THE CHRISTIAN WORK ETHIC NEWSLETTER
February 2005
After having read my book A Worker Need Not Be Ashamed, Dr. Bruce Bell who is Dean of the School of Business at Liberty University wrote the following review:
While many American workers are dissatisfied with their experience at work, author Jim Hogsett argues that work is a calling from God, and the believing man or woman who lives out the Christian life in the workplace "need not be ashamed" of that labor.
"A biblical approach sees hard work as a means of accomplishing the goal of serving God through work," writes Hogsett. "It should be no surprise that the moral imperative of work has been reaffirmed in the Gospel of Christ."
This comprehensive and compelling book presents the Christian work ethic as the model for honest labor in today's workplace. Calling young men and women to actively minister to others in a role that is acceptable to God, Hogsett claims that "ministering to others" does not refer necessarily to "full-time Christian work." Rather, he points out that all honest labor can be a ministry, and the Christian's responsibility is to see the connection between work and serving God.
"The worker who is actively ministering to others is finding ways of serving people on the job as well as in other areas of life... There is no work that is ever beneath an individual when it is a calling from God."
Presenting the obligations of workers and managers, Hogsett explains from a biblical basis how people should approach work, not as drudgery but with delight. As an illustration, he points out the important role that customer relations plays in any organization. "Nowhere," he writes, "is there more joy at work than in a personal ministry of customer service that can be applied to any type of organization." Moreover, he says, customers can be those either outside the organization or within the organization, "such as my boss, co-workers and other managers, everybody with whom I conduct business internally."
To illustrate a worker with a winsome and enthusiastic attitude who applies customer service, Hogsett chooses Dr. Jerry Falwell. He has special regard for Dr. Falwell's expressed love and concern for Larry Flynt on television's Larry King Live. "How can a minister of the Gospel love a pornography king? ... Because God is love, you will have no trouble loving anyone if you have Jesus in your heart."
Hogsett also points to Dr. Falwell for his strong authority and moral convictions as seen in his creating the Moral Majority in the early l980s and for his vision in establishing Libersty University.
"Today, Liberty University is one of the fastest growing institutions of higher learning in the nation. There is a truth that has impacted my life: Do not let the devil restrict your thinking. The devil says you can't. God says you can. You can do anything that God permits you to do. Now don't just dream about it. Get to work; do it now. That truth applies to everyone. If you are a worker producing an automobile, the process of making it is important, but the final product is what counts. Make the best one possible."
Hogsett is a preeminent authority in the country today on the Christian work ethic, writing and leading seminars on living the Christian life in the workplace. Founder of Worker ministries, an organization dedicated to promoting the Christian work ethic, he seeks to help workers to transform their lives so they can find their mission and work to fulfill God's will for themselves.
Very truly yours,
Jim Hogsett, President/Founder; Worker Ministries and Writer for Guideposts Magazine