Reviews
Taming today’s lions Job-Shadowing Daniel: Walking the Talk at Work. By Larry Peabody (Outskirts, 2010, 194 pp. $16.95 U.S.)
W
e all know Daniel from Sunday school, perhaps also from the old gospel hymn, Dare to be a Daniel. But is he more than a one-night stand in the lion’s den? Daniel emerges here as more than a mere pop-up on the biblical screen. Peabody depicts him as a seasoned bureaucrat who served many decades in the upper reaches of the Babylonian government — “a world superpower of the day” — and who “had his hands on its levers of power.” During that time he would
Plant your feet in your own Babylon and let Daniel be your mentor have confronted numerous “workplace lions” in addition to the growling creatures he faced in the infamous den. His Godly witness, then, is more than a one-time showdown, and as such his life “provides a lens through which you can see Jesus more clearly, even as you run the faith-race in your workplace.” None of us are likely to face a literal carnivorous threat in the places we work, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other forces out to devour us. “Your workplace ‘lions’ can be just as daunting,” Peabody asserts. Our “lions” might be cloaked in the fur of legalistic separation (the world is too polluted for us); religious tradition (which splits our world into sacred and secular and demeans those who live in the
latter); diminished identity (“I’m just a layperson”) and unbelieving co-workers who will pounce at the first hint of a Christian witness. Peabody’s hope is that Christians will plant their feet in the Babylon of their own workplaces and live authentic lives Monday to Friday. “But,” he says, “our training has not readied us with a clear idea of what ministry looks like in the day-in-day-out flow of life in the work world where so many Christians spend so much time.” He reviews — and critiques — how ecclesiastical structures and tradition have kept Christians from seeing themselves as full-bodied ministers by separating “laypeople” from “full-time” workers in the church. “Other than fueling financial contributions, the workplace plays little or no role in the traditional
church system,” he writes. In fact, there seems to be a “Christian caste system” in place that “assigns most Christians to the minor leagues and a tiny few to the majors.” Somewhere along the way the church has forgotten that it is not only ekklesia (gathered people) but also diaspora (scattered-seed people). By doing so it has unwittingly played
One decision a day In normal times, the labor force in the United States totals roughly 150 million. Suppose the average working person averages one decision on an ethical question each day. That would amount to 150 million right-versus-wrong choices in the workplace daily. Let’s say half of these people believe God sees each choice and why they make it. The other half think God can’t or doesn’t bother to see such things. Each group will be making 75 million ethical decisions per day. How do you think the choices of the God-sees group would differ from the God-doesn’t-see group? Which workers would do a better job of ruling their small corner of the earth by bringing situations into line with God’s will? — Larry Peabody
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into the hands of those who would “quarantine Christian influence” inside the safe confines of Sunday. Daniel shows us how to live as scattered seed, Peabody says. Although 2,600 years separate Daniel’s workplace from ours, there are lessons for today. Among them: Know the spiritual risks in our world, and “Decide to resist the rot, not to run from it.” Peabody provides plenty of specific illustrations of how this might be done, and they are not confined to spiritual wordplay. A Christian presence on the job “does not mean doing religious things on company time.” Peabody offers suggestions for how Christians can think through how their daily work fits into God’s big-picture agenda. He urges them to think about how their work: • benefits those outside the family; • supplies something needed by people; • contributes to the upkeep of the earth; • helps create or maintain peaceful and quiet conditions. Dare to be a Daniel? “I wouldn’t advise anyone to take the dare at face value,” Peabody concludes. “Daniel was Daniel. David was David. Paul was Paul. And you are you. Instead, I dare you to be you, yourself, right there in your workplace. Look to Daniel as a mentor. But let God develop you and your ministry in the way that belongs uniquely to you.” — Wally Kroeker
The Marketplace November December 2010
