Why the faith and work movement matters

OPINION:

Around a century ago, a renewed pietism and fundamentalism led the evangelical church to make a conscious decision to withdraw from key domains of the public square. In other words, Christians “surrendered” in the realms of politics, education and the marketplace.

The implications of this theological paradigm shift went well beyond these three arenas the field of science comes to mind but Christian withdrawal from those major spheres in the early 20th century represented a significant shift in their engagement with the culture. The primary approach to the Christian life became one of “heavenly mindedness,” while “earthly salt” was diminished as a kingdom priority.

The results of this re-prioritization were predictable and almost entirely by intent: As Christian influence slowly waned in the civic sphere, secularization rose in the education of our youth and vocational endeavors took on a merely transactional nature.

It is the latter consequence from which the faith and work movement emerged.

Political irrelevance led to a reversal that resulted in the Christian Right in the last couple of decades of the 20th century. Secular extremism in education gave birth to the home school, Christian school and classical school movement that has become significant in the culture for some time now. And as the marketplace adopted a cold, transactional view of work we work to make a living but not for kingdom impact this environment found many in the evangelical world with good jobs and opportunities in their vocational fields, but without a community, network or friendly ecosystem in which they could harmoniously function. The result was the faith and work movement.

My intent is not to criticize this movement, largely borne out of the 1990s and elevated in the early years of the 21st century. Parachurch organizations were set up all over the country, some national with various regional chapters, and some very local and specific to a given community. Resources were developed to provide fellowship and community to Christians in their vocational fields, and these efforts were embraced by millions of evangelicals who found themselves in good careers but with very little connection to a genuine kingdom understanding.

The demand grew for ways for Christians to discuss work together, pray together, attach biblical teaching to their work, and generally provide some form of support to this crucial component of the Christian life.

One of the great gifts of the faith and work movement was elevating the Christian understanding of the marketplace and our work as a “means to an end” (providing for our families, local churches, and ministries). That transactional view of work truncated as it was dominated 20th-century thinking about Christian vocational endeavors, and the faith and work movement forced Christians to grapple with the fact that more was going on in our professional endeavors than mere paycheck-production and Christian fundraising.

The network meetings, breakfast Bible studies, prayer groups, conferences and literature all elevated the Christian theology of work past a “means to an end” mentality, made necessary by the blessing that was more Christians engaged in positions of influence and occupational relevance.

The major result of this evolution made possible by this movement has been to (a) offer Christian community to fellow Christian careerists, and to (b) encourage Christians to use their careers as a venue for living out the gospel truth. Be a person of character, of integrity and one who resists compromise in your professional lives. When the world tempts you with shortcuts or advancement that will come from moral weakening, decline such alluring prospects. Prioritizing Christian piety and character in our work lives is both a good message and a necessary one. For this, we should be grateful to the faith and work movement.

However, it is not a sufficient message. As we get into the second quarter of the 21st century, it is time for the faith and work movement to truly engage the biblical reality that our work is not merely “something to avoid sin in” but the very created purpose of our lives.

It is time to take to heart what the prayer means, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” It is time to understand the profound meaning of being made in the image of God, and what the “Imago Dei” anthropology means for Christian work.

The faith and work movement has a “next step” theological concession to make: that our work is core to the created design of our lives, and our efforts in technology, finance, entrepreneurialism, marketing, agriculture, manufacturing and commerce are not merely venues for living in the fruits of the spirit; these are domains of God’s Kingdom itself.

These professional endeavors will flourish to their maximum potential when a deep Christian worldview understanding serves as the foundation of our efforts, not when we merely sprinkle inspirational verses on top of our work.

Undoing the wrongs of 20th-century surrenderism requires the faith and work movement to enter the deep end of the pool to unapologetically embrace a sense of calling, purpose, and identity that truly grasps the full meaning of the creation mandate and the existential reality of our productive capacity (“Imago Dei”).

This “next step” is not just seeing Christians get promoted and avoid sinful behavior on the job (both laudable goals), but it is going to see Christians re-shape entire industries to the glory of God. And in so doing, his Kingdom can be built, “on earth, as it is in heaven.”

• David L. Bahnsen is the founder, managing partner, and CIO of The Bahnsen Group, a national private wealth management firm. He is consistently named one of the top financial advisors in America by Barron’s, Forbes, and the Financial Times. He is a frequent guest on CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox News, and Fox Business, and is a regular contributor to National Review. He hosts the popular weekly podcast, Capital Record, dedicated to a defense of free enterprise and capital markets.