Until the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th century in Europe, ‘work’ and ‘home’ were usually the same territory.
If you were a baker, you lived at your mill, and the whole family was involved in the family business. If you were a farmer, husband and wife had different jobs in running the farm, and the children also had responsibilities. If you were a craftsman, your apprentices became part of the family, and lived in the family home. If you visit the home in which William Wilberforce was brought up in Hull, you find the warehouse for the family business at the end of the garden of the family home.
This changed dramatically and painfully during the Industrial Revolution, when ‘home’ and ‘work’ were separated. You lived at ‘home,’ and went to the factory to ‘work,’ Increasingly, men went away from home to ‘work,’ and women stayed at ‘home’ and raised the children. So raising children became the responsibility of women at ‘home,’ and men went away from ‘home’ to ‘work.’ Churches flourished in areas where ‘homes’ were found, and not in industrial areas where ‘work’ was done.
Christianity increasingly identified with ‘family values,’ family issues, and family life, and lost ground at ‘work.’
In Proving Ground: 40 Reflections on Growing Faith at Work, Graham Hooper tackles the issues of thinking Christianly at work, and living as a Christian at work. He does so in a way that is accessible, practical and readable.
Proving Ground: 40 Reflections on Growing Faith at Work
Graham Hooper
Proving Ground: 40 Reflections on Growing Faith at Work
Graham Hooper
Testing experiences are common to every Christian and are part of God’s good work in making us the people he wants us to be. As we spend so much of our time working, (whether in the home, in voluntary work, study or in a paid job), our work, like every part of our life, provides opportunities to prove for ourselves that God is real and at work in his world for good.
Dealing With Work
In our age, ‘work’ takes up so much time and creative energy for so many people, who spend more and more hours at work each week.
Hoopers deals with important issues such as ambition, pride, self-image, accountability, dealing with corruption, prayer, witness, being the boss, working for the boss, bullying, conflict, redundancy, stress, identity, frustration, and success. These are important issues for life and for work!
This book identifies these issues, reminds us of relevant biblical material, and challenges us to a Christian response.
I thought the topic of prayer at work was well handled. However, I would like to have read of the possibility of regular [weekly?] prayer with other Christians in the same workplace, especially if it includes people with different levels of responsibility and different roles: bosses, workers, and cleaners!
I also recommend that Christians at work find time on the way home to process their day with God, confessing their sins, and handing over their sadnesses, frustrations, worries, and laments. This means that when they arrive home, they are more ready to focus on their spouse, family, friends, or flatmates.
Who This Book is For
Proving Ground focuses on issues that people meet at paid employment, and this is certainly a worthwhile and productive focus. It would benefit people who go to paid ‘work,’ and also benefit those who minister to people who go to work, or who have gone to work for most of their lives.
However, its lessons would also help those who work in gospel ministry in churches or Christian organisations, where many of the same issues can emerge. As well, those who volunteer in community organisations will encounter much of the same and would find this book a useful resource.
I hope Proving Ground will prove helpful for people ‘at work,’ not only for their own personal reflection, but also as a springboard for discussion which benefits other Christians too.
