Today we’ll see some examples of building our work on God’s foundation.

We’ll look at four main categories of work: offered to God, or redeemed, subverted, or challenged for God.

Offered:
I knew an animator who I asked to design the opening credits for Redeem the Commute, and some other projects. She excitedly said yes, and lamented that no one ever asked here to do the work she loved as a ministry for God – other churches had always asked her to stack chairs!

Redeemed:
I knew a teacher who was moved to a new school in a rough part of town, where a depressing number of students come from families with addicitons and little support. She was not happy with the forced move, but then I asked her – what if God is putting you into these kids’ lives for a reason? There is a difference between teaching children for a paycheque, and teaching children because God loves children as his own, so that the teacher can see that God-given dignity in even the most difficult among them.

Subverted:
Imagine the same thing happening with the debt collector I mentioned on Monday. He could try to treat people with dignity, be gracious in encouraging them to get help, yet firm in that people should repay what they’ve borrowed. As he advanced in his job, he may be able to influence more humane practices across the board. But at some point, he may come up against a huge challenge…asked to extort, blackmail, extract crippling interest from helpless people, etc. Which brings us to:

Challenge:
That debt collector may find he just has to quit. The company may be conducting business in a way God can only challenge. But imagine if my friend took that expeirence and decided to start his own micro-lending firm!

How do you know which approach fits your work? It starts with knowing God’s story, and having a willingness to let it shape our lives. This is what our challenges are all about – learning and applying God’s big story, for the long term and in community.

Challenge: Consider your own work. Should it be offered, redeemed, subverted, or challenged? Discuss.

Then watch the attached video of Lyndsey, a teacher who sees her work through God’s story.

Ryan Sim - September 3, 2015

Thursday - Act On It - Inner Rest

If you ask people how they are doing, how often do they include the word “busy” in their reply? We often feel we need to justify ourselves that way – I’m busy. I’m not lazy. I’m productive! This isn’t untrue, we usually are busy! But it’s not always a good form of busyness. Negative busyness comes from a cycle of slavery to work, defining ourselves by our work, or becoming consumed by worry and guilt about work. One inner way to combat this is with satisfaction. It starts with satisfaction in Christ – I am not God, I am not in charge of universe. God is. I rebelled against him, but Jesus has done something incredible, in his death on cross, for me. He’s accomplished what matters most in life – he’s freed me from having to prove my worth. I don’t need to accomplish anything to know God for eternity. He’s accomplished it for me. This can be remembered with Sabbath rest every week. Rest is an opportunity to look back and celebrate what’s been done by God, and by you. You might journal, and pray to thank God for the successes, say sorry for the failures, and acknowledge that what’s done is done. Then you can look forward to the new week ahead, now in perspective. Challenge: Divide a piece of paper into four columns, and think about the last work week. In the first column, write your worries, then your guilts, then your unfinished business. Now in the fourth column, write some words that represent who you are, and want to be. Where are the disconnects between this column and the others?

From Series: "Work and Rest"

Just in time for summer's blend of work and rest, Redeem the Commute is starting a new series of daily challenges to help busy people restore life to the commuting lifestyle. This seven week series will look at the meaning and purpose of work, rest, and ancient practices that have helped followers of Jesus to keep the two in perspective and balance for centuries.

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