什么使工作“基督化”？

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什么使工作“基督化”？

                                                                                             

当人们想到使他们的工作“基督化“时，各式各样的图景浮出脑海：

• 开一间美容店名字就叫“A Cut Above” (美国俚语，意思是“比什么都好”)， 或者开一个咖啡店名叫“He Brews” (“Brew”意思为“煮咖啡”，“HeBrews”既可以理解为”他煮咖啡“，也可以是”希伯来人“。)
  
• 给客户打电话的时候插入福音广告。
  
• 节日的时候说“圣诞快乐”而不是说“节日快乐”，或者和人打招呼的时候说句“祝你有蒙福的一天”。
  
• 容忍别人在你午饭的时候发查经信息，或者群发一个邮件说你在厄瓜多尔看到了圣母像。
  
  
  

也许你还记得2004年美国航空飞机上发生的事，一位飞行员在飞机起飞前的通知里让机舱里的基督徒举手。然后他向飞机上的其他乘客倡议和这些人谈谈信仰问题。他也告诉乘客们他本人也非常愿意和他们聊聊这些话题。但不幸的是，他把飞机上的好多人惹毛了：这位机长在问你是不是准备好了见耶稣。在一些基督徒的商人赞许飞机员的热心时，他们也不禁会想：我不信我传福音的话还能保住我的工作。

许多基督徒认为你不能在上班的时候服侍上帝，天国的工作是在下班的时候开始的，要么是在教会的托儿所，要么是小组，要么是短宣，要么去给穷人发食物。他们认为有必要努力工作让我们有饭吃。而神对我们辛劳所获的兴趣则主要是十一奉献。

但圣经有一个完全不一样的角度。经文教导我们怎么在工作的时候服侍上帝，而不是仅仅下班的时候。 圣经对于职场的人讲得非常清楚又彻底，告诉我们即使是最微不足道的一份工作在上帝所赐的使命中也是不可或缺的。

事实上，耶稣在讲比喻的时候都是在一个工作的处境里，这不是偶然的。还有在使徒行传里一共40次的神迹，有39次都是在教会之外。圣经里的上帝好像非常在意把自己的权能行使在教会之外，就像祂在教会里行使一样。

关于如何把工作“基督”化，我有五点建议。这里我说的“基督化“是指”在基督里通过信心做成“。所以基督化的工作会有五个特质：（1）成全创造（2）追求卓越（3）彰显圣洁（4）彰显救恩（5）促进大使命。

1. 基督化的工作是成全创造的

当上帝把亚当放在伊甸园的时候，祂不仅是告诉他不应该吃什么坏苹果。上帝把亚当放在园子里“修理看守”（创2：15）要知道上帝是在咒诅之前说的这话，这说明工作不是因为亚当犯了罪而给他的惩罚，而是上帝原初的设计。上帝给亚当的第一个目标不是让他读经祷告，而是做一个好的守园者。

希伯来语的“工作“显示出上帝的旨意：准备与提升。亚当被放在园子里用原始材料去培育一个园子。基督徒同样也可以这样去完成上帝的创造目的。把世界上的原始材料拿来做成成品。这样的事基督徒和非基督徒都在做。建筑工人拿沙和水泥盖房子。艺术家用颜色或音乐做成艺术品。律师把公平的原则践行出来造福社会。

这就是上帝的计划。德国的归正神学家马丁路德这样说：”当我们用主祷文祷告的时候，我们求上帝给我‘日用的饮食’ ，他就把饮食赐给我们。祂怎么做的呢？是通过劳力的农夫种出粮食来，又通过面包师把面变成面包，最后通过那个给我们做饭的人。

这就表示基督徒的世俗工作是上帝得以护理世界的媒介。上帝通过一个人的工作使家庭得以吃饱，房屋得以建造，公平得以实现。太多基督徒讨厌他们的工作，其实他们本可以因为上帝在使用他们而兴奋不已，尽管是至微至小的工作。

另外一个例子来自那部经典电影《烈火战车》。这部电影描述了一个基督徒运动员的职业生涯。一个叫埃里克·利德尔的运动员在准备1924年奥运会。在影片的某一刻利德尔面对一个挑战是，在他们的人生里还有比跑步更重要的事。利德尔回应到：“我相信神造我是有目的的，祂也让我跑得很快。而且在我跑的时候，我感觉到了神的喜悦”。有时候当我们在做一些喜欢的事情的时候，我们也会有相同的体会。在我们心里会有一种感觉：这就是我被造的原因。

2. 基督化的工作是尽力追求卓越的

如果我们的工作是“为神而做”，那它就应该按照最高的要求去做。保罗说：无论作什么，或说话，或行事，都要奉主耶稣的名，借着他感谢父神。（西3：17）不管有没有人夸我们，得不得奖，我们都应该这么做。

我们现实一点：如果给一个不但不懂得鼓励我们，还整天挑刺儿的老板工作，这的确让人受打击。一个坏老板可以让本来令人满足的工作变成人间地狱。这样的情况，大多数人就不去追求做得更好。“能怎样？” 他们会想，“努力工作又怎样？又没人看得到，即使看到了，也得不到任何称赞。”这样的反应可以理解，但这不是基督徒的反应。

基督徒追求工作的出色不是因为要讨老板的喜欢，也不是努力工作他们可以赚更多的钱，而是他们是为基督在工作。C.S. 路易斯讲到那些不被人发现的山谷里依然充满美丽的花儿。神创造那样的美景为了什么？又没有人看得见？路易斯回答说神仅仅因为自己喜悦，因此祂就做了。就算没有其他人看得见，神自己却依然欣赏。

这一观点又赋予了工作新的意义，即使别人看不到你的付出，你也不需要从他人那里得到认可，因为你不是在为人工作。你是在为基督工作，祂配得上最好的。

但现实是，没有几个人工作是没有人注意到的，尤其是你做得很烂的时候。一个基督徒工作不认真，做事不严谨，只是给基督做了坏的见证。他嘴上虽然会说耶稣是主，但是如果他完不成工作，又不尊重上司，他是在说“我自己是主”。你认真工作，不仅仅是服侍神，也是在向世人展现一种服侍的态度。

3. 基督化的工作是彰显圣洁的

如果基督徒是在为神工作，他们就应该把工作做好。但我们也要明白，神知道我们做的任何事，也让我们可以做得正直。基督化的工作也要符合最高的伦理标准。

保罗在歌罗西书里继续讲到我们做的每一件事都要带着敬畏，做给在天上我们做的主看（西3：23-25）。这就意味着，保罗讲到，即使我们的老板是个混蛋（保罗写信对象基本上都是奴隶），基督徒也应该为神去工作。我们的工作应该显明我们在服侍一位公正善良的神。这也提醒基督徒的老板不要一门心思想着他们可以逃避什么，而是明白他们是对天上的主负责。基督徒的雇员也应该对他们的工作诚实。商业伦理真的很重要，因为它反映出了神的品格。神说“诡诈的天平”（缺斤少两，迟到早退，目无法纪）都是神所憎恶的（箴11：1），糟糕的商业伦理不是什么小事。

4. 基督化的工作是彰显救恩的

如果基督徒在工作的时候体现出公平公正，这就可以把他们区别出来。但那些被福音所触动的人所做的不仅仅是维持一个高的道德标准，他们也过着一种彰显出感恩的生活。基督救赎我们归回父神，使我们对他人有一种天然的带有恩典的反应。

最近我听到一个刚毕业的年轻人在麦迪逊大道一家非常有名的广告公司找到了工作。她到那后不久，就犯了一个错误致使公司损失25000美元！麦迪逊大道可不是一个讲恩典的地方，她在想这一天完了，工作也就完了。但是她的老板跑到上级那里跟他们说这个错误是他犯的。当她听到这里的时候，她跑去找她老板，泪流满面，问他为什么在这样残酷的环境里，他会去为她牺牲自己的利益。他向她分享耶稣怎样对他做了相同的事，替他承担他本来该受的忿怒。正因为耶稣的恩典临到他，他也想去尽量以相同的方式对待别人。

这样我们调整好了“底线”之后，我们就不单单追求自己可以升职，或者为自己的益处。如果真是被恩典所触动，基督徒就会倾向于去帮助那些需要帮助的人。

可能有些基督徒会不同意这样说，他们认为恩典只是在属灵世界里才可以应用，但在生意上，还是算了吧。他们还会说“我现在有的都是我自己挣的！”一个人当然会觉得是她自己挣得了现在所有的一切，但是她的工作伦理，她的聪明是哪里来的呢？这都是神的恩典。是谁让她长在美国而不是生在巴西贫民窟呢？肯定不是她自己，这也是神的恩典。她吸的每一口气，吃的每一顿饭都是神的恩典。耶稣说过神的国属于那些“灵里贫穷”的人，那些知道他们所拥有的都是从神而来的人。“属灵里的中产阶级”，就是那些以为自己种自己收的那些人，不会知道神的国，因为他们不明白神在他们的生活里是多么恩慈。当人们知道自己亏欠神多少恩典的时候，他们就会看清自己是在什么样的境地里，不管是商场还是教堂，他们都会去服侍人，而不是被服侍。

在神的国里生活不是一个看起来特殊又骇人听闻的任务。耶稣的门徒被呼召以他们的生命作为天国的种子。耶稣说我们服侍别人不求回报。有时候我想我们用“呼召去服侍”来掩盖我们教会里大多数人没有去作耶稣门徒的真相。

5. 基督化的工作是促进大使命的

耶稣门徒所做的事也应该成为我们大使命的方向。在使徒行传里我们看到神用非职业的传道人（像生意人、医生、仆人）把福音传到使徒从来没有去的地方。路加记载教会“分散各处传扬福音”，使徒没有跟他们一起。（徒8：1）他也记载当保罗最后到达罗马传道的时候，当地的“弟兄”问候他。这些“弟兄”看起来已经在那里很久了。（徒28：7）史帝文·尼尔在他们经典《基督教事工史》里写道：早期教会里最大的三个教会差传中心（安提阿、亚历山大、罗马）都不是使徒建立的。

同样，当代职场的基督徒也可以去开拓新的、战略性的未得之地。全球化、技术革新、城市化给了我们非常好的机会。

世俗的技能可以为基督徒去到那些可能拒绝他们入境的国家提供了途径。那些最需要福音的国家（那些被叫做“10-40之窗”）通常也是高失业率高贫困率的国家。这些地方既需要福音，也需要基督徒用自己的技艺把神的爱有形地体现出来。这些地区成千上万的人没有工作，也不明白基督的福音。

举个例子，虽然这样的例子有很多，像伊朗。伊朗是一个极其需要福音的国家。直到现在，伊朗还有1000万失业人口，这个数字在未来15年可能会涨到2000万。像这样的地方怎么去传福音呢？可以通过一些有一技之长的人把他们的专业知识带到伊朗。这不是说每个基督徒都要这样做，但或许神在挑战你，让你把自己的工作转为以宣教拓展为目的。

当然不是每个基督徒都需要去未得之民那里工作。但耶稣的门徒需要时时把自己的工作指向大使命。基督徒的“使命的异象”就是把工作做好，如果可能，做得有策略性。箴言22：29里讲：“你看见办事殷勤的人么？他必站在君王面前，必不站在下贱人面前。” 把本分工作做好的信徒可以在大使命里被重重使用。他们出色的工作可以影响那些未得之民。

神所感兴趣的是基督徒怎样去做他们的工作，祂也想参与进去。你的工作可以影响那些跟你一起工作的人，你为之工作的人，还有你通过工作所服侍的人。让福音带来的改变转化你的方方面面。你因恩典得救赎，现在也要在你的工作里彰显恩典。你看工作的眼光就会不一样。


What Makes Work “Christian”?

When someone thinks about their work being “Christian,” all kinds of disturbing images come to mind:

• Opening a beauty salon called “A Cut Above” or a coffee shop called “He Brews.”
  
• Working awkward evangelism moments into sales calls.
  
• Defiantly saying “Merry Christmas” rather than “Happy Holidays” in the checkout line or sneaking a “Have a blessed day” into a salutation.
  
• Putting up posters about Bible study options at lunch or sending out group emails about sightings of the Virgin Mary in Ecuador.
  
  
  

Perhaps you remember the 2004 incident of an American Airlines pilot who, in his pre-flight announcements, asked all the Christians on board the plane to raise their hands. He then suggested that during the flight the other passengers talk to those people about their faith. He also told passengers he’d also be happy to talk to anyone who had questions. Understandably, it freaked a lot of people out: the pilot of your airplane talking to you about whether or not you’re ready to meet Jesus?[1] While they might admire the guy’s zeal, many Christian businesspeople think, “I just don’t think I could do that and keep my job.”

Many Christians think that you just can’t serve the kingdom of God at work, and that kingdom work happens “after hours”—volunteering at the church nursery, attending small group, going on a mission trip, serving at the soup kitchen. Our work is a necessity that must be endured to put bread on the table. God’s interest in the fruit of our labors is primarily that we tithe off of it.

The Bible offers quite a different perspective. Scripture teaches us how to serve God through our work, not just after work. The Bible speaks clear and radical words to people in the workplace, showing us that even the most menial of jobs has an essential role in the mission of God.

In fact, it is surely not coincidental that most of the parables that Jesus told had a workplace context, and that of the forty miracles recorded in the book of Acts, thirty-nine of them occurred outside of a church setting. The God of the Bible seems as concerned with displaying his power outside the walls of the church as he does within it.

I want to suggest five qualities that make work “Christian.” By “Christian” in this context I mean “done through faith in Jesus Christ.” Therefore, work that is Christian will have five qualities: (1) creation-fulfilling, (2) excellence-pursuing, (3) holiness-reflecting, (4) redemption-displaying, and (5) mission-advancing.

CHRISTIAN WORK IS CREATION-FULFILLING

When God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, he didn’t just tell him to keep away from certain bad apples. God placed Adam in the garden “to work it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15). Remember that God said this before the curse, indicating that work wasn’t a punishment inflicted on Adam for his sin, but was a part of God’s original design. The first purpose God had in mind for Adam wasn’t to read a Bible or pray, but to be a good gardener.

The Hebrew word ‘abad, translated “work,” shows just what God means: it has the connotation of preparing and developing. Adam was placed in the garden to develop its raw materials, to cultivate a garden. Christians can fulfill the created purpose of God in the same way, by taking the raw materials of the world and developing them. This is happening all the time by both believers and non-believers. Contractors take sand and cement and use them to create buildings. Artists take color or music and arrange them into art. Lawyers take principles of justice and codify them into laws that benefit society.

This is God’s plan. Martin Luther, the famous German reformer, put it this way: “When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we ask God to ‘give us this day our daily bread.’ And he does give us our daily bread. He does it by means of the farmer who planted and harvested the grain, the baker who made the flour into bread, the person who prepared our meal.”

What this means is that a Christian’s secular vocation helps to mediate God’s active care in the world. God is active through a person’s work to ensure that families are fed, that homes are built, that justice is carried out. Too many Christians begrudge their work when they ought to revel in the fact that God is using them, in whatever small part, to fulfill his purposes.

Another great example of this comes from the classic movie Chariots of Fire. The movie follows a Christian track athlete, Eric Liddell, in his preparation for the 1924 Olympics. At one point in the film Liddell is confronted with the objection to his career that there are more pressing matters in life for a Christian than merely running. Liddell responds, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.” At some point or another, while working at something we love or are good at, many of us have had a similar feeling. It is as if we feel inside of us, quite literally, “This is what I was made for.”

CHRISTIAN WORK IS EXCELLENCE-PURSUING

If our work is done “unto God,” it should be done according to the highest standards of excellence. Paul says, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:17). That should be true whether we receive any reward for our work or not, or whether anyone ever notices.

Let’s be honest: it is demoralizing to work for someone who does not give us credit for what we have done, or worse, someone who only responds by offering critical feedback. A bad boss can make otherwise satisfying work an absolute terror. In a situation like that, most people lose the motivation to work with excellence. “After all,” they may think, “what is the point of working hard? No one will notice either way, and even if they do, I certainly won’t get the credit for it.” That may be a reasonable response, but it is not a Christian one.

Christians ought to pursue excellence in their work not because they want to impress their boss, or because working hard leads to better pay, but because they work first for Christ. C. S. Lewis once noted how valleys undiscovered by human eyes are still filled with beautiful flowers. Who did God create that beauty for, if no human eyes would ever see it? Lewis’ answer was that God does some things only for his own pleasure. He sees even when no one else does.

This perspective adds new significance to every task believers perform, even if they know they will never be recognized. They no longer require the approval of others in their work, because they no longer work primarily for others. They work first for Christ, and he deserves their best.

In reality, however, very few jobs go unnoticed, especially if done poorly. A Christian with a poor work ethic or sloppy academic performance gives the world a terrible testimony of Christ. He may say with his mouth that “Jesus is Lord,” but when he doesn’t care to turn in assignments on time or respect his boss, he is saying even louder, “I myself am lord.” In working with excellence, Christians not only serve God, but also display an attitude of service to the world.

CHRISTIAN WORK IS HOLINESS-REFLECTING

If Christians work for God, that should inherently make them work with excellence. But knowing that God sees everything we do should also make us work with integrity. Work that is “Christian” will conform to the highest standards of ethics.

Paul goes on in Colossians to explain that everything we do is done with respect for our watching Master in heaven to whom we will give an account (Col. 3:23-25). That means, Paul says, even when our boss is a jerk (and many of the people to whom Paul is writing were literally owned by their boss!), Christians do their work unto God. Our work ought to make it obvious that we serve a God of justice and kindness. This means that Christian bosses ought to be less concerned with what they can get away with and more concerned with the fact that they are accountable to a heavenly Master. Christian employees ought not to cut corners or lie about how much work they have been putting in. Business ethics really matter because in them we mirror the character of God. God says that “unjust balances”—cut corners, fudged balance sheets, skimped time cards, and so on—are an “abomination” to him (cf. Prov. 11:1). Poor business ethics are no trifling matter.

CHRISTIAN WORK IS REDEMPTION-DISPLAYING

If Christians were to act in their jobs with equity and fairness, that alone would set them apart. But those who have been touched by the gospel do not merely attempt to hold to high ethical standards: they live lives with a radically altered perspective of gratitude. What Christ has done by redeeming us to the Father produces a natural response of grace towards others.

I recently heard a story about a young college graduate who landed a job on Madison Avenue in one of the advertising world’s most prestigious firms. Shortly after she got there, she made a mistake that cost the company nearly $25,000. Madison Avenue is not a world defined by grace, and she expected to be fired by the end of the day. Her boss, however, went before his board of directors and convinced them to allow the blame for her mistake to fall on him instead. When this young woman heard what her boss had done, she came to him in tears. She asked him why, in that cutthroat atmosphere, he would choose to cut his own throat for her. He answered by sharing how Jesus had done a very similar thing for him, stepping in the way of the wrath that he deserved. Because of the great grace that Jesus had shown him, he wanted to display a similar mercy to others when he could.

This means approaching our work with adjusted “bottom-lines.” We no longer merely angle for increased position or to maximize personal profit. If truly touched by grace, Christians in business begin to leverage their resources to bless those in need.

Some Christians may object to a perspective like this. Grace is something that applies in the spiritual realm, they may say, but not in business: “I worked for what I have—I earned it!” they might say. A person may certainly feel like she has earned everything that she has, but where did she get her tough-minded work ethic? Her intelligence? These were the grace of God. By whose decree did she grow up in the United States instead of in a Brazilian favela? Certainly not by her own—this also was the grace of God. The very air she breathed and food she ate were provided to her as gifts of grace. Jesus taught that the kingdom of God belongs to those who are “poor in spirit”—those who recognize that all they have is a gift of grace. The “middle class in spirit,” who believe they are merely reaping the fruit of their labors, will know nothing of the kingdom of God, because they have no concept of the magnitude of the grace of God in their lives. When someone understands how much they are indebted to grace, they will begin to see every situation they are in, whether in business or the church, as a place not to be served, but to serve.

The call to leverage our lives for the kingdom of God is not the special assignment of a sacred few. All disciples of Jesus are called to see their lives as seeds to be planted for God’s kingdom. Jesus said that if our life were a party, it should be thrown for those who can’t pay us back. Sometimes I think we’ve invented this whole language of “calling to ministry” to mask the fact that the majority of people in our churches are not living as disciples of Jesus.

CHRISTIAN WORK IS MISSION-ADVANCING

Work done by disciples of Jesus should be done with a view toward the Great Commission. In Acts we see that God used non-vocational ministers (perhaps businesspeople, doctors, servants, who knows!) to get the gospel around the world to places that the Apostles never went. Luke notes that the first time the church “went everywhere preaching the word,” the Apostles were not engaged (Acts 8:1). He also notes that when Paul finally arrives in Rome to preach Christ there, he is greeted by hospitable “brothers,” who seem to have been there for quite some time (Acts 28:7). As Steven Neill notes in his classic History of Christian Missions, of the three great church planting centers in the ancient world (Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome), not one was founded by an Apostle.

In the same way, Christians in the marketplace today are able to gain access more easily to strategic, unreached places. Globalization, revolutions in technology, and urbanization have given the business community nearly universal access.

Secular skills are needed to give Christians access to countries that would otherwise swiftly reject their presence. The countries most in need of a gospel presence—those in the so-called “10-40 window”—are devastated by poverty and joblessness. These places need both the words of the gospel and the tangible reflection of God’s love that businesses can provide. Millions in this region are without work and without the knowledge of Christ.

One example, though dozens could be provided, is the nation of Iran. Iran is an unreached area in desperate need of the gospel. As of today, there are 10 million seeking employment in Iran, a number that could eclipse 20 million within the next 15 years. How are places like this to be reached? Iran can be reached through the efforts of average Christian businesspeople taking their skills and expertise overseas. This may not be the path for every Christian, but perhaps God is challenging you to consider leveraging your work for his mission-advancing purposes.

Not every Christian, of course, will be led to perform their business in an unreached people group. But disciples of Jesus should always do their work with a view toward the Great Commission. A “missional vision” for Christian work is to do it well, and to do it, if at all possible, somewhere strategic. Proverbs 22:29 says, “Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.” Believers who do their work well can be greatly used in the work of the Great Commission. Their excellence in business can give them audiences with the “kings” and influencers of the most unreached peoples in the world.

God is interested in how Christians do their work, and he wants to be involved in it. Your work can make an eternal difference in the lives of those you work with, those you work for, and those you serve through your job. Allow the transformation of the gospel to change the way you look at and do your work. You were redeemed by grace—now live out that grace in the context of your job. You may never look at work the same way again.

作者：J.D Greear

J. D. Greear 是北卡罗来纳州罗利市顶峰教会牧师。

翻译肢体：高蒙恩

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