Lines of Engagement – dissatisfaction

Have you ever noticed that office grumbling is rarely a spectator sport? Once one person gets going, it’s hard to keep away. And the topics are unlimited – colleagues’ behaviour, the way things are done, the rewards other people are given, or how boring a task is. Dissatisfaction at this level is rife. I chatted recently with Peter, one of my non-Christian friends, who has just about everything you could ever dream of having. In a reflective moment, he surprised me by saying ‘how unsatisfying’ his life was. When I asked him what he meant, he started to talk about wanting a chance to help others and to put his money to good use. He no longer just esteemed the business of making money and the status attached to his success, which I had assumed were his priorities.

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Thoughts on Failure

Thoughts on Failure

Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: ‘Before the cock crows today, you will disown me three times’.

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Lines of engagement 1 - Satisfaction

A common difficulty I pick up from people is that of getting a Christian perspective into workplace conversations. From my own experience the problem comes because we try to have our ‘Christian’ conversation on our terms. Frankly this just isn’t where most of our colleagues are at, and more genuine subtlety is useful if our conversations are to appear gracious rather than proselytic. Jesus often used the language and issues of those around Him as a springboard to take the conversation to matters of the Kingdom.

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What does success mean for a Christian in terms of career?

Well, the Bible is full of stories of people who make it to the top in their respective careers, and people who achieve all that they set out to do in life. The interesting thing is that their success in human terms is judged as either success or failure in Biblical narrative, not according to their final position of promotion, but according to how they have done the tasks they were given, and most importantly how they have sought to remain faithful to God in all that they have done.

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Power, Protest and Prayer?

If recent months are anything to go by, the revolt against global Capitalism has just got serious. We are no longer looking at a handful of dreadlocked travellers, but at a growing global movement that is fast gaining both momentum and influence. As disparate as it is ubiquitous, this movement (for want of a better term) is increasingly well organised. Primarily via the internet, individuals and groups are being mobilised to demonstrate against Capitalism in locations where they will be most effectively heard by the media, by multi-national powers, by governments, and by you and me.

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