By Darrel Geis, Transform Our Life into Worship
Years ago, my pastor at the time often reminded our church that, in following Jesus and living the Christian life, our goal was to continually “transform our life into worship”. I have been inspired and challenged by those words over the years. Transformation in our lives requires an intentional effort to enact change – and that change starts when we allow God’s Word to renew our minds (i.e. our thinking).
One of the first changes in my thinking about life as worship occurred shortly after I joined the Blue Pages staff full time. I concluded that if Jesus is “Lord of all the earth” (Acts 17:24), that He’s Lord over the marketplace as well, and that my work served to extend the Kingdom on the earth.
That proved a huge step forward for me in living an integrated life of faith and work, accepting the premise that, as long as it is not sinful, every occupation is sacred. Advertising Sales, Attorney, Dentist, Plumber, Real Estate Agent, yours. The main reason why I was called into advertising sales was to glorify God and help encourage people to become (in the words of my friend and mentor, Chuck Proudfit, of At Work on Purpose) “faith-active” at work.
Here are 4 practical steps you can take to live an integrated life of faith and work:
- STUDY scripture’s view of work
- REJECT secularism in work
- ACCEPT work as worship
- VIEW every Christian run business as a “ministry” – or every Christian in business as a “marketplace missionary”.
Colossians 3:23-24 says that “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord…” which means that the business we conduct Monday through Friday is just as sacred in God’s eyes as our worship on Sunday mornings. When we adopt this attitude, we turn our business over to God’s leading instead of our own, and transform our work life into worship.
To share ideas on how you are intentionally faith-active at work, please leave some comments.