Marketplace Musings - Meanderings

Whoa! It's been a very refreshing time, seeing the various comments and perspectives offered. Thanks a lot Huanyan and Elvis! :) I'll quote this one by Huanyan that's worth a good think:

And one thing about marketplace ministry. Just because I am concentrating on my marketplace and choose not to do mission, it doesn't mean that I am not following God. If I am able to make an impact and bring God's kingdom into my workplace, I am indeed fulfilling the Great Commission. And people in the marketplace can use their influence to help to advance the cause of the Church. To divert a bit, mission, by biblical definition, will always involve crossing over terriorial borders (ask Julian about it). So it is not about missions. It's about bringing God's Kingdom.

And Elvis:

I think that we are "obligated" in the great commission but to do church planting it's another level.


Some people in God's kingdom have been more anointed in that aspect.


We HAVE to preach the gospel :P but there are many different types of roles for that job, some are teachers, some are pastors some are church planters.


We have the same GOAL (Great commission) but we cannot enforce someone to go do a certain role, only God can do that :)

Ah. And I just read Marcus' post on the marketplace. It's very good food for thought!

This conversation led me to reflect about my 3-yr working life and my faith journey. I remembered the sharing by Benjamin Phua who shared during the marketplace seminar, how working and giving your best is your ministry and offering to the Lord. The statement that he made about going for mission trip or joining as church staff should not be used easily as an excuse to run away from the challenges of the marketplace still stirred within my heart. At this stage of my career, I remembered the struggles of practising one's faith and yet giving a decent performance in my work. It is not as easy as compared to student life. An example is how do you attend cg when you need to rush some reports and have a deadline to meet? Working in a non-profit organisation presents its own set of issues. Serving a Christian boss is not necessarily an easier thing and operational issues such as meeting the bottomline are as real as its altruistic mission that it is trying to achieve. How does one finds the motivation and incentive to work when there is no real tangible benefit?


To me, givng your best in work is first and foremost an important key to be an effective witness in the field that the Lord has put you in. If you cannot mangage well work given to you, it is not going to be easy to be 'salty' and witnessing about our faith. Doing well in your work is already a testimony for Him as it shows the good work attitude one puts in. However, giving too much to your work such that you neglect your church commitment is not something to proud of as the things of Him last for eternity while work is only for this lifetime. Balance is the key, not by proportion but by the values you set. One has to determine and set the pace and direction for his working life. There is no such thing as less equal and affirming if you so decided to want to make it big in the marketplace,devoting much of your time and effort compared to someone who is a civil servant and values stability and work-life balance. Who says that a 9-6 job is less celebrated to someone who wants to venture in the private sector? I do not believe that there are lesser challenges involved. Think the crucial question to ask: in whatever setting, is God your partner in the process? Are you one step closer to what He wants you to do? There is no retirement from the job unless He asks you to. Are you experiencing personal breakthroughs if you still stay on the job? Changing job cannot always be used as an excuse to escape the furnace that He has prepared for you and it is the same everywhere else. We will all be tested, be it relationship between bosses,colleagues or job-specific issues. Big ways or small ways. It is about your response and how you stick to your call no matter what and allow His grace and strength to sustain you through the storms. There is no permanent retirement from seeking and serving Him.

So... what am I making of all these? I think it's the heart for every Christian to want to live a life worthy of God's calling. And as I was thinking about this, I think God reminded me (quite a bit through Elvis' comment haha) that we all are different members of the same Body. Some have this strength, others have that strength, but all have the same love and same mind and same purpose: to glorify God. I shouldn't criticize others if they don't share my perspective... but rather, rejoice at their hearts of wanting to love God and people.

Reminded of this: Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Sometimes it's so simple as that.

To me, one of my core convictions is that if you're not where God wants you to be, then you're not fulfilling His destiny for your life, no matter how well you do in ministry or in the marketplace (I'm using the Christian version here... not the Fairprice or Shensiong or dry or wet... thanks Andrew hor...).

But... ah, just to assure everyone... I'm all for serving in the marketplace if God says go there. Because I'm in the marketplace... and I know God has called me to the media industry to serve there for this period of time. How long? I have no idea. But I think this time in the media industry is going to be a very invaluable preparation for the missions field. Like how God used Eric Liddell to glorify Him in the Olympics... and later on, called him to run a much greater and longer race in China... one that would only end with his death in China.

Now that I've finished going through my thots... I wanna share about how God has helped me in the marketplace. I think that part about not running away resonated in my heart too. One reason why I was considering leaving my previous job was that I really didn't enjoy the nature of the job, and found myself lacking in the aptitude for it. So I assessed my heart, and prayed and fasted for a few months (weekly lah), and asked God whether I should stay or go. And thank God... He confirmed very clearly, "GO". But I was ready to stay and stick on to my first job if God had said, "STAY". I wouldn't have been too delighted about it, but I was ready to trust God's guidance, either way. LOL.

So now I'm in this new media industry, and man... you know what? My engineering experience really lends itself very well to what I'm doing now. Haha. In fact, my boss asked me to be the "middleman" between her and the IT developer, as I'm able to understand and communicate with both the creative and the IT worlds. And I really look forward to going to work each day, even on Mondays. Haha. :) I remember that the first 2 years in engineering were important for establishing discipline in me and training me to be more rigorous and systematic. Thank God for my team leaders, who even gave me project management advice. Wow. And you know, my storywriting skills back from Primary School (In fact, I won first prize in a storywriting competition...) used to lie dormant... until recently. So as I reflect on it all, I remember Benjamin Pwee's words: "No skill or experience that God has given me will ever be wasted." It's so true. =)

So I think it's incredibly beautiful how God intertwines EVERY aspect of our lives to bring Him glory and honour. Nothing is too secular to become sacred in His hands. If our Lord was able to turn the menial (and smelly) task of foot-washing into a act forever hallowed and holy... then I think nothing's too beyond His touch to make beautiful.

Still, I was thinking about missions. I just realised something. What I'd been thinking about missions all along was actually about a heart for missions. Missions being an attitude, a lifestyle. You don't need to cross physical borders to do missions. Missions is about reaching across to other nations... not just territorial borders, but cultural borders. I mean, we have so many different international groups here. We could do our part to reach out to them more! Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese, Cambodian, etc... we can do so much more... Missions at our doorsteps! :) We can support, we can pray, we can give... Missions in the marketplace too. I'm thinking about how everyone is a missions field ultimately. You may impact only one person in your lifetime... but that person could be the next Billy Graham... I think I do missions in the marketplace by having a cheerful attitude at work, taking the initiative to bless others... being obedient and producing high-quality works... that's how I choose to see ministry in the marketplace.

I think having a heart to want to go and make disciples of all nations ought to spur us on to become healthy and holistically developed Christians. For if we have a heart for the world, we'll become more interested in what goes on in current affairs... in global trends... in social justice.

But ah. Thinking about it. Extending God's kingdom. Is fulfilling the Great Commission = extending the kingdom of God?

Hmm! Still thinking... :) pls enlighten me if you think I'm getting too imbal already haha... anyway I'm going to revise my notes from the marketplace seminar. :) Just thinking through what we've learnt...