Alistair MacKenzie - Wheres God on Monday?

Roger is a workaholic. He wouldnt admit it, but his life certainly bears the fruit of it. Roger is also a Christian and feels a deep sense of call to his profession in law. The work of a demanding practice means that 70-to-80-hour weeks are the norm for Roger. But he also contributes in the church that he and his family are part of. Hes on several committees, leads worship and a home group, and is prominent in many other ways.

People who know Roger certainly esteem him highly. Hes incredibly busy doing important work, making a major contribution to Gods kingdom. At least thats what both Roger and his friends believe.

But theres another side to him, which is not so obvious. Roger finds it difficult to say no. Hes desperate for peoples approval and affirmation and, as a result, is close to burnout. So is his family. His wife Colleen is resigned to things always being this way, even in retirement. She copes as best she can and carries the extra load in parenting and household tasks. Secretly, she dreams of getting off the treadmill theyre on, but deep down she knows Roger would either quickly dieor find another equally demanding treadmill to leap onto!

Karen is married to Steve and is mother to three growing boys. Before having children, she was a secretary in a busy office. Highly skilled, she used to find conversation easy at dinner parties and when meeting new people.

But now, several years on, she doesnt know what to say when people ask, Do you work? Though she uses the positive reply, Im a full-time mother, she detects a certain lack of interestsometimes almost disparagement. Not only does Karen believe she is undervalued by her peers for a task she feels passionately about, but there is also no easy way to describe the myriad of other ways she contributes during the weeksuch as voluntary work at school, in the community, and through friendships.

On top of all of this, Karen feels no small amount of peer pressure to get a job, like all of her friends who are now going back to work. She and Steve, however, both feel that the time is not right, and that the benefits of having one of them at home for the children are worth the cost.

Joseph works in a bank, but hes not intending to stick around too long. Hes frustrated by the limitations put on his witness and has plans to get into full-time Christian service. He feels called to pastoring and regards the job at the bank as a way to earn the dollars needed to go to Bible college.

Joseph has been particularly inspired by a couple of visiting preachers who have encouraged him to aim high and not settle for second best. He feels that he could be so much more effective for the Lord by giving all his time and energy to pastoring. The elders in his church have been supportive of this aim, giving him opportunity to try his hand at preaching and involving him in other areas of leadership within the church.

Mark faces a dilemma. Hes a middle manager, and the demands his employer places on him get bigger every year. More responsibility, harder deadlines, better resultsthese are what the bosses seem to be after. Trying to add family commitments (he has a wife and two young children) and church involvement is creating an unbearable burden. Already he leaves home at 6:45 a.m. to beat the rush-hour traffic, and gets home around 7:00 p.m., just in time to put the kids to bed. He regularly takes work home nights and weekends.

Mark is caught in a bind. He knows that if he slackens off on his work, then his job will be at risk. But the worst thing is that his job is so all-consuming. Outside of work hours he finds it difficult to give people his full attention. He just doesnt have the energy for proper preparation of his home-group sessions or for spending time with his kids and wifemuch less getting involved in a club or community activity.

He feels guilty about all this but doesnt know what to do. Church doesnt helpparticularly Sunday services, which seem totally unrelated to his real life, almost as if theyre in a different world.

Julie is unemployed. At least thats how the Department of Statistics lists her. But it hasnt always been this way. Five years ago she was made redundant (fired) and hasnt been able to find a job since. Julie suspects its because of her age. No one really wants to employ a 58-year-old. In spite of her best attempts to keep positive, five years of job interviews, rejection letters, and telling people shes between jobs have worn her down. Julie is now hanging out for retirement.

Sadly, her confidence and self-esteem are so undermined that she doesnt see how much potential there is for her to contribute on a voluntary basis. Although a church or community organization would be eager to snap up her skills, she is careful not to get actively involved in the ones she has links with. Julie regards them more as a fill-insecond best to a real job.

Five peopleall Christians, struggling with what it means to work and follow Jesus (although these stories are based on real people, we have altered names and some of the details). The issues are many and complex. This book seeks to give some perspectives to the Karens and Marks and Rogersand many others who genuinely want to be faithful to Jesus in all they do, yet struggle to know how to do this in their daily work. They are representative of hundreds of Christians we have spoken with over the years. In fact, the epilogue to this book shares how many of these conversations have contributed to our writing.

The sad truth is that much of our church life completely ignores the subject of daily work, as if what people do for most of their week has little connection with their faith. As Calvin Redekop (a Canadian Mennonite) has noted, the truth is that average Christians spend less than 2 percent of their waking time at church and most of their time working. Yet the church puts most of its energy and resources into that 2 percent and very little into the world of daily work.

Work is the dominant activity of our everyday lives, and yet so often our work and worship end up having little to do with each other. An enormous chasm lies between the worlds of Sunday and Monday. Thats the problem. What about some solutions?