Weaving Work-Truth into Church Life (Part Nine)
Links to previous articles in this series: (Part One) (Part Two) (Part Three) (Part Four) (Part Five) (Part Six) (Part Seven) (Part Eight)
In light of the current coronavirus crisis, I debated whether to post this blog at a moment when we cannot gather in our churches or, for many, even go to work. But perhaps sheltering in place will provide us with extra time to reflect on how—when we can—to prepare our young people spiritually for the opportunities and challenges they will face in their lifetimes of working.
Equipping Young People for the Work World
Each young person in your church will soon face a crucial question: “What kind of work should I look for?”
Who is equipping these young people to make that decision? Who is training them to step into their jobs as representatives of Christ and his Kingdom?
Over the past eight years of teaching the theology of work, I have asked my graduate students to conduct surveys among Christians in non-church work. Responses now total nearly a thousand. One of the survey questions asks: “Before you entered your life’s work, had you received any biblical instruction on how to go about choosing it?” Nearly three-quarters of those responding have said they received none—no scriptural insight into deciding where they will invest perhaps a hundred-thousand God-given hours of their lives.
Will Young People Become Workplace-Ready Disciples?
At or near the same ages young people leave home, many of them head off into a war zone. Before they enter harm’s way, our military branches work hard to prepare them for what they will encounter. A U.S. Army website, says: “Basic Combat Training (BCT) is a training course that transforms civilians into Soldiers.” The Army spends a lot of time and money to make recruits battle-ready. Contrast this with what churches have typically done to make young people workplace-ready, prepared for the spiritual warfare they’ll encounter there.
How might the young people in your church respond to these vital questions?
What criteria will you use in choosing how to invest the hours and years of your life?
Do you know how to discover how God has “wired” you so you may discern his calling?
Will you pursue work that will offer you the most security?
Will you look for jobs that pay the most money?
Do you understand God’s purposes for so-called “secular” work?
Do you even want to work?
Suppose your church wants to equip its children, youth, and young adults to enter the work world to represent Christ and his Kingdom there? How might the church do that? Making workplace-ready disciples of young people calls for a multi-faceted approach.
1. Prepare Parents to Equip Their Children
Your church could make certain parents receive a thorough grounding in the theology of work. The major responsibility for bringing up children in the “training and instruction of the Lord” belongs to parents (Eph. 6:4). So they should be equipped to teach their children what God has to say about the work they will do over a lifetime. Such home-provided instruction, by word and by example, surely ought to include what God’s Word says about an activity that takes more than half our waking hours.
Parents might find either or both of the following books useful in helping their children discover their giftings and callings. In The Person Called You, Bill Hendricks addresses God-bestowed giftedness, explaining, “why you’re here,” “why you matter,” and “what you should do with your life.” The appendix includes a step-by-step guide parents can use to help their young people discover their giftedness. Ralph T. Mattson and Arthur F. Miller, Jr., in Finding a Job You Can Love, ask: “How would Christian education be viewed if it actually provided young people with an understanding of their specific gifts and equipped them accordingly?”
2. Include Workplace Material in Youth Groups and Classes
Your church should make it a priority to include in its Sunday school classes and youth groups material that will prepare children and young people to live for Christ in the work world. The curricula could include a great variety of subject matter. It might provide instruction from the lives of biblical characters who served God in the work world. For example, how did Joseph, Nehemiah, and Daniel all integrate their faith with their everyday work?
3. Hold a Jobs Fair
Why not schedule what you might call a “jobs fair”? The goal: to introduce young people to Christians who are serving God in all kinds of so-called “secular” work. I recently conducted an Occupational Survey in our church. The 108 who responded made it clear that our congregation includes those serving in a wide variety of work roles. A financial advisor. A legislative assistant in state government. A real estate agent. A psychologist. A fiscal analyst. A reading intervention teacher. A music teacher. A dental assistant. And a great many more.
Most likely, those in your congregation also represent great occupational diversity. Chances are that many young people will not even be aware that such ways of serving Christ even exist for serious Christians. Adults could be seated at tables, each with a sign describing his or her role in the work world: computer programmer, grocery clerk, homemaker, attorney, welder, counselor, and so on. Young people could circulate, stopping to engage the adults in conversations about the opportunities and challenges for Christians in that field.
4. Schedule Sunday Panels of Working Adults
Consider occasionally incorporating into the Sunday meeting panels of adult Christians who have learned how to turn their daily work into worship of the Lord and service to people. Each panel might be made up of those in similar lines of work. They could invite questions from the congregation, especially welcoming questions from young people.
5. Organize Job-Shadowing Partnerships
Or perhaps your church could arrange job-shadowing partnerships for teenagers. Find out what kind of work interests them, then pair them with adults who are currently working in that field. Each adult could invite the young person to lunch, followed by a tour of the workplace. In this way, the young people could see the work being done and ask questions along the way.
The evidence today suggests young people are increasingly disconnecting from the gathered church. As BreakPoint’s John Stonestreet and Shane Morris say, “We really are losing a generation of young churchgoers, and they’re probably not coming back—at least not if we stay the current course.” Might the church’s perceived indifference to work—one of the major concerns of forward-looking young people—help explain that trend? In her essay, “Why Work?” Dorothy Sayers asks: “How can anyone remain interested in a religion which seems to have no concern with nine-tenths of his life?”
A Young Man Wonders . . .
A Focus on the Family website includes a question raised by a parent: “How can I help my adolescent son settle on a vocation and make wise plans for the future? He seems to be thinking more seriously about career choices and wondering what God wants him to do with his life.”
Imagine that this young man is part of your church, perhaps senior-high or college-age. When he thinks about life, since most of it for him still lies ahead, he thinks mainly in the future tense. Questions about what is yet to come churn in his mind. Although not yet in the workforce, he soon will be. So he is extremely interested in what will become his life’s work.
Is his church just as interested as he is in preparing him to choose his life’s work and then to do it as an offering to the Lord?