Bible @ Work

What does a motley collection of history, poetry, prophecy and advice columns from thousands of years ago have to do with the modern business world, with all its technology and sophistication. When it’s the Bible, the answer is everything!

By the way the advice columnist in question was probably mostly Solomon – the Proverbs read that way, and probably have as much to say about business as any book in the Bible. But then by some counts the Bible talks about money even more than it does love. While I’ve been writing this blog, it has become more and more apparent just how vibrantly, relevantly and critically the Bible speaks to my workplace. It talks about business relationships, negotiations, contracts, ethics, employee justice, budgeting and planning, and much more on a practical level.

But even more, it provides a foundation for work itself. Our purpose is tied up with God’s initial calling to humanity to be workers in imitation of Him, the greatest Worker. Our individual calling is into all of life, including our daily occupation, to be His priesthood – those who become the place where heaven and earth come today, those filled with the Holy Spirit. Our perspective is to be God’s, informed and led by the Spirit of Christ who lives within us. This radically impacts our view of work.

Regular readers of this blog will have seen previous postings that addressed these topics (especially the Theology @ Work series). I’ve also found it very helpful (though very challenging) to work through some Biblical lists – the fruit of the Spirit, the attributes of love – applying them to real situations in the workplace. In case you’re interested in looking back at any of this, the cumulative blog document is organized by topic and posted in Google Docs at https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0z67UIBKzjZOWQ0NTY0NmUtMGJiYS00NmU3LWE0MWEtNzRiZTdmNmZjODgy&hl=en. The blog web site also has a link to the archive. Here’s the list of major topics:

• Discovering God @ Work – my voyage of discovery of God’s presence in the workplace
• Fruit of the Spirit @ Work – an attempt to explore how each part of the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 plays out in the workplace
• Theology @ Work – an ongoing series laying out the beginnings of a Biblical foundation for faith in the workplace
• Justice @ Work – an ongoing series exploring various topics of justice and ethics
• Prayer @ Work - occasional topics related to prayer in and for our work
• God’s Perspective @ Work – trying to see the workplace through God’s eyes
• Love @ Work – attribute-by-attribute exploration of love as described in 1 Corinthians 13
• Church @ Work – reflections on the church’s role in the Christian’s work life
• Miscellaneous topics - individual posts prompted by a passage of Scripture or an event at work

Some of these topics are still being added to, and others will come (for example the “whole armor of God” from Ephesians 6). Bottom line – I’ve read lots of management and leadership books, but none that remotely came close in value and depth to the Bible.