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Celebrating Work

Celebrating Work

The origin of Labor Day is rooted in the late 19th century pro-labor/pro-worker movement, and “is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers.”

Of course, followers of Jesus know that long before America decided to federally codify a celebration of work and workers, God himself initiated and patterned for us both good work well done, and the celebration of it. 

This truth should continue to be emphasized: work is part of God’s “very good” created order. Indeed, a key reason why God created humanity was to participate with God in “working” the garden, harnessing and catalyzing the latent potential within it, making it into even more.

And while every inch of work has been marred by humanity’s rebellion and God’s righteous curse, we must never forget that it was good first. We must never forget that we were created with work in mind.

 

The Sunday to Monday Gap

The tragic truth is that many followers of Jesus do forget this. So many of us fail to connect our Sunday faith to our Monday work. So many of us are suffering from a dreaded “gap,” not seeing how the rich formation of the church “gathered” could have an indelible impact on the work of the church “scattered.”

And even more tragic, too many churches and pastors perpetuate this problem. Many do so unknowingly, but unintended harm is still harm nonetheless.

Christ Community is committed to writing a different story about work, but the staff can’t do it alone. We need each one of you on this vital journey, which is why one of my favorite worship elements on Sunday mornings is the “This Time Tomorrow” interview. 

The name of the interview is built on a simple question: What will you be doing this time tomorrow? In other words, what will occupy your time on Monday morning at about 9:15 AM? Or, stated more directly, tell us a bit about what you do for work!

 

Lynett Wheeler at Work

In a world of diverse occupations, some roles stand out not just for the products they create but for their impact on people’s lives. Lynett Wheeler is a co-owner of Color Design, a decal company specializing in vehicle aesthetics. With her son by her side, Lynett dedicates herself to turning ordinary vehicles into works of art. 

Lynett’s daily routine involves much more than meets the eye. As she sets out to customer locations, armed with vinyl pinstripes, custom graphics, and a mission to breathe new life into vehicles, her expertise extends beyond mere aesthetics. 

“I enjoy the challenge of returning a vehicle’s exterior decals and stripes to before-wreck condition. God has given me the ability and physical strength to make things ‘good’ in my sphere of work.”

The sense of accomplishment derived from restoring a vehicle’s exterior decals to their former glory is a reward in itself. With a genuine passion for her work, Lynett sees God’s hand in her abilities and has found a way to bridge the gap between her faith and her occupation. 

“In the past, I wondered if my work had eternal value. Because of the teaching at church, I have come to see that my work matters to God for many reasons, one of which is because it makes things beautiful. For who is more beautiful than him?” Through her craftsmanship, Lynett showcases God’s restoration, one vehicle at a time.

Yet, her work also exposes her to the brokenness of life. Each damaged vehicle represents not just physical harm but the emotional toll on families. Lynett’s heart connects her to the stories behind the repairs, reminding us that even in a business focused on beauty, there’s a profound recognition of the pain experienced by others. Lynett’s story serves as a reminder that faith isn’t confined to Sundays; it can be woven into every aspect of life. 

Lynett’s journey reminds us that each profession, however distinctive, can serve as a conduit for expressing God’s love and restoration in the world.

Daniel Tiger, the King, and Me

Daniel Tiger, the King, and Me

My 3-year-old son Benjamin’s favorite book series and TV show is Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. One of his biggest highlights of this summer was our visit to our family in Pennsylvania where we actually got to meet Daniel Tiger in person at Idlewild Park.  

Fred Rogers, a man who inspired me and so many others, was an ordained Christian minister and, like me, a native of Pittsburgh, PA.  

The Daniel Tiger TV show is a reboot of the classic TV show, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, and shares many of the same characters. Each story has a theme with a lesson featuring a catchy jingle that culminates in a full length song. We often refer to some of the jingles in our home, which offer valuable life lessons. One of my favorite episodes from this TV show is  “King Daniel for the Day.”


King for a day 

In the story Daniel Tiger asks King Friday what it is like being king. King Friday, knowing experience to be the best teacher, allows Daniel to be king for the day and assigns him two kingly duties: to acquire both a tasty dessert and a loud musical instrument and bring them to the castle. Then King Friday tells him that the most important thing about being a king is to be kind.  

The story goes on and Daniel gets a tasty treat from the bakery, but he sees his friend O the Owl accidentally drop his special dessert onto the ground. Remembering King Friday’s words (in the form of a catchy jingle) “You can choose to be kind,” Daniel offers his own dessert to his friend.  

Then Daniel acquires loud cymbals from the music shop, but on his way back to the castle, he comes upon his friend Miss Elaina, who has just dropped her doll in the mud. Once again, Daniel remembers King Friday’s words and gives the cymbals to his friend, who receives them gladly. 

It’s the moment at the end that really gets me.  

As Daniel is on his way back to the castle, he is discouraged because he doesn’t have any of the things King Friday asked him to bring. He stands before the king at the end of the day and is asked to give an account, and he says, “I don’t have anything. I guess I didn’t do a good job as king.”

King Friday responds, “That’s not what I heard. I heard you found lots of ways to help others and be kind. You have done your job as king very well.” 

Daniel succeeded by heeding the voice of the king, and prioritizing kindness over his particular objectives and deliverables. And as a result, this moment that looked like failure was actually success.  

 

Heeding the Voice of the King

This simple story reminds me that we’re all kings and queens put on this earth to exercise dominion to some degree or another (Genesis 1:26). We have all kinds of concerns each day. But if we just do one thing, everything else falls into place. If we listen to the voice of the King of All Creation, and offer the love and care for others that is appropriate for fellow creations of God, regardless of our projects and timelines.

This story is moving to me because my work is never perfect, and I am often discouraged about my failures, both in my practical details of life and in my work. But, unlike Daniel Tiger, I often fail to prioritize kindness in those moments.  

I long to heed the voice of my King, that at the end of a long day, I might hear from him, that I, too, have done my job of ruling very well.  

So like Daniel Tiger, I want to keep the mindset of the King ever before me.   

Isaiah sums it up beautifully. 

If you pour yourself out for the hungry
    and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be as the noonday.

Isaiah 58:11 ESV

Isaiah’s hopeful word is that even when it looks like we have failed, if we entrust ourselves to God the true king by expending ourselves in love for others, choosing to be kind, we will not be alone. He will be there. 

Integrating Faith at Work | Mitch Holthus | POD 004

Integrating Faith at Work | Mitch Holthus | POD 004

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Hosts & Guests

Mitch Holthus, Voice of the Kansas City Chiefs

Paul Brandes – Host

Bill Gorman – Co-Host

Show Notes

We hope to challenge you to think deeply about what it means to follow Jesus in all of life.

 
In this episode of theFormed.life podcast, we talk with the Voice of the Chiefs, our very own Mitch Holthus. Mitch tells us about his work with the Chiefs and what it looks like to integrate faith into all of life, sharing the truth of the gospel, the importance of scripture memorization, and making time for others even when life is hard and even when it gets busy.
 

 
SHOW QUOTES:

“The time that the Lord gives us in this life [is not infinite], and he wants to use us. And he needs us…it’s a very strange strategy, really, that he’s relying on us because…I’ve goofed this up many times down through the years.

“It’s a dream for a lot of people to work in the realm of sports and professional sports. But many times that dream is not what they thought it was going to be, and it can be a very difficult profession to be in… it can get pretty intense. There’s a lot of frank discussions about shattered dreams.” “What God has taught me is to have that heart to be open. And even though you’re [feeling like] oh man, I got ten things to do, and I got a deadline tomorrow… I’ve got to stop, freeze, and just be available. And sometimes that leads to some very powerful situations.”

“I keep a prayer journal and sermon notes…what I keep is 17 years prior…because when I do that I see how God has been faithful in the things that I’ve forgotten about.”
The Unhurried and Unstoppable Mission of God

The Unhurried and Unstoppable Mission of God

For over two decades we have been committed in our church mission and organizational culture to narrow the Sunday to Monday gap so perilously prevalent in the American church. In the power of the Spirit and with biblical wisdom we have increasingly become a local church congregation with Monday in mind. As a church family we have never been more intentional or more committed to the primacy of vocational discipleship and vocational mission. Yet, I believe two of the most compelling realities for us to keep close to our hearts in narrowing the Sunday to Monday gap are gospel plausibility and proclamation, both of which are more important than ever in our increasingly secular age.

 

Seeing is Believing

The goodness of the gospel so often needs to be seen by others around us before it is truly heard from us. Taking the time to look back at church history reinforces this timeless truth. A particularly insightful church historian is scholar Alan Krieder. Like fellow early church historian Rodney Stark, the question of what enabled the early church to grow as it did against fierce cultural headwinds and formidable odds is one that captures their intellectual curiosity and disciplined research focus. In his excellent book, The Patient Ferment of the Early Church, Krieder puts it this way; “Why did this minor mystery religion from the eastern Mediterranean—marginal, despised, discriminated against—grow substantially, eventually supplanting the well-endowed, respectable cults that were supported by the empire and aristocracy? What enabled Christianity to be so successful that by the fifth century it was the established religion of the empire?”

 Kreider answers this question by pointing to several factors we are wise to emulate. First, he describes what he calls habitus, that is, the very down-to-earth reflexive bodily behavior exhibited in the mysterious mundane of daily life where the early Christians lived, worked, and played. Kreider writes, “Their behavior said what they believed; it was an enactment of their message. And the sources indicate that it was their habitus more than their ideas that appealed to the majority of the non-Christians who came to join them.”  The early church theologian Cyprian summarizes Christian habitus as a non-compartmentalized, comprehensive, and distinct way of life. What we might describe as an integral and coherent life embraced not only on Sunday, but also lived on Monday. Cyprian wrote, “we do not speak great things, we live them.” It was the early Christians’ distinct lives forged and formed in a highly relational community that spoke volumes of plausibility to a curious and watching world. 

 

A Curious Lifestyle

Kreider points particularly to the virtue of patience. At first blush this may be a bit surprising, but the early Christians viewed God’s sovereign mission as “unhurried and unstoppable.” The result was they placed less emphasis on bold strategies and more emphasis on morally and virtuously distinct lifestyles that would be organically and relationally influential over time. The early Christians were known and at times scorned and ostracized for their sexual purity ethic, sanctity of life ethic–particularly for the unborn and newborn, their diligent work ethic, their sacrificial caring for the poor, and for a lifestyle of non-violence. 

 

Working Together

The gospel and its transformational influence was primarily spread in the context of the marketplace. Ordinary Christians, not clergy, were the missional key. Kreider notes, “Christians followed their business opportunities.” Pointing out the witness of Christians, Kreider notes that non-Christians observed distinct Christian differences in the marketplace. Non-Christians “experienced the way they (Christians) did business with them, the patient way the Christians operate their businesses.” Kreider summarized the profound impact of vocational discipleship and vocational mission. “What happened was this. Non-Christians and Christians worked together and lived near each other. They became friends.”

 

A Distinct Lifestyle

While the early church was far from perfect, their pluralistic cultural context is in many ways remarkably similar to our 21st century western world. There is much for us to learn from the remarkable legacy they left behind in shaping the Christian church. Kreider’s helpful insights on the early church’s long-term impact resonate deeply with our church for Monday strategic emphasis. It is our hope that vocational discipleship will bring increased spiritual formation and with it a distinct lifestyle and bold verbal witness to our local, national, and global marketplace. 

While we desire to employ our best creativity and strategic thinking moving forward, we are wise to remember the early church’s patient ferment, knowing that in redemptive history as it unfolds in front of our eyes, God’s mission is unhurried and unstoppable. With a tenacious trust, an unhurried pace, and a patient posture, may we not only speak great things, but also live them before a curious and watching world.

The Gospel According to Twenty One Pilots

The Gospel According to Twenty One Pilots

At the end of each concert, the two frontmen of the musical group Twenty One Pilots stand together on the stage, put their arms around each other, and smile at their fans as the cheers rise. Throughout the crowd, people lift signs with “Thank You” written on them. After a while the lead singer lifts the mic and gives them his parting words: “We’re Twenty One Pilots, and so are you.” As the duo walks off, the crowd continues shouting out their thanks for their music, performance, and, for many, their witness.

Yes, witness. Witness to what? What are the crowds gathering at these shows so grateful for

I believe the reason the fans of Twenty One Pilots are so profoundly impacted by their music is because through it, whether we realize it or not, we are getting a glimpse of, even becoming participants in, the good news of Jesus Christ. 

 

The Art of Our Everyday Work

I need only one song to show you an example of how this duo embeds the gospel into their artwork. They become a witness and a guide for us as we embed the gospel into our “artwork,” that is, the art of our everyday work.

“Trees” is the song Twenty One Pilots always performs to end their shows. Its basic flow traces the dialogue between God and a man who is hiding in the trees, silent and afraid in the face of his impending death. And yet God comes after him, initiating a conversation and showing his heart’s desire to be with him. 

Clearly, this recalls the aftermath of human rebellion against God in the Garden of Eden, giving voice to the interchange of Genesis 3:8-9. Adam and Eve stood naked and afraid, hiding from God amidst the trees, and yet he came after them. He called them out of hiding and invited them to be known, even in their sin. 

What the song does next is repeat this scenario by repeating the same set of three verses, but building to a much bigger finish. This gives the sense that the same dialogue between God and a man happens again, but with a different outcome. 

And indeed, this is what the good news proclaims! Jesus takes on our shame and faces his impending death, fearful and exposed before his Father as he sweats blood amidst the trees in the garden of Gethsemane, pleading for the cup of the cross to pass from him (Luke 22:42). But this man, the last Adam, remains obedient to the end (1 Corinthians 15:45, Philippians 2:8). He gives himself up to make our death his own, crying out while he stands nailed upright on one tree amidst others, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). This is echoed in the lyrics from “Trees”: “Why won’t you speak, where I happen to be?… Silent in the trees, standing cowardly.” 

 

God’s Heart Cry

Then, the climactic refrain at the end of the song invites a response: “I want to know you, I want to see, I want to say, Hello.” This is God’s heart cry. God came in the flesh to be with us, which is what he has been after since the beginning. He’s always initiating, starting a conversation with us. Not from afar, but here, where we are, in the midst of our sin and shame and death, even taking it all upon himself. Then he rose from the grave to new life and Mary saw him standing amidst the trees, mistaking him for the gardener, and he called out to her (John 20:15-16). The cross and the resurrection are God’s song of invitation to know a love stronger than death. 

So when a slight, dark-haired man stands in front of a stadium full of thousands at the end of a show, he sings out the refrain of that invitation: “Hello.” He repeats it throughout the song, bending over his microphone while his friend sits behind him hammering away at his drum set. Then the hellos stop, and after another chorus and some intervening “la la las,” the beat stops. A synth interlude rolls over the crowd. They’re anticipating. Waiting. They know what’s coming. As the two men make their way down from the stage, the security workers in the front lift two large tom drums on either side of the audience from the orchestra pit. A small platform comes next, one beside each of them. Then the spectators become participants. Drumsticks in hand, the two men climb onto the platforms, held up by the people who have spent the last 2 hours singing their guts out along with them. And then it comes.

Confetti drops like a snowstorm from the ceiling as the two men pound their drums in unison. In between beats (buh buh – pause – buda buh buh buh – pause) they point their sticks out to their “Skeleton Clique” (their fan club). And the clique responds, as if coming to life. The crowd shouts a resounding “Hey!” each time, responding to the invitation sung from the stage just moments before. When the music stops, the duo gets back on the stage and says goodbye.

An Invitation to Participate

This is how Twenty One Pilots ends their show, every time. If you’re curious, you can WATCH a recording. They have designed their music and performances with an invitation for fan participation. If my interpretation is right, they have written their music to be sung out so that the singers become participants in the gospel narrative hidden in its folds. This is what Twenty One Pilots has made with their artwork. They’ve not written “Christian music,” but music that nonetheless points to Christ in story-form. 

What about the artwork of our own lives? Have we received the message that we have to make “Christian art” or do “Christian work” to be impactful in God’s Kingdom? With the apostle Paul I say, “By no means!” (Romans 7:13). 

In your home or at work, with your spreadsheets, with your meetings, with your budgets, with your coworkers, with your friendships, with your relationships, with your sexuality, with your (dare I say it) politics, with your grief, with your depression, with your trauma, with every particularity that makes up your particular story…what would it look like to embed the gospel story into your own story? Every single facet of our story can become a witness and invitation for others to participate in God’s Story. 

But we have to know our story to do this. And the best way, indeed the only way to fully know ourselves is to know the God who knows us. We have to let God in, and respond to his invitation. We need to yell “Hey” when he sings “Hello.” The deep desire of his heart is for us to know him even as we have been fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12). 

 

Reflect on Your Own Story

So reflect on your own story. Write it, draw it, yell it, sing it, dance it, however the Spirit leads. Then invite others to listen to your story. Allow yourself to be known before God as two or three gather around to bear witness to the work of God in your life (Matthew 18:20). In doing so you offer up your story as a prayer, giving voice to the silent dialogues between your heart and God’s, thus training the ears of your heart to recognize your Shepherd’s voice (John 10:3).  

If you’re convinced, come with me and follow the path that Twenty One Pilots have laid, to imitate their artwork as they seem to be imitating Christ’s (1 Corinthians 11:1). Jesus himself told stories and lived a life that perplexed most, but for those who have ears to hear, he has spoken and lived the very words of life (Mark 4:9-13, Luke 8:8-10, John 6:60-69). Let’s participate in his life, and through our lives invite others to do the same. 

Where Does It Come From?

Where Does It Come From?

Behind every product is a person. Behind every purchase, every consumable, every dish and drink, garment and gas tank, car and cell phone — behind everything we use and abuse and cherish — is a person who made it. A person just like you.

 

But, where does it come from?

I certainly didn’t care about this question for most of my adult life, mostly because I didn’t think about it. That started to change when I got to Kansas City in 2019 and found that everything’s about supporting local business! 

 

Then my world was blown open when I became a small business owner of a coffee company. 

 

Now my first question became: where does my coffee come from?

A couple of friends approached me about becoming entrepreneurs. We tried a bunch of things — exercise programs, creative services, website design — but our constantly evolving mission statement kept coming back to the same thing: we wanted to help people. Whether it was solving a problem or growing a brand, we felt we had a skill set that could benefit others. 

 

Then we started talking with Ervin Liz. He took entrepreneurship classes with my business partner back in college and then went back to his home in Colombia, South America to start a coffee business. 

 

Ervin had seen first hand the poverty of Indigenous coffee farmers and the brokenness of the coffee industry. His parents are farmers, and they were forced to cut down their coffee trees in 2010 because they could not make ends meet. In fact, many in their native Nasa community struggle with this burden due to unfair coffee prices and large coffee producers. So, Ervin built a business selling directly to the consumers in Colombia. By taking out the “middleman” and providing fair prices for high-quality coffee, he was able to pay farmers more.

 

Ervin ultimately had a growing demand from US consumers, and he needed help expanding. We suggested doing some marketing, but instead he invited us on as owners — people with a real stake in this thing, and Native Root Coffee was born. Plus, the coffee was really good, so we couldn’t say no.

The Triple Bottom Line 

In 1994 entrepreneur John Elkington coined the term “triple bottom line,” which stands for people, planet, and profit.

What he may not have realized at the time is that valuing people, planet, and profit actually aligns really well with our faith. 

 

People

As creatures made in God’s image and charged with His creation, we have incredible worth and responsibility — not only to our own bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) but also to others, especially the vulnerable (Matthew 25:44-45). Businesses have power through money and influence, and it’s a decision maker’s responsibility to do right by humanity.  

 

Planet

God made humankind stewards of the earth (Genesis 1:28) but everyone and everything in the universe still belongs to Him (Psalm 24:1). Just as we are made in God’s image, His creation clearly bears His signature (Romans 1:20) and it should be honored in kind.

 

Profit

While the Bible says a lot about money and greed, it also makes it clear that those who sow bountifully will also reap bountifully (2 Corinthians 9:6) — it all depends on what you sow. The parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) describes investing God’s gifts as a way to create greater things. If a business uses profits to invest in people and the planet, it sows goodness. 

 

Meeting the people behind the coffee

So, where does our coffee come from? Before Native Root, I thought I was fancy by buying the imported German coffee at Aldi for $5, as opposed to the breakfast blend for $3. But the focus was inward — I wanted yummy coffee for myself; that’s it.

Then, Ervin invited us to meet the farmers — first through photos, and then in person.

Our team made the trek to the Togoima Reservation in Colombia, which is about 10 hours south of Bogotá by overnight bus. We got to experience the farm and meet the people first hand. Ervin’s parents, Ana and Isidro, greeted us with limited words — because they spoke the native language Nasa Yuwe — but with unlimited hospitality. 

I have so many stories about our visit that I’d love to share with you if we meet in person. When we left Colombia, we could not stop thinking about the people we’d met — how they interacted with their environment, the hospitality they exuded, and the ways we hoped to help them. 

 

Native Root + the Triple Bottom Line 

 
Profit: 

First and foremost, we pay our farmers. They work the hardest, they produce the coffee, and yet so often they can’t make enough money to live on. Our model pays them higher prices for high-quality beans, and then an additional 10-15% more. Ervin’s parents had to chop down most of their coffee trees because they couldn’t make a living. Now, his parents are thriving — they’ve nearly finished a new house with processing capabilities.

 

People: 

This business model was built with people in mind. When unfair trade is the basic business model, entire communities suffer. These Indigenous farmers are vulnerable to dips in the market, big middlemen who swallow profit, and a lack of resources for major infrastructural improvements. In many ways their community is their strength. Native Root pours into this community with both relationships and resources. We get to know each of our partnered farmers. Our founder Ervin, along with our Colombia CEO, Alcides, physically meet with each farmer to instill intentionality and dignity across the mountain communities. Some of the funds are also used to build up members of our network. Our company raised funds to build an elderly woman a home after her kids left. We also formed relationships with farmers in a nearby reservation who have historically encountered poor access and political turmoil. It’s our goal and our dream to continue building relationships and pouring into more Indigenous communities.

 

Planet: 

Coffee prices shot through the roof recently due to a bean shortage in Brazil. Unusual and extreme weather decimated their coffee crop. The earth’s wellbeing is vital, both for the grand scale of humanity, and for the micro scale of our coffee farms. That’s why we employ sustainable and organic practices. For example, when the seeds are extracted from the cherry, the fruit pulp is reused as a natural fertilizer. The parchment, which is the thin, papery coating around the bean, is usually considered another “waste” product. We use it as fuel for bean drying machinery. Finally, we use a software program to counter our shipping carbon emissions. Shipping is calculated as a monetary number, which is then paid toward conservation efforts. Our contributions of this effort are set up for the Acapa – Bajo Mira y Frontera Forest Conservation Project in Colombia.

 

So, where does your coffee come from? 

Take a deep breath. It’d be nearly impossible to know who made each and every product you use — and less so the motives behind their actions. You’re not a bad person if you don’t know the person behind your soap dispenser (but now I’m curious).

My goal is to increase intentionality. To increase awareness of the products I interact with daily, like my morning coffee. 

Where does it come from? Ask, and find out.

AUTHOR BIO:

Travis Meier attends Christ Community’s Downtown Campus. On Sundays you can usually find him playing bass on the worship team with Aleah Eldridge or sitting with his fiancee, Sarah. He also writes for a local publication called KCtoday, and plays the saxophone in a community band called the Kansas City Wind Symphony.

 

For more information about Native Root you can visit nativerootcoffee.com