I’m treading on dangerous ground here. I want you to understand that before we begin.

My colleague, Bernard Moon, recently wrote Is Your Work Less Valuable?, in which he expresses his frustration with a church sermon implying that those who make the “sacrifice” to do the so-called spiritual work of ministry were more committed followers of Christ than those who stayed in the “secular” workplace.

A few days later another colleague sent me a promotional quote from the back cover of a soon to be released book, The Gift of Work, by Bill Heatley. Since I have not read the book, my comments are absolutely not a critique of the book, and in fact, I’d assume that it will be a good thoughtful read, given what I see in the table of contents.

What infuriated me was the marketing tone set by the back cover. Christian publishing after years of neglecting the workplace is now finding it as an opportunity. But in typical late to the game fashion, and not understanding the realities of what God is already doing in the workplace, they approach the marketing with a sensationalistic and unbiblical mindset.

Sensationalistic? Try this on for size:

Work has become a dangerous place. With employee violence, injuries, and even deaths on the rise, it’s no wonder we’re filled with stress, apprehension, and anger.

I can see stress and apprehension due to global economic conditions, but due to violence, injuries, and potential for loss of life? Will the book address and support these statistically? In my consulting work over the last decade, I’ve been in hundreds of businesses and all have carried deep commitment to eliminate accidents, injuries, and death.

Unbiblical? Think about this statement:

The line of penetration is from the pulpit to the pew to the pavement. Bill Heatley is out on the “pavement” serving Jesus Christ in the marketplace. In The Gift of Work, he shows the difference it makes when you serve the almighty God instead of the almighty dollar.
Haddon Robinson, PhD, president, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Surely he can’t mean this. Surely it was three easy sentences put together as a favor using well-honed alliterative skills to deliver a clever line. I thought this line from the pulpit to the pew to the pavement went out with the Reformation! I thought the line went from God to man via the Scriptures. Period.

It’s no wonder people in the marketplace don’t always see the connection between their faith and their work. It’s because pulpit has largely either ignored it…as one colleague asked me, “When was the last time your pastor preached on cash flow?” … or addressed it negatively, as another friend commented,

Every week I’m told how I’m not spiritual or committed because I am in business rather than the ministry. Then each week I’m asked to give the fruits of my prostitution to serve the ministry. What’s wrong with this picture?

Now it seems the pulpit and the publisher are trying to get control of something that is happening out on the pavement quite apart from their efforts.

It’s also a cheap shot to imply that people are serving the almighty dollar rather than God. I just don’t find that in the marketplace. Sure, we’re all living in the tension, but most businessmen and women of faith that I know are striving mightily to serve God in their work. The “discovery” that work matters to God, to borrow from Doug Sherman, is not a discovery from the pulpit, but from people at work who became increasingly frustrated with being told their work didn’t matter. And now that it does matter, the publishing industry is all over it.

The pulpit needs to be a support and resource to those that are leading the way through their daily interactions in the marketplace and society

Another implication of this “line” of thinking is that the command center for faith is the pulpit. Nothing could be further from the truth and it is one of the reasons that the impact of faith has not been more penetrating in our society. The pulpit needs to support and resource those who are leading the way through daily interactions in the marketplace. The preacher needs to get out from behind the pulpit to learn what is going on and learn how to serve. Instead, as Bernard experienced, the opposite happens.

The root problem is not that people in the world of work don’t have a biblical worldview of work. Granted we all have a lot to learn, but it’s the pulpit that has not had the proper view. And, therefore, have not set people free to do what God has called them to do and to experience the gift of work.

The next time you hear something like what Bernard heard from the pulpit or when you read something like what is on the back cover of this book, protest, and nail it to the door.