God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life (Focal Point Series)

Rating:
Summary: An excellent book that opened my eyes
Review: Dr. Veith does an excellent job at explaining our vocation, whether at work, in our role as parents, citizens, church members, or any other position in life. I understand calling in a way I never did before.

I highly recommend this book to all Christians, especially Lutherans.

Rating:
Summary: Good book
Review: This book is a well-written, easy to read introduction to Luther's doctrine of vocation. Veith explores the doctrine of vocation and shows that it not only gives value to work, it is also the key to Christian ethics. In the introductory paragraphs, Veith explains how the doctrine of vocation is how God is at work in the normal day-to-day activities of people's lives. In providing daily bread for his people, for example, God is at work in the human callings of farmers, bakers, truck drivers, factory workers, wholesalers, retailers, etc. Different vocations, then, are rightly understood as secondary means which God has ordained to accomplish his purposes. Veith then devotes a chapter to each of the major vocations: our calling as a worker, our calling in the family, our calling as a citizen, and our calling in the church. In these chapters, he explores relevant biblical texts dealing with each of the vocations and demonstrates their application through real-life examples. To wrap up the book, Veith spends a couple chapters on the ethical implications of the doctrine of vocation and how it works to shed light on controversial ethical questions (euthanasia, abortion, etc.). I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and after reading it, I finally understood clearly how the Reformation eliminated the medieval sacred/secular distinction. It's all sacred. It's God at work.

Rating:
Summary: A Superb Study!!!
Review: This is the first book I've read by Gene Veith, and it was well worth it. He writes that when you understand it properly, the doctrine of vocation - "doing everything for God's glory" - this is not a platitude or an outdated notion. This principle that we vaguely apply to our lives and work is actually the key to Christian ethics, to influencing our culture for Christ, and to infusing our ordinary, everyday lives with the presence of God, for when we realize that the "mundane" activities that consume most of our time are "God's hiding places," our perspective changes.

There are a lot of powerful statements and teaching in this book, and much to be digested and thought through, but one in particular is the comment on the church as a business, which appears to be showing up everywhere these days, especially in this culture.

Veith writes: "Business models can be great for businesses, and being a CEO is a worthy calling in its sphere, but the Church is not a secular institution, but a spiritual one, and the call of a pastor has a specific content and is not reducible to just leading an institution...Acting outside of one's calling is a formula for disaster."

A great read, and well worth the price. Highly recommended!!!