The Other Six Days: Vocation, Work, and Ministry in Biblical Perspective

R. Paul Stevens

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, Sep 5, 2000 - Religion - 289 pages

Throughout history the church has been composed of two types of people—those who do ministry and those to whom it is done. In this provocative book R. Paul Stevens shows that the clergy-laity division has no basis in the New Testament and challenges all Christians to rediscover what it means to live daily as God s people. Exploring the theological, structural, and cultural reasons for treating laypeople as the objects of ministry, Stevens argues against the idea of clericalism. All Christians are called to live in faith, hope, and love, and to do God s work in the church and world. This biblical perspective has serious implications for the existing attitudes and practices of many churches as well as for our understanding of ministry. Stevens shows that the task of churches today is to equip people for ministry in their homes, workplaces, and neighborhoods. Written by a scholar and pastor well known as an active advocate for the whole people of God, this thought-provoking book—made even more useful with the inclusion of case studies and study questions at the end of each chapter—offers inspiring reading for anyone interested in what the Christian life holds for the other six days of the week.

Contents

• Doing People Theology: 3
• Beyond Clericalized Theology: 5
• Beyond Unapplied Theology: 9
• Beyond Academic Theology: 16
• Reinventing Laity and Clergy: 24
• 2 A People without Clergy: 31
• 3 The Emergence of the Clergy: 39
• One God One People: 50
• 1 Two Peoples or One?: 52
• 2 One God Three Persons: 56
• 3 Communion or Union?: 60
• SUMMONED AND EQUIPPED BY GOD: 69
• Calling in a Postvocational Age: 71
• 1 Personal Vocation: 72
• 2 Christian Vocation: 83
• 3 Human Vocation: 89
• Doing the Lords Work: 106
• 1 Changes in Work: 107
• 2 Work Yesterday and Today: 110
• 3 Work in Scripture: 113
• 4 Gods Work: 118
• 5 Good Work: 124
• Ministry Transcending Clericalism: 131
• 1 Ministry Today: 132
• 2 Ministry in Scripture: 133
• 3 Trinitarian Service: 140
• 4 Ministering Leaders: 145
• FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD: 161
• Prophets Priests and Kings: 163
• 1 Three Leadership Roles: 164
• 2 The Prophetic People: 169
• 3 The Priestly People: 173
• 4 The Kingly People: 181
• 5 Prophets Priests and Princes in the World: 188
• Mission A People Sent by God: 191
• 1 The Sending God: 192
• 2 The Mission of God: 193
• 3 The Sending: 198
• 4 The Sent People: 204
• 5 Equipping for Mission: 209
• Resistance Grappling with the Powers: 215
• Contemporary Confusion: 216
• Multilevel Resistance: 220
• Biblical Theology Good powers: 225
• Mission and Ministry: 230
• Eschatology: 235
• Living Theologically: 243
• 1 Orthodoxy: 244
• 2 Orthopraxy: 247
• 3 Orthopathy: 251
• Select Bibliography: 256
• Indexes: 268

Popular passages

Page 23 - LoRD, LORD,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. "Many will say to Me on that day, 'LoRD, LORD, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?

Page 100 - On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Page 78 - The rich man in his castle, The poor man at his gate, God made them, high or lowly, And ordered their estate.

Page 102 - Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Page 68 - For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.

Page 94 - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground...

Page 46 - But those who want to be Christians in earnest and who profess the gospel with hand and mouth should sign their names and meet alone in a house somewhere to pray, to read, to baptize, to receive the sacrament, and to do other Christian works.

Page 23 - Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

About the author

R. Paul Stevens is professor emeritus of marketplace theology and leadership at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia, and adjunct professor at Bakke Graduate University, Seattle, Washington, and at Biblical Graduate School of Theology in Singapore. His other books include (with Alvin Ung) Taking Your Soul to Work: Overcoming the Nine Deadly Sins of the Workplace and The Other Six Days: Vocation, Work, and Ministry in Biblical Perspective.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Other Six Days: Vocation, Work, and Ministry in Biblical Perspective
• Author: R. Paul Stevens
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000
• ISBN: 0802848001, 9780802848000
• Length: 289 pages
• Subjects: Religion / Christian Life / General; Religion / Christian Life / Professional Growth; Religion / Christian Theology / Ethics