I began reading Redeeming the Law: Christian Calling and the Legal Profession by Michael P. Schutt, a book given to me a while ago. I did not have a chance to read it until my recent vacation. I’ve only read the first chapter, and already it has sparked some thoughts. The book speaks of the disillusionment Christian lawyers and law students face. Some feel as if it’s impossible to be a faithful Christian and a lawyer. Others struggle with integrating faith into the legal profession.
I have experienced the same struggle, but thankfully, God early on exposed me to marketplace ministry. In fact, I was involved in marketplace ministry before I even knew it was called that. Shortly after I joined the firm, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was an active community of Christians there. Later on, I got involved with HisBiz and then began formally learning the theology behind marketplace ministry.
I find it interesting that one of the reasons for disillusionment among Christian lawyers identified in Redeeming the Law is the lack of understanding of the doctrine of vocation. The Lord exposed me to the doctrine of vocation early in my career. As I reflect on what He’s done in my career, I’ve come to realize that He faithfully answered my prayer when I began my job at the firm that my desire was to honor Him in my career and continue to grow in Him. I prayed that prayer knowing the potential for my job to consume all my energy and passion, and to shape me in the ways of the world. Seeing others like Schutt talk about the need for an awareness of marketplace ministry, and then seeing how god taught it to me before I could even identify the need is a testament to His design on my life.
The other thought sparked by the book is how lackluster an effort the Church is making in supporting their members in fulfilling their vocations. Redeeming the Law says this:
The local church has provided little assistance, if not outright hindrance, to professionals working out biblical solutions to issues that arise in their lives. These issues often take the form of the false roles already mentioned. Because there is no teaching on vocational duty, some Christian lawyers fall, as if by default, into the prevailing identity of the lawyer as “hired gun” or the inflated ideal of the lawyer as social engineer. Neither view is helpful to a vision for Christian service. And many of the Christian lawyers who consciously or subconsciously reject the hired-gun or social-engineer models still see their life in the law as “just a job.” While the church has recently realized that a “marketplace ministry” is needed, its focus has not been on the doctrine of vocation.
(Emphasis mine). The above statements apply to any profession, not just law. God calls his followers into different vocations, and all should be performed to the glory of God.
But it is easy for “marketplace ministry” to become another buzz term, a convenient slogan used by pastors to rally their lethargic congregations into integrating faith into everyday life. The wellhead of effective marketplace ministry, however, is coherent teaching of the doctrine of vocation, and at least in my experience, the Church is doing little to help its members practice the principles of the doctrine on a consistent basis.
In my job, for example, I constantly need to make decisions with ethical implications. How do I make these decisions in a God-honoring way? Well, first I need to be aware of the ethical and theological dimensions of the situation. The role of the Church is to educate and train me to spot those issues. After teaching me to identify ethical/thelogical issues, the Church should provide theological guidance to help me resolve such issues. I cannot say that the modern Church is structured in a way that enables its members to fulfill these two functions with great efficacy. It seems a rare occurrence that a church would devote a significant portion of its resources to grounding of members in the doctrine of vocation and its implications on everyday life. Much less can be said about the availability of “on-the-job” counsel from the Church on theological and moral issues that arise day in and day out. The Church seems more concerned about issues of general (and visibly controversial) concern, such as abortion and homosexual rights (not that the Church should ignore such issues).
If the Church were to believe the doctrine of vocation with all its heart, it would structure its operations differently. It would not pay lip service to marketplace ministry by merely mentioning the phrase in a sermon. Even teaching on the subject is not enough. What’s needed is the resourcing of church members to fulfill their vocations through counsel, active prayer coverage, encouragement — all kinds of spiritual arsenal the Holy Spirit has supplied the Church to fight the war against the Enemy. The trick is to understand that the war is going on all around us, and through vocations, God has strategically placed His beloved on every inch of the battlefield. It’s time to launch a few grenades.
Bryce Canyon photos are up on my 
— thank you for your support and comments. I’ve enjoyed hearing from you. I confess I haven’t updated the blog with posts as often as I would have liked. Last year was breakneck busy. This year has been calmer, so hopefully I’ll have more time to write. I do try to post a devotional at least once a week because I am part of a group of Christians at my workplace who send out a devotional daily by email to a list of subscribers. My day is Wednesday. That’s why many of my posts are published on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. Time permitting, however, I hope to post more than just devotionals this year.
