He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? –Â Micah 6:8
When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness. – Proverbs 11:10
When behind me arose such a clatter, I turned to see what was the matter. And what did I find? A little one eager to add Amy Sherman‘s Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good (InterVarsity Press. 2011) to “Daddy’s library.”Â
Like me, you most probably received a lot of books for Christmas. Among all the materials coming in envelopes, Amazon boxes, and wrapping paper, why did I choose Kingdom Calling as the one from which I snuck bites during a full holiday schedule?
Amy Sherman, as director of the Center on Faith in Communities at the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research, articulates an inspirational and well grounded vision of “training and consulting to churches and nonprofits seeking to transform their communities for the common good.” She truly is ‘a minister to ministries’ which all too often lack the desire, tools, and/or foundation for Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good. Note: Among various other roles, Sherman also serves as a Senior Fellow at the International Justice Mission’s IJM Institute.
In kicking off a new year, let’s prayerfully consider, discuss, work toward, learn to embrace (and even be embraced by)Â Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good:
Congregants in our pews need to know that they should — and can — connect their workday world and their faith. So often they feel that God is just a Sunday God. Sometimes we as church leaders exhort our people to “live for Christ’s kingdom” but fail to explain adequately what that means for their lives Monday through Friday, nine to five. We must do a better job of inspiring our members about the role they can play in the mission of God and equipping them to live missionally through their vocation. [Read more…] about Kingdom Calling in the New Year