Every Good Endeavour
Here at intersect, we aim to introduce external resources from time to time that we think would be useful for you in exploring the connection between faith, work and society. The resources that we share have been personally beneficial for us in our journey of experiencing God in our vocation.
One of the most influential resources to our team, and to me personally, has been the work of Timothy Keller, who is the former lead pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York. In his ministry, one of his focuses has been to help integrate the spiritual and secular in our lives and to see vocation as meaningful and holy, in all types of work, inside and outside of the church. In particular, his book Every Good Endeavour has been formative for our leadership at Intersect. A few years back, when we went through a strategic planning process for our organization and a discussion about a possible name change, we spent time reading this book together and it helped shape our vision of why developing a theological foundation for our vision of work is vital to the church’s flourishing in society. Pastor Keller outlines in his book how work was created as good, as in the book of Genesis we see that God himself works and created all of creation in the first 6 days, and on the seventh day he rested. Likewise, he gave Adam and Eve the mandate to work the garden and to take care of creation, even prior to the Fall. Sometimes we may have the impression that work is a result of sin and brokenness in the world. Work can be difficult and frustrating, and lack fruitfulness. Developing a solid, biblical foundation for work is vital to give us proper motivation for work and to find it fulfilling. If you are interested in learning more, I highly encourage you to give this book a read.
Furthermore, Pastor Keller established the Centre for Faith and Work, which is the cultural renewal arm of Redeemer Presbyterian Church. They exist “to explore and investigate the gospel’s unique power to renew hearts, communities, and the world, in and through our day-to-day work.” They offer resources, courses, and great insight on this important aspect of life, and I encourage you to check them out.
Links to both resources are below. Happy reading!
https://timothykeller.com/books/every-good-endeavor
Authored by Jeremy Wong
