Link to “Andrew Meyer and the Greater Good”
By now, the tazering (or would it be tazing) of a Florida college student at a John Kerry forum has been seen and discussed in blogs all over the web. I have jumped into a couple of those discussions, and was not going to post anything about the incident here. But the best laid plans of mice and men… (READ MORE…)
God’s Business?
A friend of mine is a very successful personal investment counsellor. He also gives himself away. In many ways. His time. His money. The passions of his heart to bring healing and wholeness to people whose bodies and lives are broken or sick in some fashion.
I remember a conversation we had not too long ago. He was talking about praying for his business. He has people who have committed to pray for his business. A novel idea? We pray for ministries. But do we in the church pray for the guidance and success of our brothers and sisters in the marketplace? Why not? Are business activities somehow dirty or profane?
A lot of business people are made to feel like second class citizens in the church. If you can’t give your time to “real ministry”, or aren’t “called to full time service in the church”, then you settle for a life that is somehow spiritually second best. But you can still give, and support those who are pursuing the higher calling.
The practical fact is that most real people live the vast portion of their lives outside the walls of the church. And, statistically, most will never be actively involved any kind of institutional or programmatic “ministry”. They don’t have time or energy left for another activity or program. So is their assigned role to pay their tithe and be weekend spiritual spectators and cheering block while the professional Christians and their small but dedicated cadre of volunteers engage in the real work of ministry?
There is a different way of thinking emerging. A different way of understanding “church”. Many have paid lip service for a long time to the notion that the church is the entire body of believers and that all believers have unique and essential gifts and callings. And many have paid lipservice to the notion that Jesus really does desire and intend to exercise lordship over every aspect of life. And to redeem and transform and demonstrate His grace and power practically and overtly in every sphere of activity.
Today, these notions are being embraced more and more widely by people who are no longer satisfied with the lipservice. They want to see it happen. They want to start “doing the stuff”, as John Wimber used to say, in the streets. They are embracing a radical notion that most true apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, or people gifted and called to a multitude of other ministries, will never carry out their ministry within the structure of the institutional church. And even more radical is the idea that they are not intended to. Their calling by God is to live and move and minister in the context of the marketplace. Their home, their office, their 9-5. The doctor, the cop, the stay-at-home-mom, the construction worker, the mail carrier, the janitor. Their ministry is not something other than their job. Their lives are not that cleanly compartmentalized. Excellence and service and celebration and ministry and prayer and shepherding and mentoring and just being Christian is an integral part of the daily rhythm of life. Organizations like The Joseph Company and Harvest Evangelism are providing support and vision for this growing movement. And teachers like Os Hillman and Lance Wallnau are raising the expectation that Christians can actually be CALLED to the marketplace, and have an obligation to bring good news and transformation and godly excellence to their sphere of activity and influence, wherever that is.
As I wrote in my bio, I believe our faith calls us to be in the coffeeshop, in the street, in the marketplace, dilletante, meddling in simply everything. I’m not a full-time minister. But I’m a full-time minister. And I’m called to prayer. And I’m called to be a businessman. There can be no disconnect there. And there shouldn’t be.
Back to my friend. As we shared time and coffee at downtown joint, he told me that his real moment of peace came when he was re-reading the Sermon on the Mount, and he heard the Spirit of God say to him, “Quit fussing over tomorrow. When you do that, you’re don’t look any different than the non-believers around you. How can I bless that? You just be where I’ve called you, do your job, and do it with excellence. I’ll take care of the rest. If you take care of MY business, I’ll take care of YOURS!”
