I have been on a Jordan Raynor kick lately. I appreciate his heart for pointing to life in Christ as the lens through which we must view everything else. Everyone we encounter is eternal…meaning that everything we do has eternal significance.

I loved The Sacredness of Secular Work as a great reminder for everyone that whatever you do…God has called you to it and you should glorify Him and serve others through it. I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below…

  • Charles Spurgeon, “Nothing is secular—everything is sacred!” p. 17
  • There’s a quote from theologian Karl Rahner that I think about a lot: “In the torment of the insufficiency of everything attainable, we learn that ultimately in this world there is no finished symphony.” p.86
  • When you meet your Maker, he will likely ask you questions about how you worked in this life. Using our biblically informed imaginations, we can guess that those questions might include the following:[*1] “Did you ‘give thanks in all circumstances’ at work, even the difficult ones I allowed?” (see 1 Thessalonians 5:18). “Did you do your work with excellence, even when your bosses weren’t watching?” (see Ephesians 6:5–6). “Did you show mercy to your team members the way that I showed you mercy?” (see Luke 6:36). p. 115
  • Our work can create what Celtic Christians call “ ‘thin places’…where the curtain between heaven and earth seems almost transparent”[14]—experiences that “trigger a sense of being swept into a timeless moment, a place where time stands still and the breath of eternity rustles through our hearts and minds.”[15] p. 135
  • Your work matters for eternity because through it you can scratch off the veil between heaven and earth, revealing glimpses of the kingdom of God in the present. p. 137
  • Pastor John Mark Comer puts it this way: We’re called to a very specific kind of work. To make a Garden-like world where image bearers can flourish and thrive, where people can experience and enjoy God’s generous love. A kingdom where God’s will is done “on earth as it is in heaven,” where the glass wall between earth and heaven is so thin and clear and translucent that you don’t even remember it’s there. p. 138
  • Os Guinness says that “a living faith in God is the automatic refusal to accept the world as it is and a restless quest to make it what it should be under God and one day will be again.” p. 140
  • Skye Jethani encourages us to expand our thinking on this point: Imagine Christian educators bringing order, beauty, and abundance to schools so students and their families thrive. Imagine Christian business leaders cultivating industries that value people, pay them fairly, and steward natural resources…. Imagine Christian civic leaders passing just laws to ensure evil is restrained and life-giving order is possible. Such Christians would not only bring growth to our world, but they would also be cultivating the presence of [the kingdom] today. p. 144
    • HOW TO BEST POSITION YOURSELF TO MAKE DISCIPLES AT WORK 1. Pray 2. Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You My friend Andrew Scott says that “if we were to live out our lives with excellence for the purposes of God in every sector of society, we would not have to shout so loudly to make our message heard.” p. 1623. Be a Friend4. Identify Yourself as a Christian But what does this look like practically? Because I don’t think most of us can get away with singing hymns in our offices like the Filipino maid. So how can we identify ourselves as Christians in a natural, nonthreatening way that doesn’t cause our co-workers to avoid making eye contact with us? Let me suggest five simple ideas that have worked well for me and others: Ask about your co-workers’ weekend. And when they inevitably ask about your weekend, tell them about the time of worship you participated in at your church. Ask what your colleagues are reading. And again, when they reciprocate the question, talk about a book you’ve recently read about the Christian faith. Tell a co-worker that you’ve prayed for them. Nobody gets mad about someone praying on their behalf. Add something about your faith to your social media bios. You’d be shocked at how many doors this simple practice has opened for me to talk about my faith. Encourage your team to bring their whole selves to work. There’s a trend in business these days that encourages employees to bring their whole selves to work—their sexual identity, stories about their family, their religious beliefs, their political leanings, etc. If you’re in a position of authority in your workplace, lean into this trend! Encourage those who work with you to talk openly about these things. Not only can this lead to higher productivity, but it also gives you an opportunity to identify yourself as a Christ-follower and learn about the spiritual beliefs of those you work with. p. 164 5. Look for Opportunities to Move from the Surface, to the Serious, to the Spiritual 6. Be Prepared to Give a Reason for Your Faith
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