Graham Tomlin on church and work
Posted by Paul | Filed under work
Graham Tomlin of St Paul’s Theological Centre has a great post on his blog, sort of based on Thoughts on the Financial Crisis, but extending onto thoughts on the task of the church in the wider culture and the way the church connects with the work of its members:
Stanley Hauerwas argues that “the most important social task of Christians is to be nothing less than a community capable of forming people with virtues sufficient to witness to God’s truth in the world” In other words, the church’s primary task is not to tell the world how to run itself, nor to prescribe particular policies or strategies, but to be a community capable of developing people of virtue and goodness, who are more likely to make good, considerate, wise choices, than bad, harmful or selfish ones.…
Holy Trinity Brompton, my church in London has what in my experience are rather unusual regular prayer meetings. The unique thing is that the solicitors, the teachers and the healthcare workers do not gather to pray for the work of the church, but the church meets to pray for the work of the solicitors, the teachers and the healthcare workers. Here the church … simply meets to encourage them, pray for them that they may have the perspective of the kingdom of God on their work, to pray for wisdom, courage and grace in the work they are called to… It is a vision of a church trying to be what Hauerwas suggests – a church seeking not to prescribe policy, but to form them in practical Christ-like goodness and wisdom, so that they become the bedrock of a functioning society, and trustworthy signposts to the Kingdom of God.
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