The Church and its leaders, for the laity, for government officials world wide, for all Christians, for people of other faiths, for people without faith, and for the poor and suffering. We do not, however, pray for leaders and workers in business. Yet, business provides the bulk of food, goods, services, builds our church buildings, and through the miracle of economic activity, has lifted billions of people out of poverty. Business offers opportunities for creative activity and service - well as for unethical and grasping activities.
To my mind, this is just one more illustration of institutional church’s lack of appreciation for a healthy spirituality of work. As author Gregory Pierce has written in his book Sprituality@Work, we need a spirituality that helps us find God in our daily activities. Too many Christian writers seem to regard work in the world as profane and unworthy of serious spiritual consideration. Some of these writers have many useful things to say about prayer and spiritual growth - but the don't help us during the 16 or so hours we spend every day at work and with our families. For my review of Pierce’s book, click here .
P.S. I’m honored to be writing a monthly column on workplace spirituality for Spero News. My first column on reformation and prophecy in the workplace will appear tomorrow.
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