This is the 3rd post in a series that I am writing on God’s redeeming our every day work lives (article 1 and article 2). The series started when I came across a presentation by Dr. Denise Daniels of Seattle Pacific University.
After the fall came redemption, and this carries through to our time at work.
Until reading this presentation I had been of the opinion that the fall had doomed us to work in jobs that were monotonous, tedious and boring. Dr. Daniel’s presentation covered the fall, yet it made me realize that God, in fact, has redeemed work.
Dr. Daniels includes a vital observation on slide 22.
Your work can bring economic justice and social justice to people who can not speak for themselves.
Consider for a moment the considerable rise of social entrepreneurs over the past decade — organizations such as Charity:Water and LoveGrows. Charity:Water provides clean drinking water for those who otherwise would not have the means to obtain it. Clean water leads directly to better health for the villagers and improves education opportunities for girls and women. LoveGrows helps provide orphans with housing and access to age-appropriate schooling. Both organizations seek to create a cycle of empowerment at a local level.
These are not organizations that started as well-funded offshoots of major corporations or endowment funds. These are organizations that are started from people who simply said “I want to make a difference”, and they chose to get involved despite the many issues that lay before them.
The work that you do can have an amazing impact on the lives of many.
References
Daniels, D. (2008). Redeeming work: Living out God’s Purpose in our work [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.spu.edu/depts/sbe/cib/documents/CIB_Kiros_Redeeming_Work_Daniels_7-08.ppt