There is a tendency for Christianity in some circles to be a leisure activity. We are encouraged to pray, evangelise, worship, study our Bibles in our spare time. Sadly, the 40 hours per week, for forty or so years don't seem to matter - or at least if you looked at the content of most Sunday sermons from the pulpit. It has long been my contention that pastors should every seven years or so take a sabbatical and work in an office, educational establishment, retail outlet or such like. This will help them connect with the everyday pressure those in full-time work experience. Hopefully, it will help them in their discipleship programmes and in what they preach.

Christianity is a whole life activity, despite the implicit denial of this from many pulpits. This book, however, provides a refreshing look at whole life Christianity. It's key message is that work does matter.

Nelson uses many everyday experiences - including discussions in coffee shops and vignettes from those who have considered how Christianity impacts their work life.
Illustrations come from films such as Narnia, WALL-E and Mr Holland's Opus. He also draws upon a wide range of sources Paul Marshall, Os Guinness, Tim Keller, Tom Wright, Miroslav Volf, Luther and Gideon Strauss are all mentioned. He utilises the neo-Calvinist/ Kuyperian framework of creation, fall and redemption to good effect.

At the end of each chapter is a short prayer and then several questions for reflection and discussion which makes this book ideal for church small groups.

The final chapter 'The church at work' is particularly good. Here he draws upon Lesslie Newbigin's notion that 'the congregation has to be the place where its members are trained, supported, and nourished in the exercise of their parts of the priestly ministry in the world'. he offers some excellent ideas and suggestions how this can be developed. The role of church leaders is to 'prepare the saints for work of service' (Eph 4:12) Too often this gets narrowed down to church-related activities, here Nelson shows with examples that it doesn't have to be that way. Ideas include 'embracing a new vocational paradigm' as he puts it:

A primary work of the church is the church at work. Our work not only forms us spiritually; in and through our work, Christ's gospel mission is advanced in the world. (p. 190)


Many churches employ youth workers and ministers - maybe one day we'll also see work and vocation ministers too. That will certainly need a paradigm shift. Nelson's eminently readable and accessible book may well help towards that. ( )

There is a tendency for Christianity in some circles to be a leisure activity. We are encouraged to pray, evangelise, worship, study our Bibles in our spare time. Sadly, the 40 hours per week, for forty or so years don't seem to matter - or at least if you looked at the content of most Sunday sermons from the pulpit. It has long been my contention that pastors should every seven years or so take a sabbatical and work in an office, educational establishment, retail outlet or such like. This will help them connect with the everyday pressure those in full-time work experience. Hopefully, it will help them in their discipleship programmes and in what they preach.

Christianity is a whole life activity, despite the implicit denial of this from many pulpits. This book, however, provides a refreshing look at whole life Christianity. It's key message is that work does matter.

Nelson uses many everyday experiences - including discussions in coffee shops and vignettes from those who have considered how Christianity impacts their work life.
Illustrations come from films such as Narnia, WALL-E and Mr Holland's Opus. He also draws upon a wide range of sources Paul Marshall, Os Guinness, Tim Keller, Tom Wright, Miroslav Volf, Luther and Gideon Strauss are all mentioned. He utilises the neo-Calvinist/ Kuyperian framework of creation, fall and redemption to good effect.

At the end of each chapter is a short prayer and then several questions for reflection and discussion which makes this book ideal for church small groups.

The final chapter 'The church at work' is particularly good. Here he draws upon Lesslie Newbigin's notion that 'the congregation has to be the place where its members are trained, supported, and nourished in the exercise of their parts of the priestly ministry in the world'. he offers some excellent ideas and suggestions how this can be developed. The role of church leaders is to 'prepare the saints for work of service' (Eph 4:12) Too often this gets narrowed down to church-related activities, here Nelson shows with examples that it doesn't have to be that way. Ideas include 'embracing a new vocational paradigm' as he puts it:

A primary work of the church is the church at work. Our work not only forms us spiritually; in and through our work, Christ's gospel mission is advanced in the world. (p. 190)


Many churches employ youth workers and ministers - maybe one day we'll also see work and vocation ministers too. That will certainly need a paradigm shift. Nelson's eminently readable and accessible book may well help towards that. ( )

You can find my full review at Quieted Waters.

The majority of your waking life will be spent at your job. That’s astounding, when you stop to think about it. If you’re like most Americans, you will work more than eight hours a day, every weekday.

Tom Nelson wrote this book with that context in mind. He opens the book saying, “As a pastor, I regret that I have often given minority attention to what most of us do the majority of our time.” Nelson was convicted of how few of his sermons assisted his listeners in glorifying God at work, and this book flows out of his determination to connect more of his sermons to the workplace.

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I liked most of this book – especially the way it took actual people (business people & business owners) and cited the way that they took the words they heard on Sundays and put those words into action in their work lives. They did more that recite the teachings they heard in church – they lived by those words in their dealings with employees and customers.

The message of the book was a good one – as I am not a regular churchgoer, I was impressed with the common sense examples. At times, the themes got a bit repetitive, but in general, I agreed with the message that many people are hypocrites when it comes to their religious lives and work lives. What they do and say in their work lives do not reflect what they say they believe. I, for one, will try to do an even better job bringing these good words and good works into my daily life. ( )

NCLA Review: The connection between faith and work is a topic that deserves exploration. Tom Nelson, senior pastor of the multi-campus evangelical Christ Community Church in Leawood, Kansas, examines what work is, why we do it, and what the Scriptures have to say about its importance. He correctly notes that too much or too little importance on work in our lives can be equally damaging. His message, simply, is “…if we will look at our work through the lens of Holy Scripture, our work, no matter what we have been called to do, is imbued with great meaning and significance.” Though sincere in tone, the message of the book is thin. Few new insights are offered. For congregations where the balance between work and church is of strong interest. Rating: 2 —KLF ( )