When Work Becomes Toil

Work at something you enjoy and that’s worthy of your time and talent.

So says suggestion 2. In the life belonging to the world, working at something you don’t enjoy because it may pay better wages is often seen as acceptable. As is choosing ‘fallback’ career paths that bear little fruit and leave one exhausted while trying to live up to the grand dreams we’ve all had. Work becomes toil for a number of reasons; but the predominant reason is that we are simply not seeing what we do in the light of bringing glory to God. It’s taken me a few years to realize this, but thank God that He’s patient enough to wait while I’ve tried to figure it out.

Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 serves as the point of introduction I’m going to use here. It reads as follows:

“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanities of vanities! All is vanity. what does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, ’see, this is new’? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.”

A rather depressing start to a point that’s rather far from that. Ecclesiastes, if taken on its own authority, is the very personal record of a man trying different approaches to finding the meaning of life and ultimately resolving that this is the case: “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecc. 12:13). Solomon, in all his riches, in all his wisdom, did not have the advantage of knowing that man’s chief end is to glorify, rather than to fear God. Included as a large part of that is the work we do daily.

For those who read my earlier posts on spiritual gifts, you’ll remember that I believe in the presence of spiritual gifts in the lives of believers, and I recognize the presence of these gifts – at least the natural gifts and aptitudes – in the lives of non-believers. The purpose here is to be active in ministry with these gifts, and that’s where suggestion 2 comes in – Work at something that you enjoy and that’s worthy of your time and talent. If the gifts are given as ministry aids, and if one’s job is missional and a ministry, then you are to be working at something for which you’ve been given the gifts, in order that you might more effectively honor the Lord who gave you those gifts. You will not find such employment toilsome, because you’ll be doing those things for which you’ve been fitted to do.

Blessings;

Christ-bearer.

Seeing the Journey, Not the Destination

I rarely take the bus; mostly because I prefer to walk.  In all weather, mind you, and with great satisfaction regardless of conditions.  But on occasion, taking the bus gives you time to simply enjoy the ride.  You’ve paid your fare, you’ve found a seat if you’re lucky or you’re not hitting peak times, and you can sit back and simply take in the people around you.  I know, I know.  Hard for most of us to think about a bus ride that way.  Most of the time,  we’re busy listening to our tunes, reading, looking out the window instead of at the faces of the crowd with whom, for this brief time, we are locked up.  If any of you will dare admit that they’ve seen Speed, you’ll understand what I’m talking about when I say that for the duration of the ride, you’ve become brothers in arms regardless of what may keep you apart in any other circumsctances.The interesting thing about a bus is that you can share your ride with the most varied people.  Students. commuters, grocery shoppers, travelers…nomads on city streets.  Most of the time, people will sit down and shut up, keeping things to themselves or amongst a small group of friends with whom they are travelling.  What a fertile ground for studying life, for watching the glances of love between couples, for imagining what thoughts are going through the minds of your seatmates.  But also, for sharing a word of comfort with those who gaze sadly out the window.  For learning the most amazing things about people.  And for, if the opportunity arises, making ever-so-brief connections in a world increasingly fragmentary and tribal, despite growing global citizenship and humanist rhetoric.  Which was, if you think about it, the main ministry of Jesus Christ.

Blessings;

Christ-bearer.

Looks Different

Well, well.  A brand spanking new blog site, with all the characteristic introspection, reflection and presentation of the old one, migrated over an enjoyable weekend.  For those of you who are following the trail from my old blog, and for those of you who are new to TRUTH, this marks a departure point.  I say characteristic introspection, but I’ m hoping to move outside of that.  You live too long in your own head, you’re liable to forget there’s more.

One of the new points of interest I hope to make a regular feature of TRUTH is a biweekly movie review, whether it be one playing in the theatre or one from my collection.  I’m going to look at them from a Christian perspective, and I hope you’ll find them somewhat enjoyable.  I’ll start off this Friday with Nim’s Island, and we’ll move on from there.  The reason for this:  I find I’ve come to really enjoy going to Friday matinees and then writing about them.  I’d also like to keep in practice over the summer and generate some wider-appeal content for whatever new audience I get.  You know you’re going to see something on Prince Caspian when it comes out in a month or so, but I hope to do The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe just before it.  More on Walden Media as the week goes on.

I’ve chosen the title “Looks Different” for a few reasons.  As you may know, I’m an English guy.  I like putting a lot of weight on words and titles, spinning them here and there to see what they do.  The reason for this one is simple:  It’s self-referential to the blog and also summarizes and describes a number of the posts that you’ll find in the archives.  The Representatives Series, “Monasticism”. “Byzantium” and A World Apart are all related to this theme, and that’s where I’ll be for at least a few days.  See, “Looks Different” is kind of the way I think more Christians need to be thinking.  Not only about what they’ve been called to, but also how very radically different from worldly folks they are.  I’ve been fascinated for some time now with the way the church I’m familiar with developed, from the early roots in monastic communities through to the rather imposing facade that it presents to those outside its walls today.  I firmly believe that the church needs to overflow with the beauty that comes from Christ, so that those who have seen only ugliness are given hope again.  I’m really impassioned about the way so many lost people see the church and its ministries, and what they don’t want to or are unable to really see about Christ through them.  And I know it’s possible.  But first, we need to look different to ourselves.

Blessings;

Christ-bearer.

A World Apart – Monasticism

I’m a big fan of the monastic lifestyle for a number of reasons. It’s always been something of my nature to seclude myself, withdrawing from the world for a time and just doing my own thing, and I’m also a big fan of the discipline of retreat. Spiritual disciplines are an entire realm of entries themselves, which might spin off from this next week, but for now I’m just going to look a bit at what it means to be a literal world apart, sequestered unto the Lord.

Thinking about St. Patrick’s Day has got me thinking about the missions of the Celtic saints, and what it was that drew new members to them. What, in fact, all mission should be like, if you think about it at all. Short-term missions work is usually deeds-oriented, offering solutions to practical problems and doing the theology tourist thing. I’m not decrying that form of missions, not at all, but I do want to suggest that it’s not the only kind. Much of a missionary lifestyle is demonstrating the fact that the character is different. That there’s something better than sin, better than Satan. And the monastic communities that won Pictish converts were built as self sustaining, committed communities. Not to impose a belief on pagans, but rather to witness through one’s life and work. To show that there was something honourable, good and holy in the Lord. That’s where we keep slipping up, we frail and foolish creatures. We don’t do any better than the culture we find ourselves in unless we have within us the true knowledge that we have been set apart. That, itself, is something that may take a very long time for any of us to come to terms with.

Blessings;

Christ-bearer.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

It’s in a sense both a true feast-day and also a perversion of one, this St. Patrick’s Day. I’m not Catholic, but the tradition of celebrating saints’ days is, and generally speaking, they are festive occasions. Green beer, lucky clovers, the appeasement of the little people. There’s no real focus to the day, just a hodgepodge of traditions both pagan and Christian, which emerges from the Celtic church in most of the tales associated with its inception and growth. St. Patrick,St. Columba – two big ones in the branches of Celtic Christianity. They both seem to have monastic origins, creating quite literal worlds apart and ennobling a tradition of service and study that most today would find distasteful. While it’s sort of a break from A World Apart, it’s not, really, because I’m going to spend some time this week on the theme of being held apart from the ordinary, the true life that a Christian should lead. So what better way to start off a week of meditations leading up to Good Friday and Easter than to wish everyone a happy St. Patty’s Day!

Blessings;

Christ-bearer.

A World Apart – The Implanted Word

If the Word of God is truth and fact, and if Christ is at work in it and through it, then the passage as found in James 1:19:25 takes on new relevance. Here’s the passage:

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

Now, this passage inclusion comes to you on the heels of me listening to John Piper’s Desiring God sermon audio messages on the new birth, and in fact this passage was at the core of one of them. Specifically, he talked about the implanted word, which I believe is a fact of life. It gives the moral law argument some real credence Biblically. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, I summarize the effects thusly: One central, unassailable fact of human existence is that every code of behaviour, every society, is ultimately subject to the constraint of morality. There are always permissions and taboos which guide acts and thoughts within that culture, and which exist as inherent points of development from childhood. Call me on it if I’m wrong, clarify if I’m not presenting it accurately, but this is the essence of the argument. That’s a bunny trail for another time, however. My object now is to look briefly at what ‘the implanted word’ means.

As I’ve said, I believe that the implanted word of God is a fact. I articulated, a long time ago, my own understanding of how predestination and free will work together, and this passage, looked at now with older eyes, really reminds me of that meditation. I reconciled these seemingly opposing points of view by saying to myself that predestination is the outworking of the choice to accept providence in one’s life (in more words than that, mind you!) Actually, what I should say is that this passage makes the mental leap to accept that possibility an achievable thing. To accept that the Word of God in morality, in myth and in practices is already present within every culture and every human being suggests a fascinating understanding of what mission should consist of; not a preaching of the Word to a collection of new hearers, but an awakening of the understanding within a culture of where the Word of God has already touched the lives of nonbelievers. My minister here calls it the traces of the Spirit, and I can think of no better phrase for it. Truly, the Word has gone before.

Blessings;

Christ-bearer.