An Overview of the Marketplace Minute™
The purpose of a Christian’s life is to fulfill God’s purposes for us in life, or as Pastor Rick Warren would say — to make our unique contribution to The Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) and The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).
In the context of work, this scripture highlights spiritual struggles that have spiritual solutions:
From The Great Commandment…
Struggle: Career versus Calling… will we embrace God’s purposes for our work, or settle for the career that the world tells us is better?
Solution: Define our purpose at work, with a process of ASKING for God’s guidance, DISCERNING God’s will for our work, and SUBMITTING to His direction.
Struggle: Righteousness versus Compromise… will we uphold God’s standards of conduct at work, or succumb to the standards of the world?
Solution: Lead the pursuit of our purpose at work, with a process of prayerfully PLANNING for the future, SERVING in line with God’s will, and AVOIDING the world’s<> temptations/p>
From The Great Commission…
Struggle: Improvement versus Stagnation… will we mature spiritually at work, or view our time at work as the price of a paycheck?
Solution: Grow people at work, with a process of SEEKING ministry opportunities, EMBRACING spiritual realities, and MATURING in Christ-likeness.
When we live out God’s call on our work lives, to His standards with an increasing level of spiritual maturity, God blesses the effort. Workplace resources flow as a result, and God then calls us to harness them for the greater good of a hurting world.
In scripture (Matthew 25:14-46), this plays out when God places The Parable of the Talents (invest effort for a fruitful return) next to The Metaphor of the Sheep and the Goats (give a hand up to the least, the last and the lost). In other words, God reveals a fourth spiritual struggle at work that once again has a spiritual solution:
From The Parable of the Talents and The Metaphor of the Sheep and the Goats…
Struggle: Stewardship versus Ownership… will we share the prosperity of our work environment with a hurting world, or keep the proceeds for a privileged few?
Solution: Extend prosperity at work, with a process of RELEASING ownership illusions, STRATEGIZING for contribution, and DEPLOYING for impact.
Designed for listening over the 52 weeks of a year, the segments of “Marketplace Minute™” are organized around these four spiritual struggles at work, with a practical perspective on process steps that provide for a solution:
- Segments 1-13: Calling versus Career
- Segments 14-26: Righteousness versus Compromise
- Segments 27-39: Improvement versus Stagnation
- Segments 40-52: Stewardship versus Ownership