Pastoring the Working Flock

I just finished reading Knowing Christ Today by Dallas Willard. The last chapter is called Pastors as Teachers to the Nations. He builds the case that the Great Commission is first to Judea, and then others are sent elsewhere … but the first “mission field” is our own homes and communities. Pastors are to be the ones that help us develop of knowledge of Christ in the fullest sense of “knowledge.” In doing so, they become the teachers of the nations.

Below are some excerpts from the last four pages of the book. Regular readers of the Kruse Kroncile will quickly understand why I highlight them.

The next to last paragraph in the book …

The sad reality is that while people in the “helping professions” (ex., nurses, teachers, social workers) are sometimes lifted up in church, the vast majority of businesspeople (like managers, business owners, accountants, sales workers, etc.) report never having heard a sermon that speaks of the work they do as service to Christ. Those who report that they have heard sermons affirm their work report that the affirmation is usually backhanded … as in the idea that God has placed them there so they can work against greed or exploitation of workers. Or maybe their work is useful because it provides resources to fund the church’s programming and facilities.

Most businesspeople know that, to some degree, they are additives, not detractors, to societal well-being. They transform matter, energy, and data from less useful forms to more useful forms. They generate income for others. They organize human systems where people cooperate and compete to produce goods for endless win-win transactions in the marketplace. Many sense that their work has intrinsic value … that it is somehow deeply expressive of who they are at their core. Unfortunately, based on what they hear at church, God disagrees.