Where is God at Work? by Will Morris will help you think through the calling to be a Christian at work by showing how God can be unexpectedly present even in the most difficult people and dilemmas. Work can become a place where you can exercise your talents, positively influence your business, and be a witness to Christ just by being who you are.
Will Morris is a priest and a tax lawyer (a combination that strikes some as odd). He is Director, Global Tax Policy, in GE (General Electric’s) corporate tax department. He also chairs the CBI and BIAC Taxation Committees. He was ordained as a priest in the Church of England in 2010, and is a colleague of mine as a member of the clergy team at St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Will Morris is a priest and a tax lawyer (a combination that strikes some as odd). He is Director, Global Tax Policy, in GE (General Electric’s) corporate tax department. He also chairs the CBI and BIAC Taxation Committees. He was ordained as a priest in the Church of England in 2010, and is a colleague of mine as a member of the clergy team at St Martin-in-the-Fields.
On his new blog Will writes:
'Many people wonder whether and how God is with them, at work, during the week. Many workplaces don’t feel that great, don’t feel like places of opportunity. There can be enormous tension. Tyrannical bosses. Horrible colleagues. Stupid, pointless, meaningless rules. Long hours. Little sympathy or empathy. The threat of redundancy.
All of these things can make the workplace seem a bit of a nightmare. So, how on earth can God be there – or is work simply the place where you go to earn the money that you can then spend in order to be able to forget it ? I believe there’s more to it than that. That, with God, the workplace can become a place of almost limitless opportunity where you can work with him in his ongoing act of creation. You can make things and provide services that people need, but you can also help your fellow workers who are hurting, and, even if only in small ways, help and encourage your business to be just that bit better.
But to do this you need to exercise your imagination to think about how God might be present in such an apparently unlikely place. The Old Testament story of “Jacob’s Ladder” helps me. In that story, Jacob, on the run from his brother Esau whom he has cheated out of a blessing, lies down in the middle of absolutely nowhere. There’s nothing special, and he’s nothing special. He’s not a saint, and there’s no church, no altar. And yet in this place, in his sleep he sees a ladder appear from heaven with angels ascending and descending. And God makes him incredible, wonderful promises about the future. When Jacob wakes up he exclaims: “Surely the Lord is in this place – and I did not know it!” Might your work place not be the same? It can be – if only you are prepared to be surprised!'
'Many people wonder whether and how God is with them, at work, during the week. Many workplaces don’t feel that great, don’t feel like places of opportunity. There can be enormous tension. Tyrannical bosses. Horrible colleagues. Stupid, pointless, meaningless rules. Long hours. Little sympathy or empathy. The threat of redundancy.
All of these things can make the workplace seem a bit of a nightmare. So, how on earth can God be there – or is work simply the place where you go to earn the money that you can then spend in order to be able to forget it ? I believe there’s more to it than that. That, with God, the workplace can become a place of almost limitless opportunity where you can work with him in his ongoing act of creation. You can make things and provide services that people need, but you can also help your fellow workers who are hurting, and, even if only in small ways, help and encourage your business to be just that bit better.
But to do this you need to exercise your imagination to think about how God might be present in such an apparently unlikely place. The Old Testament story of “Jacob’s Ladder” helps me. In that story, Jacob, on the run from his brother Esau whom he has cheated out of a blessing, lies down in the middle of absolutely nowhere. There’s nothing special, and he’s nothing special. He’s not a saint, and there’s no church, no altar. And yet in this place, in his sleep he sees a ladder appear from heaven with angels ascending and descending. And God makes him incredible, wonderful promises about the future. When Jacob wakes up he exclaims: “Surely the Lord is in this place – and I did not know it!” Might your work place not be the same? It can be – if only you are prepared to be surprised!'
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Bill Fay - City Of Dreams.
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