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Brad Smith - Joy at Work: Bible Study Companion

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Book:
Joy at Work: Bible Study Companion
Author:
Brad Smith / William Hendricks / Raymond Bakke
Publisher:
Pear Press
Genre:
Books / Religion
Year:
2010
Rating:
3 / 5
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Back in the Garden, work was fun. Yet, in todays fallen world, joy and work are rarely used in the same sentence. But God really does intend for us to find joy in our work. Join Raymond Bakke, Brad Smith, and Bill Hendricks as they explore what the Bible says about the purpose of business and our right to a joyful workplace. No matter where you spend those 50 or 60 hours during the weekwhether its in business, government, or the nonprofit sector; in church, at home, or anywhere elseGod intends for you to find joy in your work.
This 10-week study accompanies Joy at Work, a book by Dennis W. Bakke, co-founder and CEO of AES, a worldwide energy giant with 40,000 employees in 31 countries. Shaped by his faith, Bakke recounts his quest to create the most fun workplace everusing principles established in the Garden. This study provides the biblical map that he used as he charted and led that journey. Starting with the Genesis record of creation and moving through Revelation, this Bible study supplements Joy at Work with:
Biblical readings that unveil the principles behind each chapter in Joy at Work A synthesis of theological principles
Reflective questions to prepare readers for small-group discussion
Questions for small-group discussion
Guidelines for immediate and long-term application for business and nonprofit leaders at all levels of corporations and organizations.
The Joy at Work experience has the power to profoundly change your workplace and your life.

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

One of the fastest-growing industries in the world today is the increasingly - photo 3

One of the fastest-growing industries in the world today is the increasingly sophisticated domain of computer games. Have you ever thought about what makes for a good computer game? Recently we had the opportunity to put that question to the creator of one of the most popular simulation games on the market. The man was about 40 years old but had the wardrobe and excitement of a 22-year-old.

GENESIS 2 SAYS THAT GOD PLACED OUR HUMAN PARENTS IN THE GARDEN TO KEEP IT AND TILL IT.

The key to a good video game is not just the graphics, he explained. The setup has to follow good game design. Ideally, players must face a decision every eight seconds, and certainly no more than every 30 seconds. When they make a decision, players have to feel as though they have a high possibility of failing with that decision. Yet the game metrics have to be set up so that there is actually the highest probability that they will succeed.

GOD INTENDS HUMAN WORK TO BE ABOUT JOY.

That game designer didnt realize it, but he might as well have been describing the situation that presented itself to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2 says that God placed our human parents in the Garden to keep it and till it. Imagine: Youre the first two human beings who have ever existed, placed in a brand-new job in a brand-new world. Youre faced with lots of unknowns, confronted with a continuous series of decisions, and uncertain whether your choices will turn out right. Yet God has set up the Garden in your favor, so that you are likely to succeed more often than fail. That would make the work a lot of fun! No wonder a modern-day game inventor accidentally designed a game meant for fun almost exactly how God originally designed our work.

That, in a word, is the overarching theme of this studythat God intends human work to be about joy.

Does that describe your work? If youre like most people, probably not. Oh, to be sure, many people find work to be fun at timesmaybe even exhilarating. Yet even at its best, work hardly rises to the level of, well, joy. Happiness, maybe. Or a momentary thrill. But wheres the joy in adding a percentage point or two of market share to your companys sales of toothpaste or beauty products? Or in boosting by a few basis points the return on an investment portfolio? Or in dedicating a years worth of effort so that your sales team trounces a competitors sales team and wins a contract? Successes like those make work fun at times. But are they really sources of joy?

And then there are all the aspects of the work world that are anything but joyful. The client you lost. The expensive ad campaign that accomplished nothing. The ill-conceived product that cost your company millions in litigation. The workers you had to lay off. In light of disappointments like these, many find work to be far from joyful. For a homemaker, it is the work of cleaning, cooking, changing diapers, carpoolingthen doing it all over again day after day. Indeed, many workers today would describe their work as some combination of boring, laborious, tedious, dangerous, and stressful.

Did God really mean for work to be joyful? Youd never know it by going to church on Sunday. There, the minister talks about serving God, impacting the world for good, helping the needy, living with purpose. Many ministers attempt to connect these activities to the marketplace, but the illustrations often lack the rich specifics of personal experience. As a result, the concerns of the secular world would hardly seem to matter much to God. So, even if we actually enjoy our work and sometimes have a lot of fun doing it, its easy to feel a kind of guilt, because it would seem that our fun is coming from the pursuit of the wrong goals.

If youre feeling any of these sorts of things, this study is for you. Were going to see that God really does intend us human beings to find joy in our work. Moreover, God Himself intends to find joy in our work. That truth will be considered through three themes that will surface again and again throughout this study:

Theme #1: Stewardship. The Bible teaches that human beings were created by God to be stewards of His creation. We are to take personal and corporate responsibility for what happens in and to this world, and the people in it, through the vehicles of business, government, and the nonprofit sector, as well as the church. This study will show that such stewardship is the clear call of Scripture. It is an ancient and magnificent call that Gods people down through the ages have answered in various ways. Now it is time that we step up and answer the call, for our time.

Theme #2: Human dignity. The Bible teaches that God created humans as decision-making creatures. No matter where we workwhether in business, government, the nonprofit sector, the church, or the homewe are called to act like creatures who have been created in Gods image and who treat other humans likewise, as fellow image-bearers.

Theme #3: Joy. In Christ, we have the privilege and responsibility of restoring work to its original purpose, and of restoring one another to be decision makers in our work. The result of doing that is joya deep, abiding, inner peacethat no circumstances can take away, because we are doing Gods will and aware of Gods presence.

Joy

Joy means a deep, abiding, inner peace that no circumstances can take away, because we are doing Gods will and aware of Gods presence. In the New Testament, the word translated as joy is the Greek word chara, from the verb chairo, to rejoice or be glad.

In the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), Jesus used the term to describe a masters reaction to two of his servants who invested funds well and realized a profit: Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master (v. 21, 23, italics added).

HERES WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES.

This Is a Bible Study

Were going to explore what the Bible says about the purpose and role of human beings on Earth, particularly as it pertains to our work. No matter where you spend those 50 or 60 (or more) hours a week at what we call workwhether in a business, a government entity, the military, a nonprofit organization, an educational setting, a church, a home, or anywhere elseyou may be surprised to learn how much the Bible has to say about Gods interest in your daily endeavors. Youll see that finding joy in ones work is Gods intention for every person. And if you are a pastor, this study can help you see the vital role your church can play in helping workplace leaders understand their calling.

The Study Considers a Large and Current Illustration

This guide is a companion study to the book Joy at Work, by Dennis W. Bakke. Joy at Work tells the story of AES Corporation, one of the worlds leading power companies, and one of the most prominent modern-day examples of a company that has intentionally tried to live out the principles of business as stewardship and mission.

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