{"id":335,"date":"2008-01-25T01:01:07","date_gmt":"2008-01-25T01:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2008\/01\/god-at-work-an-appendix-for-the-laity-section-4.html"},"modified":"2008-01-25T01:01:07","modified_gmt":"2008-01-25T01:01:07","slug":"god-at-work-an-appendix-for-the-laity-section-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/01\/god-at-work-an-appendix-for-the-laity-section-4.html","title":{"rendered":"God at Work: An Appendix for the Laity (Section 4)"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the series: God at Work: A Review of the Book by David Miller
\nPermalink for this post<\/a> \/ Permalink for this series<\/a><\/em>
\nSo far I have put up the following recommendations for lay people who want to help their churches be more supportive of their effort to live out their faith at work:<\/p>\n

Recommendation #1: Invest in Christian fellowship and help your fellowship to deal with issues of faith at work.
\nRecommendation #2: Talk it up.
\nRecommendation #3: Gather people with common concerns and vision.
\nRecommendation #4: Help members of your church become familiar with faith at work resources.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today I’ll add one more.
\nRecommendation #5: Ask your pastor for help.<\/strong>
\nDavid Miller, in God at Work<\/em>, explains that most pastors aren’t especially helpful when it comes to faith at work efforts. There are many reasons for this, including: ignorance, insecurity, theological misgivings about business, lack of personal experience, etc. Of course there are also some pastors who are so invested in building their own church that they aren’t eager to have their people ministering outside of church.
\nI believe, however, that the vast majority of pastors truly want to help their people grow in their Christian discipleship as they live in the world, including the world of work. I expect that 90% of pastors would respond favorably to a request from a church member for help in this area. Of course the kinds of pastoral responses would vary widely. But something positive would come from a conversation in which a person says, “Pastor, I really need your help with this.”
\nPlease notice carefully what I am saying . . . and not<\/em> saying. If you’re a lay person in a church with a pastor who hasn’t done much with faith at work issues, I am NOT encouraging you to complain and criticize. Unfortunately, that’s the approach some folks take with their pastors, and it’s not helpful. Ask me for help with something and I’m glad to oblige. Come at me with criticism and I’m apt to hide behind my defenses. Pastors are human, after all. In fact, in my experience, pastors are often more sensitive than the average person, and are therefore quite vulnerable to criticism. So, if you approach your pastor, why not try something like this (in a nutshell):<\/p>\n

Pastor, I’ve recently been learning a lot about my calling to serve Christ in my workplace. This is new for me, and I’m excited about it. But there is so much I don’t know. I need both support and guidance. I’m wondering if you could help. Now I know you have a lot on your plate already. I’m not necessarily asking you to do more things. But I thought I’d come to you for some ideas and direction. Also, I want you to know what I’ve discovered and how exciting it is for me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As someone who served as a pastor for over 23 years, I can tell you that I’d have loved to get this sort of request when I was in parish ministry.
\nNow, let me add that a wise pastor will not just offer help, but also will ask you to get involved in the solution. If you had come to me with this sort of request, I can imagine that I’d ask you to help organize a class or a workshop. Maybe I’d invite you to do a lay witness in church or to write an article for the church newsletter. This wouldn’t be a result simply of my busyness and not wanting to take on more things. It would flow from my commitment to lay ministry, both in church and in the world. (Photo: The chancel of St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Boerne, Texas, where I worship each week when I’m in town. I now have a pastor named John Watson. Technically, I’m still an ordained Presbyterian pastor. But in ordinary life I’m rather like any other lay person in the church.)
\nWhen you talk with your pastor, you might even offer to do something proactive like organizing a class or whatever. When a member of my church came to me, not only with ideas, but with an offer to help, I was more than happy to team up with this person. Sometimes I’d send him or her to another church leader. But I often got involved myself, at least for a while.
\nIf your pastor wants to help but isn’t sure what to do, you might suggest some of the resources I mentioned in my last post. Send your pastor to the website of R. Paul Stevens<\/a> or to The High Calling of Our Daily Work.org<\/a><\/em>. (In fact, to share a little secret, the leaders of The High Calling<\/em> and I are working on a pastor’s page, that would have lots of resources for pastors. This is still on the drawing board, but I expect we’ll do it down the road a piece.)
\nAs I look back on my ministry at Irvine Presbyterian, I feel good about much of what I did in support of lay ministry in the workplace. I could have done a short preaching series on faith at work, though I think it was effective to integrate faith at work illustrations into my ordinary preaching. I do wish we had done more in worship to highlight and celebrate workplace ministry. In a comment on one of my recent blog posts<\/a>, Kyler says this:<\/p>\n

In J.P. Moreland\u2019s \u201cLove Your God with All Your Mind\u201d, he tells of a congregation that, week after week, had people of various professions come forward to be, not quite ordained, but \u201ccommissioned\u201d for service\u2013the businesspeople, the scientists, the artists, and so on. The service envisioned in Moreland\u2019s particular example was primarily to be performed within the church (the scientists might be the congregation\u2019s \u201cgo-to\u201d people for insight on the creation\/evolution\/intelligent design debate, for example), but it is at least a start. There\u2019s nothing preventing any congregation taking this model of commissioning \u201cregular\u201d members and applying it to service to the Kingdom of God performed outside of the church.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In retrospect, I wish we had done this sort of commissioning in worship. Perhaps some of my blog-reading pastors will do it and let me know how it goes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the series: God at Work: A Review of the Book by David Miller Permalink for this post \/ Permalink for this series So far I have put up the following recommendations for lay people who want to help their churches be more supportive of their effort to live out their faith at work: Recommendation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-god-at-work"],"yoast_head":"\nGod at Work: An Appendix for the Laity (Section 4) - Mark D. 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Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}