Living In The 3rd Culture: Being a Pastor to the Workplace

I don’t have raw data on the subject, however if there were a survey conducted on how often a sermon is applied to work, my guess is that percentage would be miserably low. Most sermons, if applied at all are directed to the areas that the average American spends the least amount of their time. Now, please don’t misunderstand me, sermons on marriage, family, childrearing, are all important, but for the vast majority of the world, that is not where they spend most of the their time, nor where they face their greatest challenges.

Take a look at the chart below and notice the percentages of time given by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and compare that to not how sermons are applied, and how the average pastor ministers to his people. My point is I don’t believe the average pastor knows how to minister to those in the work place, specifically the business leader. As a side note, this could be a reason why fewer men attend church in the United States.

In order to pastor those in the workplace, you need to know them. Here are a few suggestions to get you heading in the right direction.

I. To pastor people in the workplace you must have an accurate understanding of calling.

A. Do you truly believe that those in the workplace are called to that work?

B. Can you correctly articulate how to help them live out that calling?

II. To care for people in the workplace you need to be a student of the work culture.

A. Knowledge: Go beyond knowing where people in your church work, and be a student of what their work entails. In addition keep up on what kind of jobs are in your city or region. What businesses are thriving? What ones are struggling or failing?

B. Values: To pastor people in the work place you must go beyond knowing “what” they do to learning “why” they do they do. This means going deeper with the goal of understanding opinions, viewpoints, attitudes, philosophies, and convictions. It is here where you will understand why an educated individual spends their life in a small manual skills job. Understanding “why” people do what they do, takes you to the core their behavior where true spiritual ministry takes place.

C. Personality: How does personality play into the work they do? Like values, personality plays a significant role in whether someone likes their job, or struggles with it. Understanding personality also helps you in your ability to interact with and therefore minster someone in the workplace.

D. Below is a sampling of some work areas of people who attended the churches where I served as pastor. Notice the diversity and therefore the challenges of ministry in their context.

1. Airline Pilot.

2. Air Traffic controller.

3. Airline Maintenance worker

4. Attorney.

5. Bail Bondsman.

6. Bartender.

7. Chief Financial Officer.

8. Chief Operating Officer.

9. Commercial and Residential developer.

10. Dentist.

11. Educator.

12. Hospice Chaplin.

13. Infectious Disease Physician.

14. IT Specialist.

15. Regional Account Manager for Microsoft.

16. Nurse.

17. Pharmaceutical clinical liaison.

18. Plant Manager.

19. Self employed Electrician.

20. Tennis Pro.

21. Veterinarian.

E. Remember, you will not have the time to master all work cultures, but you can gain a basic understanding quite easily, and therefore pastor each more effectively.

III. To care for people in the workplace you must be aware of your own Pride, Fear and Idols.

A. Pride can cause you to look down on those whose job you don’t respect, and seek acceptance by those you esteem. Either extreme will hinder your ability to pastor effectively. If you venerate someone, you will not be able to engage them effectively.

B. Fear will cause you to distance yourself from those who might intimidate you.

C. Not identifying your own idols will hinder your ministry effectiveness and cause you to focus your ministry on people who feed your idols.

1. The Idol of Approval is the belief that you are whole when others respect and approve of you.

2. The Idol of Comfort is the belief that you are whole when you are experiencing a certain quality of life.

3. The Idol of Security is the belief that you are whole when your life is secure and safe.

Third Culture Defined

The term “Third Culture” has been used in various ways. One “Third Culture” group “consists of those scientists and other thinkers in the empirical world who, through their work and expository writing, are taking the place of the traditional intellectuals in rendering visible the deeper meanings of our lives, redefining who and what we are.”Another common use of “Third Culture” in fact describes my personal experience. The term was first coined by sociologist Ruth Hill Useem, professor emeritus of sociology and education at Michigan State University. She used the term to describe children growing up outside their citizenship countries because of a parent’s work abroad. A “TCK or Third Culture Kid has since been defined as, “someone who as a child has spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture" Though I am a TCK, it is my desire to use the term in referring to the people who make up the true Christian Church (Theologically defined as the “Invisible Church”). In other words, the Church is a Third Culture. Scripture teaches us that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law and the punishment of Hell, and through faith in Him we become citizens of His Kingdom, receiving not only the full benefits of citizenship in His Kingdom, but indeed the right to become sons and daughters of God. The moment, we step into this Kingdome we experience a new and different culture. We are no longer in the kingdom of darkness, but now live in the kingdom of light and that changes everything! At the same time we never went anywhere physically as we continue to work, live, and play with the same people as before, we see the world differently, we no longer truly fit – we are “in the world, but not of it” -- we have a new culture. For most of us this life changing experience occurs within our birth culture and our Christian experience is saturated by those influences. For those who grew up in non-Hispanic White North America, Christianity is uniquely different than those who grew up in an African American context. Our birth culture effects how we live out our faith in the Kingdom of Christ. Yet the Kingdom of Christ requires one more cultural shift and that is away from birth culture and into a culture made up of people of every ethnic and cultural group that has ever existed on the face of the earth. This Kingdom is no more North American than it is Tanzanian or Tibetan. It is a unique or shall we say a “Third Culture” that integrates elements of all cultures into one new and better one, where there is no Jew or Greek, slave nor free, male nor female“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Gal 3:26-298). In fact Revelation 7:9-10 gives us a description what this will look like one day:“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." A Third Culture Perspective is one that understands and appreciates that God gathers people from every ethnic and cultural group and brings them into the new culture of His Son Jesus Christ. It is a perspective where birth cultures are appreciated and respected as coming from God, but none are superior. It seeks to have a deeper understanding of the Gospel, pays attention to culture, our own as well as others, and then attempts to bring them together. It is a perspective that “seeks first His Kingdom and His Righteousness” and lovingly and passionately enjoys and glorifies God in all we do. It is a perspective that welcomes immigrants….

Being a Pastor to the Workplace

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