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Preaching Today: Why is work such an important topic for preaching?

Jim Rose: People typically spend the lion's share of their time in the workplace, and that workplace occupies a majority of their thinking.

It's also the place that we're going to see the work of Christ go forward. People need to understand their work is a calling from God, just like being in the pulpit is a calling from God. If they don't understand that, they will tend to separate their work from God's work. And that's devastating to the church's effectiveness.

Just down the road from us is Mason, Texas, where the author of Ol' Yeller lived. I heard he said, "Every time I go into my studio to write, I go into a cathedral." His point was not that his writing was so awe-inspiring, but that his writing was what he did to serve God.

What did your experience as an engineer at NASA teach you about preaching on work?

In my engineering days, I had more opportunities for touching unchurched people, talking about Christ, than I've ever had as a pastor. When you work alongside someone, that person's guard isn't up. It's a wonderful opportunity. That's why we can never preach in a way that suggests vocational Christian work is more important or more blessed by God than other professions.

Being on the front line myself gave me a feeling for the people who would one day listen to me preach. I know the pressures they're facing, but I also know the opportunities and can encourage them.

You've pastored in varied settings, from New York City, to Florida, to Texas. Does preaching on work change with the setting?

In Florida, many of our people were in real estate. My illustrations in particular reflected the unique frustrations and economics they faced. My first several years in Dallas, the economy was crazy. People were making millions. But when the bottom fell out around 1986, I had to remind people that their work was still God's call.

I'll give you an example of what not to do. When I got to New York City, I assumed everybody at Calvary would be reading The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times . I assumed I knew the work pressures and experiences they faced. But that wasn't true at all. Most of the people at Calvary are blue-collar or secretarial employees. The CEOs moved out of the city long ago. And so my preaching needed to focus instead on finding your calling in the mundane and routine, when you're locked in a position where you can't go up.

How do you encourage the person who doesn't have many opportunities to witness to coworkers?

I remember going through difficult times in my engineering career when we'd either lost a contract or solving some problem wasn't going well. I thought, It would sure be wonderful to serve the Lord where you don't have any of this. But that's just when the real opportunity to live for the Lord comes—in that kind of pressure. The quality of work you produce and the attitude and character you show on the job, particularly when things aren't going well, become your ministry.

For example, when I was pastoring in Austin, the dot-com industry ran into trouble. One of our guys was told he would be let go from his computer-based company in six months and was asked, "Would you try to get everything transferred over before you leave?" He did this with such vigor and good attitude that the senior executives of the company noticed it. They not only kept him on, they asked him, "Why is this happening? You have an attitude we haven't seen before."

James Rose served as pastor or Calvary Baptist Church in Manhattan, New York.