Weaving Work-Truth into Church Life (Part Six)

Where is the Church’s Frontline?

In its website, one church describes “a number of ways to serve” on the frontlines. The article identifies several teams responsible for parking cars, greeting visitors, helping people find seats, making coffee, and getting people connected.

Each of these activities has its place for a few minutes on Sunday. But wait. Can we honestly call these the “frontlines” of the church? According to Dictionary.com, the frontline is “the visible forefront in any action, activity, or field.” The Cambridge English Dictionary defines the frontline as “working in a job that involves dealing with ordinary people and real problems.”

What Would Jesus Say?

So far as we know, Jesus never used the term “frontline.” But if he had, where would he have located it on his map? Clues to answering that question probably lie somewhere in those things we know he did say. Statements such as these to his followers: “Go into all the world.” “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.” And this one to his Father: “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”

As vital as it is for us to meet together, it sounds as if Jesus might position the frontline for the church “out there.” Out in the world where we deal with “ordinary people and real problems.” Out in the world where representing Christ and his Kingdom has its “visible forefront.” Out there where sheep, meeting wolves of all kinds, get worn and wounded. Out there where they feel isolated, cut off from others who have their backs. Out there where they bump into puzzling dilemmas they’ve never encountered before and have no idea how to deal with. So hearing from others who also serve out there can restore, renew, and encourage.

The Power of Frontline Reports

Those outside the church context know the value of frontline updates. For example, one health-care website explains: “These ‘reports from the front lines’ are designed to help health policy leaders understand the current state of the U.S. health care system, how health systems are adapting to the changing environment, and what's working and not working in both the private and public sector toward the goal of achieving higher quality, more efficient care.”

Church leaders too should make room for those serving in the workplace to bring reports from the frontlines. In this way, employers and employees will have opportunity to help others in the church family see their jobs as serving God. How is God moving in that arena? What dilemmas or challenges are they facing? What opportunities are opening up? How can fellow believers pray for them?

Frontline reports offer one major way of practicing Heb. 10:24—”And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” The strong Greek word behind spur on in the NIV has been translated by others as motivate, stir up, and stimulate. This affectionate prodding is something we do for “one another.” It is not a one-person ministry. Along with all the other one-another instructions in the New Testament, this one flows straight out of the directive given by Jesus: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34).

Changing a Local Church Culture

In The Other Six Days, R. Paul Stevens suggests that, “each week [in the church meeting] an ordinary member should be brought forward and in five minutes interviewed along these lines: “What do you do for a living? What are the issues you face in your work? What difference does your faith make to the way you address these issues? How would you like us as a church to pray for you in your ministry in the workplace?” Stevens says that by including such reports, “the culture of a local church can be partially changed in fifty-two weeks . . . .”

Lowell Bakke, who served as Professor of Pastoral Studies in the Bakke Graduate University, says: “The church needs to teach that work is worship. So on Sunday we could report on how we worshiped during the week. We should have people report on how God shows up in their work and how they are working for the glory of God by serving their masters. . . . They could explain how they fulfilled the purpose of the church by . . . stewarding their work for the good of the community.”

How can church leaders unearth these workplace reports? Mainly by making it known that the church body needs to hear and is looking for such stories. Through announcements (up front, in bulletins, on websites, etc.), such reports can be asked for. These could include idea-prompters—such as: How are you dealing with an unreasonable boss? What sticky, Catch-22, ethical issues are you facing? How have you been able to maintain a godly lifestyle on the job while remaining on good terms with those who live by different standards? And so on.

Strengthening Our Teammates

These windows to the work world would provide a way for the body to build itself in love “as each part does its work” (Eph. 4:16). In a blog, our daughter, Jana Jarvis, expanded on why we gather as believers: “We go there to face a new week, locking arms and re-energizing each other to go out there and love God and people with abandon. Whether we meet together in a church building, a restaurant, or a home, our goal is the same . . . to encourage one another. To remind each other. To strengthen our teammates.”

As they face each new week, where will those leaving a church gathering encounter most of the people they ought to love “with abandon”? Those they interact with in the course of their paid or unpaid work. Reports from the frontlines will help equip working Christians to practice that love and those good works on the job. And it will let them pray intelligently for their brothers and sisters who are struggling to continue representing Christ in their workplaces.

For Example . . .

I was once invited to preach in a church about an hour from where we live. I prepared a message on Daniel’s daily work in the pagan government of Babylon. I knew a woman I’ll call Beth who worked for state government. So I invited her to accompany my wife and me and to bring to that congregation a report from her frontline. After my message, Beth told of how God had seen her through a very difficult situation on her job. When she finished, I asked if someone in the congregation would pray for her.

Immediately, a young woman raised her hand and offered to pray. But before saying a word, she began to weep. Then, quickly regaining her composure, she offered a heartfelt prayer for Beth. Afterward, we learned the reason for her tears. This woman had just faced a situation in her workplace much like the one Beth had described. Nothing I could have said in the sermon would have spoken to her like that report from the frontline of the workplace.

Pastors can and should teach us what the Bible says about our daily work. But for first-hand accounts of how fellow believers are turning their work into worship and service to others, we’ll need to hear straight from them.