The concept of God being involved in our work is not new. As a matter of fact there was a time period when it was so natural, that a man or woman would invite God into their work, that it wasn't something pastors or business people thought to preach or teach on. It was a normal part of their everyday life. Years ago, the natural outworking of a man or woman walking in their faith at work didn't seem like such a foreign concept, as it does today. Sadly, with the separation of church and state came the separation of faith and work. We now live in a day and age where people are just now 'coming out of their closet' on these kind of topics.
When I was first given the book "God With You At Work" to review I have to admit that my initial thoughts were, "Oh great another book that claims to tell me how to live on my God given 'mountain' or sphere of influence but will eventually teach me how to set up a church at work. No thanks." My frustration with the lack of solid, biblical materials on the topic had grown to an all time high and unfortunately my own sense of feeling alone was also growing. Where were the people who ran big corporations and loved God with all of their heart? Why weren't Christians on the cover of Inc Magazine influencing the nations if they truly had all of heaven on their side? These are questions I constantly wrestled with.
As someone who has had success in business and who is extremely passionate about the Lord Jesus Christ, I oftentimes feel like I'm fighting a war that will never be won. The business world starts resurrecting little churches in the marketplace when they talk about God at work and the church builds teachings on how to create little churches in the marketplace. All the while, multi billion dollar corporations run by men and women who have no concern for God and are involved in multiple layers of corruption continue to grow in strength. I can relate with the world, where I'm not impressed by the churches efforts to walk their faith out at work because ultimately, the successful business person who professes they love Jesus does one of two things: They either leave the marketplace to become a missionary who is now 'sold out for God' or they start multiple layers of Bible studies at work, build some form of 'church like' culture on the sidelines of their workplace and eventually build a tiny parachurch organization off to the side which they ultimately hope to rescue the world with, bringing everyone into some form of isolated commune and 'away' from work.
"God With You At Work" by Andy Mason is a refreshing change from what I've read in the past. This book comes out of the gates in a manner that is very unique and very different from all that is currently on the bookshelves. Andy speaks of billion dollar companies and dreaming with God for more like it's natural to do so. For me, it is natural to do so, so I felt very 'at home' while reading this book.
"God With You At Work" also addresses issues that I have not seen any other Christian business person tackle and that is the acute crisis we have of performance based acceptance and the pain of feeling like an orphan in the workplace. Far too many faith based people profess to believe in an all knowing, ever kind and loving God but they live like they have no Father. Striving, perfectionism, religion and all the bondage in between plagues their life and clouds their efforts of bringing God to work.
I once heard a professional business speaker say that God always dealt with her through her pocket book or her health. Rooted in performance based acceptance and painful striving, this same woman also had a history of sexual trauma for most of her life starting at a very young age. The loving and kind God of heaven had turned out to be a hard driving father who would reject her for mistakes, 'spank' her business profits when she erred and if things got really bad, would crush her with severe health challenges. If she ever got 'carnal and went away from her calling' suffering would be the end result. Her own painful past had clouded her view of God, Jesus and the Kingdom of heaven and today she teaches business people that prosperity in our companies is a sign of God's favor, financial hardship is a sign of chastisement, no disease is a sign of blessing and any form of physical challenge is a sign of correction. Sadly, she's not alone. Many Christians have a dark demonic beliefs towards success, money and the Bible.
Can you see the painful and quite frankly, appalling mess we've gotten ourselves into?
When I read "God With You At Work" I was very refreshed by the book and later purchased 25 copies, giving one to every VIP Coaching Client I work with. If you've never seen God break into the business world and you have no idea what that would look like, do yourself a favor and add this to your faith at work reading list.
Andy shares stories of stock markets rising and profits growing when men and women didn't strive or work 90 hour work weeks. As a matter of fact stories of excellent business coupled with regular rest (noted as a super power of refreshment) are woven throughout the pages. He doesn't fear television, Hollywood, Las Vegas or celebrity status and even dreams in detail with God of being an influence to billionaires. I hope he'll feature stories of very successful people with celebrity business status in the future, as he continues to write books. We've personally talked about how so many Christians teach on heaven in business but are then afraid to expose their congregations to billionaire business owners, or the people who are in the major magazines and in the thick of the mountain of business in a big way, for fear that the 'average just starting out entrepreneur seeking God' can't relate with such people. There is a wide gate of opportunity awaiting anyone who will write such a book and step into such a position. And as Paul said, with that wide gate are many opportunities for opposition.
The tangible Presence of God in a business and a life is where Andy shifts everything from religion to true Kingdom living and business management with his book "God With You At Work."
Andy and his wife Janine live with their four children in Redding, CA and it is my prediction that God will be using him in very powerful ways in the business world to steward a message that is uniquely timed for this generation.
You can pick up the book at Amazon here.
With love,
Sandi Krakowski
