9Marks Journal: Pastoring Christians for the Workplace (34期：牧養職場聖徒)

Many Christians think that you just can’t serve the kingdom of God at work, and that kingdom work happens “after hours”—volunteering at the church nursery, attending small group, going on a mission trip, serving at the soup kitchen. Our work is a necessity that must be endured to put bread on the table. God’s interest in the fruit of our labors is primarily that we tithe off of it. The Bible offers quite a different perspective. Scripture teaches us how to serve God through our work, not just after work. The Bible speaks clear and radical words to people in the workplace, showing us that even the most menial of jobs has an essential role in the mission of God. In fact, it is surely not coincidental that most of the parables that Jesus told had a workplace context, and that of the forty miracles recorded in the book of Acts, thirty-nine of them occurred outside of a church setting. The God of the Bible seems as concerned with displaying his power outside the walls of the church as he does within it.

工作的話題在當今基督徒作家和思想家當中是很熱門的話題，這很好理解。當週一早上的太陽曬進房間，主日神的道和聖徒相通帶來的、還殘存最後一絲繚繞在心裡的喜樂，就被一聲嘆息「該做早飯了」而驅散。

牧師，你如何預備你的教會成員迎接週一的到來？

那些空談的神學家很容易太過強調週間職場的活動，好像基督徒已經能在當下造就永恆：「別談什麼傳道書了」。諷刺的是，在正統神學圈子裡，更大的危險不是得勝主義，而是對來世的淡化：「不要講什麼天堂」。

牧師，請不要這樣做。你的教會需要班揚所描繪的圖畫，基督徒雖然跌倒，仍然堅定攀向天上之城，手雖發酸，眼睛疲乏，仍要定睛永恆。

然而， 基督徒永恆的生命確實已經開始。並且信心幫助我們看見我們已經透過工作反映創造主的品格。我們手上削好的鉛筆表明神做事是有計劃和目的的。填滿的數據表反映出神的照管。交通燈的閃爍訴說著神對次序的認同。醫院乾淨的床單告訴人們神是滿有憐憫的。當然神也安息在他手所做的工上。

工作是有何等的喜樂和特權，，只要它表明慷慨並授權於我們的神，即使當你做早點的時候也是如此。也許某片掉落的雪花更強烈地訴說這一點？

九標誌之前曾分兩期討論過帶職長老的話題。是時候聊一聊如何幫助牧者思考牧養職場聖徒的事了。J.D Greear牧師帶來對工作「基督化」的意義的思考。Lukas Naugle，一位職場達人，分享了那些幫助他的功課。Jamie Dunlop和Bari Nichols會幫助你思考特定的群體—那些對職場志向太好高騖遠的人以及在家工作的人。

Sebastian Traeger寫了兩篇關於牧者和商業人士如何更好地彼此理解和服侍的文章，我尤其被鼓舞。實際上，是Sebastian促使我選擇了本期的主題。別錯過教會主日學課程《職場聖徒》和《忠心管家》。

最後，《何謂宣教的商業》值得你打印出來分發給你教會的商業人士。