by Tracey Manning

One's spiritual understanding of God and self seems related not only to what one does as work but also to how one views the work one does. In my observations of myself and others in the process of becoming Christians, I believe I have seen change and development in a person's perspectives on and behavior towards his/her work as a function of commitment to Christ and experience of ongoing conversion. I would like to propose a theoretical model of work perspectives as they reflect broad states of Christian spiritual development.

Stage One: Spirituality Unconscious or Irrelevant
When God is viewed as cosmic and distant, uninvolved in present-day human affairs, it follows that humans don't consider God in their day-to-day decision making. For the nominal Christian or non-believer, work is probably a purely personal affair, however one approaches it. It may be drudgery ("the salt mines"), ordinary ("my job"), a source of feelings of competence or incompetence ("my career") or a selfless commitment or dedication ("my vocation"). What these perspectives have in common is the sense that God is relevant to neither one's identity nor one's work.

Stage Two: Spiritual Awakening to God's Invitation
Individuals become aware of a God who transcends their limited vision in as many ways as there are individuals. Once contact is made with the God who desires to be personal with us, the individual's awareness can become heightened to God's providential involvement in his/her life. The person often responds to this divine outreach by communicating in prayer, learning of God in Scripture and beginning to view God in a more relational way.

As people change perceptions of God, they probably also begin to change perceptions of themselves and of the world of work. They may begin to dichotomize "sacred" or "religious" from "secular" activities and to evaluate "religious" activities more highly. They also may feel the need to "do something for God," something "religious," of course, to respond to the love and answers to prayer they are experiencing from God. Many Christians I have met seem to be functioning with such a view of identity, God and work. This may be a relatively permanent stage for some, while a transient one for others who continue to respond to God's loving call.

People at this stage may become dominated by old "shoulds," perfectionistic or overscrupulous ideas about how one should live life, and may drive themselves into a frenzy trying to do them all. The underlying dynamic of "stuckness" at this stage may relate to the persistent issue of our inability to earn or deserve God's extravagant love--doing something "religious" may be an attempt to equalize such scales. Ironically when overwhelmed with such an attempt to earn redemption, people are less likely to make quality time to build their relationships with God or to realize what they are missing in their lives.

Stage Three: Initial Conversion
Through many fits and starts and much of God's grace, some people make a commitment of their lives to Christ. The person has had to accept him/herself as sinful and desiring forgiveness and then accept Christ's loving forgiveness and new life. At the point of conversion, Christians may radically change perspectives on life and work. With a new awareness that God has plans for individuals, new Christians often want to give up previous work identities to enter ministry. For example, I wondered if this call from God meant I needed to enter religious life; another woman I know joined the many lay people who go to seminary as a statement of their new commitment.

Other Christians view themselves as called, with certain gifts and talents and God as the originator of the call. For the first time, the individual tries to consult with God to make work decisions, though the dichotomy between sacred amd secular still holds sway. The differences between this stage and the previous one may be seen in the distinction between "God bless my work" and "God, direct me to your work for me."

Stage Four: Ongoing Conversion-Incarnation
As individuals develop stronger and deeper personal relationships with their God, they begin to know God better (and know also how little they know God). They begin to be more open to response from the Holy Spirit about their grace and disgrace, to trust God's work in each situation in their lives and to know who they are in God's sight. These movements are not accomplished without resistance in the human psyche, which does not like discomfort or loss of control. They are also accompanied, in my limited experience, by new perspectives on work.

As individuals allow conversion of more and more areas of their lives, they become incarnational. As Paul says, "It is not I who lives but Christ in me." The person at this stage transcends the earlier dichotomy between sacred and secular and sees the possibilities of living Christ in all situations. Beyond that, one is aware of being uniquely gifted and dedicated to work to which God calls him or her and for which God gives grace and takes much responsibility. The Christian who is becoming incarnational resembles Brother Lawrence who lived Christ in preparing meals at a monastery. The cleaning woman in my building also exemplified this perspective when she shared the reason she unfailingly greeted each passerby with a sincere smile: "God knows I can't do big things, but maybe I can make each person's day a little better with a smile."

"I am the vine and you are the branches," Christ reminded us. Through these hypothesized stages of spiritual development, two major things occur. The branches become more and more aware of being attached to the vine and in such awareness are able to grow more strongly attached and thus stronger. Work and spiritual growth are indeed linked.

Tracey , a 1987 graduate of Shalem's Spiritual Guidance Program, is a professor of psychology at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland in Baltimore. This article is taken from one of her program papers; a slightly different version also appeared in Jacob's Well, Spring 1990.