Profession: a career or employment requiring advanced study in a specialized field and extended training.

Question: (How) can you use your work skills in the church?

Work in the Bible

The English word “work” is used in the NIV Bible 555 times. About half refer to God’s work in the world and in people, the rest refer to work that people do. Of passages about people’s work, most of the Old Testament (OT) references are about actual physical jobs. Most of the New Testament (NT) references are about spiritual ministry.

I found that much of the work mentioned in the OT was to serve God. Adam and Eve were put in the Garden of Eden “to work it and take care of it.” Their sons Cain and Abel farmed and kept flocks of animals to eat but also to bring offerings to God. Abraham, Jacob, and Job all raised livestock and sacrificed animals to thank God for His blessings and to atone for their sin. After the Israelites left Egypt, Moses served God as a judge to settle the people’s conflicts. When God instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle, he used carpenters; artisans to work in gold, silver and bronze; weavers, embroiderers and jewelers to furnish, and perfumers to make incense and anointing oil. Later, to build the Temple, Solomon employed 80,000 stonecutters, 70,000 carriers, stonemasons, and thousands of officials to supervise. When it was complete, the Levites were instructed to make the daily sacrifices, to care for the Temple building and furnishings, and to protect the holy objects. Other workers, such as musicians, potters, soldiers, cooks and servants, served God by serving the king.

In the NT, Jesus called fishermen to become “fishers of men.” He called Matthew the tax collector to become a disciple. One of Jesus’ parables was about a master who gave his servants money to invest for him. Paul was a missionary by calling and a tentmaker by trade. You may remember that he had a “thorn in the flesh,” some sort of chronic health problem. Luke was a physician who tended to Paul and fellow ministry companions.

So you see, God used the work skills He had instilled in all types of people to serve Him. I’m sure that the Hebrew master craftsmen and women in Egypt who were building pyramids and making royal objects for Pharaoh never thought God would call them to make a beautiful Tabernacle and sacred objects for Him. The Jews of the NT never imagined that the Messiah would use their work skills to grow God’s kingdom.

My Experience

Many of you know that I’m a licensed clinical psychologist, and have a small part-time private practice in Elk Grove. In practice, I regard my work as ministry, a “spiritual service.” My “secular job” is to bring healing and hope to those who are discouraged, to help clients give up unhealthy (often sinful) behaviors, to teach new life skills and encourage forgiveness and reconciliation. Because I’m a Christian, I usually start my workday by asking the Holy Spirit to fill me with the fruits of the spirit and insight, discernment, and wisdom. Because most of my clients are Christians or have a religious background, I naturally pray for them at the end of their session.

My professional skills are really the regular “people skills” of listening, evaluation (or assessment), empathy, support, and advice giving. These skills are just more informed, developed and refined after 40 years of working closely with hundreds of people. Together these skills communicate something like this: “I understand and accept you. I care. And here are some approaches you can try to make your life better.” These skills that I use in my personal and professional life are related to my spiritual gifts of shepherding and encouragement that I use as a layperson and deaconess in church life. I think this is most evident when I pray with and for church members on Sundays. This is probably my most satisfying and meaningful ministry at CG. I never mind if someone wants personal counsel for themselves or someone they care about; I’m happy to listen and do my best to help. Occasionally someone will want a resource or referral and I’m happy to provide that.

You

“Fine,” you say. “But what about me?” It doesn’t matter if you do or don’t have an advanced degree and letters after your name. You may be a writer or an artist, a software or civil engineer, an accountant, a doctor or nurse, a state analyst or a clerk, an IT person, a property manager, a teacher or a librarian, a carpenter, a cook, a dentist or hygienist, a pharmacist, an auto technician or a supervisor, a sales associate, a biology teacher or a research scientist. And we have people in all these walks of life in our church. God can use YOUR work skills; a starting point is just being a Christian testimony at your workplace.

Some skills, like teaching and music, transfer directly to teaching and leading worship in the church. Each year during VBS, we see an amazing explosion of creativity in our young people as they write dramas and musicals, act, sing, play instruments, dance, design sets and props, and transform our church into another world. Some examples of CG members using their professional skills include Eddie and Jannie Chow, who own an office supply business; they provide technical expertise for CG’s printing needs and are helping Christians in Ecuador set up small businesses with microloans. Cliff and Lily Chan have the professional experience of running a successful dental practice and supervising a work team; they have used these skills to effectively and efficiently lead the Mexico Outreach Team for decades and they have mentored others to do the same. Andrew Oen, a manager of product engineering, told me that he used his experience integrating work teams in three parts of the world to help CG move towards an all-church approach to ministry when he was on the board. Chris Yun, an immigration attorney, helped Pastor Adrian and CG deal with the immigration service so he and his family could come to the U.S. Some of our members share their work expertise at CG family camp, like certified auto technician Wes Yee, who teaches us how to understand and care for our cars.

I think we would be surprised by all the different professions and talents represented at CG. I don’t know what kind of work all of you do. I’m guessing a lot of you don’t know either because we don’t always talk about work at church. To those who are not already serving and using your professional or work skills in the church, I challenge you to consider and pray about how God might want to use them to grow His kingdom at CG and the marketplace.

Finally, let’s look beyond ministering to our own church and congregation. There are many needs in our city. The poor, the homeless, kids who need a mentor. A few years ago, CG put on a health fair for the community staffed almost entirely by the many medical professionals at our church. Many of these doctors, nurses and dental professionals, like Dazhi Cen, and Peter and Grace Tham, have also served in medical mission trips abroad. Such health professionals could also use their skills in local ministries.

I would like to end with three short passages about working for the Lord:

“There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.” (1 Corinthians 12:5-6)

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ. From Him the whole body… grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (Ephesians 4:15-16)

“Now may the God of peace…equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20-21)