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“Summer, or, Ruth and Boaz” (17 th c., Nicholas Poussin). Summer Seminary @ St. James. WORK AS DISCIPLESHIP Dr. Don Payne. Discipleship in All of Life. The Great Commission is all encompassing! “Make disciples” Evangelism/witness Formation. What is Discipleship?.
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“Summer, or, Ruth and Boaz” (17th c., Nicholas Poussin) Summer Seminary @ St. James WORK AS DISCIPLESHIPDr. Don Payne
Discipleship in All of Life • The Great Commission is all encompassing! • “Make disciples” • Evangelism/witness Formation
What is Discipleship? • Following (submitting) ourselves to Jesus Christ so that increasingly every aspect of our lives is brought into alignment with his way of relating to God, others, and the world.
Work – a Primary Venue for Discipleship • It occupies majority of our waking hours. • It presents intense challenges & struggles. • It can be a source of deep satisfaction.
Work – the Challenges for Discipleship • Two-tiered or two-sphere view of work • Dissonance between work, values, and ROI • Integration of faith and work not easy.
Resources for Discipleship In and Through Work • Creation • Goodness of the created order • Human Personhood • Creativity, problem-solving, rest • Utilitarian & relational dimensions ofwork
Resources for Discipleship In and Through Work • God’s Providence (in light of finitude and fallenness) • God-created finitude is a blessing. • The Holy Spirit • Empowers work.
How is Work Discipleship? • Redemption • Offer work to God in worship and faith. • Treat work as ministry. • God “takes hold” of our work and invests it. • Culmination • What makes work “matter”?
Conclusions • Work expresses and contributes to our formation in Christ. • Work matters. • All work must be redeemed. • In all our work we should seek to participate in and anticipate the kind of world God intended.