“I used to be a brain surgeon, but I quit that to enter full-time ministry. It’s so great I’m not wasting my life anymore…”

Ever heard something like that? I have, usually from the mouth of a ministry trainee. It’s encouraging to see their enthusiasm, but sometimes it feels like a put down to the rest of us, those who haven’t chosen the path of full-time ministry. It creates a divide between “secular work” and “sacred work”, and it’s a bit hard to avoid feeling that the former is a bit inferior.

If you’ve been around for a while, you will know that this debate has been going on for years and years. Is it really worth bringing up again? I wouldn’t have thought so, but I keep bumping into young people who are troubled by the whole issue. Maybe it’s all been said before, but some things need to be said anew every few years.

In this area, I’ve been helped by the thinking of Martin Luther. He wrote -

“...A cobbler, a smith, a farmer, each has the work and office of his trade, and yet they are all alike consecrated priests and bishops, and every one by means of his own work or office must benefit and serve every other, that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the community, even as all the members of the body serve one another…”

Regarding work, there is no secular and sacred divide. All Christians are priests. And all work is sacred, as it has been instituted by God and it is a means by which He blesses the community. As Paul says in Colossians,

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord…”

All work is God’s work. And all work is eternally important in the same way that any good deed (or any sin) has eternal importance.

Having safe-guarded the dignity of “secular” work, I don’t want to diminish the value of full-time vocational ministry. The need is enormous, and anyone who is concerned about the spiritual health of our city (and world) must join me in praying for God to raise up more workers for the harvest.

There is a special challenge here for pastors. How many young men and women are you sending into ministry? Are you inspiring them to take up the challenge? The hard truth is that much of your good work in a parish will be forgotten within a couple of years of your departure. From my observation, the enduring legacies you will leave are the people you see converted, and the people you send into ministry. How is your legacy looking?