Faithful Work

Faithful Work

In the Daily Grind with God and for Others

by Ross Chapman and Ryan Tafilowski

Faithful Work
paperback
  • Length: 112 pages
  • Dimensions: 5 × 7 in
  • Published: December 12, 2023
  •  Forthcoming
  • ISBN: 978-1-5140-0791-4
  • Item Code: A0791

One-third of our waking lives is spent at work. Work is where we make culture and come into contact with our world. Work is central to God's mission to redeem souls, systems, and structures. And God works through our work to bring hope to the brokenness and fallenness of our surrounding culture.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for the world, and that includes the transformation of our ordinary work into a sacred calling. Ross Chapman and Ryan Tafilowski show how work is a way to love God, serve our neighbors, and demonstrate the gospel. With a broader understanding of God's work in the world, we are able to engage our daily work as part of how God makes all things new.

This guide invites you to reflect on the meaning and purpose of your life's work and to transform your work into service to those around you.

"Your work needs a new story. This is the heart-arresting challenge Faithful Work compels us to consider. Drawing from the ancient wisdom of the biblical story, common cultural distortions and soul-suffocating clutter are carefully and gracefully swept away. A clarifying vision emerges, guiding us to embrace the life-giving rhythms of a seamless way of living into our daily work. Whether you enjoy your work or are struggling with it, this well-crafted and practical book will help you discover how faith shapes and brings meaning to your Monday world. I recommend it."

Tom Nelson, president of Made to Flourish and senior pastor of Christ Community Church, Kansas City

"In this short but essential primer, Ross Chapman and Ryan Tafilowski have created a down-to-earth guide to understanding God's view of work, which is meant to play a redemptive role in a broken world and in our individual lives. This book has helped me look at my own work—both the paid and unpaid varieties—in a new and hopeful light."

Angie Ward, associate professor of leadership and ministry at Denver Seminary and author of I Am a Leader: When Women Discover the Joy of Their Calling

"Grounding their argument in the mission of God, vocation and calling, and even political theology, Ross Chapman and Ryan Tafilowski speak to our deepest longings to participate in God's holistic, redemptive activity and to love our neighbor. They inspire our imaginations with a call to see daily work as intrinsically valuable, missionally focused, life giving, and transformational. Embracing the theology of work the authors carefully unpack in this book will lead to new joy in our daily work, new vision for its purpose in the world, and new hope in its capacity to contribute to the flourishing of all. This is a must-read."

Patty Pell, assistant professor of theology, justice, and social advocacy at Denver Seminary
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CONTENTS

Introduction: Our Greatest Opportunity Is Daily Work
1. The Importance of Work
2. The Real Story of Work, in Short
3. Created and Placed by God for Good Work
4. The Reality of Work and Calling
5. Work in a Politicized and Polarized Society
6. Monday Missionaries
Epilogue: A Framework for Change

Appendix

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Ross Chapman

Ross Chapman is the CEO of Denver Institute for Faith & Work. He previously founded and served as president and executive director of For Evansville in Evansville, Indiana. He holds a doctorate of ministry in faith, work, economics, and vocation from Fuller Theological Seminary. He lives in the Denver area with his wife, Candace, and their three sons.

Ryan Tafilowski is assistant professor of theology at Denver Seminary and lead pastor of Foothills Fellowship Church in Denver. He holds a PhD in systematic theology from the University of Edinburgh and has served as theologian-in-residence for Denver Institute for Faith & Work. He is the author of Virtue and Vice at Work.