Work, Vocation & the Gospel

[0:00] Thanks, everyone, for being here this morning. This is our fourth week of our class on integrating work in faith.! That it's active and living and that it applies to our day-to-day lives.

[0:34] We thank you that you've designed us for work, Lord, that you call us into relationship with you, Lord, and that in that relationship you call us to participate in the cultivation of your kingdom.

[0:47] And we just pray that the realities of that would be impressed upon us this morning, Lord, that we would learn more about you and your will for our lives as we discuss these matters together.

[0:59] And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright, so I thought it would be helpful, again, just to review, because a lot of what we're discussing is building on the previous week's discussions.

[1:12] So I'll go through the first few weeks' material, and then we can dive into our topic for today. So, in our first week, Kumlay covered an overview of the design of work and highlighted four main points.

[1:30] First, work is good. It's something that God did and does, and therefore, by definition, is a good thing. And second, we were created to work.

[1:41] God created us in his image, and since he works and it is good, he created us to mirror his work in creation. And we're so designed in this way that Tim Keller says that working is as essential to human flourishing as food and water.

[1:59] Third, God calls people to a variety of work, which we'll expand on a little bit more today. And lastly, work comes with God-given limits.

[2:10] Because we are not the owners of our work, we're called to join in God's work under his authority, and our work comes with limits in that way.

[2:22] So, in our second week, we expanded on a couple of these points by diving into the concept of work as a calling. And there were a few key truths that we highlighted in that class as well. We said our calling is twofold.

[2:36] To bring out the wonder of God's design through cultivation of the created order, and to be an instrument of God's providence serving the needs of our neighbors. So, we recall Dorothy Sayers' definition of work, that it's a gracious expression of creative energy offered in service to others.

[2:59] So, we also extended a point from week one. We said that because our salvation doesn't depend on our work, we can view all work as equally important, as we all participate together in the cultivation of God's kingdom.

[3:14] So, intellectual and physical work, secular and spiritual work, paid and unpaid work, material and cultural work, like building bridges or building families, these are all forms of labor in which God has called or commissioned certain people to participate for the sake of his kingdom.

[3:37] And all of these forms of work are equally valid and valuable in the eyes of God. Knowing these, we talked about discerning a calling in wisdom, and that it identifies, in doing that, we identify ways that God is calling us to use our God-given gifts to meet a God-ordained need.

[4:00] We talked about a term that Keller calls a ministry of competence. And some of the best ways that we can step into the calling that God has for us is to identify things that he's equipped us well to do, to meet a need that he's identified to us.

[4:16] We also talked about discerning this in prayer. We didn't have time to focus on this quite as much, but in our discerning in wisdom, we also want to consider what we're doing in prayer and engagement with faithful brothers and sisters, because sometimes God calls us to do things that defy the wisdom of the world.

[4:41] So just because we're not good at something doesn't mean that God wouldn't call us to do it anyway. And being engaged in a community that can help us discern that in prayer is a good thing.

[4:53] So all of this was a discussion of the goodness of work. And then last week, Kunle introduced the brokenness of work. He discussed how sin and brokenness in creation can lead to frustration and despair in our work.

[5:07] And this happens for a couple of reasons. First, work can become fruitless, meaning that in all our work, we'll be able to envision far more than we can accomplish, both because of a lack of our ability and also because of the resistance that we might experience in the environment around us.

[5:28] And second, even when work is productive or fruitful, it can become meaningless and it can leave us feeling empty even after we've achieved our aspirations.

[5:41] Kunle also shared some helpful tactics to reorient ourselves when we struggle with fruitlessness or meaninglessness. He noted that adjusting our expectations of work and maintaining a view of the resurrection and eternity can be helpful as we persevere in the face of brokenness in our work.

[5:59] We should expect resistance to productivity and feelings of dissatisfaction sometimes because of the curse. But by recognizing that God still provides in the midst of all of this and has promised redemption and restoration in the end through Jesus, we can rest in the fact that our labor is not in vain, as Paul says.

[6:22] So all of this was an examination of how sin and brokenness in creation affects our work. But today we want to look at how sin and brokenness in our own hearts impacts our experience with work.

[6:34] And I just want to lay out a few points from the very beginning for clarity, the things that I hope we will all walk away with today after our discussion. If God's design for work is, as Sayers puts it, a gracious expression of creative energy offered in service to others, then sin can make work selfish, meaning it's not in service to others.

[6:58] Sin in our work reveals our idols to us and it distorts the expression of creative energy. And identifying and resisting our idols can help us, again, reorient to God's good design for work.

[7:14] So those are the things that we want to work through today. Let me just pause after the review for any questions, comments. Okay, so we'll dive in then.

[7:30] So we've established that one of the primary features of being called to work is that we're called in service to others. That means that meaning and satisfaction and work come from God when we are operating in service to Him first and in service to His creation second.

[7:48] This is the design of work as modeled by God's cultivation of and care for His creation. But when sin entered the equation, we saw that the ground was cursed and with it our work.

[8:01] And it's not just the ground that was cursed, it's also our hearts that were corrupted by sin. And one of the consequences of this is that work becomes a means of serving our own self-interests rather than a means to cultivate and care for God's creation.

[8:18] So we don't have to look much further in Genesis to see an example of the outworking of this. Genesis 11 describes the story of the Tower of Babel. I'll just read that for us quickly, starting in verse 1.

[8:32] Now the whole earth had one language and the same words, and as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.

[8:45] And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

[8:58] And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do.

[9:10] And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down there and confuse their language so that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.

[9:28] So we said last week that work can at times become fruitless and pointless. But in a worldly sense, when we look at Genesis 11, the labor of the people in Shinar was neither fruitless nor pointless on its face.

[9:44] What could be a more obvious application of fruitful cultivation than making bricks and mortar and building a tower? Right? And what could be more meaningful than using this technology to build a society where people can live in safety and they can thrive together?

[10:02] Right? I'm sure this was part of the thought process, but despite the fruitful endeavors of the people toward what I'm sure seemed like a meaningful goal, we know quite well that their work was not pleasing in the sight of the Lord.

[10:17] Why? Even when work feels fruitful and meaningful, there's a danger lurking in the shadows when work becomes selfish, when work is not ultimately in service to the Lord first, even if it is, in a way, in service to others.

[10:38] So in verse 4, look at verse 4, it says, they say to themselves, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens and let us make a name for ourselves lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

[10:53] So you could envision an alternate scenario where the people say, come, let us build a city and a tower to the glory of the Lord and let us proclaim the wonders of his handiwork so that the cultivation of his kingdom might progress in his good timing.

[11:09] And in the alternate scenario, the product might have been exactly the same, a tower with its top to the heavens, right? But what we learn is that when the attitudes and intents underneath our labor are not oriented in service to the Lord and his kingdom, it ultimately leads to the detriment of what we're doing.

[11:29] The people were building their tower in their city out of pride and anxiety to make a name for themselves so that they may not be dispersed across the face of the earth.

[11:41] And their efforts to build the tower were successful, but their city development was stalled and their ultimate fear of being dispersed was realized, not just in the physical component, but in the relational component when their languages were confused.

[11:56] So I think this harkens back to some of the discussion from last week that Kumli got into, that the book of Ecclesiastes highlights the futility of work and indeed all things, when life is divorced from the presence of the Lord, from the presence of the creator and giver of all things.

[12:16] In chapter four there, the teacher Koheleth says, then I saw that all toil and all skill and work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after the wind.

[12:32] C.S. Lewis puts it differently in his book, Mere Christianity. He says, now what I want you to get clear is that pride is essentially competitive. It's competitive by its very nature.

[12:45] Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say people are proud of being rich or clever or good looking, but they are not.

[12:59] They are proud of being richer or cleverer or better looking than others. So we can enjoy great fruitfulness and meaning from our work building a taller tower, a better bridge, a nicer family, a morally just society, and we can be doing all of these things out of interest in excellence and service to human beings.

[13:27] Or we can be doing them to differentiate and elevate ourselves. In the latter, our labor is almost certain to suffer in the long term and ultimately to disappoint us when it does not give us the thing which we are seeking out of it.

[13:45] So that's a way that work can become selfish. We also want to discuss idols, but I want to stop for comments, questions, reflections.

[13:59] Yes? Is it wrong to be, like let's say you accomplish something outward, is it wrong to just kind of sit and enjoy like even if it's a small win?

[14:15] It's not necessarily kind of a place of pride, it's just like, hey, I worked really hard, so I'm happy this went well. Let me repeat your question so I understand it and for the recording too.

[14:30] You're asking, if something goes well at work, is it okay to enjoy it? Is that the, yeah? I think that's a great question and I think the answer is yes and it depends, right?

[14:48] I think part of what we want to do today is go through an exercise of examining the motivations in our own heart for how we're approaching things at work.

[15:00] And so I think at its face, enjoying that something went well is absolutely a great thing, right? Like God gives us blessings and opportunities to engage in the work that he's called us to do and what a great thing it is when because of his grace in our lives, the things that he's called us to are in fact bringing tangible fruit and cultivation to the world in a way that helps people and brings us satisfaction in the work of his kingdom, right?

[15:35] I think where the danger comes is when what we're enjoying is not the cultivation of his kingdom but our own personal successes for our own sort of pride and we want to get into that a little bit more today but that's a great question.

[15:49] Yeah, Peter. To comment on that, I think that might go back to the C.S. Lewis quote about pride and I think it goes down to a difference of, you know, pride and being proud of something.

[16:04] Like I can be, you know, proud of my child's accomplishments as much as I can be, you know, proud or happy that, you know, the Lord helped me accomplish something. But when you get done with that monumental task and it gets done and you're like, oh, thank you, God, I, you know, we got through it and sit back and relax and be happy that it's complete, it can slip into the whole pride thing of, huh, I'll bet you Jamie could have done it as well.

[16:38] Yeah. No, I think that's a great point. I think if we, again, I think what we want to get into is sort of an examination of our own motives and if we're finding enjoyment in, not in the achievement of the thing for the sake of the Lord's kingdom, but in the achievement of the thing for the sake of being better than another, as Peter is saying, then I think we get into some ways that we need to be examining ourselves.

[17:05] Yeah, Susan or Ivor. I'm past this, but I think the big mind field is when you're looking for work and here you have to sell yourself and write your resume as if every good thing that ever happened to your life is a tribute to your capabilities.

[17:24] And I understand the whole thing about credentials and that's not the part that bothers me is just it's a mind field. It's a mind field. I think it's really hard to think your way through that as a Christian.

[17:39] Yeah, I think that's a great word, Susan, just the idea that we have to, in the way our current society works, the way that we search for a job is by meditating on all of the good things that we've done so that we can condense it in a resume.

[18:03] And I think there is a right recognition again of the way that God has designed work and the way that he has designed us to work.

[18:13] And I think it's okay to recognize that he's equipped us in particular and unique ways and that in his sovereignty there are particular needs in the world that he's calling us to fill.

[18:29] And so I do, but I think your point is right that it's a minefield for us to continuously recognize that these achievements we're putting on paper for our resume are achievements that God has equipped us to do for the sake of his kingdom and not for our own personal advancement.

[18:53] Yes, yes. I've heard. I was taught from a very young age that we're supposed to take pride in our work in order to do the best job we possibly can. Sarah, yeah?

[19:07] Just one comment. I agree, and I think also the use of the word pride can be like various, but I just was remembering back to like John Hinkson's session on sub-creators, and then how Kumlay opened up this series of work on creation.

[19:23] If we go back to Genesis 131, God set kind of an example for us to look at the work and feel satisfied. He says God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good.

[19:35] And so I think there's a model for us to kind of observe the work that God has done through us, and making sure that we keep things in the right place, but to feel satisfaction, I think, in the work that's done is good and right, and if I'm speaking for my own self, it's difficult to discern.

[19:58] Often there's like a dual intention in a lot of these feelings that we experience. And so just to acknowledge that and enjoy that and feel the satisfaction with an eye on keeping our intentions pure and listening to the Holy Spirit for conviction in those moments, I think it's both and for those things.

[20:20] Yeah, I think that's a great point. You know, sin corrupts everything, which is why we always have to be on guard with our own idols and our own motivations.

[20:38] But I think it's a great point that when we say being proud of our work, like Ivor says, I think there's a degree of taking satisfaction in our work and kind of, you know, stepping back and looking what God has equipped you to accomplish and beholding the beauty and the goodness of what it is, right?

[21:01] And I think when we say we're proud of our work, there's an element of that in it that is a good thing. But I think Sarah's right that using the word pride can have different connotations.

[21:11] and when we say we're proud of ourselves in the work that we've done, then it becomes a little bit more dangerous. Sammy? Pride, however, does not make people successful, right?

[21:26] That's absolutely correct. Yeah, pride does not make people successful, I think. Pride and in that we do not make ourselves successful, right?

[21:38] God makes us successful. humble ourselves before the Lord. Yes, I think that's a great word. We absolutely should always be humbling ourselves before the Lord. Yeah, thank you.

[21:51] Okay, so this is really helpful and I think we want to take some time to talk through idols. It's a little bit of an expansion on what we're already talking about here, so let me keep going.

[22:07] We said our first point is that sin makes work selfish rather than a labor in service to others, but this leads to the subsequent point, which is that work pursued for our own ends reveals the idols that we have set up in our own hearts and these idols can wreak havoc in our work in a variety of ways.

[22:27] So let's look at Exodus 20 quickly to talk through the concept of idols for just a second. Exodus 20 says, you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.

[22:46] You shall not bow down to them or serve them. So most of us are not carving images and bowing down to them, but the Bible is clear that we set up idols in our hearts in such a way that making an idol is not just a physical process.

[23:03] Keller describes it in this way. He says, making an idol means imagining and trusting anything to deliver the control, security, significance, satisfaction, and beauty that only the real God can give.

[23:18] It means turning a good thing into an ultimate thing. So when we turn a good thing into an ultimate thing, it draws our attention and our devotion from God and it puts it in a place where it doesn't belong.

[23:32] Aside from the danger that idols present in our walk with God, they also have disastrous implications in the outworking of our labor.

[23:43] Idols impair our wisdom, they corrupt our fruit, and they diminish our satisfaction in our calling. I'm not sure how many of you ever watch The Office, the American TV show, but there's one character named Dwight who idolizes ambition and company profit.

[24:06] So he's always seeking a way to elevate himself above his colleagues as the ultimate loyal employee. And there's one episode in particular, this is one of my favorites, when he tries to increase company profits by installing meters on the stalls of the bathrooms for the employees.

[24:25] Right? So his efforts, of course, never come to fruition, and he's always left frustrated because he can't achieve his goals. Right? So if we think back to Sayer's definition, work is a gracious expression of creative energy offered in service to others.

[24:43] Nobody could accuse Dwight of a lack of creativity or energy in his solution for maximizing profits. And likewise, nobody could accuse the people of Shinar of a lack of creativity or energy in building a tower.

[24:59] The downfall here in both of these situations is that the creative energy is not offered in service to others, but rather in service ultimately to themselves, to their success, to their notoriety, and their greatness.

[25:12] And in so doing, the normally good goal isn't realized because the effort is corrupted by their misplaced ultimate goal.

[25:23] Right? And I think one of the points that we really want to examine today is that we all do this in various ways in our work, not to the level of sort of hilarity of installing meters on the bathroom stalls, but buried in our day-to-day activities are these spoken or unspoken goals and expectations that drive the way we think about and carry out our work.

[25:45] And when these goals or expectations are elevated above their rightful places in our hearts, they become idols that do what we said earlier. They impair our decision-making and they diminish our satisfaction in the work that we're doing.

[26:01] So a dedication to high work ethic and fiscal responsibility improperly elevated becomes an unhealthy focus on accumulation of wealth.

[26:12] So we then find ourselves tempted or confused in morally gray areas of profit making because of fear loss of income opportunity. And we think if I work hard, but I don't make good money, then I'll never enjoy abundance.

[26:27] These kinds of if-then statements are the things where I think we can start to probe what is the thing that we're not believing? What are the biblical truths that we're not believing here?

[26:39] A recognition of the goodness of being in relationship with others improperly elevated becomes an endless pursuit of acceptance and affirmation from the world.

[26:53] So then we start placing burdens on our family and friends that they can't carry out of fear of being alone and isolated. We think if I don't find the right friends, the right spouse, raise the right kids, then I'll never enjoy meaningful relationships and I'll be alone forever.

[27:12] If I don't find success in my work, then all of my work is for nothing. If I don't advance in my job, I'll never have the opportunity to make a difference.

[27:27] These if-then statements reveal the idols that are seated in our hearts. And I think examining them in our own hearts can be helpful. We said that idols impair our decision-making and diminish our satisfaction and our calling.

[27:40] So guarding against these or even dethroning them with the help of the Lord can prevent or reverse these effects by reorienting our hearts toward God's good design for work.

[27:55] So ultimately, I think what we're trying to do in reversing this is illuminating wise direction in our work and persevering in the face of fear or frustration or disappointment in our work.

[28:11] So I'm going to stop there too and ask for comments, questions, reflections. There are so many ways that idols can be set up in our hearts that it's hard to sort of comprehensively think through all of the ways that this might happen.

[28:42] But I think it's helpful to think through just a few examples. So I have an example.

[28:55] I'm an engineer and I can give some examples from my own job and how working this out can kind of look.

[29:07] But at this point, what I'm hoping is for discussion and engagement. So I'll talk about it a little bit, but interrupt me at any point if you want.

[29:20] So we talked about these kind of high level things, right? I can be setting up an idol, pursuing wealth, you know, relationships, success in my work or advancement in my job.

[29:33] These are high level things, but getting into the specifics for our day to day is I think where it can be helpful. So as I said, I'm an engineer.

[29:43] Most engineers really like to build things. But the more complex the thing is and the riskier it is to the user, the more documentation is required.

[29:58] And documentation typically isn't the first love of engineers to my knowledge. But it is good and necessary.

[30:09] But there's one big if-then statement that I think we all have to be on guard against when we're engaging in our documentation and that's if nobody reads this document, then the work doesn't matter.

[30:20] Right? This is a real issue for me because lots of engineers work on lots of products that never see the light of day because for whatever reason the product was not deemed viable in the market.

[30:32] And so often when we're documenting things, it's well recognized that some of the documents, not all, but some of them may never get reviewed by anyone.

[30:47] So we said work is a gracious expression of creative energy offered in service to others. So if I make documents that nobody will read describing a product that will never get made, does the work no longer matter?

[31:04] Should we as engineers bother putting any of our creative energy into making these documents good? Mixed up in the question I think is some of what we've discussed both from this week and last week.

[31:16] There's an idle at play here. If others do not see and approve of my work, then what I do has no meaning and thus no value. Yes, Iver? I would disagree with that because you are letting management know that this product is not going to work.

[31:37] I agree. Yes. So the idea that in our documentation we're letting our management know that the product is not going to work. work. So even if whatever customers don't see the instructions that we wrote, the regulatory bodies don't see the reports that we wrote, whatever it happens to be, they do still have value.

[31:58] And I think that's the point that we want to get to, Iver, is that the idle, the thing that we tend to believe in those moments is the lie. Right? Like, I'm going to do this and nobody's going to read it and so it doesn't matter.

[32:11] That's not true. Yeah, Peter. Well, the fatal flaw in that thought process is that nobody's going to see it when, of course, you know, you're working for the Lord and so the Lord's going to still see it.

[32:23] Yes, that is exactly right. So the Lord is still going to see it. And I think, I'm going to start jumping around now in my notes and so it's going to get a lot less organized, so I apologize.

[32:35] But that highlights something that's really important. And this is for me personally, like, as I was writing this, this is, I needed this this week, right?

[32:46] Because I'm working on a lot of documents right now that I'm like, I don't know where these are going to go, but they are important. And I needed this reminder. And Kunle shared the Tolkien story, Leaf by Nigel, last week.

[33:01] This idea that there's an artist who has a vision of a tree. And this tree is big and beautiful and glorious. And it's in his mind.

[33:13] And he takes, he takes up the task of trying to put it on paper. And he labors for so long and he labors so hard. And the only thing he got out of it was this little leaf.

[33:25] And he despairs over it. And in the end, when he dies and he's in heaven, he's, he finds the tree in all of its beauty, in all of its glory.

[33:40] And he recognizes his role in, in just bringing out just the little bit of beauty now that's a reflection and a signpost of the beauty that is to come in the very end.

[33:54] And so that is, and that gets back to what Peter is saying about this example of documentation. I'm saying somewhere there is a glorious filing cabinet that's full of all of the reports that nobody saw with all of the knowledge that I forgot, comprehensively documented with clarity and precision.

[34:19] And I'll have my one little page in there that was just my little contribution. And it will be glorious. And so I think even if nobody ever saw it, the Lord would see it.

[34:33] And what I want to guard against a little bit is, is we want to engage in the work well, not out of fear of judgment from the Lord for doing it improperly, but out of a hope of what the Lord is doing in the midst of our feebleness and our, our just finiteness in, and in, in, in our sin in the world.

[35:01] Susan. Alex, I just want to add to that. We mentioned with, like, that we're very poor judges of our own, the efficacy of our own work.

[35:11] So you, from my own limited perspective, it does seem like nobody's going to ever see this. I would say that your co-workers may notice what energy you give to this.

[35:26] And they may know that that's kind of unusual. And we don't know what power it is you have in, in being, in having integrity and things that maybe other people don't know.

[35:40] So we're just, I think that's, yeah, a great word, Susan. I think there is an element of when we work unto the Lord, as unto the Lord and not for man, there is an element of being salt and light in the world and being sort of set apart as followers of Christ.

[36:04] And, and I think what we're trying to, I think what we're trying to highlight in those moments is the hope that we have for our work, that our work, our labor is not in vain.

[36:21] It matters because it's part of the cultivation of God's kingdom. And it's part of his care for creation, even if in our limited view, we don't really see how that, how that plays out.

[36:38] Sarah? Just share some additional like perspective. I feel like what you were sharing is like this moment of discouragement in your work. And then we point back to what is true, right?

[36:50] And so I feel like for me in these, these highs and these lows of work, often it's the high and the low where the idolatry has crept in for me.

[37:01] And so when I'm feeling like, oh my gosh, what am I even doing on my computer? Like I'm just tapping a million keys. You know, what does this even mean? And I have my existential crisis. Often that's when sin has crept in, right?

[37:15] And so we anchor on, this is my calling actually, and it matters because God has said, go and be sub creators, go and do the work that I have called you to do.

[37:26] And today, this is your work and, you know, do it. And, and I, and it is bringing me glory. The fact that you are doing what I have called you to do and, you know, and keeping that anchor of perspective while examining our hearts, you know, for the, the idols that may have crept in and reminding ourselves what is true, you know, and, and how it matters.

[37:46] But I think ultimately keeping an eye on like God's glory and what he has called us to. And that I think salt and light is an outpouring of us diligently following our calling and, and, and listening to the Holy Spirit.

[38:03] And, um, yeah, but anyways, I guess, sorry, I'm rambling a bit, but what I was sharing is like, I feel like it's the highs and the lows where the examination and the idols and the, um, the temptations creeps in most.

[38:19] Yeah. To kind of succumb to what you're saying. Yeah. That's great. Yeah.

[38:31] Yeah. Yeah. Hopefully it wasn't too off topic, but the Exodus reading made me think of the idea that in the desert, there's sort of two, uh, settlements. There's sort of the, the organizing community around the golden calf or organizing the community in the sort of temporary cap encampment with the tabernacle at the center.

[38:50] And so if that's sort of a metaphor for ourselves, we can kind of work on bringing our hearts of the golden calf and sort of try to focus on the, the tabernacle, the center of our hearts.

[39:01] But if it's also sort of a metaphor for our work, um, as you sort of work on ridding your heart of the golden calf, if you're sort of living in a community that's organized around the golden calf, that tension's kind of sort of increases as the golden calf is eradicated and it's hard to, uh, to see that the center of your community is, is troubled.

[39:28] I don't know if that gets too off topic. No, it doesn't get off topic at all. Actually, it's a, it's a really helpful point, um, that, uh, we, I, I, we didn't have time quite to get to today, but I would really encourage anybody who's interested in that to go read what Keller has written in his book because he has a lot of discussion on what he calls corporate and cultural idols.

[39:53] Um, and we talk a lot about at the individual level, uh, you know, the idols in our hearts and how we look at our hearts and understand, um, how idols are influencing what we're doing.

[40:03] But there, there are these sort of cultural and corporate influences that are at play, uh, in, in, in the ways that sin is, is, um, is sort of corrupting the world and, um, and it matters, uh, for us what sort of community that we're in because of the idols that, that are at play in, in the various types of communities.

[40:32] So, um, I'm not doing it justice. Keller has some really great content on, on that. Um, but I think it highlights the importance of being rooted in biblical community, no matter what cultural context you're in.

[40:47] Um, because that's where the truth that, that battles or dethrones these idols is going to be constantly and regularly communicated and reinforced in our hearts.

[40:59] Right. So, so I, I think, I, I'm not sure if I understood your, your point or your question correctly, but, um, but I, I think it's really helpful to, to identify.

[41:09] Um, I'll just say in, uh, in a quick conclusion, um, that nobody does what we're talking about perfectly.

[41:25] Right. Um, um, sin corrupts everything, um, including our hearts. And I, somebody said it earlier, but like our motivations are always going to be kind of mixed and pulled in different directions.

[41:41] And the point in this is that we should always be running back to the Lord for his help in humility and dependence, because he is the one who equips us to do the work that he has called us to do.

[41:53] So being less selfish and dethroning our idols doesn't make us more acceptable to God. You know, this isn't the way that we make ourselves justified before the, uh, justified before the Lord, but it's, um, it is work that he has called us to do, uh, as we engage in our walk with him to just, um, be sensitive to the ways that the spirit is, is calling us toward, uh, sanctification on a daily basis and calling us to, to engage in the work, um, that, that he's called us to.

[42:25] So, uh, there's a couple minutes left. And so I do want to just leave room for any other questions or comments that have come up from the discussion.

[42:37] Okay. Well, if there's nothing, then, um, I can close this in prayer, um, and, and we can head downstairs.

[42:51] Thanks everybody for, for coming today. Uh, let's pray. Lord, uh, we do just, uh, put all of this before you, um, and confess that, um, we are not sufficient for the work that you've called us to do, but Lord, in your grace that you have equipped us to, um, to engage in the work, Lord.

[43:12] And we, we confess that, um, our selfishness and our idols do, uh, they, they corrupt our hearts, Lord, and they, um, they distract from the work that you've called us to do.

[43:27] And we just ask that by your spirit, you would be, um, you would be sanctifying us, um, day by day, Lord, to make us, um, and mold us into the image of your son.

[43:38] Um, and that you would give us a hope, um, in the difficulties of our work, that, uh, our labor is not in vain, um, but that you are using and redeeming all of our labors.

[43:51] Uh, for the sake of your kingdom, Lord. And we just pray that we would, uh, find hope and joy and satisfaction in that. And it's in Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right.

[44:01] Thanks everyone for coming. Um, I think we will not meet for the next two weeks. Um, next week is Easter. And then the week after that, Kunle and I are both out of town. So, um, in three weeks we'll, we'll meet again.

[44:15] So thanks for coming. Sure. Actually, I think you needed this class today. Hmm? I think I needed this class today.

[44:26] Did you? Good. Yeah, the last time I went to work, I, uh, uh, had a patient. And so, uh, originally I was, uh, working with just one, one patient that had an empty bed.

[44:41] And, uh, another, uh, nurses, you know, had a busier, uh, and she's like, hey, maybe you can take my one patient. That way, you know, I can just focus more on this other busier patient.

[44:55] I, uh, and I told her, no, I don't think that's a good idea. Yeah. I'm a senior at that place. Mm-hmm. There's certain things that I've been trained to do that other nurses haven't been trained to do.

[45:09] Right. That in itself leads to worries about pride. But I was like, no, I, you know, what happens if somebody comes in there and then we're switching the patient back again?

[45:21] Yeah. And, you know, you end up with three different nurses for one patient in a 12-hour shift. Yeah. There's no, well, a patient did end up coming in who not only was a really, really sick neuro patient, but also had peritoneal dialysis.

[45:35] Mm-hmm. Which everybody in neuro, you know, neck up, they, they, they don't know how to take care of anything else. And there was definitely some toadstepping on the crime.

[45:49] Yeah. Nobody else could have taken care of this patient on the floor. Yeah. So. Yeah. Yeah? No, I, I definitely needed this. Yeah, well, I'm glad to hear that.

[46:01] Thanks so much for, for sharing that. It's an encouragement. These are brilliant. And I hope everything worked out well anyway with the, with the, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We, we, we, we got the stuff going.

[46:12] Okay. Okay. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good.

[46:22] Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good.