His Work; Not Ours

Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity, by Nancy Pearcey

(After a reference to Martin Luther's description of our occupations as God's "masks" - His way of caring for creation in a hidden manner, through human means...)

"The metaphor of God's "mask" presses home the fact that our vocation is not something we do for God. Instead, it is a way we participate in God's work. For God Himself is engaged not only in the work of salvation but also in the work of preserving and maintaining His creation."

"A journalism professor recently told me that even the best Christian journalists - sincere believers with outstanding professional skills - typically have no Christian theory of journalism."

So what is my theory of Christian teaching?
What work of God am I participating in as a teacher?
I may inherently have some idea about this, but have I articulated it so that it is foremost in my heart and mind as I teach?
And what about accountants and retail business managers and communications specialists.
How much thought are we putting into seeing God's work in what we call our jobs?

Sense or Nonsense?

"Christianity today is the tale of two paradigms; the earlier and the emerging. There is no one right way of understanding Christianity and being a Christian. It's a matter of what works. If the earlier paradigm works for you then there is no need to change, but for millions who cannot be literalists or exclusivists the earlier paradigm does not work. "

The Heart of Christianity, by Marcus J. Borg (referred to by some as the C.S. Lewis of the 21st century)

Earlier

• The Bible is a divine product with divine authority.
• Biblical interpretation is based on factual and literal acknowledgement.
• The Bible's function is revelation of doctrine and morals.
• Christian Life Emphasis is on what to believe and do to be saved.

Emerging

• The Bible is a human response to God.
• Biblical interpretation is based on history and metaphor.
• The Bible's function is metaphorical and sacramental.
• Christian Life Emphasis is on transformation in this life through relationship with God

A Revisionist Jesus Scholar

What if this is all there is?

"Every person needs to feel significant. We want our lives to count. We yearn to believe that in some way we are important. And that hunger for significance - a drive as intense as our need for oxygen - doesn't come from pride or ego. It comes from God, because he wants each of us to understand how important we are."

"Why then do most modern people carry with them an aching void - a pain that will not go away until we find the answer to our search for dignity? The emptiness we feel cannot be relieved by one more gourmet meal or another snort of cocaine. We carry water in a sieve when we try to fill the empty space with a better job or a bigger house."

The Hunger for Significance by R.C. Sproul

Then there's the line from the movie, "What if this is as good as it gets?"

The preacher in Ecclesiastes has the answer - EVERYthing is in vain, until we love and fear the Lord, then... everything is valuable.