The Word Before Work

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)John 14:12 records what I have to imagine was one of the most shocking things the disciples ever heard Jesus say: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”Upon hearing this, the disciples must have been floored. They had seen Jesus give sight to the blind, feed the five thousand, and raise Lazarus from the dead. We’re going to do “greater things than these” Jesus? Yes.Paul is reminding us of this same truth here in Ephesians 3, saying that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” As we’ve seen over the last few weeks, God chooses to work through us and our “good works” to bring His Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven.” Combine this with Jesus and Paul’s reminders of God’s “immeasurable” power, and I think we all can admit that our prayers for our work are far too small.This isn’t name-it-and-claim-it “theology.” Far from it. We aren’t to pray big prayers to increase the size of our paycheck. Lord knows, that would be the worst thing to happen to most of us. No, we ought to pray bigger prayers with an aim towards expanding the Kingdom through our work!We should be praying that poverty would be eradicated in our cities because our businesses have provided meaningful work and a living wage to every one of its citizens. We should be praying that we’d have the privilege of seeing every one of our co-workers come to know and follow Jesus. We should be praying that millions more customers would smell the aroma of Christ through how we work and the exceptional products we create.Of course, our motives are never fully pure. But through the Holy Spirit groaning on our behalf (Romans 8:26), God is able to take our prayers for our work and turn them into words that honor Him. Take a minute this morning to pray that the Lord would enlarge your vision for your work, not as a means of accumulation, but as a means of service to God and others.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10)For good reason, Ephesians 2:8-9 is one of the most quoted passages of Scripture in the Church. But in my experience, it’s rare to hear someone preach all the way through verse 10. That’s a shame, because the marriage of verse 10 to verses 8 and 9 could not be more important for our work. When read in its entirety, this passage shows us that the gospel is our ultimate source of rest and ambition.The first half of the passage couldn’t be clearer: Our status as adopted children of God is “by grace….through faith,” and thus “not by works.” What a glorious truth! While we were His enemy, Christ died for us, gracing us with salvation we could never earn and thus can never lose.Years ago, in an effort to help my kids grasp this truth, I borrowed a nighttime routine I learned from Tim Keller. Before I turn out their lights, I ask my girls, “Do you know I love you no matter how many good things you do?” They nod their heads. “Do you know I love you no matter how many bad things you do?” They nod again. Then I ask, “Who else loves you like that?” and they always reply, “Jesus.”You and I need to hear those same words applied to our work. God loves you and I no matter how productive or unproductive we are today. Ironically, it’s that truth that gives us the ambition to be wildly productive. Why? Because working to earn someone’s favor is exhausting. But working in response to unconditional favor is intoxicating. Once you realize that God accepts you “no matter how many good things you do,” you want to be productive for His agenda as a loving act of worship.That’s a good thing, because as Paul makes clear in verse 10, one of the very purposes of our salvation is to do “good works” for others. Jesus made this equally clear in Matthew 5:16 when he said, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” The very purpose of our lives—the reason we were created and saved—was to do “good works” that advance God’s Kingdom and glorify Him.We don’t do these “good works” to earn His favor. We are ambitious for good work because His favor is graciously secure, leading us to work for His agenda as a loving act of worship. Worship Him by doing good, excellent work for others today!

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ….I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:8b-10…18-21)What is the will of God? “To bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ” (see verse 10). Heaven and earth are not meant to be separate forever. They are destined to be married together, and one day they will be as Revelation 21 makes clear.What does that future hope mean for our work today? Everything! As those “under Christ” and His authority, we are called to work in a way that makes the world long for heaven to come to earth. We are called to work through the rehearsal dinner if you will, giving a glimpse of the glorious wedding that is to come.If you’re an entrepreneur, that means you lead your venture in adherence to the Bridegroom’s commands. If you’re an artist, that means you tell stories that cause people to long for redemption and hope. If you’re a teacher, that means you work to develop a hunger for truth in the hearts of your students. All of us are called to work in ways that are so different, so compelling, so exceptional that the world groans for more of the Christ-like qualities that make our work unique.Sound like an impossible task? It is if we work in our own strength. But as verse 19 reminds us, you and I have the “incomparably great power” of God working through us via the Spirit. The same God who created the heavens and the earth works through you. The same God that raised the dead to life works through you. The same God who will one day finish our work and make “all things new” works through you.Take a moment to let that truth sink in this morning. You and I have unfathomable capacity to create for the Kingdom. Let us work boldly towards that end, that those we work with would want to see more of our King in this earth.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)On July 26, 1833, the British Parliament voted to abolish the slave trade. The great victory came more than 45 years after William Wilberforce first met the great Hannah More.A few days later, Wilberforce died. A few weeks after that, More joined her friend in glory—a poetic end to the lives of the great poet and parliamentarian.A few years after More’s death, Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote a now-famous essay titled A Defence of Poetry. In it, he credited Christian writers and artists such as More with ending slavery and emancipating women, saying “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”Tomorrow is Election Day in the U.S., and I pray you will vote. But whoever you vote for, I hope you will remember this: Culture wars will never be won solely through the election of the “right candidates” or their appointment of the “right judges.” Hannah More and William Wilberforce show us that “the only way to change culture is to create more of it.” So sure, vote for the change you believe God has called the Church to advocate for in the world. But if you really care, don’t just vote. Roll up your sleeves and create for change. Because that is how change happens.In the words of More herself, “I hope the poets and painters will at last bring the Bible into fashion and that people will get to like it from taste, though they are insensible to its spirits, and afraid of its doctrines.”“People will get to like it from taste.”Sounds a lot like Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount.Paul says that the gospel and the ways of our Redeemer are “foolishness” to the world (see 1 Corinthians 1:18). But through our work, we can be salt making the world want a taste of the Kingdom.But Jordan, I’m not a poet. How does this apply to me?We’re all called to work and create as a means of extending the Kingdom. Remember Jesus’s parting words to his disciples recorded in Acts 1:8: “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”All of us are his “witnesses.” Witnesses to what? His resurrection and corresponding lordship of the world. The whole world is—present tense—under His authority. We are witnesses to that truth, called to take the message of His kingship “to the ends of the earth.”You may not create a poem that convinces a generation of women to choose life for their unplanned children, but can you and your family create space in your family or budget to care for orphans?If you’re an entrepreneur, can you create products that replace deceptive or harmful ones in your industry?If you’re an employee, can you work in a way that is so humble, so life-giving, so exceptional that your co-workers will “get to like” Jesus and His gospel from their interactions with you?Poets, writers, artists, and musicians: Can you use the power of the Creator God in you to tell stories of truth, redemption, and hope?By all means, vote for change. But may we be people who do the much harder, much more impactful work of creating for change for the Kingdom.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. (1 Corinthians 12:7-11)After William Wilberforce’s conversion to Christianity in 1786, he defined the “Great Object” of his work in Parliament as nothing less than the abolition of the slave trade throughout the British Empire.To his credit, Wilberforce sensed that this change could not immediately be legislated. First, the hearts and minds of his countrymen would need to be transformed. To accomplish that, Wilberforce knew he “desperately needed someone in the world of culture.” He found that someone in Hannah More, the prolific playwright, poet, and author I’ve been introducing you to in this series.By all accounts, Wilberforce and More hit it off from their first meeting. Over time, More would become Wilberforce’s “closest collaborator,” the two forming one of the most powerful partnerships of all time. As Wilberforce’s biographer wrote, “How Wilberforce came to be the chief champion of abolition—and how he was able to succeed in ending the slave trade in Great Britain in 1807, after twenty years of battling—has everything to do with Hannah More.”Soon after their first meeting, the partners were in agreement: Wilberforce would fight the battle against slavery with legislation in Parliament, while More would fight with quills and public poems.Almost immediately, More went to work, writing a poem titled Slavery which was designed to help sway public opinion on the slave trade and influence members of Parliament to vote for Wilberforce’s proposed bill. Through this poem and other works of art, More “helped the average Briton see the humanity of the African slaves for the first time….Her words pricked the consciences of millions, who came to feel that their country—which called itself a Christian country—must have no part in such an evil. Eventually hundreds of thousands of Britons signed petitions against the slave trade, which were brought by Wilberforce into Parliament and swayed its members toward abolition.”The work went on like this for more than 45 years—Wilberforce introducing bill after bill, More writing poem after poem—until finally, legislative change came with the abolition of the slave trade in 1807.What can we learn from the partnership between this poet and parliamentarian? At least two things.First, as we’ve seen throughout this series, cultural change almost always precedes legislative change. We must work to change hearts before we can work to change laws.Second, Wilberforce and More show us that each of us has a different, important role to play in creating for God’s Kingdom. Today’s passage shows us that each of us has received different gifts to be leveraged “for the common good.” We aren’t to keep our God-given gifts to ourselves. We are to use them to shape culture for our King.Next week, we will look at that call even more closely.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:4-7)As we saw last week, the most proven strategy for cultivating large scale cultural change is not electing the “right people” and trusting them to force legislative change from the top-down. Mass change happens when hearts and minds are transformed. And hearts and minds are transformed not by laws but by acts of culture. As Andy Crouch says in his exceptional book, Culture Making, “The only way to change culture is to create more of it.”But if we’re honest, creating for change requires a level of engagement that many in the Church aren’t used to. Part of the appeal of merely voting for change is that it is relatively easy. If you don’t like the direction the world is heading, it’s far easier to sit on social media and rage against the machine than it is to roll up your sleeves and actually do something. So we vote and pray that politicians in Washington, London, or Brasília will do the work for us.In a way, this is a form of retreat. This is our “temporary home,” so rather than work to change the world, we create Christian subcultures and sit back and wait for eternity. But as today’s passage shows us, that is not the call of the Church. Like Israel was in Babylon, we too are in exile, awaiting the arrival of our eternal home. But that doesn’t let us off the hook in the present. No, we are called to create and engage—to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city.”Hannah More understood this call well. In 18th-century London, More was a prolific playwright and author “whose works at the time outsold Jane Austen’s ten to one.” From humble beginnings, More was catapulted into great wealth, fame, and the distinction by historians as “nothing less than the most influential woman of her time.”More’s remarkable influence had everything to do with how she used her talents to advance God’s Kingdom. She didn’t view her faith as a private thing to be disconnected from her work. More saw her work as a means of shaping culture and putting every square inch of creation under the lordship of Jesus Christ.As More’s biographer wrote, “She did not wish to retreat from culture into a religious sphere, but rather to advance with the wisdom and truth of religion into the cultural sphere.” Indeed, themes of the “wisdom and truth” of the gospel made their way into much of what More wrote, making her a powerful combatant in the “culture wars” of her own day.As she once wrote, “One must not merely rail against the darkness, but must instead light a proverbial candle by creating literary and cultural works that rival and surpass the bad.”As we’ll see next week, the greatest “darkness” of More’s time was the abomination of slavery. And it would be this poet’s partnership with a politician named William Wilberforce that would lead to slavery’s abolition.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:27-28)It seems like every day a new skirmish breaks out in our never-ending “culture wars.” Whether the fight is over COVID, race relations, abortion, or gender equality, we are more divided than ever in the battle over right and wrong.Every four years, the American political machinery pitches the same strategy for winning these culture wars: Elect the right person and they will introduce new laws or appoint the right judges to legislate our desired brand of change.But is this really how large-scale cultural change happens?The evidence suggests that it is not. Just as Adam and Eve were called to “fill the earth” before they were called to “rule” it, so it appears that cultural creation precedes political change.Take the LGBTQ+ cause as an example. This movement started to gain meaningful traction, not after a law was passed, but once Hollywood got intentional about writing empathetic and entertaining gay characters. As Vice President Biden said in 2012, “When things really begin to change is when the social culture changes. I think Will & Grace did more to educate the American public than almost anything anybody has done [politically] so far.”Look at the abolitionist movement in the U.S. as another quick case study. The tide against slavery turned long before the Civil War or President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Anti-slavery sentiment took off after the massive success of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. So great was the impact of that cultural good that upon meeting its author, Lincoln said, “So, you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war.”Across the pond in Great Britain, we see the same story. As I pointed out in a recent devotional series, William Wilberforce is credited as the man chiefly responsible for abolishing the slave trade in the British Parliament (paving the way for Stowe and Lincoln in the U.S.). But as many historians have pointed out, Wilberforce’s legislative change would have never happened without the cultural change that preceded it. As one Wilberforce biographer points out, “The genius of the abolitionists—and the likely reason for their ultimate success—is that they understood that their battle was not merely political and went to great lengths to make the cultural case against slavery and the trade as well….How Wilberforce came to be the chief champion of abolition….after twenty years of battling…has everything to do with Hannah More.”Who was Hannah More? Not a politician, but a culture maker like you and me. Over the next few weeks, I want to introduce you to this remarkable woman, and in doing so, outline the most proven playbook for creating large scale cultural change for the Kingdom.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)Today is the final devotional in a series that I pray has helped you dispel the idea of waiting to “feel a peace” about decisions at work and at home. Over the past two weeks, we have looked at a couple of biblical truths that can help us grow in confidence as we make tough choices:First, God rarely gives us all the information we want before making a decision.And second, God doesn’t need us to make any specific decision.Today, we look at the third and final truth, which is related to the second: So long as we are obeying God’s Word, we can’t make a “wrong” decision.When we read today’s Scripture (Romans 8:28), we typically think of “all things” in the context of negative things that happen to us: losing a job, shutting down a business, losing a loved one. Of course, Romans 8:28 promises that God will work all of those things “for the good of those who love him.” But it’s not only those things He will work for good. He will also work every one of our decisions for our good and His glory.Last week, we saw a similar promise in Proverbs 19:21 which reads, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Commenting on that verse, pastor Tim Keller said, “In a sense, for a Christian, there is no ‘plan B.’”If you believe that God’s purposes will prevail no matter what and you believe that He will work everything for your good and His glory, then so long as a decision isn’t out of line with God’s Word, there’s no such thing as a “wrong” decision, believer! You are free to choose.What decision is weighing on you today? Whether to stay or leave your job? Whether to launch that product or the other? Whether to donate to that ministry or the other?Whatever it is, don’t wait around for a vague feeling of peace about the decision. Look for wisdom in God’s Word. Seek counsel from other believers. And then choose.How can you choose with confidence? By remembering the truths we have explored in this series and the concrete promise of peace you have as an adopted child of God. Whatever you decide, His will will be done and your status as a co-heir with Christ will be secure.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. (Proverbs 19:21)We’re in a series debunking this idea that Christians should wait on a “sense of peace” before making big decisions, replacing that myth with three biblical truths that can grow our confidence to make tough choices. Last week, we saw the first truth, that God rarely gives us all the information we want before making a decision. Today, we look at the second: God doesn’t need us to make any specific decision.If you’re reading these devotionals, it’s because you care deeply about doing your most exceptional work for the glory of God and the good of others. That is your overriding passion at work, and that of course is a wonderful thing! But that burning desire can easily lead to over-analyzing certain decisions, which ironically holds us back from participating in the work God is up to in the world.I know I have struggled with this before: What if this partnership isn’t God’s will for my business? What if I make the wrong choice in this hire? What if we picked the wrong marketing campaign?Here’s what I’m learning: So long as our decisions are not out of line with God’s Word, I don’t know that God particularly cares about the specific decisions we make. I think He cares deeply about what’s going on in our hearts as we make our decisions, but not the decisions themselves. Why? Because no matter which decisions you and I make, the Lord’s purposes will prevail (see Proverbs 19:21).God doesn’t need you to take that specific job.He doesn’t need you to launch that specific product.He doesn’t need you to send your kids to that specific school.Regardless of what we choose, His purposes will prevail.If I die tomorrow and God wants these devotionals to carry on, He will find someone else to do it. That may sound depressing to you, but to me, it sounds liberating!This truth means that when we are faced with big decisions in our work and lives, we have the freedom to choose. Of course, we should take time to wisely evaluate important decisions, but at some point, we just have to make a choice, even if we don’t “feel a peace” about the decision.Recognizing the biblical truth that God doesn’t need you or me to make any specific decision helps us do that. Next week, we’ll look at one final biblical truth that can grow your confidence as you seek to make wise decisions at work and at home.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. (Hebrews 11:8)Last week, we debunked the myth that Christians should wait for an amorphous “sense of peace” before making big decisions.This morning, I’m sharing the first of three biblical truths that can grow our confidence to make decisions at work and at home. Here it is: God rarely gives us all the information we want before making a decision.That may not sound freeing, but trust me, it is. Hang with me for a minute.Genesis 12:1 tells us that God asked Abraham to leave behind his country, people, and family and head to an undisclosed location—clearly information Abraham would have loved to have known before deciding whether or not he would obey. But as we just read in Hebrews 11:8, Abraham obeyed God despite the fact that “he did not know where he was going.” Do you think Abraham experienced a warm and fuzzy “feeling” of peace about making this move? I doubt it.Just like Abraham, God doesn’t give you and me all the information we feel we need to make important decisions at work and at home. Through His Word, His people, and the Spirit’s leading, God often only gives us clarity about one step at a time. He gives us wisdom to discern “the next right thing” and then expects us to step out in faith even if we don’t “feel a peace” about where that next right thing might lead. At the risk of offering two Frozen II references in a single paragraph, oftentimes God calls us “into the unknown.”This truth is paradoxically freeing. If we grasp this, we can stop waiting for an unreliable feeling of peace, and start relying on the certain peace that comes from recognizing that if God took care of our eternal needs, He will surely care for our temporal ones.Here’s what one of my favorite Bible teachers, Jen Wilkin, says on this topic: “We want a peek into what’s next. For the unbeliever, it’s horoscopes, palm readings, and tarot cards. For the believer, it’s much the same thing, loosely draped in religious trappings: asking God for an extrabiblical sign, claiming a Bible promise out of context…We tell ourselves that if we knew the future, we would put that knowledge to good use, but how likely is that? It’s far more likely that we would use that knowledge to stoke the flames of our self-reliance and to forward our own interests.”Man, that’s good.Chances are that God’s not going to give you all the information you want before you make a decision about that job, product launch, or move. Let that truth free you to make a choice and rely more on Him and His assurance of peace in the process.