Encouraging Work As Ministry

Are we encouraging laypeople to embrace their work as ministry and vocation?  Recently, Art Lindsley of the Institute for Faith, Work and Economics listed five ways that pastors can help laity understand that their work as meaning and it is the primary way that they serve Christ.  Lindsley says first, lose the “higher calling” language.  The work of the carpenter is as important as that of the bishop.  Second, take time to pray for the various professions to do their work as an offering to God.  Third, take time in worship to interview laity as to how they see their faith expressed through their work.  Fourth, commission people for ministry in their work.  Periodically, call all the teachers, salespeople, plumbers, etc. forward and pray for them as they respond to the mission of their workplace.  Finally, stress that everyone can have a ministry at their place of work.  Christ calls us to many different places.  The accounting office is as sacred as the foreign mission post insofar as it is the presence of Jesus Christ, which sanctifies.  I have often thought that one reason it may be so difficult for many folks to take seriously John Wesley’s admonition to “give all that they can” is because we in the church have done a rather poor job of helping folks understand Christ’s call in the “earning all that they can.”