Finding God at Work

In the New Testament, we see the Good News being proclaimed to and through communities of people.

Sharing the Good News is not a solo endeavor. It's something that we do together in community with other believers.

But what does that look like when you're at work? It's not like your whole church goes to work with you.

What if you could be the one to catalyze disciples of Jesus coming together in your workplace to invite others into spiritual discovery? If you're a leader, you can gather others. If you're not, you can pray for God to send a Christian friend to gather *you*!

Sources: Acts 2:1 (NIV)

Faith & Work Movement (Learn to start a faith-based ERG)

Q Place (Learn to start an authentic conversation group) Don Everts and Doug Schaupp, I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2008).

Friendship Evangelism: The 5 Thresholds toward Faith, InterVarsity Evangelism, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA.

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Many people are not antagonistic toward Christianity, but they aren't deeply curious about it either.

They're just doing life, moving along.

They might have some awareness of Jesus and some Christian friends. But it's just not their driving concern at the moment.

So the question is, how can we come alongside people and help gently provoke curiosity?

We don't need to be anxious about it.

We're just gently nudging people in the direction of Jesus.

Sources: Luke 18:35-43 (NIV) Don Everts and Doug Schaupp, I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2008).

Friendship Evangelism: The 5 Thresholds toward Faith, InterVarsity Evangelism, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA.

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #GoodNews #Gospel #TheGospel #InterVarsity #Listen #Listener #ActiveListening #AskQuestions #Paraphrase #Attention #NonJudgmental #Silence #FiveThresholds #5Thresholds #DonEverts #DougSchaupp #IOnceWasLost #Personal #Witness #Evangelism #Evangelical #Evangelicalism #GentleWitnesses #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

In Luke 18, Jesus asks a man who was blind, "What do you want me to do for you?"

He doesn't assume.

He asks.

He lets the man speak in his own voice. He honors his autonomy.

Then a moment of faith and healing occurs.

We can learn to do the same as our Master: Listening well, in a way that lets others speak in their own voices.

We can . . .

Q U - Ask questions to understand

P - Paraphrase what they said back to them

A - Pay attention

N - Bring a non-judgmental presence

S - Be okay with silence

When we listen well, we love like Jesus does.

Sources: Luke 18:35-43 (NIV) Don Everts and Doug Schaupp, I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2008).

Friendship Evangelism: The 5 Thresholds toward Faith, InterVarsity Evangelism, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA.

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #GoodNews #Gospel #TheGospel #InterVarsity #Listen #Listener #ActiveListening #AskQuestions #Paraphrase #Attention #NonJudgmental #Silence #FiveThresholds #5Thresholds #DonEverts #DougSchaupp #IOnceWasLost #Personal #Witness #Evangelism #Evangelical #Evangelicalism #GentleWitnesses #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

Who do you trust most?

Trust is foundational to our relationship with God.

Think about faith: In terms of covenant, faith is loyalty.

In terms of the intellect, faith is belief.

In terms of relationship, faith is trust.

If we want to help others come to see Jesus as worthy of their trust, we have to become trustworthy ourselves.

Sources: Don Everts and Doug Schaupp, I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2008).

Friendship Evangelism: The 5 Thresholds toward Faith, InterVarsity Evangelism, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA.

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #GoodNews #Gospel #TheGospel #InterVarsity #Trust #Trustworthy #FiveThresholds #5Thresholds #DonEverts #DougSchaupp #IOnceWasLost #Personal #Witness #Evangelism #Evangelical #Evangelicalism #GentleWitnesses #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

Have you ever had a really good teacher?

Part of what makes a teacher great is their ability to see where their student's "zone of proximal development" is. What is the next step that this student can take that's going to be challenging, but that they can master with guidance and help?

People also need guidance on taking their next steps in faith.

Don Everts and Doug Schaupp, two leaders from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, found that there are five common steps that people take on the way toward faith in Jesus: The Five Thresholds. They are:

1. Trusting a Christian Friend

2. Becoming Curious

3. Opening Up to Change

4. Seeking After God

5. Entering the Kingdom

When we get to know this framework, it can help us meet people where they're at and truly serve them in their spiritual journey.

Sources:

Saul McLeod, "Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development," Child Psychology, Simply Psychology (August 9, 2024).

Don Everts and Doug Schaupp, I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2008).

Friendship Evangelism: The 5 Thresholds toward Faith, InterVarsity Evangelism, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA.

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #GoodNews #Gospel #TheGospel #InterVarsity #FiveThresholds #5Thresholds #DonEverts #DougSchaupp #IOnceWasLost #Personal #Witness #Evangelism #Evangelical #Evangelicalism #GentleWitnesses #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

There's no verse in the Bible that commands everyday disciples to share the Good News with other people.

The Great Commission? Addressed to the apostles.

"Do the work of an evangelist" (2 Timothy 4:5)? Addressed to a pastor.

If you really hate the idea of evangelism, you've got an out. You're not commanded to do it.

But you are commanded to "always be ready" (1 Peter 3:15) if someone asks you.

This lack of a command to evangelize isn't meant to lead us to inaction. Instead, it lets us enter into sharing the Good News out of desire rather than out of duty.

Out of joy rather than out of anxiety.

It lets us meet people where they're at instead of trying to force something to happen.

Sources: Matthew 6:34 (ESV)

Matthew 12:20 (NRSVue)

Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)

John 15:11 (ESV)

2 Timothy 4:5 (NIV)

1 Peter 3:15-16 (NRSVue)

Dallas Willard, The Allure of Gentleness: Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus (New York: HarperCollins, 2015).

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, directed by George Lucas (Lucasfilm, 1999).

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #GoodNews #Gospel #TheGospel #Disciples #Discipleship #Personal #Witness #Evangelism #GreatCommission #Matthew28 #2Timothy4 #1Peter3 #GentleWitnesses #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

What is "eternal life"?

People often assume that this phrase simply means life that doesn't end. An unending sequence of lived experience, stretching into a future beyond the length of time we can imagine.

But as many astute thinkers have pointed out, if the only thing that changes about your life is that it *keeps going,* that's not very good news. It could, in fact, be bad news.

When the phrase "eternal life" pops up in the Bible, it's not primarily about the *quantity* of life someone has.

It's talking about the *kind* of life they have, the kind of life that they possess in their inward being.

Jesus gives us one clear definition: "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3 NIV).

This is the language of communion: A life where you know God and God knows you.

That's what eternal life means.

Sources: John 3:16-17 (ESV)

John 17:3,6-8 (ESV)

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #GoodNews #Gospel #TheGospel #Euangelion #Salvation #EternalLife #Communion #Union #Knowledge #Interaction #Personal #Witness #Evangelism #Evangelical #Evangelicalism #John3 #John316 #John17 #GentleWitnesses #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

Healing is part of the Good News.

It's Good News that Jesus has power to heal.

It's Good News that people can come to him in faith and receive healing.

It's Good News that Jesus heals not only the wound, but also the shame that goes with it.

As we think about proclaiming the Good News at work, we realize we are called to minister the healing presence of Jesus to those around us.

A daunting calling! But don't be afraid: the first step to ministering healing is simply learning to listen well.

Sources: Luke 4:18-19 (ESV)

Luke 8:43-48 (NIV)

Henri Nouwen, Gracias: A Latin American Journal (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1983, 1993).

Dan B. Allender, The Healing Path:How the Hurts in Your Past Can Lead You to a More Abundant Life (Colorado Springs: Waterbrook Press, 1999).

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #GoodNews #Gospel #TheGospel #Salvation #Healing #Faith #Shame #Restoration #Gentleness #Witness #Evangelism #HenriNouwen #DanAllender #Luke8 #GentleWitnesses #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

Kingdom. Redemption. Deliverance.

There are so many beautiful images from Scripture that describe what God has done, is doing, and will do in the world.

Perhaps no single term is as commonly referenced—or as commonly misunderstood—as "salvation."

Salvation is not less than forgiveness. But it is more.

Salvation is a life.

Sources: Colossians 1:13-14 (ESV)

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins, 1952, 1980, 2001). "Apparently anyone can be forgiven in Christianity," r/atheism

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #GoodNews #Gospel #TheGospel #Saved #Salvation #Kingdom #Cross #Faith #Works #Gentleness #Witness #Evangelism #CSLewis #DallasWillard #Pelagianism #Reformation #Col1 #GentleWitnesses #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

What is the Good News about Jesus, really?

Sometimes we use transactional language to describe atonement, what Jesus accomplished on the cross. But the Good News is much more like a wedding than a business transaction. It's not two-dimensional "barcode faith"—getting scanned the right way so you go to the right destination. It's an announcement about what God is doing in the world, and how anyone can enter into it and experience it.

Scripture uses a variety of images to describe the Good News. Jesus' dominant metaphor is the kingdom. Paul writes that Jesus' death and resurrection is "of first importance" (1 Corinthians 15:3 ESV). Even in the Bible, there's not just one right set of words or images to describe the Good News; the beauty of the Gospel needs multiple angles to explore its different facets.

But definitions are helpful. Here's one way to phrase the Good News that keeps the kingdom and the cross together:

The Good News is that whoever puts their faith in Jesus as Messiah can be forgiven of their sins and enter into life in the kingdom of God, because of his death and resurrection.

The kingdom of God is at hand; we're representatives of that kingdom in our workplaces. Our coworkers are future citizens. We're the ones who can tell them: The time is fulfilled. Repent and believe the Good News!

Sources: Mark 1:14-15 (ESV) 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (ESV) Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (New York: HarperCollins, 1998).

#FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #GoodNews #Gospel #TheGospel #Kingdom #Cross #Resurrection #Gentleness #Witness #Evangelism#DallasWillard #Mark1 #1Cor15 #GentleWitnesses #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral