Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents
Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 3 – Dancing in the Kingdom– Chapter 18 – Entering the Dance
Vocational stewardship
[Bible references: Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:1-17]
In-between those basic strategies, the question we all need to discover is, within the context we find ourselves in, what are the practical ways for us to use the gifts and talents God has equipped us with. For some of us, we can find ways to use our gifts and talents directly within the church. But all work, whether done in the church or outside can be done as unto the Lord. For others, Amy Sherman has identified four different strategies outside the church itself for us to consider.[1]
- Promote the kingdom in and through your daily work
- Volunteer your skills to an agency outside your employer.
- Launch your own social enterprise
- Participate in your church’s targeted initiative.
Whatever strategy we use, the goal is to bring hope to the world around us by bringing in Kingdom values of justice, righteousness, and peace.[2]
We do have to consider the reality that many of us have jobs that consign workers to demeaning labor: either doing tasks that treat workers as if they were biological robots on an assembly line doing repetitive tasks, or just doing unskilled tasks that require no creativity and that fail to regard the humanity of those workers.[3] Then sometimes, we simply find ourselves in a job which could easily be more meaningful if we were appreciated. What should we do then? Dorothy Sayers’ position is that we should have the same attitude as given to us in Genesis 2, we should serve the work. We can hope that the work was designed to serve the community, so that in serving the work we serve the community.
“The only true way of serving the community is to be truly in sympathy with the community, to be oneself part of the community and then to serve the work without giving the community another thought. Then the work will endure, because it will be true to itself. It is the work that serves the community; the business of the worker is to serve the work.”[4]
[1] Sherman, Amy. Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good. Intervarsity Press, 2011 eBook Chapters 9-13
[2] Sherman, Amy. Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good. Intervarsity Press, 2011 eBook Chapter 1
[3] Smith, James K.A. “The Beauty of Work, the Injustice of Toil” Comment comment.org/the-beauty-of-work-the-injustice-of-toil/
[4] Sayers, Dorothy. “Why Work” in Letters to a Diminished Church: Passionate Arguments for the Relevance of Christian Doctrine Villanova University www1.villanova.edu/content/dam/villanova/mission/faith/Why%20Work%20by%20Dorothy%20Sayers.pdf
Reflect
How might you use your vocational stewardship?
Observe
Read Ephesians 6:5-9. How do we serve “as unto the Lord” at whatever our vocation is?
Dancing In The Kingdom 