The market, the everyday world of trade and economic activity is where most people spend most of their days. In modern history, the market has played a unique role in the formation of our world. Globalization has transformed countless local markets into a huge global market. Advances in technology and communication have been able to fill huge geographical and cultural gaps at breakneck speed.
Meanwhile, language and market rules have changed the way other social institutions, including the church, think and operate. Even family life has been shaped by the market on a seemingly permanent basis.
- Still.
- The market is not a single.
- Homogeneous entity.
- It is a complex organization that challenges a simple definition.
- A plumber’s market experience is not the same as that of a hedge fund manager.
- And a banker’s work is different from that of a teacher.
- In fact.
- The work is being carried out:.
Therefore, as a pastor seeks to teach the dynamics of the market biblically, it is useful for him to deepen his empathy and expand his understanding of the vocations represented in his congregation.
So what should pastors teach calls to the labour market?
1. Show them how the scriptures focus their work.
One of the most fundamental texts to understand the work is the “ordinance of creation”, in which God commands Adam: “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sea, sky and all the animals that crawl on the earth? (Gen. 1. 28) While it is impossible for a shepherd to follow the increasing complexity of socio-economic development from the Garden of Eden, he has the opportunity to dedicate himself to wisdom eternal scripture Helping those in the marketplace to love and live the wisdom found in Proverbs will shape their understanding of daily work and how it can be used to glorify God and serve others.
2. Show them to fear the Lord
The market is a scary place. A worker may fear his boss, an executive may fear many public failures, and others may fear market instability, unemployment, and government regulations. Globalization, media and technology serve to amplify the feeling of not being in control. Like anger and pride, acting wrong. Fear produces a series of insecurities, sins and failures.
Throughout Scripture, God’s people have been ordained not to fear. Paul reminds us, “Did God not give us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, love, and moderation?(2 Tim 1. 7). However, we are commanded to fear God: “Is the Lord’s fear the principle of wisdom?(Pv 9. 10; Come out 111. 10). Unfortunately, there are many professing believers whose professional lives are dominated by fear and anxiety, which prevents them from living God’s wisdom.
3. Show them to pray
Many Christians are unwilling to pray for their work, much less to pray at work. Given the excessive fear in the marketplace, associated with hostility to Christian faith and practice, the best that workers can do is pray. The prayers needed for work may not be the typical prayers heard on Sunday mornings. Pastors have the opportunity to teach Christians how to pray for courage, against temptation, for integrity, to work skillfully, for their colleagues, and for God to establish the work. And in response to the many blessings of work, you should be ready to give thanks.
4. Show them that their maximum value does not lie in their performance.
There is enormous pressure in the market for workers to earn a living, achieve their goals and advance their careers. Without vigilant resistance, Christians may also come to believe that they are nothing more than a title, a level of responsibility, or a unity of work. Production.
The Psalmist teaches that, unlike man, God does not judge us as one who evaluates the strength of a horse, but does the Lord please those who fear Him and those who wait in his mercy?(Exit 147,10-11). At the end of the day, are our approval and identity in the fact that we are adopted as children of God by grace through faith in Christ?They’re not based on everything we do for ourselves.
5. Show them that they are more than in the local church
There is a subtle tendency among pastors to see members of their congregation based on their usefulness in attending events or contributing to the church budget. This temptation becomes even greater when it is known that a member is talented in his office or successful in this regard, pastors exert the same pressures that workers can experience from their employers, managers and supervisors during the week. Before the church takes care of the budgets and programs, it takes care of the people. You should be aware that they are important in addition to their usefulness.
6. Show them that they are not inferior to pastors and missionaries.
Many churches, perhaps unconsciously, subtly propagate the myth that pastors and missionaries are more important or inherently more holy than carpenters, telemarketers, or entrepreneurs. The church can employ pastors and send missionaries, but the silent majority of the kingdom’s work is done through these various calls. to the labour market. Pastors should find ways to train members for the variety of vocations represented in the congregation, not just those in the so-called “Christian ministry. “
7. Show them to love and do what they do well
It’s easy to enjoy work for a while, but when circumstances, opportunities, relationships and rewards change, difficulties and discouragement are quickly established. A certain level of this is inevitable, but if the work is dominated by a feeling of pessimism or fatalism, the Worker will not do her job well, will not be satisfied and her testimony of the gospel will fade and die. Believers need the reminder of Colossans 3:23, who in a sick world will finally work for the Lord. and at all times, it is the truth that motivates all work with passion and excellence, pastors also face difficulties and desanimos in their work, but those who, instead, have found new and living ways to rekindle love for what they do. , you can share this wisdom with those who practice different professions.