City On Our Knees 2032
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3: 23-24
It seems a little strange to tell of a call to ministry on a post that is about faith at work. Nevertheless, there is a point. I felt the call to ministry before I left high school and remember attending a career fair where I spoke with an Anglican Vicar. He was the only religious person among the dozens of other career choices in the room. A classmate and I were the only ones that visited that lonely table. We were told there were only two career paths in the Church, become a parish priest or, a missionary, I had visions of wielding a machete through the South American jungle in search of unreached tribes of head-hunting cannibals and decided that would be the more exciting option. So, after much thought, I enrolled in Art College and became a Product Designer instead!
The desire to be in ministry never left me yet whenever I was at a fork in the career road, God always led me back into the secular world of work. I watched as friends of mine went off to Bible College, and became evangelists or youth pastors. Why am I being left behind Lord? In those days I never understood that you could serve God and be called to the marketplace. My heart was always for the Church. I was in my mid-thirties when I got my first taste of bi-vocational ministry. It would take another ten years before I finally made it! I was employed, full-time as an Executive Pastor managing thirteen staff and a seven-figure budget.
Only as I was pouring over spreadsheets and writing job descriptions it dawned on me; Everything I needed to serve the Lord in this capacity, I learned from the secular marketplace. God had tailor-made a discipleship pathway for me that I would never have had if I'd gone to Seminary. With that revelation, I had to repent for not applying myself more diligently to "working with all of my heart, as working for the Lord" instead of longing to be somewhere else.
Ephesians says, only some are called to be 5-fold Ministers. The greater portion are called to serve the Lord as faithful ministers of Christ in the marketplace. You will have opportunities to influence people in the workforce that I will never have as a Pastor. The kingdom will not come on earth as it is in heaven because Pastors preach from the pulpit. It will come as you work your daily calling with all your heart, not for human masters but working as unto the Lord.
Prayer Points
Pray for your bosses and the organizations you work for. Bless them.
Ask the Lord for the grace to see that you work for Him first, and for people second.
Pray for Christians in the workforce to stand for their Christian convictions, champion justice, act fairly, live generously, and lead by example.
Ask the Lord to raise up marketplace leaders and business owners that will lead with Christ as their head and mentor emerging leaders in kingdom ways.
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