The Kingdom of God in Working Clothes: The Marketplace and the Reign of God - Paperback

by R. Paul Stevens (Author), Tom Nelson (Foreword by)

Work occupies most of our waking time, whether it is in a factory, office, school, or at home. But unfortunately most people of faith separate their working life from their worshipping life. Dualism is a pernicious heresy that has infected believers worldwide, namely, that church work and missionary service are holy and our everyday work is secular. In this timely volume Stevens explores the connection of the kingdom of God--the master thought of Jesus--with the marketplace. Traditionally people have either related the kingdom of God--God's new world coming--either exclusively for the present or only for the distant future. But it is both, now and coming. This gives meaning, hope, and endurance to our work in the world. So daily labor in the marketplace gets reoriented through salty values and ingrained virtues. We become double agent spies exploring the new world coming in everyday life. We can also grapple helpfully with the resistance we face daily in the workplace. There are many books on the kingdom of God and many on work. Few have brought these two vital arenas of everyday service together. It is indeed part of the good news.

Author Biography

R. Paul Stevens is Professor Emeritus of Marketplace Theology at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia, and Chairman of the Institute for Marketplace Transformation. He has authored many books including Seven Days of Faith, Work Matters, Doing God's Business, and The Other Six Days. He has worked as a pastor, a student counsellor, a businessperson, a carpenter, and a professor. He lives in Vancouver, BC with his wife, Gail, their three married children, eight grandchildren, and two great grandsons.