Work Vocation & the Gospel

Okay, good morning everyone. We have quite a bit of ground to cover so I wanted us to get started quickly.

After our journey of the last several weeks on the subject of work, we are starting to begin our descent as we prepare to wrap the series over the next two classes.

But I think it's always helpful, given it's been a while since our last class, to provide a brief recap of the terrain that we've covered.

The first couple of classes looked at God's plan for work, how he created us to work, and intended our work to be a continuation of the divine mandate to subdue the earth.

Our work is in some ways a sub-creation under his own completed work of creation at the beginning.

We learned that work is good. It comes in a variety of forms, none of which is superior to another.

And it came with constraints meant to continually point us to the one who made us and called us to work.

We then spent time looking at a specific section of this, which was work as a vocation.

I mean, it's calling from God separate to our occupation and its implication for how we're intended to live.

So despite being important, work remains secondary to our primary calling to a relationship with God.

And we also learned how the inability to earn God's grace nullifies what was in some way the pre-Reformation distinction between spiritual work and regular work,

as one was thought to be higher than the other.

Our next set of classes looked at the brokenness of work, which was how the entry of sin into the world alters God's design for work in several ways,

making our work fruitless, meaningless, self-centered, and as a medium or channel for our idols, often exposing and amplifying them.

Now, today's class pivots to now the gospel and how it impacts and redeems our work.

It's the third and final section of the companion book that we have been using for this series.

And while in many ways it returns to some of the ideas we have already covered in the course of the class,

the hope is that today this will bring it all, it will develop some of these ideas and integrate them into a coherent framework

that allows us to then connect many of the disparate elements that we may have highlighted as we went along.

But before we dive in, let's ask the Lord for his help in prayer.

Father Lord, thank you for the good ways in which you have designed our work.

Despite in many ways the entry of sin into the world threatens to break your good design,

we are grateful that through the gospel you are redeeming our work, just as you are doing with our world,

and we bring to fulfillment at your return.

We ask that you will open our eyes, our minds, and our hearts to see this redeeming work, even here and now,

and for wisdom and grace to join with you in the work, in the ways you call us to.

I ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let me just check that it's recording.

Okay, great.

Okay, so how does the gospel impact our work?

The gospel impacts our work in three main ways that we will look at today.

First, it gives us a new story or new narrative for our work.

Next, it gives us a new compass or an assessment rubric for our work.

And then finally, it gives us a new motivation or incentive for how and why we work.

So, before we look at the first one on how the gospel gives us a new story and narrative for our work,

it may be helpful to understand first why narratives are important in the first place.

Human beings are meaning makers, and stories are the ways in which we make sense of the world

and the ways in which we understand our place in it.

Stories are further important because, as Keller quotes the philosopher, I think, Alice Dare McIntyre in his book,

he describes actions as enacted narratives.

I would paraphrase that as saying the things that flow from us in response to the stories that we believe.

The closer the stories we tell ourselves match the reality of the world,

the better able we can to align ourselves to the world or to the reality of the world

and for our decisions and actions to drive results in line with reality.

Conversely, the further away from reality that these stories are,

the more likely we are to act in ways that could be at odds with the ends we desire,

the poorer our outcomes and our experiences will be.

The bigger the scope of the story that we tell over our lives,

the more important that story becomes in shaping outcomes and key decisions we make on the most important questions.

There should note that stories also do not have to be explicitly articulated for them to have sway over our lives.

Many of us live under implicit stories that we have assimilated from the culture, from our families,

without explicitly questioning.

And the result of this are actions and beliefs that we express about our work or other things

that we assume to be true but are wrong.

The final thing is that stories that are at heart contain three basic elements.

Almost every story can be decomposed almost into like that and their variety.

There is a situation, a complication and an ultimate resolution.

The situation captures the ideal or the context of the world.

The complication describes the main problem.

The resolution articulates how that problem can be addressed to restore the world to what it was or what it was meant to be.

So I was thinking an example would be The Lion King, which was one of my favorite animations by a huge margin actually.

But the story is simply, Simba was born to be king in Pride Rock.

Pride Rock is somewhere else.

I think it's called Pride Rock.

Yeah.

Okay, I think it's somewhere else that uses the term Pride Rock.

I don't remember.

And then Mufasa's brother, Simba, the complication, you know, kills Mufasa.

Scar kills Mufasa to assume the throne.

And then Simba runs away for his life.

And then he comes back.

You know, the resolution is he comes back.

He comes back, he battles Scar and becomes victorious and returns the kingdom to what it was meant to be.

The situation, complication, resolution.

You can try that with almost any movie.

It will follow the same.

Of course, each section in like would then have subsections of each story.

But that's the broad, broad frame of how stories are told.

So if we look at the gospel in this way, the gospel as a story we tell, you can summarize it essentially in three main points similarly.

God made the world good, created us humans for a relationship with him and to steward and continue the good work of creation that he had begun.

This was the first couple of classes.

Sin, the complication, entered the world through our disobedience.

And with it, death, brokenness, and evil came into the world.

Sin, as we discover in the development of the plot, is actually not primarily an action, but an orientation and posture of the heart in rebellion to God.

The resolution is God addresses the problem by sending his son, Jesus, to atone for our sin, justify us freely by grace and not by works.

And through his spirit, he sanctifies us, making us more like his son, Jesus, and ultimately with us, redeem and restore the world.

The fullness of that restoration or that resolution will occur when Jesus returns.

But in many ways, it has already begun.

And like he did, which is how resolutions take us back or connect to the situation, like he did in the garden, he again invites us to participate in that work of redemption that is already ongoing in the world.

That is like a situation, complication, resolution framework for the story of the gospel.

Now, some of the implications of that story, I think, should be obvious, given they form essentially the core of the first four classes that I summarized at the beginning.

Work is good.

It is broken by sin.

And we see or experience that brokenness in many ways.

But there are a few more that in this section of the book, Tim Keller starts to highlight that I think are then relevant here.

So this is the first point on the gospel as a story, how it gives us a new story for work.

And the first is that the creation for redemption arc in the story forms the basis of what he calls a re-narration or a restorative, in my own words, I call it a restorative storytelling that we may need to do as we engage our work as Christians.

So it's like in each work, what is the good?

Where is sin broken?

How is this being redeemed?

Now, we often may think that this is only needed for those who go into fields today that are culturally associated with godlessness and greed.

I had a private equity Instagram influencer in here as well.

But there are so many, I think I wouldn't be able to name them all.

But a fuller understanding, the story of the gospel, if you realize it's about a posture of heart and not an action, recognize that sin corrupts all work.

But even culturally good and noble occupations like teaching and nursing, all occupations have some of their grand or sub-narratives in tension with the gospel.

And these shape the outcomes people in them are tempted to pursue.

I think Keller gives quite a number of examples in there.

One of the most poignant ones is around higher education and the philosophies that are combating what is higher education meant to be.

And how there are, even though it is a positive good in many ways, in trying to shape that story of higher education, people have in some way corrupted some of it, not all of it.

Now, a direct corollary of also this understanding and embracing, yes, of embracing, what did I write here?

I apologize.

So a direct corollary of this framework of the re-narration is we can understand and embrace the common grace that is also present in most or all of these occupations.

So even as the narrative of the gospel helps us to see the occupations for what they are in tension, where they are in tension, where the gospel is in tension with the narratives that they also tell,

we are reminded that on the flip side, it is not all bad.

Sin corrupts but does not eliminate the good in the world that God has created.

And while these narratives have parts in tension, they also contain much that the gospel celebrates, which we can also embrace and celebrate as good.

And together, these two things, these two ideas or components of the idea, help facilitate a proper integration of our faith and work,

without us falling into a full withdrawal, thinking we only have to create Christian copies of everything for them to be glorified to God,

or a gullible embrace and in some way excusing sin without challenging it.

I'll pause.

I think this is perhaps one of the more abstract ideas.

And towards the end, we will come to very practical ways in which all of these help us in our work.

But I wanted to pause to see if there are any questions.

Okay.

Okay.

Well, I would give two examples.

I think I will be in the course of time.

I'll just try to give two examples that I wrote down just in case it will be helpful.

I think the first was private equity.

I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with private equity.

Some of you know what it is, but most of you know about it.

It's essentially associated with these, what they call rubber barons, who in the 80s, when the industry came into its own or its public identity,

where people who would buy companies by borrowing debt against the assets of these companies,

and in some way using that process to extract significant amounts of value from those companies while destroying,

and in some cases destroy them.

I was trying to look up some examples.

They've done also some good, but that is the perception.

Private equity comes in.

They borrow money against the company that they're buying, so the company now has debt tied to its assets,

and then they try to strip out the value by breaking it apart.

That's the caricature of private equity.

But many people are unaware that most of them.

So the way private equity funds are structured is there are people who operate the fund,

who are called general partners, and there are limited partners,

the people who contribute money to the fund, the fund that buys and owns and run these companies.

Many of the contributors to these funds are, you would not imagine, the biggest owners of private equity funds are.

Who can guess?

Huh?

Insurance funds?

Well, they are probably big hosts, but it's pension funds.

Pension funds are by and large the massive owners.

And I have a friend who worked there who, the re-narration in the positive way is,

he, when he goes in as a private equity investor in companies,

thinks about the grandma who has been putting money aside for her retirement.

And that money rests on the performance that the companies that they are acquired are supposed to deliver.

So his goal is to find companies that have a potential to do very well,

but may currently be performing not so well because they are under bad management,

and figuring out ways to restructure them in order for them to generate better returns,

and thus ensure that teacher's retirement fund by the time he or she is done with work.

And so that is a gospel re-narration or rethinking of,

even in this supposedly evil enterprise,

there is good there.

There are people who, it's because of the work that some of them do,

they push the management of many firms to become just better operators of their companies

and drive better returns for the pension funds that own the bulk of many of these,

of the assets in many of these private equity.

So that is one example of re-narration as a way,

as the gospel provides a framework for re-narration,

even in potentially evil occupations.

And I say potentially evil because, I mean, as we know, right,

knowing what we know about sin and its nature,

it's not specific occupations that are good or evil.

It's oftentimes, it's figuring out the good of evil in them.

On the second example, I want to talk about another animation I love,

which would be Frozen.

I have a young daughter.

I watched Frozen a long time ago,

and I think I have watched it more times in the last, I don't know, year than I would care to count.

But this is, again, this is the second part about the ability to embrace common grace in work.

When I think about,

there are not very many, at least modern, retellings of sibling love,

like the story of Frozen.

At the end, I am always captivated by just the strength of the narrative of sibling love.

And I'm sure many of you have either watched it or do not care to watch it,

so I'm not afraid of giving you a spoiler.

But at the very end, right,

there is a perfect picture of the gospel at the end of the story

that every time I watch it, I am moved to tears

that someone giving up their own life and their own purposes for the rescue of another.

And I can see it very clearly in my eyes.

I don't think Disney is run by necessarily Christian figures,

but they tell stories that have really powerful Christian implications

and stories from which you can use in engaging others about the picture of the gospel

without necessarily having to refer to only texts or examples that we are familiar with.

That is common grace.

Tim Keller gives another example of another famous Vietnamese movie

that has an equally poignant resolution as well.

And so we, in the spirit of how the gospel is helping us,

through this re-narration it tells,

we can reclaim the good through the understanding that there is common grace everywhere

while still able to critique the things that are evil about it.

So does this help a little bit more on the concept of narratives

and the gospel and retelling stories?

The examples help.

Yeah, I imagine that.

They were too long to write, but I figured we still have some time.

All right, so I mentioned there were three ways in which the gospel helps us redeem our work.

And I think the second way the gospel impacts or redeems our work

is by giving us a new compass, orientation, and ethics for our work.

And so we see this more clearly laid out in the instruction Paul gives in Ephesians 6,

I think from verse 7, and I'll read.

It says,

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and with sincerity of heart,

just as you would obey Christ.

Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you,

but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.

Serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord, not men.

Because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does,

whether he is slave or free.

And masters, treat your slaves in the same way.

Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven,

and there is no favoritism with him.

The gospel reminds us that we are not our own,

but belong not to ourselves, but to him who paid the price.

And because we belong to him, we are called to do our work as unto the one to whom we belong.

So slaves, or in our world today we would say employees,

are not to do shoddy work when no one is looking,

or do poor work for people they don't like,

because God is the end of the work.

If God is going to see and receive the work,

then it doesn't really matter whether someone's physical eye is on it.

Imagine if your manager had a camera trained on your desk, on your computer.

We would in some way, many of us would work differently.

I'm always reminded about my inclination, not even inclination,

but actual, when you are driving past those automatic toll,

you would slow down.

Yeah, just, yeah.

And it's the effect that naturally,

I was going to look up studies on this, but I'm like,

I'm sure we all understand the natural inclination of doing better work

when others are watching versus when they are not.

And we, in some way, have a different audience,

some of us who never stop watching,

and that doesn't watch in some way to penalize,

but watches us in a way to reward the work.

In particular, the work that we do when no one is watching,

the work that we do as unto God is work that God rewards.

You know, it's like, if you compare that to the story of giving money

for those others to see it,

Jesus told them, those have received their reward.

Their reward at that time was just the acknowledgement of men.

But those who give in secret, where only God sees,

are rewarded in openness, so without work.

When we work, when no one's eyes are on us,

and work because we are working unto God,

even secular work, which we know now,

after many classes, that is no real different from spiritual work,

will be rewarded by God for our faithful service as unto Him.

The final way the gospel imparts our work

is by giving us a new incentive or motivation.

I think in the previous class,

we had covered this when we talked about the subject of idols,

our desire for recognition, loss for money, power, and ambition.

But there is a subtle way, Tim Keller points this out,

where work is corrupted by sin,

and where we are liberated by the gospel's power.

And that is a freedom from what he calls

the work underneath the work.

And it's best to illustrate with an example that he gives.

In this movie, Chariots of Fire,

there's one of the runners, Harold Abrams,

who describes his reason for wanting to run the Olympics this way.

I pulled this quote online.

It says,

I'm forever in pursuit, and I don't know what I am chasing.

I have 10 lonely seconds to justify my existence.

Essentially, on the track, while he's running,

his work was essentially to prove that he deserved to be here

and justify his reason for living.

You may think this is dramatic,

but there was another example that I think Keller gave

about the famous preacher Martin Lloyd-Jones,

who was a doctor before becoming a preacher.

And he said to some of his medical students and doctors

that there are many whom I have had the privilege of meeting

whose tombstones might well bear the grim epitaph,

born a man and died a doctor.

So consumed by their work,

to the detriment of everything else that God had made them to be.

The work under the work that these stories are trying to describe

is the temptation for many of us,

for work to be, like I mentioned in Harold Abrams' case,

a way we justify our very existence

and define why we matter in this world,

and which we are tempted to hold up

as some sort of ticket for our salvation.

In many ways, it's just another expression of salvation by works,

a path which the Bible already tells us.

And as we have gone through the book of Galatians,

as a church we see more clearly,

it's already cursed.

No matter how many races are won,

are run and won,

or patients treated and cured,

it's like drinking seawater to quench your thirst.

Work will never be finished or complete

and will only lead to despair and frustration.

Now, this perspective contrasts with the motivation

that is fueled by the gospel of grace that Keller highlights.

When he contrasted Harold Abrams with the main character of the movie,

Eric Little,

who characterized his motivation this way,

I believe God made me for a purpose,

but he also made me fast.

And when I run, I feel his pleasure.

Because we are saved by grace and not by our works,

we don't do anything to earn our salvation.

It is freely given to us.

Nothing we can do before can earn it.

Otherwise, as it says in scripture,

it would be a wage and not a gift.

It must also mean that nothing we can do after

can be required either.

Otherwise, it would simply be a credit sale.

We are set free from the futility of the work underneath the work.

By the rest, Jesus promises to all who labor and are heavily leading,

and the rest we enter by faith in him.

As the writer of Hebrews puts it more directly,

there remains then a Sabbath rest for the people of God,

for anyone who enters God's rest

also rests from his own work,

just as God did from his.

God rested on the seventh day,

even though we know that God is still working.

Similarly, entering God's rest does not mean

we don't stop working,

but we enter a rest from the work underneath the work.

that frees us to then work as unto God.

Okay?

I want to pause here again,

see if there are questions.

Yes, Richard.

What do you mean by the work underneath the work?

Mm-hmm.

It's like a...

It's almost a self-justifying.

I need to perform for me to know that I have value.

If I don't do a great job,

I don't feel like I have value as a person or as a human being.

So that is a work underneath.

The work is not...

So I could be doing good work.

So that is work underneath the work,

because the actual work,

whatever it is,

being a doctor or being a teacher,

actually is accomplishing some purpose.

But the work underneath the work...

You're not just doing that work.

We are doing the work underneath the work

of trying to justify yourself and your existence,

beyond even just the work,

the actual elements of the work that you're doing.

There's a bigger, like, medical wish you're trying to achieve.

Yep.

Through your paid labor,

but also, you know,

volunteer work or church stuff or...

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

And like we mentioned in the first story,

in the first point around the stories that we tell,

this is particularly,

I think, relevant here,

that often this is not an explicit story

that we tell ourselves.

You grew up in a culture or...

Yeah, and this is not even culture at large

or culture made small in, like, our families,

where you have to do X to be...

In some way, to be something.

Yeah.

I'm from Nigeria.

And yes, it is pretty important.

Education, when I was growing up, was the thing.

Like, you needed to be good in school

in order to have a good life.

That was literally...

There were songs about it.

I could sing them,

but they would be in a different language.

You wouldn't understand it.

But I know everybody knew the songs.

You knew the songs.

And even in my...

There were songs about work.

I remember one...

All of these songs are...

I mean, they are...

You could...

This is where, then, the second point

or the second sub-point on that narrative work

is important because

you can do the good cultural or gospel critique.

There are good things about what they say about work,

about diligence, about...

But there is also some assumption about

work as an end,

as a way to fulfill something that I think

in the second class, Alex, reminded us.

It sounds very spiritual,

but our primary calling is to a relationship with God.

I don't think it's...

If you think our primary calling is to serve God,

no, it's to a relationship with God

of which He then invites us to serve alongside Him.

If you mix that up,

even Christian work can be corrupted by that mixture.

But there are those who pursue

for which work becomes an end,

and then...

Yeah, if you find me after the class,

I will sing at least one of those songs for you.

Any other questions?

All right.

So maybe then our final part,

I mean, section,

maybe this will spark up a few more.

So then what does this mean

for our work practically today?

It feels, to Susan's earlier point,

some of these ideas may be a bit more abstract

around how do those...

How do the ideas of re-narration,

re-narration of working as unto God,

as a new audience,

and being free from this work underneath the work?

How does it play out on a Tuesday afternoon

in your workplace?

Well, first, thankfully,

re-narration does not just work on a macro level,

but also on a micro level.

Thus, we are able to see

this re-narration of the gospel at work,

even in the vexing day-to-day occurrences of our jobs,

in light of God's greater purposes.

As it says in Romans 8, 28,

The gospel assures us

that God works in everything for His purpose,

and our task is to seek and ask Him

to show us this good

and for us, in many ways,

to re-narrate whatever experiences

we are having in light of this.

So one famous example in Scripture

is the story of Joseph, right?

Who was sold into slavery by his brothers,

framed by Potiphar's wife,

and then forgotten in prison.

I mean, if you wrote this story without the end,

it was like this guy just went from low to lower

and all the way to the lowest point.

But at the end of the story,

after he had ultimately become prime minister,

and when his brothers were afraid

that he would then take revenge on them

for what they did to him,

this is what he had to say in Genesis 49.

He said,

Don't be afraid.

Am I in the place of God?

You intended to harm me,

but God intended it for good,

to accomplish what is now being done,

the saving of many lives.

So Joseph was able to see those events

in the grander narrative of God's plan

for what he was doing.

Re-narration is not wish fulfillment.

He did not deny the facts or the reality

of his brothers' actions,

and also even the evil that they intended.

He said,

You meant it for evil.

You intended to harm me,

but God intended it for good.

Thus, because of the gospel,

we can be sure of God's good purposes,

even in our trials,

even when people intentionally have plans to use,

you know, like,

either in work,

usurp our,

take our credit or whatever,

like,

you can't believe

that God has a plan,

and I think that is,

the work is actually us believing it,

not the fact that it is true,

because it's like,

how can God work in that?

But then the cross is a perfect example.

People looked at Jesus on the cross,

it's like,

that cannot be the Messiah,

because he is evidently cursed by God.

That is how,

yeah,

but that is the extent to which God is able to redeem

even evil,

how much less,

like,

the grand evil,

how much less the minor frustrations

in our work.

They had a pretty,

I don't know,

it's like a,

hopefully humorous example,

but I always imagine,

imagine if you went on a date,

and you got stood up,

or something,

you got stood up at a date,

and you're in the,

and you're there,

and you meet the person at the date

that you eventually marry,

how upset would you be

at the person who stood you up on the date?

Yeah,

I think it's the,

that is the way,

even we have the capacity,

it's just that,

often in a failure of imagination,

we think all God's power is limited to

is the specific experience that we are facing,

but,

yeah,

I can imagine on the wedding day,

they're supposed to be

the man of the man,

thanking the person who didn't show up,

because,

yeah,

if they had shown up,

then this wouldn't be,

this wouldn't happen,

and that's,

in many ways,

kind of how our experiences

can,

in the light of the gospel,

always remind us

that God has a greater purpose,

it may not be purposes

that are fulfilled here in this earth,

but they will definitely be

fulfilled in heaven.

The second is a liberation,

we have to embrace adventure,

appropriately,

in pursuit of our work,

because we are not defined by success or failure.

So now,

one of my favorite science fiction books,

is Ender's Game.

I don't know if any of you have read Ender's Game,

but in that book,

some kids are taken into an academy

to train them to become space fighters

against an invading alien army.

Their training was a cumulative one,

as they underwent a series of war game simulations,

building to a final capstone-like battle

that was like the exam.

Now,

there's a spoiler alert in the next sentence,

so if you want to read it,

it's a really good book,

you can close your ears.

It turned out, though,

that their final capstone battle

was the actual battle with the aliens.

That was like the plot twist.

But because they didn't know,

these kids were able to fight and win

by taking risks they otherwise might not have.

If they thought it was an actual battle,

where winning or losing

would have taken on the existential reality

of civilization destruction,

rather than,

for them,

it was just an exam.

Okay,

so,

spoiler over.

So it is with us.

Salvation by grace means

success or failure does not define us.

It actually frees us to embrace

and do things,

because failure doesn't change

the grand narrative,

doesn't change anything

about our relationship with God,

as long as we are working

in light of what He's called us to do.

So then,

what may you be,

what are you holding back,

or are you afraid to try?

Because you're like,

afraid of failure.

In light of the gospel,

success or failure here in this world,

it's kind of like an exam.

Yeah,

it doesn't mean that like,

failing an exam hurts,

but it's not existential.

It's not life or death.

And so,

we are set free

to embrace this work.

The flip side,

so this is,

the example I just gave

is the failure side.

But there's a flip side

that it also keeps success

from being golden handcuffs as well.

And we see that in,

I'm not sure,

I should explain what the term

golden handcuffs are.

I don't know if you understand them,

but for large corporations,

the executives are often promised

massive payouts

should the companies be acquired.

That's a golden handcuff.

It means that even though

they would love to quit,

why quit when you could be fired?

And then you could leave

with like a massive payout.

And so some of them,

again,

it's a handcuff

because it's golden.

It's like,

wow.

But they are often tied

longer to the places

that they should otherwise leave.

So,

this

is often

a result

on our own smaller scale

of success.

we can sometimes be tied

to our successes

in ways that are unhealthy.

And we see this,

I guess,

the positive side of this

in the story of Jesus

in Mark 1.

And it says,

that evening at sundown

they brought to him

all who were sick

and oppressed by demons.

And the whole city

was gathered together at the door.

And he healed many

who were sick

with various diseases

and cast out many demons.

And he would not permit

the demons to speak

because they knew him.

And rising very early

in the morning

while it was still dark,

he departed

and went out

to a desolate place.

And there he prayed.

And Simon

and those who were with him

searched for him

and they found him

and said to him,

everyone

is looking for you.

And he said to them,

let us go

to the next towns

that I may preach

there also

for that is why

I came out.

And he went

throughout all Galilee

preaching in their synagogues

and casting out demons.

There would have been

a temptation

for some of us

to be like,

wow, look at this.

Revival, crusade,

let us just stay here,

plant and...

But Jesus was like,

ah no,

this isn't why I was called.

Let us go.

He was able

to leave his successes

and continue on his mission

because the audience

of one that he served

was the most important thing.

It didn't really matter

success or failure

in the eyes

of others.

So,

a question for us

would then be,

where is success

also preventing you

from embracing

the mission God

has given you?

Maybe something

he's called you,

he's sensed like,

where is that?

Like, ah man,

I'm going to abandon

all of this.

Even fruitfulness.

Remember,

it wasn't as though

Jesus was being paid dollars.

It was like,

he was healing the sick

and people were coming out.

Even good things,

success in good things

can be the enemy

of ultimate things.

And I think that's what

this can challenge us

to think about

in the context

of our work.

Could it be time

to make a change

in your job

even though you're

really good at,

this is why,

it calls for wisdom

but at least

it's something

for us to prove.

Then perhaps

one final way

in which freedom

from work

underneath the work

can help us

is how it enables us

to serve

in humility.

And Jesus is again

our example

in John chapter 13.

John 13 · chapter mention

It said,

Now before the feast

of the Passover

when Jesus knew

that his hour

had come

to depart

out of this world

to the Father,

having loved his own

who were in the world,

he loved them

to the end.

And during supper

when the devil

had already put it

in the heart

of Judas Iscariot,

Simon's son,

to betray him,

Jesus,

knowing that the Father

had given all things

into his hands

and that he had

come from God

and was going back

to God,

rose from supper.

He laid aside

his outer garments

and taking a towel,

tied it around his waist.

Then he poured water

into a basin

and began to wash

the disciples' feet

and to wipe them

with a towel

that was wrapped around him.

There's a similar passage

I was just reading

in Philippians 2

which says,

Let each of you

look not only

to his own interests

but also to the interests

of others.

Having this mind

among yourselves,

which is yours

in Christ Jesus,

who though he was

in the form of God,

did not count

equality with God

a thing to be grasped

but emptied himself

by taking the form

of a servant,

being born

in the likeness of men.

Both of these passages

highlight

that Jesus' ability

to serve

in humility

was interestingly linked

to a full understanding

of himself

in relationship to God.

I always,

every time I read

that verse in 3

that says,

Jesus,

knowing that the Father

had given everything

to him,

that he had come from God

and was returning

to God,

went and washed

seven species.

It's like,

many people,

he went and he sat

at the head of the table

and put his feet up

and asked his disciples.

That is the natural,

secular mind,

natural conclusion

of that sentence.

For Jesus,

knowing all this,

was able to lay it aside

and actually do work

that was humble

in nature.

The gospel frees us

in a similar way.

It allows our work

to be gracious expressions

of creative energies

in service of others,

like Dorothy Sayers

describes as a definition

of work.

That often stumbling block

or sometimes humbling ourselves,

we are set free from

in light of the gospel.

So,

I will stop here.

I don't know,

I think there's still time

for a few questions.

So,

open it up.

Can you share

just like a thought

and maybe it will spark something?

So,

the sub-narration point

is interesting

and I'm thinking about

how that comes about.

Like,

how do you discover

that there's a false narrative

happening in your head,

right?

And so,

I'm thinking like

the Holy Spirit,

right,

can convict you,

the Word of God,

obviously,

but also community,

right?

Like sharing,

having someone maybe

speak into your work

and being open

and honest,

I think is like

an interesting outworking

of how that might

come about.

It's like,

just kind of a call

to invite others in

and be vulnerable

with where we're at

from,

you know,

with work.

Because I think

you could live

under a false narrative

for a while,

right?

Like,

so thinking about

how to,

and maybe you even

discover like,

I feel convicted

about this,

but like,

help me work through,

you know,

like help,

like someone might be able

to speak into it

faster or more clearly

than,

you know,

God might use that person,

I guess,

to like speak true.

So maybe just a comment

as I think about

the application

of those things,

especially the,

the re-narrative,

what did you call it?

Re-narration.

That's kind of

an interesting

point.

But yeah,

I guess.

Yeah,

no,

thank you.

Kim, first.

The precursor question

that I wrote down is,

how is this not just

rationalization

to do what I want to do?

How,

yeah,

because I'm good at that.

And how do I know

that that's really

what it is?

I feel like a life

has been,

are you sure

this is what you want

to be doing?

And really,

really struggling

with that.

And I can take

something

that

would,

would provide,

you know,

all of the,

all of the qualifications

of work

and good work

and turn that

into gospel work

with no problem

whatsoever.

But is that

really,

is,

I think your point

is,

how do we know

we're being truthful

with ourselves

in coming to

those conclusions?

Like discerning,

discernment,

right?

Right.

are,

I mean,

and I could say,

oh,

but,

you know,

this is something

that's been on my heart.

Well,

of course,

deceitful,

just deceitful

and desperately wicked.

So,

how do,

how do I know

what I can trust?

Susan?

I think one of the

beauties of the church,

as I've experienced

it in my life,

is that

I have a lot

of deceptions,

you know,

just,

even just

growing up

in any household,

there are assumptions

that household

has had

that you just

follow along with

and you're questioning it.

But then you meet

someone

who displays

some quality

or ability

or characteristic,

a godly example.

And it,

and when the Lord

uses it,

go,

oh,

I could do that.

And,

and then

you have a mentor.

I mean,

then you watch them

and you see

how they do that.

You see

how they put it together.

I mean,

I just think

it's one of the beauties

of the church

that God has given us.

How many people,

you're not best friends

with them,

but,

but you recognize

God's work in them

and you want it.

You want it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm just,

it'd be a,

I'm part of a,

at one of the

campus ministry retreats,

um,

we had Matt Crossman speak,

who is one of the founders

of Eltona Vineyard Church.

And he's a professor

at the Div school,

but he teaches a lot

at the college.

And,

um,

he was telling us

about,

like,

his early career.

And he was in campus

ministry himself

and,

like,

living on two dollars

and,

you know,

doing the,

quote,

unquote,

Lord's work.

But,

he was talking about

how he was so scared

to go into academia,

ultimately,

because he thought

it was,

like,

inherently more,

like,

less godly

than what he was

doing in the moment.

And I will never forget,

he said that he lost

so many years

to the gospel

of being mediocre

for Jesus.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Oh!

But just,

like,

applying that

in this context

of,

you know,

we are called

to do our work

with excellence

unto the Lord.

And also,

there's an element

of,

like,

evaluating,

or he was just saying,

there's an element

of all of this

where evaluating

how God made you

in alignment

with,

you know,

the available occupations

and,

like,

you know,

he could do

the administrative

and campus ministry

work that he was doing,

but God made his mind

to think and wrestle

with some of these

big questions

and to publish

and to teach.

And I have a bunch

of,

like,

non-believing friends

at the college

who have taken his courses

which are,

you know,

under the guise

of the course listing

or,

like,

secular,

you know,

courses

but have been

challenged

to think about

the Christian way

of living

and the gospel.

And so,

if he hadn't

made that transition

of,

like,

not being mediocre

for Jesus,

you know,

like that,

lives wouldn't have

been changed

in his career.

I was just reminded

of that.

Thank you.

Alex?

I think I'd wrestle

with a lot

of the same questions

that Kim

was talking about.

like,

how do I separate

out what's my

selfish motivation

versus what God

is calling me

to do?

And I think

I have similar

experiences with,

personal experiences

with things

that are being shared

and there is an element

for me also

of God's sovereignty

in all of this

because one of my

most pivotal

personal experiences

is feeling like

I was good at something,

feeling like I was

called to do something,

and with the best wisdom

that I had

in and of myself

and in the community

that I was in,

I pursued a path

and God ultimately

said,

no,

that's not,

that's not a path

and he closed the door

and opened the door

to something else

and so,

that,

for me personally,

relieves a lot

of the work

underneath the work

because I can trust

in the work

that God is doing

in my life

and I can faithfully

try to use

the wisdom

that he's given to me

and given to the church

in my local community

but ultimately

if I trust

that everything

he does

is for the good

of those who love him

then I can rest

even in my work

of discerning

where I should be now

and where I should be

in the future,

so.

Yeah.

Yeah,

I think,

thank you Alex,

I think,

thank you all

for sharing that.

I think that point

maybe to the original

question,

Sarah,

is helpful

that as Christians

in community

God has given us

so many things

that enable us to,

we can even be set free

from that anxiety

that I am working

underneath a false narrative

because we sometimes,

I guess,

because the,

the narrative

of growing into an adult

is becoming independent

whereas in Christian

a growing

is growing dependence

on your father

and that is a

real conflict

of,

and so we sometimes

think like independent

adults

where Jesus then

encourages us

to think like kids

and I always give

an example

because I'm like,

I have a young kid,

I can always imagine

if she comes and says,

Dad,

I have a big question

and I don't know

what to do.

There is no parent,

even those who have,

there is no child

who has ever complained

that they receive

less advice than they want

from their parents.

No child ever

has complained about that.

So why would it be

the same with God?

Like,

you would never get

less than you need.

It says like,

whoever lacks wisdom,

let him ask God

who gives,

like any parent,

generously

without finding fault.

No parent would say like,

yeah,

don't come and ask me

about that.

They would be like,

oh,

let me tell you.

And so I think

if we think,

if we are reminded of that,

we are also set free

from that anxiety.

I think the fact

that he's not just

always there to counsel,

but that he's also sovereign.

I think,

think about Joseph.

I always think about

his last step

of being forgotten

in prison

was pretty important

because if he was,

if he was remembered,

what would he have done

if he was set free?

Maybe he would have

gone straight back

to try to find his way

back to Hebrew

and set up this grand

confrontation

with his brothers.

Yep,

I'm alive.

You know,

but God had a bigger plan

and so he was conveniently

forgotten in prison.

That was something

he could not have orchestrated

but that God had to.

So we are,

we can also rest in that.

And so there is a,

like in many things in faith,

a combination of

some of the things

that God encourages us to do,

taking advantage

of the grace

that he's given us,

invite others,

especially others

who are Christians

in your own profession

because many of you

are challenged

in different specific ways,

in ways that you can

refine each other.

But then people in the church

who are outside

of that profession

who may more clearly see

the dominant narrative

within the profession

in ways that you are blind to

and then trust in the Lord

and the Spirit.

But I think you can,

in some way,

almost like in Inception style,

start worrying about

the work beneath the work

beneath the work,

which is,

oh my God,

like where is my,

nah,

I think the freedom

of the gospel

is from everything

outside of the work.

It's like,

we can just give it to God

humbly.

The Bible tells us

God works in us

both to will

and to do.

It's one of the grand promises

of the New Testament.

I don't even have,

even when my will

is struggling,

I can ask God

to change my will

because that's what

he does

to work in us

both to will

and to do

according to his pleasure.

So,

we are set free

from

all different layers

of the work

because of the gospel.

Thank you.

All right,

it's five to ten.

I think this is a good

place to end.

Next week will be

our final class.

It will be a Q&A.

So,

we've done multiple topics.

There are bigger questions

that are not isolated

to one but span many

and Alex and I

will be filling

those questions next week.

So,

come with them

and we hope to see you then.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Do you have a minute

to help you with that?

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.