Comments on: The Gift of Work -> Chapter 7: The Nucleus of Change http://www.boldenterprises.com/2009/04/28/the-gift-of-work-chapter-7-the-nucleus-of-change/ Designing Tomorrow's Working Cultures Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:53:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Karl Edwards http://www.boldenterprises.com/2009/04/28/the-gift-of-work-chapter-7-the-nucleus-of-change/comment-page-1/#comment-2558 Karl Edwards Fri, 01 May 2009 13:07:49 +0000 http://www.boldenterprises.com/?p=1590#comment-2558 What's particularly powerful for me is the deference and respect given to the believer as the responsible one before God. Instead of putting forth an ideal, conceptualized, "God-pleasing," behavior-based prescription for how all believers work-lives should look, it's a more matter of building a strong foundation upon which infinite expressions of faithfulness, vocation, careers, roles and jobs can (and will) emerge. Now to the task of inspiring the community of faith to embrace the stewardship of our lives! What’s particularly powerful for me is the deference and respect given to the believer as the responsible one before God. Instead of putting forth an ideal, conceptualized, “God-pleasing,” behavior-based prescription for how all believers work-lives should look, it’s a more matter of building a strong foundation upon which infinite expressions of faithfulness, vocation, careers, roles and jobs can (and will) emerge.
Now to the task of inspiring the community of faith to embrace the stewardship of our lives!

]]> By: T.E. Brown http://www.boldenterprises.com/2009/04/28/the-gift-of-work-chapter-7-the-nucleus-of-change/comment-page-1/#comment-2481 T.E. Brown Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:34:01 +0000 http://www.boldenterprises.com/?p=1590#comment-2481 Good reflections, Karl, on this chapter and all the way through! And I'll second Karl's acknowledgment to Bill Heatley for writing "The Gift of Work." In Chapter 7, Heatley unpacks a diagram (from Dallas Willard) in which "Job" is founded on "Ministry/Calling," which in turn is founded on "Work," which in turn is founded on "Life." Our life is what God is ultimately interested in. Work involves the entirety of what we do for good. So Ministry is built on top of Work. Finally, Job is built on top of Ministry. The danger comes when we flip this upside-down. Instead of our Life being the foundation upon which we build Work, Ministry and Job, our Job ends up in the foundational position. This flip-flopped existence is a recipe for disaster, and a common ailment in our world. "The Gift of Work" helps us set our foundation straight, as it were. When we build our life upon God, everything else takes its place in proper order. Christians in the work place have a vital contribution to make as persons who have their priorities, and foundations, in the right place. Or, they should. Heatley invites those of us of faith to live out the implications of what we believe by allowing God to be our all-in-all. It's a powerful and important challenge. And I'd add, it's a potentially subversive challenge. Imagine what can happen in the workplaces all around us when we put first things first! Good reflections, Karl, on this chapter and all the way through! And I’ll second Karl’s acknowledgment to Bill Heatley for writing “The Gift of Work.”

In Chapter 7, Heatley unpacks a diagram (from Dallas Willard) in which “Job” is founded on “Ministry/Calling,” which in turn is founded on “Work,” which in turn is founded on “Life.” Our life is what God is ultimately interested in. Work involves the entirety of what we do for good. So Ministry is built on top of Work. Finally, Job is built on top of Ministry.

The danger comes when we flip this upside-down. Instead of our Life being the foundation upon which we build Work, Ministry and Job, our Job ends up in the foundational position. This flip-flopped existence is a recipe for disaster, and a common ailment in our world.

“The Gift of Work” helps us set our foundation straight, as it were. When we build our life upon God, everything else takes its place in proper order. Christians in the work place have a vital contribution to make as persons who have their priorities, and foundations, in the right place. Or, they should. Heatley invites those of us of faith to live out the implications of what we believe by allowing God to be our all-in-all. It’s a powerful and important challenge. And I’d add, it’s a potentially subversive challenge. Imagine what can happen in the workplaces all around us when we put first things first!

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