Marketplace Ministries Launch

Manuscript of Inaugural Marketplace Ministries Event - 2005All of you should have received at your place-setting tonight, a cardstock piece entitled “Reflection”. The piece contains a quote from three of the men who have most influenced me in my life, as well as two of the verses that are most particularly special and challenging to me. When one reads of Machen’s desire that Christianity conquer culture, as opposed to forfeit it; and when one reads the great Leslie Newbigin describe the concessions Christians have made to modern science, and indeed modern life; and when one reads of the incomparable Abraham Kuyper as he describes the need of the Christian, to in all things, serve, obey, and glorify His God, it is my belief that one has seen the full depth of the Romans 12 passage, that we prove what the will of God is, that good, acceptable, and perfect will. It is my belief that we see the true meaning of the “city set on a hill” that Christ commanded us to build. And my friends, it is the meaning of these three great scholars, and much more so the full scope of the Matthew 5 and Romans 12 passages, that I believe encapsulate the intentions of Marketplace Ministries at Redeemer Church.I have been convinced as a matter of personal conviction for a long time, that one’s “job”, or “occupation”, or “career”, need not be a mere “means to an end”. It is my sincere belief that the professor’s job in the classroom, the attorney’s job in the deposition, the doctor’s job in the operating room, the chef’s job in the kitchen, the executive’s job in the board room, and the salesman’s job in the living room, are no less important to God our Father, than the other callings we take on in our lives as family members and church members. That our endeavors in the “marketplace” have been relegated to third or fourth place (if they have been granted any place at all), in the totem pole of our life priorities, is a sad and severe occurrence that requires attention and transformation. It is to that end that Marketplace Ministries launches.Of course, nothing anyone could or should say on this subject ought to ever demean or decrease the significance or primacy of the hats we wear in our churches and families. It is most certainly NOT my contention that one’s endeavors in the arts, in industry, in public policy, in finance, in commerce, in science, etc, ought to SURPASS the prioritization we place on our own families; rather, it is my contention that the very discussion itself has been the ultimate false dilemma, for many, many years. Our labors in the marketplace need not “compete” with our spouses and children; they ought to complement our family endeavors. Ours is a public life, one in which we refuse to hide the light underneath a basket. Consequently, our personal and private lives must be above reproach, as our very testimony and hope is compromised when we fail to show such a light to the world around us. But, without question, the explicit and implicit teaching of Scripture, goes far beyond our personal and private lives. Indeed, in “whatever we do, whether we eat or drink”, we ought to do “to the glory of God.” Beyond that quite general life exhortation of I Cor. 10, Paul repeats to the Colossian church that we “do our work heartily, as for the Lord, rather than men”. It is my theological belief that unless any of us believe our spouses and children are God, the explicit instruction of this passage is that your work is not a “means to an end”; is not “what I have to do to survive”; is not “just because of family responsibilities”. Rather, it is our duty to God. Indeed, it ought to be, our pleasure.This may seem rather unhelpful to many, as professional obligations are, by definition, “duties”, and therefore not often seen in the same light as “blessings”, and “pleasures”. But nonetheless, God loves His children, and He does bestow upon each of them, a calling. I believe that calling produces responsibilities, and those responsibilities, opportunities, and those opportunities, blessings … While many may resist their calling, or resist the primacy of their marketplace opportunity, it does not change the true gift God has given in that particular calling. I have had many well-meaning Christian brethren explain to me over the years that, “this is all well and good, if you happen to be that doctor saving lives each day, or attorney arguing major cases in front of the Supreme Court; but, when your career has evolved into being nothing more than a seller of donuts, or auto mechanic, it is not quite so easy to argue that one’s work is so significant” … Friends, I am here to say that I could not disagree more. It is the error of Athens 2,000 years ago that only elitists had true contributions to make to society. Because I read a gospel that preaches to my own chagrin the requirement that we serve one another, I am unable to understand the supposed lack of opportunity that the owner of a donut shop or auto mechanic might be faced with. Indeed, the space of retail seems to me to be a prime way in which genuine, Christian service might be able to take place, and all the while producing a livelihood, a profit, along the way.I am always in danger of overstating any point I try to make (you should ask my wife), but I will reiterate the first and ever-so-crucial objective of Marketplace Ministries: to reinforce the importance, and joy, of our careers. We do not work only so we can feed our children, that they will be able to grow up and get a job, so they can then have children, who they will afford to feed, so that those children can grow up and get a job, who will then have children, who repeat this process ad nauseam. Without question, we are required to provide for our families, and see to it that they are provided for … The point I pray is demonstrated through Marketplace Ministries is not merely that we are faithful to hold down a job, so that we pay for the bills we have incurred in life; but rather that we pursue to job of our calling, that represents the way we can glorify God in the public square, and proclaim the “city on a hill”.But if all Christians were content to view their work as more than a mere “means to an end”, it would not be sufficient, unless that work was done with a sense of integrity and excellence and performance and quality, that truly was becoming of a follower of Christ. This issue will be the lifeblood of Marketplace Ministries for years to come: providing resources, exhortation, motivation, education, and inspiration towards a spirit of excellence and quality in the marketplace. My aforementioned friend, Dr. Monte Wilson, spoke several years ago at a conference I was a part of, of the concept of community businesses looking to the local church (or churches) when they are looking for a certain position to be filled. To apply that further, wouldn’t it be nice if people looked for a Christian attorney when they were in need of legal services, not merely because they [strangely] assumed that a “Christian” attorney would provide them more ethical advice than anyone else, but ALSO because Christendom had the reputation for producing the very BEST attorneys, the most COMPETENT ones, the GREATEST in their field. Whether it be doctors, athletes, lawyers, teachers, salesman, artists, journalists, financiers, entrepreneurs, mechanics, musicians, politicians, manufacturers, etc., it is my hope and prayer that Marketplace Ministries impacts those in the marketplace in such a way that they may desire to be the very best in their line of work; to not settle for mediocrity; to work in their respective area as if it were for the Lord, and not for men. I work and function now in a post-Enron culture, as do all of you. The lesson of Enron is not that “we now ought to start doing business honestly”; indeed, it was always true that Christians were called to do business honestly. Rather, I suggest to you tonight that in the post-Enron environment, the crying need of the hour goes beyond “honest” business (as important and fundamental as that is). Indeed, the reason the Enron folks even had to start lying and pulling the sheets over people’s eyes is because of their real first set of sins: incompetence, failure, lack of foresight, poor innovations, etc. Let us all be excellent; yet define excellent with integrity, character, and the fruits of the spirit, as NOT AT ODDS with quality, success, results, excellence, and productivity.Plans are in place for young attorneys and law students to attend luncheon seminars featuring some of the brightest and most successful individuals in n the world of jurisprudence.In a day and age that the Terri Schiavo case produces front page headlines for multiple weeks, the issue of medical ethics will be specifically and exhaustively addressed by leading theologians and doctors, challenging and exhorting the medical community to a righteous competence that not murder the helpless in our society, such as unborn babies, the handicapped, and the elderly.Entrepreneurs will be presented with creative sources of financing their endeavors, ones that are fair and reasonable to the investor, as well as the business-founder. Creativity will be encouraged, not stifled, as good and successful business and entrepreneurship is cultivated.A general philosophy of marketplace encountering will be encouraged, and retreatism, monasticism, and surrenderism will be repudiated, for the sake of advancing God’s Kingdom.The goals are big, and admittedly not able to be achieved in short-term timelines. Nevertheless, we “do not despise the day of small beginnings” (Zech. 4:10). What we do for now, is prepare for a paradigm shift that calls for excellence in the marketplace; that does not begrudge the marketplace. We invite passion and emotion and selective goals into the vision (we are all created uniquely) as it pertains to ideas and goals for this ministry.Most importantly, we bring our faith to the public square. We desire to glorify Christ with faith, obedience, and a demonstration of excellence, competence, and quality that PROVES the gospel, not discards it.I welcome you all to the beginning of “Marketplace Ministries”.