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26: Work as the Stuff of Salvation · Finding God at Work

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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This is Finding God at Work.
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Just a reminder that Finding God at Work
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isn't just a podcast, it's also an online
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course.
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Check it out at findinggodatwork.org.
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Our current series is Meaningful Work, Calling, Formation,
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Service, and Love.
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Take a minute and consider how many times
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have you used electricity today?
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If you're like me, you're using electricity even
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when you're asleep, because I've got my alarm
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clock plugged in, my phone is charging, so
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things are happening with electricity in my house,
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the fridge is running, even when I'm asleep.
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Maybe you use electricity for heating your home
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too, so there's probably lots of ways that
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you're benefiting even when you're not fully conscious.
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And then as soon as I'm waking up,
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I'm using electricity for the water to run.
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We're on a well, and so when the
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electricity goes out, we don't get water pressure.
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And so even every time I flip on
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the sink or the shower, I'm using electricity,
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that water pump is using it.
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And then when I'm starting my car, obviously
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there's electrical components there.
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When I walk into my workplace, there's the
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lights.
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I'm using electricity all day, every day, and
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usually I don't think about it at all.
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I don't even give it a second thought.
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And now what I want you to think
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about, because if you're like me, if you're
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using electricity all the time, is how many
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electricians have served you in your life?
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Wouldn't that be an amazing statistic to find
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out how many different electricians have been involved
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in the electrical systems that have served you
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in your life somehow?
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This is one of my fantasies.
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It's kind of like having video game stats
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about my life, like how many pounds of
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cheese have I eaten in my life?
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That might be a scary one for me
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to see.
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But how many electricians have served me in
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my life?
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In our modern, complex, advanced technological society, we
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often don't see the human beings who have
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been involved in very direct care for ourselves.
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Way back in the ancient world, when it
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was small tribal communities, if somebody did anything
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technological to help you, you probably knew them.
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You were probably related to them.
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But now there's thousands of strangers that we
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don't know who in their daily work have
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served us.
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That's how interconnected, how interdependent we are.
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And that could be good for us to
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remember.
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There's a writer who I really appreciate named
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John Van Sloten.
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He's a pastor up in Calgary.
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And he writes about this role of electricians
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specifically in his book, Every Job a Parable.
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What Walmart greeters, nurses, and astronauts tell us
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about God.
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So let me read his notes here.
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Consider the job of an electrician.
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Tough work, hard on the hands, often working
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out in the elements, at times dangerous, surely
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a bit tedious once you've wired in your
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500th wall receptacle.
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And still, God is moving there.
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What electricians love, I have learned, is energizing
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and enlivening things.
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They get excited by the light and power
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that they bring through their work.
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There is something about the moment when the
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lights first come on in a newly constructed
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building that is just right to them.
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And then he's actually got a couple quotes
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from electricians.
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So this is a quote from Corey Adams,
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a master electrician.
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There's this feeling that was the final touch
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that the room needed.
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You've got beautiful carpet, paint, and finishes, and
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now you've lit it up.
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It's one of the most satisfying things to
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hit that switch and see everything go, ah.
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And then another quote here from Arnold Dees,
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also a master electrician.
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I take tremendous satisfaction in turning on the
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lights, but there's also great joy in hooking
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up big motors or compressors or cranes.
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This unit just sits there dormant until we
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hook it up, and then it comes to
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life.
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The other day we hooked up an overhead
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crane.
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It's a beautiful system, an engineering feat, and
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I applaud the engineers who designed it.
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But until we get the wire and everything
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hooked up, it's just sitting there.
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And then when you test it, and that
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motor comes to life, and it starts to
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move across the beam, that's so cool.
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That's what I love.
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So I really appreciate how John Van Sloten
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here went to the trouble of interviewing real
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life electricians, and I also love the enthusiasm
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that these two electricians bring to their work.
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Corey Adams and Arnold Dees talking about what
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it's like to turn on the lights and
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to see everything come to life.
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Now, I want to use this as an
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analogy for every type of work.
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With electricians, it's visually dramatic, right?
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You literally flip a switch, boom, and you
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can see.
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But your work in some way, I think,
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also gives that enlivening power to something.
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Otherwise, nobody would be paying you to do
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it.
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So I want to take a moment in
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this episode to think about how our work,
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when we do it to serve others, has
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deep meaning in three different ways.
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So three different ways that our work has
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deep meaning when we do it to serve
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others.
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So the first way is how our work
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contributes to what's called the common good.
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The second way is the way that it
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images God and the world.
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And then the third way is how it's
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the stuff of salvation.
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We'll get to that.
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What do I mean by the stuff of
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salvation?
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Okay, so first, how does your work serve
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the common good?
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Let me go back to John Van Sloten
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here, talking about electricians specifically.
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We are all called through our image-bearing
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work to help people thrive and flourish.
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The unique way that electricians do this is
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by building orderly connecting systems that enable an
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enlivening power to come to a not-yet
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-fully-itself device or place.
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I love that turn of phrase, not-yet
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-fully-itself device or place.
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There's this sense that once the wiring is
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in, the place is complete.
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It's full of life.
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It's able to function.
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Well, if this is true for electricians, it's
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also true for your work.
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And again, sometimes this may be indirect, right?
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With an electrician, it's kind of obvious.
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You flip the lights, the lights are on,
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the lights serve the people in that building.
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With other jobs, it may be even more
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obvious.
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Like I think about my wife's job as
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a nurse practitioner.
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She's literally right there with patients, helping them
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with their illness in very practical, hands-on
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ways.
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It's clear that she's serving that patient when
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she's with them.
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For others, it may be more abstract.
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Like think about somebody doing the work of
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finance.
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It could feel like this is kind of
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abstract.
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Like, you know, I manage investments.
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Well, how does that help the world?
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And you might also think about justice dynamics
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and how sometimes investments can contribute to things
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that are wrong with the world.
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And those reflections definitely deserve our attention.
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But it's important to note that if everybody
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who was investing in finance quit their jobs,
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the economy would collapse, right?
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There's a kind of lifeblood of movement that
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happens because there are people who are managing
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investments and making loans and helping people qualify
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for home ownership or for starting small businesses
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or for other things like that.
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The interconnected reality of the economy, while it's
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far from perfect and there's definitely room for
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reform and for approximating justice more and more
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fully over time, it is part of what
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serves human beings, right?
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The fact that people have the ability to
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go buy things and build things with cash.
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That's good.
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That serves the common good.
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So whatever your work is, whether it's kind
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of more direct and immediate, like a nurse
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or healthcare worker, or whether it's kind of
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instrumental, like an electrician where you're creating a
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tool that serves somebody, or even if it's
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more abstract, like in the world of finance,
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more indirect, think about how your work serves
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the common good.
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That's one way that your work is deeply
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meaningful.
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There's meaning that's already there in your work.
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We talked about decoding meaning, right?
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There are things that we can do to
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contribute to the meaning of our work, but
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there's also meaning that's already there.
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And I would argue that this common good
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type of meaning is already there.
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Your work exists, someone's paying you to do
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it because it contributes something good in some
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way.
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So think about what that is.
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That's one way that your work is meaningful.
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Okay, but flip side of that, you can
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also contribute to that kind of meaning in
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your work by doing it with an attitude
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of service.
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So in our last episode, we kind of
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said a good question to ask is how
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can I help, right?
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That kind of draws us towards what it
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means to be human, what it means to
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be a servant, the way that God created
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us to be.
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Well, think about that writ large with your
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job.
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How can I help in my work as
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a whole?
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How does my job help?
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If you think about how your work contributes
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to the common good and then you approach
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your work in order to serve that common
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good, it becomes a conscious motivation for you.
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Then your work is actually even more meaningful.
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Then you've added to the meaning of your
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work because now you're not just contributing to
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the common good unconsciously, you're consciously serving people
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by doing your work for the common good.
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So that's where decoding meets contributing to meeting
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right there in the common good.
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So I just encourage you, take some time
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to think about that.
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It could even empower you to bring a
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new level of motivation to your work.
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Okay, so that's one way that doing work
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as service can be deeply meaningful, contributing to
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the common good.
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Okay, what about this idea of like imaging
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God?
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We've talked about this in a number of
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different episodes.
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Let's go back to John Van Sloten, who
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just talked about the electricians flipping on the
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switch.
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He writes, In this way, electricians are like
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the God who made a way for his
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Holy Spirit, his life-giving breath, to come
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into and enliven this world.
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Isn't that a really interesting analogy?
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Maybe that God sends forth his spirit and
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things come to life.
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Electricity is kind of like that.
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Electricians, they're like imaging that life-giving power
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of God when they wire things in for
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human flourishing.
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And so again, I would encourage you, even
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if it might be a little bit more
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abstract, there is some way in which your
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work can image the life of God.
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There's something about God's creativity, his character that
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comes through in your work.
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And then again, the same dynamic, there might
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be something to decode there, but then something
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to contribute there.
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Like if you realize, oh, like God loves
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human creativity and finance makes human creativity possible
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by creating financial instruments and credit and things
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that make it possible for people to go
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build things.
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Now, you could consciously have that sense of,
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maybe even starting your day with a prayer
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like that, like God, may your creative energy
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shine through this work today.
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You're imaging God.
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So there's something to decode there, but also
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you can contribute to that imaging of God
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by doing it prayerfully, doing it consciously.
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You're imaging something about God's character through your
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work.
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Okay, third thing.
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Work is the stuff of salvation.
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What do I mean by this?
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Okay, I want to go back to the
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Philippians passage that we looked at in our
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last episode.
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Philippians 2, 1 through 13.
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Just looking at those final two verses, because
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there's a lot of work language in those
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verses.
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So let me read them here.
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Paul's writing, Therefore, my dear friends, as you
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have always obeyed, not only in my presence,
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but now much more in my absence, continue
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to work out your salvation with fear and
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trembling.
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For it is God who works in you
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to will and to act in order to
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fulfill his good purpose.
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Okay, a lot of layers there.
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There's something that we're called to do.
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We're called to work out our salvation with
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fear and trembling.
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Okay, at the same time, there's something that
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God is doing.
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For it is God who works in you
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to will and to act in order to
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fulfill his good purpose.
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So we're working as God works in us.
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This is one of those scriptural references that
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kind of inspired the liturgy where at the
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end of each episode, I pray asking Jesus
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to do his work in us as we
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do our work with him.
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But the idea there is that there's an
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interconnectedness.
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Our work is doing something, but only because
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God's work is there to meet us.
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And as usual, I want to go to
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Dallas Willard to kind of unpack this idea
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a little bit further, because there are ways
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we could get thrown off about this.
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We could think that we're somehow earning something
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from God, like earning his favor, or like
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we have to work so hard in order
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to get him to accept us.
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And those ideas are deceptions, misunderstandings, false teachings.
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And yet there is an active vision of
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life with God that this passage and many
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others give us.
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So let me read this interview from Dallas
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Willard.
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Dallas says, the enemy in our time is
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not human capacity or over activism, but the
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enemy is passivity.
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The idea that God has done everything and
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you are essentially left to be a consumer
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of the grace of God, and that the
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only thing you have to do is find
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out how to do that and do it
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regularly.
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I think this is a terrible mistake and
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accounts for the withdrawal of active Christians from
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so many areas of life where they should
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be present.
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It also accounts for the lack of spiritual
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growth, for you can be sure that if
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you do not act in an advised fashion
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consistently and resolutely, you will not grow spiritually.
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We all know that Jesus said in John
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15, without me, you can do nothing.
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We need to add, if you do nothing,
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it will most assuredly be without him.
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Of course, we must be concerned about work's
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righteousness.
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I talk a lot about the value of
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spiritual disciplines, but also the danger of using
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them as if they help us earn our
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salvation.
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But it is crucial to realize that grace
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is not opposed to effort, but to earning.
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Earning is an attitude.
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Effort is action.
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Okay, that was really dense.
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A lot of nuggets from Dallas there.
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We'll include a link to the interview like
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we always do in the show notes if
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you want to unpack that and read it
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again.
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But I want to point out this idea
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of passivity versus effort, right?
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Dallas is saying it's work's righteousness is the
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false teaching that we earn our salvation, but
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the true teaching of scripture is that we
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do apply effort.
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And again, that's what Paul is saying in
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verse 12 here.
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Continue to work out your salvation with fear
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and trembling.
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This is active language.
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This is, we could paraphrase, put effort into
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your salvation.
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Now that might sound strange because it's like,
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wait, I'm not earning my salvation, but what
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does it mean to put effort into my
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salvation?
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Well, then it says, for it is God
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who works in you.
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Dallas talks about God's grace in that quote
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as well, that grace is not opposed to
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effort.
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It's not opposed to action.
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God's grace, when it fills us, actually activates
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us.
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It energizes us like that electricity, right?
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We're coming to life with the action of
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God inside of us.
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That's grace.
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And so when we think about our workplace,
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our work is a place where we can
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work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
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In fact, it's one of the primary places
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where we can work out our salvation with
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fear and trembling if we do our work
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in order to serve others.
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Again, so I talk a lot in this
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podcast and in my writings and my courses
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about how God is at work, right?
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The title of the podcast is Finding God
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at Work.
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But I would say, even though God's already
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there, God will not automatically make your work
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what it's supposed to be.
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In other words, he won't do it without
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involving you.
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The way that our work becomes what it's
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meant to be in God is when we
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are engaged with God in working out our
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salvation in our workplace.
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So when we approach our work as service,
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as service to God, service to others, when
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we're asking that question, how can I help?
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When we're decoding that meeting of how our
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work helps other people and taking advantages of
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opportunities and doing it from that motivation of
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service and love, that is when God is
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able to energize us and make us into
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the people he intends us to be.
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He's using our work to shape us and
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to serve others in the world.
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He's filling us with that electricity, with that
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life, so that we can work out our
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salvation with fear and trembling.
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So that's what it means to work out
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your salvation.
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It's not to earn God's favor, but to
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collaborate with God in the way that he
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is continuing to save you over time.
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Because what does the word salvation mean?
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It means deliverance.
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It means rescue.
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God rescues us from a life of sin.
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He rescues us from a life of meaninglessness.
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By giving us more meaning in our lives,
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by opening up a way for us as
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he empowers us to do meaningful work, God
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is in the present rescuing us, bringing us
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into his kind of eternal life.
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Lord Jesus, thank you that you rescue us.
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Thank you that you intend to make us
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fully alive in our workplaces as much as
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anywhere else.
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So show us how to do our work
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out of service.
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Show us how to ask that question, how
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can I help?
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Help us to decode and to contribute to
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the meaning that you're giving us as we
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contribute to the common good, as we image
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you, and as we do the stuff of
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salvation.
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Jesus, do your work in us as we
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do our work with you.
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Thanks for listening.
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