Comments on: The Only Christian Work Is Good Work Done Well unto God

By: Here comes Monday: Encouragement for everyday, average Christians regarding the value of work, their job, and their calling « After darkness, light

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 02:36:44 +0000

[...] 24, 2010 by John Sundberg This was originally posted by Justin Taylor last week on his blog, I found it encouraging, and I’m posting it here thinking it may encourage others in their [...]

By: thegatekeeper

thegatekeeper — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:20:46 +0000

Amen! I love that quote. This is why I can still honour God with my writing even if it never ends up in a Christian bookstore. Perhaps I can honour Him more that way…

By: Michael Krahn : The Ascent to Truth » “The Only Christian Work is Good Work Well Done”

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:37:52 +0000

[...] I came across this quote (via JT) that expresses the [...]

By: Evan

Evan — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:11:18 +0000

Great quote. A friend of mine did an article and a talk on Calvinism and Vocation. You can download the talk here and the article here.

By: Christian Work « Philippine Theo Law Gee

Christian Work « Philippine Theo Law Gee — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:38:22 +0000

[...] Sayers, Vocation, work — attycortes @ 9:38 am Found this quote from Dorothy Sayers at Justin Taylor’s blog: The Church’s approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be [...]

By: Rachael Starke

Rachael Starke — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:05:03 +0000

You’re welcome. And thanks for that quote, 3GD, on a day when my “field of turnips” is seven loads of laundry and the sorting, folding and putting awaying thereof alongside reluctant girls of my own. We might actually have a discussion about this while we fold. Think it’ll help? :)

By: Beat Attitude

Beat Attitude — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:34:06 +0000

Thanks for that helpful reply Rachael!

By: keller hackbusch

keller hackbusch — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:53:29 +0000

Yes!! so true. we must remember who we really work for. we are citizens of Heaven and work for our great Lord to His glory every day. I pray that we will all keep this close to our hearts.

By: threegirldad

threegirldad — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:27:40 +0000

“God is not interested only in Christian writers as such. He is concerned with all kinds of writing. In the same way a sacred calling is not limited to ecclesiastical functions. The man who is weeding a field of turnips is also serving God.”

–from C.S. Lewis’ final interview

By: Rachael Starke

Rachael Starke — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:10:26 +0000

I don’t think Sayers or anyone here would disagree in general that where there’s an urgent need that someone’s gifts can help meet, they should do it. She is encouraging the Christian community to stop guilting every man who wants to serve God faithfully into becoming a preacher or missionary (or woman from marrying one). If it’s okay to say, there are a lot of men in pulpits today who would make wonderful,godly carpenters,plumbers and accountants. There are a lot of missionaries who are flaming out because they would make excellent office managers. And there are a lot of people currently in those professions that aren’t doing them well to the glory of God. e.g. even though they’ve made a commitment to do a particular job, they’re asking for time off here, there and everywhere to go on missions trips to exotic places or Bible study retreats with their singles group specifically when their company needs them, and chalking it up to “I have to put God first, and if you start to question my commitment to my job, you’re persecuting me.”

By: Dean

Dean — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:11:58 +0000

This is great and I commend pastors and teachers for emphasizing this and discouraging the tendency among many evangelicals to wander into what some theologians have labeled “The Catholic Distortion” view of vocation. But with that said I have also noticed a disturbing trend among some Reformed Evangelical lay people who end up reacting so strongly against what they see in a lot of mainstream Evangelicals who operate by “The Catholic Distortion” that they have reverted to a total compartmentalization of their work from their faith. To the point that their work and the financial gain of their work is intentionally separated from any kind of faith component. I believe biblically this “Protestant Distortion” can be just as dangerous if not more so for the sake of the Gospel. We know that historically speaking we can infer that this was one of the many components that made the possible slide into a dead orthodoxy by a lot of mainline Protestantism possible. So yes I whole heartily agree with Tom and Sayers on this but we still should be very discerning and careful that we don’t slide too far to the other side and repeat history all over again.

By: Beat Attitude

Beat Attitude — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:08:49 +0000

“But the person whose vocation it is to prepare the meals beautifully might with equal justice protest: It is not meant for us to leave the service of our tables to preach the word.”

Every such decision must be taken with reference to the circumstances, and the urgent nature of the business at hand.

We ought not to interpret the mandate of “preach the gospel” to mean “get a job as a preacher”. But neither should we think that we who have chosen other professions are simply excused from preaching the gospel, or that this job is the exclusive remit of dedicated preachers.

Some jobs are more important and urgent than others, and if we see one such job that needs done and no-one else to do it, then we must be prepared to go to it ourselves, and re-prioritise our agenda. The good samaritan comes to mind.

By: Robert Barnes

Robert Barnes — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:08:49 +0000

Part of this is convincing plumbers that their work will be, if Christ returns soon-ish, a part of his world. Good work, craftsmanship, beautiful art–it all matters to God. That which is beautiful and good and true will continue.

I would only add to Sayers that the other “only” message we give businessmen and laborers is to give–to give to the church, to work for free for the church. That ends up being the measure of most Christian business people–their generosity. The way they get their money or the product they produce/sell–we don’t care about that very much.

By: John

John — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:53:12 +0000

May we recover the Christian doctrine of vocation!

By: sdechert

sdechert — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:27:08 +0000

Amen and amen. As a pastor, this is one of the difficulties I have – convincing the people of the church that their jobs are as glorifying to God as mine if they just work to the best of their ability.