Connecting Our Faith and Work

In this final class Justin concludes the exercise from the previous weeks on connecting our faith and work by locating it within a Christian worldview, and he finishes the class by examining how the Christian faith provides a unique ethic for work (love as seen in the gospel) and also how the gospel empowers us to work in such a way that we neither overwork nor underwork, establishing an appropriate relationship between work and rest.

This week Justin begins to look at how the gospel mitigates the effects of sin on our work. This week in particular he examines how the story of the Christian faith enables Christians to work with distinctiveness in their field and be a corrective in every field of work. The Christian faith also equips the Christian to work collaboratively with people of other faiths because of the nature of common grace.

This week Justin looks at Genesis 11 and points out that, in light of man's fall into sin, we are prone to approach our work 'in order to make a name for ourselves.' Instead, he suggests that we ought to learn from the story of Esther who leveraged her resources and influence, not in order to preserve her own power and security, but in order to serve and protect others. Ultimately the gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest example of giving up oneself for another, and it provides the proper motivation and unending strength when it comes to our own work.

This week Justin looks at the book of Ecclesiastes and examines why our work often feels meaningless. There is, as the Preacher of Ecclesiastes says, "nothing new under the sun." When we have appropriate expectations for our work, we can avoid both idealism and cynicism when it comes to our callings.

This week Justin begins to look at why work doesn't seem to go as it should. He examines Genesis 3 and the curse of sin upon work, specifically in how it makes work fruitless and frustrating. There is a tension that we face in work between God's dignified call to work and the fallen reality of the fruitlessness of our work. This tension, rightly held, helps us to avoid both cynicism and idealism when it comes to our work.

This week Justin looks at the purpose of our work, namely that it is to be one of the primary ways Christians love God and serve their neighbor. He discusses the importance of competency in our work as we seek to meet the needs of the world around us. He closes with brief video clip of a talk delivered by Andy Crouch at the 2018 Jubilee Conference which discussed our on how our work was intended to reflect God's creative activity, bringing order and abudance to the world in order to produce more flourishing. As His image bearers, each of us are gifted to develop, cultivate and unlock the world's created potential in and through our vocations.

This week Justin examines the design and dignity of our work, particularly exploring how our work was designed to mirror the work of God Himself.

This week Justin introduces the class, discusses the Bible's approach to the topic of work, and why the story of Scripture is essential to know when it comes to our work.