The Pastor Works Only 35 Minutes a Week

Ever since I switched from software development to pastoral ministry, I have been very careful to not call what I do "work" or a "job." It's "ministry," it's a "calling," but not "work." I don't "go into work," but I will "head to the church building to study" or meet with people or even "make progress" on ministries, plans, and projects. Whatever it is that I do (which is still a mystery to some!), it's not "work" like the rest of you do. I would never diminish the calling that way.

And I've been wrong this whole time.

In trying to show regard for church ministry, I accidentally have conveyed several things that aren't true:

A sacred - secular dualism. Since the Enlightenment, we've had a growing dualism that divides our lives into secular and sacred. My secular job and my sacred religious life, distinct and separate. My work, which has nothing directly to do with matters of faith, and my church life. Clergy and laity - some people who are religious for a living and then normal people. By refusing to call what I do "work," I'm refusing to use common, "secular" words to describe this "sacred" activity, which only furthers this harmful dualism.

Your work isn't ministry. The flip side of this is that I have denigrated the godly value of what you do, as if what you do does not minister to others. You engage people where they spend most of their lives, and you can demonstrate Christ by how and why you do your work. There may even be opportunities to appropriately talk about matters of faith. But if I elevate what I do over what you do, no wonder people don't feel like their jobs really matter in the big picture.

Distance where there should be proximity. By using different language for what you do and what I do, I only create distance between us, and that's the last thing we need.

What I do isn't work. Not calling it "work" makes it seem like I just spend my days floating in some spiritual high or engaging heroically in epic spiritual battles, and that I don't have to "work-y things" like plan, manage, shuffle papers, research, write, or handle salesmen. I don't do email ... I prophesy digitally!

The root of this problem is our theology of work. Work is not a curse from Genesis 3, but a holy charge for the entire human race from Genesis 1. God works, Jesus worked in the flesh and continues to work now, and the Holy Spirit works mightily within us. To work is to reflect God's character and to fulfill the charge He gave us. He created, and then commissioned us to colabor with Him in His creation to cultivate human flourishing. Therefore, all work can be sacred, not just mine.

And therefore, what I do is "work." It's a way to cultivate human flourishing, just like your work. So I should call it "work."

For me to refuse to use that common word has been an act of arrogance that also perpetuated bad theology. For that I apologize.

Having "Spiritual Conversations"

You're at work, talking with a co-worker in the break room. It's someone you know a little, but not deeply. You know that this person is not a believer and there's a little distress in his life, but that's about all you know. And the conversation is about potato chips. You want to talk about something more important, and as a believer, you a bit apprehensively want to talk about spiritual matters. You're putting pressure on yourself to force the conversation, and you feel pressure from your church because they just talked about being an influence for Christ at work.

The pressure you feel reveals an underlying dichotomy between the secular and the sacred. We classify the conversation about potato chips to be secular (non-religious) and conversations about Christ to be sacred (holy, set apart). Secular conversations are "useless," and sacred conversations are the goal. And there's pressure to somehow manipulate the secular conversation to become sacred.

But what if this dichotomy is wrong? What if the pressure we feel is because we have a false dichotomy? What if we saw every conversation as sacred? Not that we fit Jesus into conversations about potato chips, but that we look at every conversation, even conversations about potato chips, as sacred opportunities. Why do we compartmentalize our lives in such as way that we actually consider any part of our lives as secular?

There is tremendous value in authentic conversations about Jesus - make no mistake. The Gospel is a message to be proclaimed. I'm not devaluing those conversations one bit, and we do desire to have those conversations. I'm not suggesting we look at those conversations any differently. I'm suggesting we look at the "secular" conversations very differently.

Instead of trying to artificially bridge the conversation from chips to Jesus ("Ruffles have ridges, and Jesus once stood on a ridge and looked down on the people...") and instead of trying to be cool in the conversation (say something funny about chips, say something funny about chips, ...), what if we saw a conversation that is stuck on potato chips as a sacred opportunity? It's an opportunity to pray for God to move in this person's heart in ways we never can that He would address issues we may never know about. It's a time to pray for God to create a "holy dissatisfaction" with this world so that this person begins to ponder greater things than chips. It's an occasion to ask God to cement an authentic relationship and to make his or her heart ready for an authentic conversation about Jesus.

In other words, refuse to categorize any conversation as secular - even those conversations that never move to eternal matters. Rather than feel guilty that you can't figure out how to force the conversation, thank God for a reason to make the moment holy by crying out to Him on this person's behalf.

And then be ready! God will move, change hearts, and open up real opportunities for authentic conversations about the matters of God. Not in every case, but in some. The opportunities He creates are always superior to the ones we create. But when He creates them, walk in! There's no place we'd rather be than in places God opens up for us.