I guess I’m a little late to the party. Just discovered your blog tonight.

I have a slightly different take on the whole matter. I believe that God places us in our situations as He sees fit, and calls us to several vocations. I am a father, a husband, a son, an employee, a boss, a member of a Christian congregation. With each of these positions come God given responsibilities.(eg. “He who does not provide for his family is worse than an unbeliever and denies the faith.” says the apostle Paul.) The Lutherans call this the doctrine of vocation, and it is one of Martin Luther’s biblical re-discoveries. He posited this teaching over against the Roman Catholic idea that if it wasn’t done “in the Church” or wasn’t “ministry” it was not Christian service to your neighbor, or valid service to God. Gene Veith wrote an excellent book on the subject called ‘God at Work.’ Our ‘witness’ is in our parenting, and at our work, and how we treat our parents, friends and neighbors, in addition to sharing the Gospel with folks. Maybe you and your commenters did not mean to, but some of the points made border dangerously close to the idea that unless you are involved in some sort of ‘ministry’ (read that as activity at, for, or about church and an overt sharing of the Gospel message), then it is of no real value in service to our Lord, and you aren’t following the Spirit’s lead.

Looking around your blog I noticed some of your favorite authors and teachers. While making great contributions to theology and ministry, at least one of these gentlemen had the reputation as a lousy family man. More recently the son of a very prominent hero of the Evangelical world wrote a book pulling back the curtain on his crappy family life living perpetually in ministry with his family, and his father’s many failings. I only bring this up to make the point that there needs to be some balance. I have read several first person essays by people who exposed their families to ridiculous dangers in their zealous missionary endeavors. I have known Pastors who have destroyed their families, for the sake of “ministries” that God has called them to. Their witness was entirely destroyed and their children left the faith. We all know Christians who witness all the time at work, but are lazy, rude to customers, or otherwise poor employees. You can talk about Jesus all you want, but if the quality of your work sucks, or you have a chronically bad attitude, you only incite resentment against the church and fellow Christians.

It’s easy to bash on those of us who have to work long hours to feed clothe and shelter our families, and whose strenuous efforts have provided a more than adequate standard of living; to say that we are materialistic, and need to spend more time in church related activity that passes for ministry, but I think it is a little more complicated than that.

Peace