Minister-at-large for EA, Gil Cann takes an evangelical perspective
when he writes on ‘Work – a ‘necessary evil’ or a way to honour God?’
After establishing that we need a biblical view of work and the
workplace he outlines a number of important factors concerning the work
place. You can read this here or download it as a pdf file. In it Gil says that the work place is -
- to be a means of growth of character
- intended to be a place of worship
- a primary venue for doing God’s will
- a place to seek justice
- a place of witness
- where people are prepared for eternity
- a ministry of the church
- a place for work to be balanced with rest
- a place where we can learn from those who are mentors.
In a similar manner Martien Kelderman discusses ‘Evil in the workplace’
(1400 words). The workplace is to be redeemed because in Christ we are
‘a new creation’. Many people see work as a ‘necessary evil’ but work
is really a gift from God. Work is God’s creation; He ordained it and
included it in ‘it was very good’.
John
Olsen discusses ministry by older people. The current stress on
retirement at 65 has two significant outcomes. The first is the view
that anyone over 65 years (or even 55), is ‘past it’. The second is
that older people’s experience and wisdom are increasingly devalued.
John assesses the way ‘retirees’ are potentially the most numerous,
well-resourced and ‘seasoned’ human resource for advancing the Gospel
ever seen in human history. He gives ‘live’ examples of ministry. See Redeeming the Myth of Retirement (1,500 words).
