|
Thinking About Work
InterVarsity Press
Thinking About Work
INTRODUCTION Everyday life is a complex affair. Most of it is made up of familiar situations, responsibilities, frustrations, pressures, conflicts, obligations, dilemmas and demands. In the midst of these we entertain hopes and expectations and meet satisfactions and disappointments. But sometimes crises, public or private, intrude on the regular rhythms of our lives. New opportunities come our way; long-standing certainties are replaced by newly discovered ambiguities. The world around us changes, and it is hard to keep pace with all that is happening. If we are able to deal with portions of what is happening, the big picture often eludes us. Life easily becomes confusing, and the messages we pick up are often contradictory. There are two further complications. First, those of us who are committed to connecting our faith with every part of our lives are not always sure how to do so. If it is true, as the major Christian traditions have always insisted, that our religious convictions and values should be reflected in all that we do--the way we eat and drink, work and play, worship and vote, the quality of our parenting and friendships, our involvement with neighbors and colleagues, our engagement with popular or high culture--then there is much to consider. All these activities need to be related to our understanding of God, and whatever we learn must be incarnated in our behavior. How else will others know that God makes a distinctive claim on their lives? This is a daunting task, one we cannot handle alone but only with help from others. Second, it would be easier for us to deal with these matters if there were a deposit of accumulated wisdom on which we could draw. Down through the centuries some impressive groups have developed an integrated approach to life. In such groups, everything was viewed through the lens of faith, hope and love. If the early monastic movements and medieval Christian orders did this for the few, the early Anabaptists and Puritans did it for the many. In the intervening years we have lost some of the breadth of such visions. We have compartmentalized life and either separated ourselves too much from the world or accommodated ourselves too much to it, generally without realizing what we are doing. There is little to help us over this gap. Sermons are often too general, small groups avoid sensitive subjects, Christians magazines mainly deal with personal or relational issues, theological writings rarely address everyday concerns. This e-book on the Christian and workplace issues, derived from the Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, seeks to provide what we are lacking. We have tried to make it as accessible and substantive as possible. While we have sought to make it practical, it is more than a self-help book because it analyzes wider issues, peers beneath the surface of the subjects it treats, and identifies some of the connections between them. Robert Banks and R. Paul Stevens MORE E-BOOKS FROM INTERVARSITY PRESS Visit www.yeoldeebookshoppe.com. |