Sept 7, 2023

I love my job.

I was asked if it is true that if you loved your job you would never work a day in your life. My answer—not true. You will work twice as hard because you do love it. When the job gets awful but you love it anyway, the saying means you rarely wake up and wish you never had to work there again. I love my job.

A pastor recently shared his despair and declared he is leaving ministry because it is awful. I have experienced some of the same difficulties. You have likely left or felt trapped in a job as well. I have bad days. Sometimes I’ve had bad months (years). I’ve had ministry jobs that were way more work than joy, and which I did in fact actively seek to leave. Nevertheless,

What else would I do?

I can imagine all kinds of things it would be fun to try. There is nothing else I can imagine sticking with when things got hard. I love the challenge of thinking about and being the idealist. I am the sky is falling realist who proclaims, “But thus sayeth the Lord—I’m about to do a new thing! Wait for it!”

Then, I get to share the invitation to be part of the transformation. I hope you discover the joy in the journey toward wholeness in spite of the frailties of human life, the joyless drudgery of work you are not interested in, the pains of loss, the agony of slow-motion success.

There’s More to Love

My joy is being a witness to what others do without me which make this world a better place because they are in it. Often, they don’t even realize the difference that one conversation, or sacrifice, makes. I love my job because I am called to witness who you are, what you do, what and who you love. Sometimes I see it because you are kind, loving, serving, offering. Sometimes I see it because you are angry or hurt or failing or even mean. I am called to see, not judge, called to love not fix, called to hope.

You Can, Too

You can have this joy, too. And that’s where my work begins. Can I model the witness and testimony side without judgement in a way that invites you to be free of that burden? The new thing God is doing, has done, and will always do is to free us of that original divisiveness (sin) that is the burden of what we Christians call our fallen humanity—judging between good and evil.

When we follow the way of Christ, what we are learning to do is see people with love. Including ourselves. I’m still learning. I fail and I succeed.

I hope you’ll find a small group, a Bible study, and a community of friends with whom you can be authentically yourself and know that you are loved. In that embrace, may you know the love of God and discover your true vocation.

You, too, are called to the ministry that I love. My paid work comes forth from the church. Yours will be wherever you work–and play. May your life’s work be love.