Review for Ministers-at-Work by Rob Fox April 2004

90,000 hours is the approximate time someone will work over 40 years, based on a 45-50 hours a week (including commuting). As Rodney Green repeatedly points out, this is substantial in terms of relationships as well as time and therefore deserves much more attention as an area of ministry for Christians than has historically been the case. The author draws widely on his own experience of work, faith and ministry, in a career that has led him to Chief Executive of Leicester City Council, and he has also had the benefit of a ‘focus group’ that meets around a pint at the local pub. Although he never uses the phrase, the book comes across as an ‘MSE’ work.

So what does it cover? There are four main chapters, titled: • Creativity • Rest • Harmony • Perseverance Each chapter builds up a case covering several aspects of each topic, ending with a summary drawing together the conclusions drawn.

‘Creativity’ tales as central our sharing with and in the Creativity of God, carefully identifying how and why our creativity, especially in work, differs. Three motives commonly given by Christians for work are identified: to earn money (noting the secondary motive of supporting ‘churchy’ activities), an opportunity for evangelism, and as a result of the curse at the Fall. These are not so much dismissed as put firmly in their place: “they will only lead us up a cul-de-sac, because they seek to define work by referring to factors that are outside the work itself” (p.22). Rather we should work because: • God created us for work and we do it in obedience to Him; • God works, and by doing so we reflect His image; • God delights in us sharing in His creativity.

In this context, work is therefore defined as: “the daily exertion, paid or unpaid, in contrast to rest and leisure, which is consistent with God’s will, image and design” (p.23, author’s italics). While useful, this definition does unfortunately still refer to “factors that are outside the work itself”, and does not take in what the author himself says later in the book about the value of the work and those with whom we work.

What this first chapter does though is firmly establish work as an important area of ministry, no less worthy – and often more so – than church-based activities. “If we lose the battle against the false divide between the sacred and the secular, we lose track of the value of secular work as a worthy occupation” (p.26). Within this arena we are called to reflect five moral qualities “we can ascribe to the Creator”. He is rational, righteous, responsible, restful and relational. Each is clearly and thoughtfully examined, the last particularly so.

The chapter on Rest further develops the moral quality identified earlier, focussing on stress: how it arises, manifests itself and can be addressed. Emotional suppression, timidity, workaholism, and Type A personality increase susceptibility to stress, which arises from conflict, pain, alienation, long hours, inadequate rest (“rest is a human right, not a religious rite” p.76), and poor leisure. There is a bit too much about the effects of the Fall here, which tends to obscure some otherwise perceptive observations about how to identify and manage stress. The arrangement of sections within the chapter is somewhat ‘bitty’ too and there is more on stress in the fourth chapter - a pity that this was not included at this point.

Harmony focuses on the relationships within the workplace: employer and employee, and the latter with each other. This is a strong chapter in that the author draws on his and friends’ experience authentically and effectively. He sees four distinctive features of the Christian employee: approach to the work itself (in a co-operative spirit), attitude to work (“willing to listen and ready to act” p. 100), “loyalty to Christ and his employer”, and expectation “that he will reap what he has sown” (p.99). The last goes beyond ‘fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work’ to look at the consequences of investing our time and commitment in the work we do and those with whom we do it. There is also a useful discussion of the mutual expectations and obligations of employer and employee. It would be easy to get the balance wrong here but for me Rodney Green has struck it right.

So far as Christian distinctiveness goes, the difference between the Christian employee and a conscientious non-Christian is exactly what he identifies: the former has a loyalty to Christ, serving Him as well as our employer in our work. “Christian distinctiveness at work is not just a matter of being predisposed towards certain occupations. Our work, whatever it may be, is an intrinsic part of our duty and calling to follow Christ” (p.110).

The fourth chapter, Perseverance, is (as mentioned earlier) partly a return to stress. The main theme appears to be, in fact, suffering, with perseverance as a response. It opens with a well-developed section on anger, implicitly linking this to stress and examining when and how anger can be productive and destructive. The analysis is at its most useful when it uses life situations as its starting point, least so when it starts from a Biblical passage. The final section, on responses to suffering, uses entirely Biblical examples – none at all from the workplace – so while they are topical they are not exactly contextual.

Throughout the book there is a concern to balance illustrations from the author’s own or friends experience of work and Biblical examples. By and large this works, and most of the latter are used perceptively and applied well. There is some reversal too, where a ‘life’ example is applied back to a Biblical context, for example when asking whether prayer or pint, privation or pleasure are more ‘sanctified’ for the Christian (pp24-5). At times the Biblical analogies are stretched too far, and the author is at his strongest when using illustrations from his own experience. I suspect that some readers may find parts of Rodney Green’s church background (Calvinist, Evangelical, Anglican?) as it comes through implicitly (never explicitly), uncomfortable. It would be a loss not to read and appreciate this book though: it is thoughtful, arises out of the author’s own experience and reflection, and genuinely about being an MSE. Even if you don’t like the colour of the bath water, don’t ditch the baby!