Finding God at Work

T.S. Eliot once wrote of "strained time-ridden faces / Distracted from distraction by distraction". Do you ever feel distracted from distraction by distraction? Why is it so easy for us to get distracted? Part of it is our busy world. But perhaps the more important part is in us: Our tendency to become distractible. One of the best ways we can love our teammates is by giving them real attention. That takes sacrifice, focus, and intentionality. But it's worth it. Sources: Romans 16:1-16 (ESV, NIV) T.S. Eliot, "Four Quartets," in Collected Poems (1909-1962) (New York: Harcourt, Brace, & World, 1963). Leighton Ford, The Attentive Life: Discerning God's Presence in All Things (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2014). #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #LoveAtWork #FaithWorkingThroughLove #Attention #Distraction #Romans16 #TSEliot #FourQuartets #BurntNorton #LeightonFord #TheAttentiveLife #Beloved #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

One of the most powerful ways we can love our teammates is praying for them. In this episode, we'll look at four ways to pray: For the work For the workers Without words With your teammates God cares about the work and the ones who are doing it; he's happy for us to come to him in prayer with the mundane concerns of our normal workdays. When we do, we find we're better able to collaborate with him in loving our teammates. Sources: Ephesians 6:18 (NIV) 1 Thessalonians 3:10-13 (NIV) Matthew 10:5-8 (ESV) Alan Fadling, An Unhurried Leader: The Lasting Fruit of Daily Influence (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2017). Ruth Haley Barton, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Finding God in the Crucible of Ministry (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008). #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #LoveAtWork #FaithWorkingThroughLove #Prayer #Ephesians6 #1Thessalonians3 #AlanFadling #Unhurried #InteriorLife #RuthHaleyBarton #TransformingCenter #StrengtheningTheSoul #SilentPrayer #SecretPrayer #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

No one you work with is dealing with *too much* encouragement today. And you're better positioned than most people on the planet to specifically encourage your teammates. When we look at the Bible, encouragement isn't icing on the cake. It's essential strength for the work God has given us. One of the most practical ways you can love your teammates is by encouraging them well. An acronym to help you remember: Encouragement with GUTS is Genuine Understanding Timely Specific Sources: Acts 4:36-37 (NIV) 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 (NIV) Deuteronomy 1:37-38 (NIV) Joshua 3:14-16 (NIV) The Blues Brothers, directed by John Landis (1980). #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #LoveAtWork #FaithWorkingThroughLove #Encouragement #Barnabus #Joshua #BluesBrothers #GUTS #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

"Vibe coding" caught my attention recently: using AI tools to produce code and putting it into production in public-facing apps, without a human coder building anything. I was both intrigued and horrified to learn of such a thing. To better explore my intrigue and horror, I figured I'd give it a shot. Behold, Mission Moment, a fully vibe-coded web app from Mission Central! #VibeCoding #AI #Claude #Curation #Discernment #HumanWork #FaithAtWork

Saint John Paul II (or JP2, as we theology nerds affectionately call him), once said, "the human person. . . is a creature that God willed for his own sake. At the same time, he can fully discover his true self only in a sincere giving of himself." You only find out who you are when you give yourself away. That's part of what it means to be a person. A person, rather than, say, a machine. This raises questions around what certain digital "machines," like AI tools, do to our work as human persons. One way of coming at those questions is to consider some non-human persons: Angels. Would they use AI? Sources: Genesis 1:26-27,31 (NIV) Matthew 16:25 (NIV) Mark 10:31 (NIV) Joshua 5:13-15 (NIV) St. Pope John Paul II, "The Human Person Becomes a Gift in the Freedom of Love," (General Audience, January 16, 1980). Read Mercer Schuchardt, "The Future of the Church Is Analog, Not Digital," Theology, Christianity Today, September 23, 2016. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #LoveAtWork #FaithWorkingThroughLove #Angels #AI #Presence #Mediation #JP2 #TheologyOfTheBody #NuptialMeaningOfTheBody #GiftOftheSelf #SelfDonation #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

Studies show that happier workers are less likely to look for other jobs. That makes sense. But the joy that Jesus invites us into is even deeper than that. It's a joy that goes hand-in-hand with self-sacrifice, with service that sometimes hurts. In Philippians 2, Paul speaks of this kind of joy as he compares himself to a "drink offering" that is "being poured out" for others (v. 17, NIV). Jesus lived out this kind of joy when he went to the cross. Serving like Jesus sometimes takes everything. But in the hope of his resurrection, it's worth it. Sources: Philippians 2:14-18 (NIV) Deborah Lovich and Rosie Sargeant, "Enjoying Work Matters More Than You May Realize," Boston Consulting Group (February 13, 2024). #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Service #Helpful #HowCanIHelp #Humility #Sacrifice #Pain #Offering #Philippians2 #JoyAtWork #EnjoyingWork #Retention #BCG #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

Sometimes, Jesus doesn't give us much data about what he asks us to do. He shows us a next step, but not a complete roadmap. Jesus gives us a way to serve, but not the full picture of what he plans to accomplish through our service. In the story of Jesus at the wedding at Cana, we see how this dynamic works in the experience of the servants. Jesus asks them to do a hefty task, but doesn't tell them why. But because they obey, they're the ones who first see the miracle that Jesus is doing. Sources: John 2:1-11 (NIV) Zechariah 4:10 (NIV) Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, as quoted in Bill Newcott, "Wisdom of the Elders," AARP: The Magazine (May–June 2009). #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Service #Helpful #HowCanIHelp #Humility #Glamorous #Unglamorous #CaptainSully #MiracleOnTheHudson #John2 #WeddingAtCana #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

The discipline of service helps us grow in humility, and humility makes us ready to serve. It's a reciprocal relationship. The same is true for service and courage: When we make a habit of serving, we find ourselves willing to do the right thing even when it's risky. And there are some kinds of service that require great risk! The story of Esther helps us discern when we've been called to our work "for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14), for the high-stakes situation that requires great courage. But we practice for those dramatic moments in our day-to-day low-stakes decisions to practice honesty about our own shortcomings. Sources: Philippians 2:1-13 (NIV) Esther 4:10-14 (ESV) "Said 'almost done' on the project update" (meme), reposted by u/Square_Tangerine_659, "Peetah?", r/PeterExplainsTheJoke, September 4, 2025. Timothy Keller with Katherine Leary Alsdorf, Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work (New York: Penguin Random House, 2012). Arthur Bennett, The Valley of Vision (Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Banner of Truth, 1975). #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Service #Helpful #HowCanIHelp #Humility #Courage #Danger #Fearlessness #DoItScared #Philippians2 #Esther #TimKeller #EveryGoodEndeavor #ArthurBennett #ValleyOfVision #PuritanPrayers #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

Doing our work out of the motivation of service makes it meaningful in three different ways: Our work contributes to the common good. Our work images God in the world Our work is the stuff of salvation. We're saved through faith, not by earning God's favor. But when we lean into what it means to "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling" as "God . . . works in you," we see a lot of opportunity for effort—for work!—in our life with God. And that means our daily efforts at work can be caught up in the drama of salvation. Sources: Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV) John Van Sloten, Every Job a Parable: What Walmart Greeters, Nurses, and Astronauts Tell Us about God (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2017). Dallas Willard, "Following Jesus and Living in the Kingdom," interview by Andy Peck, Christianity + Renewal, May 2002, republished by Renovaré, May 2021. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Service #Philippians2 #WorkOutYourSalvation #JohnVanSloten #DallasWillard #EarningVsEffort #FaithAndWorks #Transformation #Rescue #Salvation #Helpful #HowCanIHelp #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

Sometimes job postings list "progressively responsible work experience" among the prerequisites for a position. It means they're looking for someone who's taken on more and more responsibility over time, someone who has an arc to their career pointing upward. It's not necessarily a bad thing to be entrusted with more when you've done well with little. Jesus endorses that model. But he also shows us a different kind of "career arc": one that points downward through progressively humble service. Sources: Matthew 25:19-23 (ESV) Philippians 2:1-13 (NIV) Bugonia, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (2025). #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Humility #Service #Career #Matthew25 #Philippians2 #Bugonia #JessePlemmons #EmmaStone #Olympics #IliaMalinin #QuadGod #GoodAndFaithfulServant #Character #Honor #Glory #Obedience #GettingAhead #Helpful #HowCanIHelp #IntrinsicMotivation #ExtrinsicMotivation #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork