One of the most moving experiences I have had in the Faith At Work movement occurred in
Marketplace or workplace ministry is a popular subject in church ministry circles these days. Apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists and teachers are all talking about it. Many books are being written about God’s move in the marketplace. For a selection check out Os Hillman’s Faith and Work Resources Website.
How soon we forget though that this is about workplace ministry and not about money! I say this because I have noticed a distressing trend by church ministry professionals referring to workplace ministry as God’s means to solve their financial problems through “wealth transfer” so they can fund "the end time harvest".
Wise stewards are needed for the financial resources God is releasing to his church for evangelistic ministry. One of the fruits of the faith at work movement is that Christian business people are stepping forward to help the church manage its limited resources.
However, some church ministry professionals are too eager to see “the wealth of the wicked transferred to the righteous”. In their eagerness, they make workplace ministry the means for this to happen thus hijacking it to serve their interest in solving their financial problems.
As a Christian business person when I hear terms like “kingdom financier” or “money manager” BEFORE I hear terms like “Called to the Marketplace” or “Workplace Missionary”, I hear the church telling me ONCE AGAIN that it values me for my money or for my wealth management skills and not for the vocation God has called me to in the marketplace.
This is Churchianity! Church ministry professionals prop up their privileged position as leaders of God’s people by recruiting workplace believers as financial supports. As I said in my last post: ALL Work Matters to God not just Work Qualified by the Fivefold Ministry Gifts. The emphasis on workplace ministry serving the church is completely upside down! Ephesians 4:11-12 clearly states that the mandate of the Fivefold is to serve the ministry of the saints in the world, NOT the other way around!
C Peter Wagner wisely balances this theme by placing “social transformation” above wealth transfer as the primary purpose for workplace ministry. (See the book: Changing Church: How God Is Leading His Church into the Future, page 69). Also, Harold Eberle has some wise advice on the magic of wealth transfer.
If church ministry professionals want to partner with workplace believers, it needs to be as servants who are assisting and supporting their efforts to bring transformation to their workplaces.
How can church ministry professionals do that?
1. Read Paul Stevens book: The Other Six Days: Vocation, Work, and Ministry in Biblical Perspective
2. Spend some time in the workplace with Christian business people to get a feel for what it is like on the front lines. Pray for them as they go about their day to day business. (Reading some of my articles under the work section of the Faith At Work Web Log would be a good orientation)
3. Bring workplace believers up front in church meetings, seminars and conferences and allow them to tell their story about how God is using them to make a difference in the marketplace.
4. Pray for workplace believers and marketplace missionaries just as you would for any missionary. Commission them into their everyday vocation to serve God in their workplaces with the church’s blessing and prayer support.
5. Sign up for Doug Spada’s His Church at Work e mail and web services so you can equip your church members for their workplace ministry.
Church ministry professionals need to show their support for workplace believers by valuing the ministry they do in the marketplace not just the money they can direct towards church ministry. Otherwise. their efforts to recruit partners for the end time harvest will fail. And perhaps that’s a good thing, because Jesus has a different agenda. It’s called Christianity, not Churchianity!
