Sean Johnson - Intentionally - The Education of Sean Johnson

This is the second in a series of posts on building a personal sanctuary. You can find the first post here.

There is a school of thought that is extremely pervasive in the world, Christian and otherwise. For most people who would call themselves “spiritual,” life is divided into their thought or spiritual life…and everything else.

I’m certainly no exception. I often feel like I have to put myself in a “spiritual place.” That is, I often feel as though my thoughts or my actions - or simply the way my day is going - somehow keeps me outside of the realm where I can enjoy a relationship with God. More importantly, I feel as though I only have a certain amount of time in my day that can (or should) be devoted to growing that relationship.

Putting Your Life Into Boxes

It’s funny - we so often treat that realm of our lives as though it is something that should be relegated to the periphery. Sure, I believe in God, and sure, I believe that I’m supposed to go to church and be a nice person and all that. But then I’ve got to go to work and buy groceries and mow my lawn. I’ve got to hang out with my friends and go to the gym. I’ve got to get on with my life.

I’ve often wondered why this is. I’m sure some of it is that we were brought up that way - for most of us, religion was more of a ritual than an experience. Go to church on Sunday (or Easter,) read your Bible (or at least buy one and have it around the house,) and be a generally nice, amiable person.

Not much in there about having a relationship. Not much in there about experiencing God. It seems much more like completing a mindless checklist. It’s almost like taking out an insurance policy. Sit in church for an hour on Sunday and you’re covered - you know, just in case all this God stuff is actually true.

And then it’s back to the real world - you have real problems, real concerns that are grounded in life - the ethereal, the philosophical has no place in this part of your world. You’re too busy.

Interestingly enough, it seems as though this is where we make our first error in judgment. We feel as though God (or the concept of God) only belongs in our lives in doses - that it only represents a small piece of the fabric that collectively makes up what we call “our life.”

That’s not how it’s supposed to be. This “God thing” that we put into a little comparment is supposed to be the very foundation on which our lives are built. The parable of the man who built his house on the rock - the house represents his life in its entirety. “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,” says Paul, “do everything for the glory of God.”

But how do we realistically give our entire lives to God? How do we begin to move down this path of spiritual discipline - the same path that the apostles and the religious writers of old went down themselves? How do we become a strong man or woman of God?

Our journey begins in the ordinary experiences of life. It’s in the minutia, the detail, the seemingly insignificant moments. And nowhere is this more evident than in our work.

Growing Through Work

Unlike any other creature that walks the Earth, we are creators. We’ve built towers and bridges and cars and airplanes. We’ve built million dollar businesses on nothing but an idea. IT seems that everywhere you go, the creative energy of humanity is present.

Why is this a discipline? Why does thisbring us into a closer relationship with God? The answer is that by approaching your work with this understanding puts your mind in a different perspective. Once you realize that, just like God created the heavens and the Earth, formed mountains and developed the ecosystesm necessary to support life - just as he created, so too do we.

Work places us in a closer relationship with Christ as well. With the understanding that Christ was instrumental in creation, acting out the will of the father, we become increasingly aware of our power in creating and our responsibility therein.

I hope it’s obvious that when I speak of discplining ourselves through work, I’m not talking about preaching to people at work. While there’s nothing necessarily wrong with sharing your faith at work, what I’m speaking of is the act of the work itself. By engaging in the creative process (all the time training oneself to be aware of what the creative process represents and the reasons the creative faculty was given to you,) you are glorifying God through the act of working.

Christ didn’t start His ministry until his late twenties. Until that time, he was a carpenter. Imagine - the man who was perpetually in communion with the father, spending years toiling away making chairs and…and, whatever else carpenters made back then. Why would he wait to begin his ministry? Christians like to focus on Christ’s godliness, but think a moment about his humanity. I like to picture a young man disciplining Himself to be ready - and, just as I can imagine him reading the ancient religious texts of the time with fervor, I can also picture him dilligently working in his shop, sharing in the amazing experience of creation once again with his Father.

Cultivating Intimacy While Producing Results

The discipline of work brings substantial benefits. You no longer are worried about politics or the divisiveness often found in a working environment - you’re working as hard as you can not because you worry about being watched but because your work represents an offering.

You learn to embrace the concept that Christ is with you all the time. I used to ask myself why he’d want to be there - so much of my life is mundane, repepetive, boring! Why would he want to share the experience of me creating a design for a new school? The answer is very likely that few things bring him more pleasure than watching this creature who was made in his image engage in the creative process.

Imagine you’re looking for someone to hire - this person works as hard as they can because they believe it’s one of the highest things they can do. They’re in love not with what the work results in monetarily or otherwise, but with the work itself and the joy it brings to their Creator. They are dilligent - showing up early, producing results with immense efficiency and care. Why would you not hire that person?

Imagine you had greater intimacy with God, produced great results for your company, had unusual patience and serenity in the midst of interpersonal conflict that now seems so meaningless and petty. Why would you not want to be that person?