Keller's Every Good Endeavor - Chapter 11 - A New Compass for Work

I'll be facilitating a brief discussion on chapter eleven (pages 198-225) of Keller's Work Monday evening. Here are a few questions we'll use to guide the discussion:

1. Is Milton Friedman right when he says that the business manager's only job is to maximize shareholder value? Will the market itself reward integrity and punish dishonesty?
    
2. Keller titled the chapter "A New Compass for Work." In one word, what is that compass?
     
3. In regard to wisdom and decision making, Keller points to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. How does, or has, the Holy Spirit played into your decision making?
     
4. How is the usual approach to capitalism compatible with Christianity? How is it incompatible?
     

Keller's Every Good Endeavor - Chapter 10 - A New Conception of Work

I'll be facilitating a brief discussion on chapter ten (pages 183-197) of Keller's Work Monday evening. Here are a few questions we'll use to guide the discussion:

1. Keller opens chapter 10 with this question (183): “We all know someone in our field who is not a Christian who seems to hold the best values and produce the most elegant product, beautiful dance piece, or trusted and well-organized work team. If the Christian worldview is so unique, how do we account for this?”  
   
2. What are some of the dangers if we get the first question wrong? What are some of the dangers if we misunderstand the difference between “Christian work” and “non-Christian work”? 
   
3. How does an understanding of common grace help us understand work? 

 

 

Work and Calling - Seen by a 20 Something

Rather than looking to Keller's work for the discussion I've been leading monthly, this time I want to discuss a recent article from Relevant Magazine: Your Job is More Important Than You Think.

I look at Relevant from time to time; I appreciate the perspective from 20-30 something Christians.

I suspect our discussion will go along the lines of "how do we as a church validate calling in the 20-30 somethings in our midst?"

Keller's Every Good Endeavor - Chapter 9 - A New Story for Work

I'll be facilitating a discussion on chapter nine (pages 155-182) of Keller's Work Monday evening. In this case, the best discussion questions are likely those found at near the end of the chapter (page 181):

• What's the story line of the culture in which I live and the field where I work? Who are the protagonists and antagonists?
• What are the underlying assumptions about meaning, morality, origin, and destiny?
• What are the idols? The hopes? The fears?
• How does my particular profession retell this story line, and what part does the profession itself play in the story?
• What parts of the dominant worldview are basically in line with the gospel, so that I can agree with and align with them?
• What parts of the dominant worldviews are irresolvable without Christ? Where, in other words, must I challenge my culture? How can Christ complete the story in a different way?
• How do these stories affect both the form and the content of my work personally? How can I work not just with excellence but also with Christian distinctiveness in my work?
• What opportunities are there in my profession for
• serving individual people,
• serving society at large,
• serving my field of work,
• modeling competence and excellence, and
• witnessing to Christ?
  
   

Keller's Every Good Endeavor - Chapter 8 - Work Reveals Our Idols

I'll be facilitating a discussion on chapter eight (pages 129-152) of Keller's Work Thursday evening. Here are some questions I've pulled together for discussion.

1. Keller defines idolatry as "imagining and trusting anything to deliver the control, security, significance, satisfaction, and beauty that only the real God can give. It means turning a good thing into an ultimate thing." Do you see parallels to our Sunday-morning series in 1 Corinthians? What might they be?
     
2. Keller expands from mere individual or personal idols to cultural and corporate idols. What idols might easily ensnare our subculture in our Church?
    

Keller's Every Good Endeavor - Chapter 7 - Work Becomes Selfish

I'll be facilitating a discussion on chapter seven (pages 113-128) of Keller's Work Thursday evening. Here are some questions I've pulled together for discussion.

One of the reasons work is both fruitless and pointless is the powerful inclination of the human heart to make work, and its attendant benefits, the main basis of one's meaning and identity. [113]

1. Keller opens the chapter with a focus on Genesis 11 (Tower of Babel), stating that we "make a name for ourselves" with our work both individually and as groups. When it comes to making a name for yourself, where do you turn? Individually or a group? What role(s) or group(s)?
     
2. Keller then moves to Esther, talking about the "power of the palace" and the compromises that often come with palace residence [118]. Did any of those stories resonate? Are there examples you can share in which you need to navigate "gray areas"?
      
3. How do you get a new name based on something other than the palace? [123]
    

Keller's Every Good Endeavor - Chapter 6 - Work Becomes Pointless

I'll be facilitating a discussion on chapter six (pages 98-112) of Keller's Work Thursday evening. Here are some questions I've pulled together for discussion.

1. The chapter is largely based on the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes, starting with a reference to Ecclesiastes 2:17, "So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." When do you find your work most meaningless? When do you find your work most meaningful?
      
2. Keller says, "One of the reasons so many people find work to be unsatisfying is, ironically, that people today have more power to choose their line of work than did people in the past." Do you agree, disagree, why? What are important lessons learned from your choices?
       
3. Keller closes the chapter with another reference to Ecclesiastes (4:5,6):
   
   "Fools fold their hands
       and ruin themselves.
    Better one handful with tranquility
       than two handfuls with toil
       and chasing after the wind."
   
   What are some useful strategies to attain what many people today refer to as work/life balance?