a prophetic voice.
\n. . . The danger, in the end, is that seminary education biases future
\npastors against the structural and contextual world of business,
\nwithout any appreciation of its constructive and co-creative
\npossibilities to help society and promote the common good. (KL
\n1352-1356)<\/p>\n

Miller does see glimmers of hope, however. He
\ndocuments several initiatives in seminaries that seek to prepare
\nstudents for pastoral ministry to the marketplace and its people. He
\nnotes a number of leading theologians in seminaries and divinity
\nschools who are addressing the relationship between faith and work in a
\npositive way. And he observes that theologically conservative
\nseminaries tend to be more helpful in this area:<\/p>\n

Theological
\nschools that are generally considered to be evangelical or conservative
\nare increasingly more inclined to see the relevance of theology to the
\nworkplace and, in various ways, are trying to teach and think
\ntheologically about the issues surrounding the Faith at Work movement.
\nIn contrast, institutions typically considered to be mainstream or
\nliberal range from being silent to being negative about FAW issues. (KL
\n1320-1322)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"harvard-divinity-school-5.jpg\"<\/span>What
\nDavid Miller documents with scholarly precision fits with my own
\nexperience. I attended Harvard Divinity School. I have taught at San
\nFrancisco Theological Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary. I have
\nan above-average awareness of what is going on in many seminary
\nsettings. For the most part, seminaries and divinity schools do regard
\nbusiness with indifference, and often with disdain. This seems ironic,
\ngiven the extent to which these institutions depend on the generosity
\nof people who have made their fortunes in business. But the
\nanti-business voices are usually those of the faculty, not the
\nadministrators or development officers who have to raise faculty
\nsalaries. Consistent with Miller’s observation, I have found more
\nopenness to a positive approach to business at Fuller Seminary, which
\nis theologically evangelical. (Photo: Andover Hall of Harvard Divinity
\nSchool)<\/p>\n

If it is true that seminaries are not training pastors
\nto minister to the marketplace and its workers, and if such ministry is
\nvalid (which I am assuming, at the moment), then the way forward is
\nobvious: Seminaries and divinity schools should make an effort to
\nprepare pastors for ministry to the marketplace. The obstacles to this
\napproach are many, however. If those who are teaching in seminaries
\ntruly believe that business is mostly bad, then they will be unable to
\ntrain students for anything other than a negative-prophetic stance with
\nregard to business. So, it seems that what is needed is not just a
\nrefocusing of curriculum, but rather a recasting of a theology of work
\nand business. I’ll have more to say about this later.
\n
\n<\/strong>Why Don’t We Pray for Business? Part 4<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>So far in this series I’ve suggested three reasons why we don’t pray for business in the context of Christian worship services:<\/p>\n

Reason #1: We don’t pray for business because we don’t pray for business. <\/p>\n

Reason #2: We don’t pray for business because those who lead us in prayer have not been trained to do so.<\/p>\n

Reason
\n#3: We don’t pray for business because our worship leaders have been
\ntrained in settings that are indifferent or negative to business.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Reasons
\n2 and 3 are connected, in that Reason 3 explains why so many
\nseminary-trained pastors are disinclined to think positively about the
\nmarketplace and its Kingdom potential. They’d be hard pressed to pray
\nfor an institution they consider to be morally bankrupt and generally
\nopposed to God’s purposes. For many pastors, the impact of their
\nseminary training leaves them to think of business more or less as they
\nmight think of organized crime. And you wouldn’t expect most pastors to
\npray for God’s blessing on the mob.<\/p>\n

But there are pastors and
\nlay worship leaders who regard business in a more balanced perspective,
\nseeing its Kingdom potential as well as its tendency, in many cases, to
\nserve Mammon rather than God. For example, had you asked me while I was
\nsenior pastor of Irvine Presbyterian church, if I thought business
\ncould be a vehicle for God’s grace, love, and justice in the world, I
\nwould have said “Yes.” I expect this would be true for many of my
\npastoral colleagues. Yet we rarely pray for the marketplace in our
\nworship services. What might explain this? Today I want to suggest two
\npossible reasons, one that is rather obvious, one that is less so.<\/p>\n

Reason #4: We don’t pray for business because Scripture does not command us to do so. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Though
\nI believe you can make a strong biblical case for praying for the
\nmarketplace and its workers, you cannot turn to one biblical passage
\nthat commands prayer with this focus. Thus, we are not dealing with a
\nsituation that is just the same as the case of prayers for political
\nleaders. A passage from the New Testament book of I Timothy reads:<\/p>\n

First
\nof all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
\nthanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high
\npositions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all
\ngodliness and dignity (1:1-2) <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While we don’t have many
\nkings left in our world, we do have presidents and prime ministers, as
\nwell as legislative bodies that play the role once filled by royalty.
\nAnd we certainly have plenty of people in positions of authority. They
\nregularly receive prayer in Christian worship services, not only
\nbecause they need it, but also because the Bible requires it.<\/p>\n

Reason # 5: We don’t pray for business because we don’t have a vision for how business could be part of God’s business<\/em> in the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prayers
\nin church often touch upon obvious ministries and the ministers who
\nserve within them. Thus we pray for facets of our own church’s ministry
\n(youth leaders, Sunday school teachers, etc.) as well as our mission
\npartners (mission organizations, agencies that seek justice, other
\nchurches, etc.). We might even pray for people who work in secular
\njobs, if these positions are clearly service oriented (teachers, police
\nofficers, social workers).<\/p>\n

\"wall-street-subway-sign-5.jpg\"<\/span>But
\nwe don’t pray for those who work in business because we don’t tend to
\nsee business as, in potential, part of God’s work in the world.
\nBusiness seems to be, at best, a means to other ministry ends. Thus, a
\nsuccessful entrepreneur can make money to support churches and mission
\norganizations A worker in a company can share her faith with her
\ncolleagues or lead a Bible study for them during the lunch hour. But
\nbusiness itself is not seen as something honoring to God or useful for
\nredemptive purposes. (Photo: Wall St. sign in NYC subway)<\/p>\n

At
\nthis point I am not prepared to present a full-scale case for seeing
\nbusiness as central to God’s own business of saving and renewing the
\nworld. This must wait for another day, But I think it’s pretty obvious
\nthat if pastors and lay leaders were to see business as integral to
\nGod’s work, if they were to see business as ministry, then they would
\nbe much more inclined to pray for business institutions as well as for
\nthose who work in such institutions.<\/p>\n

In my next post in this
\nseries, I want to suggest another reason we don’t pray for business,
\none that has to do with broad patterns of thinking in the church today.<\/p>\n


\n<\/strong>Why Don’t We Pray for Business? Part 5<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Today I want to delve into what I believe is one of the most profound
\nreasons why we don’t pray for business. It has to do with how we think
\nas Christians, a fundamental element of our worldview.<\/p>\n

But
\nfirst, to review, so far I’ve suggested five reasons why, I believe, we
\ndon’t pray for business in the context of corporate Christian
\ngatherings:<\/p>\n

Reason #1: We don’t pray for business because we don’t pray for business. <\/p>\n

Reason #2: We don’t pray for business because those who lead us in prayer have not been trained to do so.<\/p>\n

Reason
\n#3: We don’t pray for business because our worship leaders have been
\ntrained in settings that are indifferent or negative to business.<\/p>\n

Reason #4: We don’t pray for business because Scripture does not command us to do so.<\/p>\n

Reason #5: We don’t pray for business because we don’t have a vision for how business could be part of God’s business<\/em> in the world.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today I want to consider the following:<\/p>\n

Reason
\n#6: We don’t pray for business because we divide reality into the
\nsacred and the secular, with prayer falling on the sacred side, and
\nbusiness on the secular side, and never the twain shall meet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

According
\nto Reason #5, we don’t pray for business because we don’t have a vision
\nfor how business could be part of God’s business in the world. This
\nlack of vision substantially reflects a lack of a biblically-informed
\nunderstanding of the world and God’s mission in the world. But it also
\nderives from a pervasive tendency in out culture and in the church to
\ndivide reality into two, distinct spheres, the sacred and the secular.
\nFor most people, including most Christians, these separate spheres of
\nlife do not overlap or influence each other. In the classic phrase of Rudyard Kipling<\/a>, “never the twain shall meet.”<\/p>\n

Most
\nof us intuitively grasp what we mean by “sacred” and what we mean by
\n“secular,” even though there’s plenty of fuzziness around the edges of
\nour definitions. Sacred<\/em> has to do with religious stuff: God,
\nchurch, synagogue, mosque, prayer, Bible, worship, mission, belief,
\netc. Many of us would put things like family and marriage in the
\nreligious column as well. The sacred is spiritual, having to do with
\nultimate reality and ultimate meaning.\u00a0 Though the sacred might touch
\nupon tangible things (like church buildings), it has to do mostly with
\nthat which is intangible, with the ideal rather than the real. Secular<\/em>, which comes from the Latin s\u00c3\u00a6cularis<\/em>,
\nwhich means “worldly” or “belonging to this age,” refers to this world,
\nto material objects and endeavors. The secular is transient, corporeal,
\npractical, and real. It’s “down to earth.”<\/p>\n

Even faithfully
\nreligious people often refer to secular reality as “the real world.” I
\ncan think of conversations I’ve had with leaders in my church. In one
\ncase, we were considering whether or not to embark on a bold capital
\ncampaign to raise money for a new sanctuary. Though the economy was
\nstruggling mightily in the early 1990s, I believed we were to move
\nahead with the campaign. But one of my elders responded negatively,
\nsaying something like this: “Well, having faith is just fine when it
\ncomes to spiritual things, but in the
\n\"Sanctuary<\/span>
\n. . . .” Business was more real because it dealt with things like
\nmoney, economic forecasting, and “the bottom line.” (Photo: The
\nsanctuary of Irvine Presbyterian Church, built in 1995-1996. As it
\nturned out, faith was just as real as finances.)<\/p>\n

It would be an interesting to debate whether, in the end, the secular is actually more real than the sacred. C.S. Lewis, in The Great Divorce<\/a><\/em>,
\nwas the first one to challenge me to think about the reality of the
\nspiritual world. But such a debate assumes the very point I wish to
\nchallenge. It takes for granted a fundamental difference between the
\nsacred and the secular, a difference in thinking that keeps us from
\nseeing life as it is. (To be clear, I am not suggesting that Lewis
\ndivides sacred from secular.)<\/p>\n

It also keeps us from praying
\nfor business, for obvious reasons. Prayer is sacred, profoundly so.
\nBusiness is secular, profoundly so. Or so most of us would assume. So
\nprayer and business simply don’t get on well together. They’re as
\nseparate from each other as oil and water, or NASCAR and Valentine’s
\nDay. (Note: The Daytona 500 fell on Valentine’s Day this year.) We
\ndon’t pray for business because it’s just not something we pray about.
\nTo do so would be a category confusion, rather like taking your wife on
\na romantic date to a WWE steel cage match. Wouldn’t be prudent.<\/p>\n

As
\nyou can probably guess, I believe that the division of life into sacred
\nand secular is a mistake. It perceives the world wrongly because the
\nworld is not actually divided into sacred and secular. This way of
\nthinking has come to us through Christian tradition that was saturated
\nin classic Greek dualism. Plato and his chums saw the physical world as
\nfundamentally different from the spiritual world, with the spiritual
\nbeing vastly superior to the physical. Ideas trumped matter.<\/p>\n

The
\nbiblical worldview, on the contrary, sees all of life as part of God’s
\ncreation, as something about which God cares and in which his glory is
\nto be revealed. The fact that God created matter establishes its sacred
\ncharacter. And what was God’s first command to the first humans: “Be
\nfruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have
\ndominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and
\nover every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Gen 1:28). The
\nfirst humans were not told to make an altar and offer sacrifices, or to
\nsing songs of praise, or to have their daily quiet times. Rather, they
\nwere to honor God by caring for the stuff of creation. And if you think
\nabout the most literal sense of “be fruitful and multiply,” you’ll
\nrealize that our physical bodies and their function have everything to
\ndo with God. The so-called secular is enveloped and permeated by the
\nso-called sacred, which comes to life in the stuff of the so-called
\nsecular.<\/p>\n

If we take seriously God’s creation of heaven and
\nearth, as well as the command of God to “be fruitful and multiply . . .
\nand have dominion,” then we’ll begin to see the world as inescapably
\ninterconnected, rather than as fundamentally divided into sacred and
\nsecular. Business will be seen, not as secular work with little
\nspiritual impact, but rather as part and parcel of God’s business and
\nour business as God’s creatures. Thus it will become natural, one might
\nalmost say, spiritual, for us to pray for the marketplace and those who
\nwork within it, just as we pray for churches and pastors and
\nmissionaries and families and sick people.<\/p>\n

I believe that the
\nchurch is called to an essential task in our time of history:
\nproclaiming that all of life matters to God, and that the division of
\nreality into sacred and secular is biblically mistaken and practically
\nunfruitful. Increasing numbers of people, indeed, business people, are
\nsensing the inadequacy of a life divided into sacred and secular. They
\nare yearning for a way to integrate their lives, to find genuine
\nmeaning in their work. This is true of Boomers like me, but even more
\nso of folks 30 and under. According to the recently released book, The M-Factor: How the Millennial Generation Is Rocking the Workplace<\/em><\/a>,
\nthe most distinctive feature of Millenials in the workplace is their
\ndesire for meaningful work. Biblical theology provides a rock solid
\nbasis for finding meaning in every part of life, since it is all part
\nof God’s creation and ultimately embraced in his redemption.<\/p>\n

Before
\nI wrap up this series, I want to suggest some practical ways we might
\nbegin to do pray for business in a way that is theologically sound and
\nrelevant to the marketplace and its people. I’ll get into this on
\nMonday. Meanwhile, have a great weekend. Remember, even weekends matter
\nto God!<\/p>\n

<\/a>Praying for Business: Some Practical Suggestions<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Last week my blogging focused on the question: Why don’t we pray for
\nbusiness? I was especially concerned with the absence of marketplace
\nrelated prayer in the context of corporate Christian gatherings for
\nworship and prayer. When we get together for these purposes, we
\nChristians often pray for government and political leaders, for\u00a0\u00a0 and
\npastors, for soldiers and missionaries, perhaps even for teachers and
\npolice officers. But rarely, if ever, do we pray for businesses and
\ntheir employees. I have offered several reasons why this happens in
\nlast week’s blogging.<\/p>\n

But, in increasing numbers, Christians are
\nbeginning to think about business in a new light. We are seeing the
\npotential of the marketplace to be a context for and even a vehicle of
\nGod’s work in the world, God’s business, if you will. Thus, those of us
\nwho lead people in worship and prayer are beginning to want to pray for
\nbusiness in our worship services and prayer meetings. Yet we struggle
\nwith knowing how to pray. What should we do?<\/p>\n

In this blog series
\nI want to offer a few practical suggestions for one who wants to start
\nleading people in prayer for business. In my comments, I will speak
\nspecifically about pastors, since I am a pastor and I have served in a
\nparish for twenty-three years. But what I’m suggesting here would also
\nbe relevant to lay worship leaders.<\/p>\n

Where do we start?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If pastors want to pray for the marketplace and its workers, where should they start? One starting place would be the Bible<\/em>.
\nWe need to return to Scripture for a fresh understanding of God’s
\ncreation, of the call to man and woman to be fruitful and multiply, of
\nthe breadth of divine calling, of the ministry of all of God’s people,
\nand of the concern of God for every facet of life The more we grasp the
\nscope of God’s business in the world, the more we will begin to
\ndiscover how to pray for human business.<\/p>\n

Another starting point
\nif one wishes to pray for business is such an obvious one that it
\nscarcely needs mentioning. But, as you might expect, I’ll bring it up
\nanyway. Let me approach this starting point with an analogous example.
\nOne of the classic “pray-for “scenarios in a worship service involves
\nmissionaries (or, better, mission partners). In churches throughout the
\nworld, mission partners take two or three minutes in a service to share
\nwith the congregation a snapshot of their ministry. Then, as if
\nfollowing a divine scripts, the pastor asks: “And how can we pray for
\nyou?”<\/p>\n

Now there’s a fine starting point if you want to pray
\nfor business: Ask! Ask business people the same question asked of
\nmission partners: “And how can we pray for you?”<\/em> Suppose a pastor
\nknew of a church member who owned a business and sought to honor God in
\nthat business. Almost every church has at least one such person. Many
\nchurches have several. Suppose further that the pastor took two or
\nthree minutes in a worship service to allow this business owner to
\nexplain how she integrated her faith in her business. What more natural
\nway to conclude this mini-interview than with the standard question:
\n“And how can we pray for you?” Of course I recognize that what this
\nsecond starting point assumes may be a bit too radical for some
\nchurches and pastors. We may not be quite ready to begin thinking about
\nour business leaders and workers as missionaries. So, is there a less
\nthreatening way to begin?<\/p>\n

You betcha, to borrow a phrase from my
\nMidwestern friends. In tomorrow’s post I’ll suggest another way pastors
\ncan learn how to pray for business and for the business lives of their
\nchurch members.<\/p>\n

Praying for Business: Some Practical Suggestions (Part 2)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I began to offer some practical suggestions for pastors (and
\nother worship leaders) who want to start praying for the marketplace
\nand its workers. These suggestions were:<\/p>\n

1. Look to Scripture for new insight into how business might be an essential element of God’s business in the world. <\/p>\n

2.
\nAllow someone who works in business to share in a worship service how
\nshe integrates her faith into her work. Then ask the classic
\n“missionary question” – “And how can we pray for you?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I
\nrecognize that these two starting points are not easy ones for many
\npastors and churches. The first seems to require a considerable
\ninvestment of time, while the second might push the edge of the
\nenvelope too far, too fast. Isn’t there an easier starting point?<\/p>\n

Indeed,
\nthere is. It involves one of the most obvious and basic of ministry
\nstrategies. Let me begin with an illustrative analogy. A new youth
\nworker is hired by a church to serve the high school age students in
\nthe church and local community. What is job one for that youth
\nminister? Get to know the students personally! Visit them in their
\nworld on campus (if possible), at ballgames, and at school plays. Meet
\nwith them one-on-one or in small groups. Don’t preach to them in these
\npersonal meetings. Rather, ask questions and listen! Find out their
\nthoughts, dreams, feelings, and fears. Get to know them!<\/p>\n

This
\nis exactly what pastors can and should do with the business people in
\ntheir churches. Visit them in their worlds, their workplaces. Meet them
\nfor lunch or coffee, if at all possible on their turf. And then ask
\nlots of questions and listen. Ask<\/em> things like: What do you do in
\nyour work? How do you like it? What do you find rewarding about your
\nwork? Challenging? Frustrating? Exciting? What would you like me, as
\nyour pastor, to know about your professional life? How does your faith
\nimpact your work? How does your work impact your faith? Can you think
\nof any ways I might be able to help and support you in your work? Can
\nyou think of any ways our church might be able to help and support you
\nin your work? And, last but not least, how can I pray for you in your
\nbusiness?<\/p>\n

If pastors were to have conversations with their
\nmembers that involved questions like these, soon the pastors would be
\nequipped to pray in worship for the marketplace and its workers. They
\nwould understand the challenges and opportunities faced by their
\nmembers. But this would be only one sweet fruit of such pastoral
\nvisits. Other benefits would include: members feeling understood and
\nvalued by their pastors, pastors actually “getting” the real,
\nday-to-day experiences of their members, members feeling freer to share
\ntheir lives with their pastors, pastors knowing what issues to address
\nin preaching, and so on and so forth.<\/p>\n

There’s one other benefit
\nI would mention here. Pastors would have fun! I’m not kidding. During
\nmy sixteen years as Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church, I made
\ndozens upon dozens of visits to the workplaces of church members, and I
\nthoroughly enjoyed myself. My parishioners seemed to enjoy themselves
\nas well, by the way. They took pleasure in showing me their offices and
\nboardrooms. They were glad to introduce me to their colleagues. I loved
\nseeing my people on their home turf, in their places of struggle and
\nvictory, the places where they spent such a considerable percentage of
\ntheir waking hours. I got the “feel” of their lives in a way that was
\nmuch harder to obtain when they were only on my turf at church.<\/p>\n

\"Tullys-5.jpg\"<\/span>Though
\nI visited many of my members in their places of work, and though I
\ninevitably enjoyed these visits and benefited from them, and though
\nthey strengthened my effectiveness as a pastor, in retrospect, I wish I
\nhad done many more such visits. As my pastoral life got busier and
\nbusier with the incessant demands of leading a growing church, I began
\nto make fewer field trips because it was much more convenient to meet
\nfolks in my office or Tully’s (my favorite coffee place near the
\nchurch, in photo to right). I still asked folks about their work lives
\nand I still learned plenty, but I missed much of the non-cognitive
\nlearning that comes from being in a certain place, seeing the sights
\nand smelling the smells. If a busy pastor cannot imagine how to make
\ntime for workplace contact work – and I realize that most pastors
\nalready have more on their plates than they can handle – at a minimum,
\nthe pastor should begin to ask church members (and others) about their
\nwork. This alone will lead pastors to a new depth of understanding and
\neffectiveness in ministry, including praying for business.<\/p>\n

Praying for Business: A Dream<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to praying for business, I have a dream that I’d like to
\nshare with you. No, it’s not a fast-asleep kind of dream, but a vision,
\na hope, perhaps even a game plan.<\/p>\n

In the last couple of weeks I have been blogging on the topic of praying for business. I began by asking the question: Why don’t we pray for business?<\/a>
\nI was thinking especially of prayers shared in corporate worship or
\nprayer meetings. After spending a few days trying to answer this
\nquestion, I shifted to offering some practical suggestions<\/a>
\nfor pastors and other church leaders who would like to pray for the
\nmarketplace and its workers, but aren’t quite sure how to do it.<\/p>\n

Today
\nI’ll finish up this series by sharing a dream of how we might pray for
\nbusiness in the context of a church worship service. This dream could
\nhave many variations. And I fully expect that some visionary churches
\nhave already done something like my dream. (I’d be most eager to hear
\nabout this, by the way.)<\/p>\n

\"ipc-worship-service-8.jpg\"<\/form>\n

During my sixteen-year tenure as Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian
\nChurch, we often prayed in worship services for various configurations
\nof members. We prayed for Sunday School teachers and youth leaders, for
\nfolks going on mission trips, for public school teachers, for parents,
\nand for elders and deacons. (I’m sure I’m missing many groups for which
\nwe prayed.) But, to my knowledge, we never intentionally prayed for
\npeople who worked in business or for the institutions that employed
\nthem (or that they owned). (Photo: The congregation of Irvine
\nPresbyterian Church in a worship service.)<\/p>\n

This
\nwas an unfortunate oversight. And, since I am no longer a parish
\npastor, I can’t rectify it. But I can share my dream with others in the
\nhope that some might pick it up and run with it.<\/p>\n

What I envision
\nis simple: a time in a church worship service to offer public prayer of
\ndedication and commitment for those who work in business. This prayer
\nwould be quite similar to what happened at Irvine Pres when we prayed
\nfor people going on a mission trip. Only, in this case, the mission
\nfield would be the workplace.<\/p>\n

Here’s an outline of what might happen in a worship service:<\/p>\n

1.
\nIdeally, the pastor would preach a sermon that explained how business
\ncan be a context for God’s people to serve him and their fellow human
\nbeings. The sermon would provide a theological foundation for seeing
\nbusiness in a kingdom perspective as well as some practical examples.
\nThe sermon is not an essential part of this process, but it would be
\nhelpful and encouraging for many.<\/p>\n

2. The pastor or other
\nworship leader does a short interview of one (or two) people in the
\ncongregation who work in a business context. (I’d opt for two, with one
\nin a major leadership role and the other an employee relatively low on
\nthe totem pole.) The interview would center around this question: How
\ndo you live out your faith in the context of your workplace? It would
\nalso include the question: How can we pray for you? (I would surely
\nchoose the people to interview in advance and help them to answer
\nconcisely and clearly.)<\/p>\n

3. The leader asks everyone in the
\ncongregation who works in a business to stand, if they are comfortable
\ndoing so and if they would like God’s wisdom for how they can live out
\ntheir faith in the context of their business environment. I would
\nexplain that “business” means, in this case, “for profit enterprises,
\nnot public or non-profit sectors.”<\/p>\n

4. Once everyone who wished
\nto receive prayer was standing, I would pray on behalf of the
\ncongregation (or have someone else lead in prayer). My prayer might go
\nsomething like this:<\/p>\n

Gracious God, thank you for
\ncreating the world and all that is in it. Thank you for creating us in
\nyour image, calling us to be fruitful and to be faithful stewards of
\nyour creation. Thank you for the opportunity to give us to serve you in
\nthe context of business, as we seek to fulfill our calling as human
\nbeings. Thank you for these who are standing today, for their desire to
\nlive out their faith in their workplace. <\/p>\n

Give them wisdom,
\nLord, to know what it means to be your disciple at work. Help them as
\nthey face difficult decisions, sometimes wondering how to balance the
\npriorities of business and your kingdom. Empower them in their
\nrelationships at work, so that they might treat all of their
\ncolleagues, including those they supervise and those who supervise
\nthem, with respect and love. Encourage them when they feel alone, when
\nthey struggle to serve you and be faithful in their jobs. Show these
\nfolks how they can bear witness to you at work, in both word and deed.
\nHelp them to do so in a way that is appropriate and respectful.<\/p>\n

For
\nthose in leadership in their companies, may they know how best to
\nimplement your call to justice, for those they employ, for their
\ncustomers, for their clients, and for the larger world. Help them to
\nsee how to be good stewards of all you have entrusted to them.<\/p>\n

May
\nthis church, dear Lord, be a place of encouragement and support for
\nthese who seek to serve you at work. May we listen to them, bear their
\nburdens, speak your truth in love, and continue to pray for them. Fill
\nthem now with your Spirit, so they might live for you in their
\nworkplaces.<\/p>\n

We pray in the name of Jesus, Amen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

5.
\nThen I would close this time of prayer with a song or hymn. “Take My
\nLife and Let It Be” by Frances R. Havergal would be a good option.<\/p>\n

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
\nTake my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
\nTake my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
\nTake my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.<\/p>\n

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
\nTake my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
\nTake my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
\nTake my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.<\/p>\n

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
\nTake my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
\nTake my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
\nTake myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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