Marketplace Ministry
“Work by design”—and more of the story.
Genesis 2:15 records work as it was meant to be—getting into the soil, dirt under the fingernails, and tending to the animals, all with satisfaction and joy. God, as part of his good and perfect plan for his creation, tasked Adam to “cultivate and tend” the Garden of Eden. Eve was given as a companion and partner in this calling. How glorious! But then comes Genesis 3—the fall—with its resultant “weeds and thistles” and “hard labour.” Work perfectly designed had become work pretty disfigured. Now it seems that creation itself militates against us in our calling to “tend.” And yet, the calling and blessing of work has not changed.
Work is part of God’s calling
There are several key truths in that story worth noting. The first is that work, including physical work with dirt under our fingernails, is part of God’s calling on our lives. Unfortunately, in our day and age, work sometimes (maybe usually) gets a bad rap. Monday morning is considered lamentable as it marks the start of the workweek and Friday evening is great as it ends the same.
Our jobs are often considered second-rate compared to our leisure, little more than a necessary evil. And yet, interestingly enough, work is given to humanity as a part of God’s perfect design and creation before the fall. Work is not an evil result of brokenness to be endured, it is a part of God’s design for us to be embraced and celebrated. God gave humanity the privilege of nurturing his creation, helping it to flourish!
Work is integral to our relationship with God
Genesis also reveals that work was intended to be a natural part of the relationship with God and integral to it. As God designed work to be a normative part of our lives it must be, in some sense, spiritual. The flourishing of creation we are called to work for is a wholistic flourishing, embracing both the physical and spiritual realms.
We will return to the concept of nurturing spiritual flourishing in more detail momentarily. At this point, suffice to say that God’s calling to work is a universal calling that embraces the physical and the spiritual. It’s a mistake when we create an inappropriate divide between those two.
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Physical work is spiritual ministry
Physical work is no less a reflection of God’s calling than the roles we traditionally consider as “spiritual calling.” Ministry in the marketplace and workplace is no less ministry than work inside the church. In fact, the first person Scripture describes as being full of God’s Spirit was a craftsman, not a prophet or priest (see Exodus 31:2–3). That does not mean that God’s Spirit did not fill others before this, but it is an indication of God’s blessings on the work of our hands.
God’s calling, gifting, and mission are not limited to the “clergy class.” In fact, nothing is further from the truth. The calling to spiritual work embraces all forms of legitimate work—craftspersons, farmers, construction workers, service industry workers, health care providers, educators, businesspeople, I.T. professionals, politicians, preachers, pastors—and most certainly those who make coffee! It is to the shame of the church that we have not done a better job of validating, celebrating, and equipping people to “workplace ministry!” God calls his people to minister in all kinds of workplaces.
When Jesus delivered his Great Commission, he said nothing of church buildings, structures, or organizations. He simply called all his followers to make disciples. It was to be a part of life—family, community, and workplace.
As we follow Scripture beyond Genesis we discover that work is simply a natural part of God’s design. For example, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes have many words of counsel that fit a workplace environment, and many other Old Testament truths revolve around workplace environments. Much later Paul tells the Christians in Thessalonica to “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody” (1 Thessalonians 4:11–12).
Nowhere is there a separation between the call to be an obedient, multiplying, follower of Jesus, and the call to work in a career outside the church. The “call” to do physical and spiritual work is a good call that comes to us all.
A false hierarchy of work
Unfortunately, the church has a long history of “stratifying” something God never does. Aristotle effectively said that anyone who does anything for pay is by nature not truly a free person (see Aristotle’s Politics, “Book VIII, part 2”).
Some six centuries after Aristotle, Augustine too distinguished between the “active life (vita activa)” and the “contemplative life (vita contemplative).” And though he felt both were good, the contemplative life was of a higher order.
In between the eras of these two men, Christianity experienced the rise of the clergy class in both presence and value. And while there have been times since then when the church properly valued physical work, recognizing its place in God’s good design of humanity and in the mission of the church, we have nonetheless continued to struggle with properly valuing workplace ministry along with vocational ministry. It ought not to be so. The calling to serve God in the workplace is a high and wonderful calling, one that aligns with God’s design. Christians serving in their workplaces should be equipped, commissioned, and celebrated as obedient and called servants of God. Of course, there is more to the story than that universal calling. The other key truth from Genesis’ story is that work is stained by the fall and its resultant universal sin. That shows itself not just in the “thistles and weeds” in the ground, but in the challenges we face as we work together with people – and they have to work with us. While the concept of work is divine, the experience of it is not always so.
Living out God’s call in an unfriendly culture
There are few better examples offered for us to learn from than that of Daniel, one of many exiled to Babylon in the 6th century BCE (his experience is described in the book of Daniel). Daniel likely did not have a choice as to whether or not to go to Babylon, but it was up to him to choose how to live once there, how to serve, and how to work. Over a period of 60-plus years Daniel experienced being a foreigner, a politician, a hero, a villain, a prisoner, and a prophet. While working in a foreign land, he nevertheless recognized God’s call on his life to help God’s creation flourish.
Daniel served God by serving Babylon, working in a context that was unfriendly at best to Daniel and his faith. Yet Daniel served well, worked well, ministered well. He embraced his workplace opportunities, even when his workplace did not seem to embrace him. Daniel lived out the charge given by God through his prophet in Jeremiah 29:
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (vv. 4–7).
In other words, don’t hide from the world around you—get in there, work, serve, and live. In fact, work for the flourishing of the land you are in. Jeremiah’s words challenged God’s people to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city” to which they were carried into exile. Our mandate to fulfill the full calling of God (the spiritual and physical flourishing of creation) does not change because the environment is unfriendly or uncomfortable.
We also serve as foreign ambassadors
Some ‘dare to be a Daniel’ dilemmas
-You own a business and have an opportunity to hire an employee. One strong candidate chooses a lifestyle not reflective of Christian values. This person is also well known for their vocal activism and unique appearance choices related to their lifestyle choice. They will be in a “work from home” position with no opportunity to represent the company and have committed to not doing so. A “Daniel-like approach” might consider this person on their work merits and potentially hires them regardless of personal discomfort, in recognition of their skills, as an opportunity to help them flourish, and as an opportunity to minister to them in a God-honouring way.
-You have hired a contractor to do a relatively expensive job (over $20,000). The contractor suggests he will do this job for $750 less if you pay him in cash (to avoid taxes). A “Daniel-like approach” might suggest paying the full amount so that taxes can be paid, as you understand the need for our tax money to fund national programs (whether or not they are efficiently run). You believe that flourishing of our land is good for all.
-You are undercharged on a supplier’s invoice, and the mistake is very unlikely to be noticed by anyone else. The company who undercharged you is notoriously difficult in pricing and legitimate credits, so others say this simply evens the balance sheet. A “Daniel-like approach” might lead you to advise them of this mistake, saying your honesty before God means you would never condone dishonest gain, even if you personally did nothing to gain it (except silence).
-Your work environment sometimes involves activities that are outside an acceptable realm for Christianity, though they are legal and accepted in that industry. (Think, for example, of things like Medical Assistance in Dying, or some abortion procedures, or facilitating/aiding a divorce for unbiblical reasons.) A “Daniel-like approach” might include a proactive conversation with your superior, clearly articulating where your line would be and why, and letting them know that should you be challenged to cross that line, you would have to regrettably, but graciously, offer your resignation.
Many of us can relate to Daniel and his Babylon experience. As Christians we are called to be ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). That should tell us something. One does not serve as an ambassador in their homeland. We serve as ambassadors when we are foreign territory, and for us that means outside the confines of our Christian alcoves (i.e. the church). I think the call to be ambassadors makes clear the call for us to serve God’s cause by serving in our communities and workplaces, whether or not the environment is aligned with our values and priorities.
Daniel understood this. And his story has many lessons for us in navigating the great call of workplace or marketplace ministry, even when our setting feels like a lion’s den.
A rereading of Daniel’s story reminds us of how he held the lines that God drew (not lines he drew), with grace and courage (see Daniel 2:14). We have no evidence of malice toward others (see Daniel 2:24). He did not separate himself from people, but only from practices that would defile him. I encourage you to read Daniel again, looking specifically for the ways he worked in that environment. Picture yourself copying Daniel’s approach in the places you work. Ask God to show you how he wants to you make a difference, not just how you can be comfortable. How can you work for the flourishing of those around you?
Honouring God in all places, including the workplace
Like Daniel, our culture can be uncomfortable. Our world is marked by individualism, polarization, division, and crises of truth, purpose, meaning, and identity that together breed confusion and fear. These realities exist in the places where we live, work, play, and learn. Those are the places to which we are called to be ambassadors, ministers, and disciple-makers. Daniel shows us that a challenging environment need not stop us.
Genesis sets the foundation for us all in terms of living a life for and with God, calling us to all to be disciple-making followers of Jesus. To reach all God calls people into all kinds of places of work, to serve as ambassadors to people who need the gospel. Peter writes to Christians (not just pastors) about the calling to live lives that honour God in all places, including the workplace: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12).
Are you called…
• To work with your hands?
• To lead and serve people through governance?
• To the service industry?
• To teach? To heal? To build? To grow? To drive? To write? To paint? To create? To sing? To clean? To cook? To…?
Then work for the flourishing of God’s creation and for his glory. It is God’s calling on all of us, in whatever role he has called us to!
And if you are discouraged by the challenge of your workplace context because it feels like a lion’s den from time to time, then revisit Daniel and be encouraged that God will be with you in the call he has given you. It is a great calling, important and ordained.
And, finally, encourage one another in the calling each has responded to, and are ministering in. Let us build one another up in love, as each part does its work (Ephesians 4:16). God has called you to be a part of the physical and spiritual flourishing of his creation. Thank you for responding to that call.
