The Next Step for the Faith and Work Movement
What the faith and work movement has done well and where we still need to improve.
Summary
In this article, we reflect on the faith and work movement. We’ve found that the movement has strong foundations but that a “two-kingdom” theology has often prevented the movement from going where Scripture leads us—to considering the effects of our work on others. We suggest that the faith and work movement should invest in people who influence their spheres of work, teaching and equipping them to reform their work toward the common good.
What the Faith and Work Movement Has Done and Why We Still Need It
I (Dan) have seen the faith and work movement growing for about the last 20 years. It has sponsored thousands of seminars and hundreds of books. Presently, there are dozens of Christian institutions for faith and work located in most major cities. I’ve connected with people who are leading faith and work initiatives at public universities and at large conferences.
The faith and work movement has labeled the fallenness of work and communicated the basic principles of work. Many have rightly identified immoral, pointless, or harmful work by connecting it to the ways in which sin has warped the good gift of work. At its best, it can teach a basic theology of work, which I summarize as: (1) despite the fall, work is intrinsically good, (2) resting and working is a pattern that God set for us to follow, (3) manual and mental labor are equally noble, (4) sin spoils everything, even the best workplace, and (5) God both puts us in places and gives us the freedom to move.
A good faith and work movement should also clarify the concept of work. Most people associate work with what they do 8–5, five days of the week. But it’s more than that. Work is the sustained exercise of skill and strength that overcomes obstacles to produce or accomplish something. By this definition, learning to read or play a sport well is work. Serious commitment to a ministry of mercy or prayer is work. Making meals and making cars are both work. Parenting, volunteering, and studying are all forms of work.
There is much to commend in the faith and work movement, and we need to continue investing in it. There are many reasons for this, but one brief look at popular culture will suffice.
The show Severance is one of the most popular streaming programs of early 2025, and rightfully so, given its design, originality, acting, and music. However, for the show to succeed in connecting with its audience, the audience must accept its deep distrust of work and know something of the disconnect that can come between our working selves and our selves outside of work. The show operates on the premise that it is believable that our work self could be completely severed from the rest of our lives. Here are some of the absurdities that happen in the show when the working self is severed:
Workers manipulate numbers all day without knowing what they’re doing or why.
The corporate building has long, empty corridors that go nowhere.
Worker benefits include waffle parties and melon ball buffets.
In a world where such absurdity feels credible, even relatable, we need the faith and work movement to remind us that our work is meaningful. The movement has made good strides, but a disconnected and uninvested workforce needs us to go deeper.
What Can the Faith and Work Movement Do Better?
Many resist the claim that Christ transforms culture. And this seeps into our faith and work movements. There’s a prevalence of what’s sometimes called “two-kingdom” thinking. Two-kingdom theology expresses a skepticism about our work, challenging the “reforming” claim that our work itself is meaningful. Two-kingdom thinking says that we can’t make much progress in positively impacting the world because Satan is still the prince of the powers. It says that the reforming movement will always be overshadowed by profit motives that run contrary to the motives of faith. It says that reform movements exaggerate the impact that faith can have on work. As long as people work moral jobs with diligence, says two-kingdom thinking, there is no difference between one lightbulb and another, whether they are made by a Christ-follower or not. Mostly, two-kingdom thinking suspects that the goal of reformation at work leads to a neglect of the gospel.
It is typical, in this line of thinking, to focus only on the objective (the nature of the work itself) and the subjective (your attitude and skill) aspects of faith and work. Often, Colossians 3:22–23 is brought up: we should work “with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord,” working for Him and not for people. This is true and important! But it’s hardly the final word on work. We must also consider how our work impacts the people around us.
Proverbs 31 says, “It is not for kings to drink wine / not for rulers to crave beer, / lest they drink and forget what has been decreed / and deprive the oppressed of their rights. . . Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves / for the rights of all who are destitute. / Speak up and judge fairly / defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
This passage speaks to two realities that two-kingdom thinking downplays: the inter-objective and social aspects of our work (the effects of our work in the external world and on the internal lives of others).
In short, work can be skillful, legal, profitable, sincere, and damaging.
Many Christian business leaders conduct their business almost exactly like everyone else. Maybe they run a Bible study, but their cereals have the same preservatives, sugar, and empty calories. While acknowledging the harm in this, two-kingdom thinking will often argue that the effort to change the world saps resources and distracts us from the basics: evangelism and discipleship.
But surely we want to equip disciples to be faithful and emulate Jesus in everything they do. How can excellent conduct of business interfere with that? Teaching people how to practice their faith at work is discipleship.
At work, we spend more time and have more resources than in most other areas of our lives. Consider the inter-objective and social aspects of managing a restaurant. Besides serving food, restaurateurs manage people and resources. Are they fatherly toward their staff? Do they deepen or mitigate the tendency toward alcohol and substance abuse that plagues that industry? Do they close on Sundays or otherwise give their people rest, or do they encourage work seven days per week? Do they acquire their food and beverages responsibly? If they serve meat, do they follow Proverbs 12:10, “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast”?
It is excellent to pray, have Bible studies, and work with moral integrity. It is more excellent to keep praying and to weave your faith into the fabric of your work from day one. We should work hard with skill and moral integrity. We should be ready to share our faith. People may wonder why we conduct ourselves with moral beauty, treating our bosses, peers, and reports well. This can foster evangelism or interest in the faith (Matt 5:16). Yes, and let’s push even deeper, into working for the social good. How can we say we are following Jesus’s commands while ignoring the effects of our work on our neighbors and the world (Matt 5:14–16; 43–45)? So also we cannot teach others to obey what Jesus commanded (Matt 28:20) without including their work in the scope of Jesus’s gracious reign.
How We Can Start Reforming Our Work
To summarize what has been said so far: the faith and work movement has helpfully taught us to consider what our work is and why we work. However, following Jesus also means reforming the very nature of our work so that we create a ripple effect of blessing across our communities and our world.
So, how can we make our work skillful, legal, profitable, sincere, and not damaging? In the absence of specific directives from Scripture, how could we begin to effect this kind of meaningful change in education, government, parenting, medicine, technology, and every other sphere in which we live and work?
A Dutch theologian can give us a foundation from which we can answer these questions. Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920) coined the term “sphere sovereignty” to propose that each realm of life has an integrity that includes (1) knowledge of the rules for that sphere, (2) leaders appointed for that sphere, and (3) a resolve to work within its boundaries instead of intruding on other spheres. We can think of leaders as people with influence in their spheres, whether officially recognized or not. They could be people who start and lead a business, have a formal title or org chart position, or are recognized informally as “the person who.”
With these principles in hand, we can name preconditions or frameworks for disciples to enact social reform through work. First, leaders must master the norms that govern their field. Second, competent authorities must promote or defend those norms. Third, authorities in diverse fields must heed one another where their activities overlap. The principles for reform are these:
Leaders must let love, justice, and faithfulness, as Scripture explains them, guide their every endeavor.
Leaders must identify areas in their sphere (discipline or occupation) where change is needed, feasible, and most likely to succeed.
Leaders must identify barriers to reform, including the weight of inertia and the fear of change.
Leaders, led by these values, must wisely apply the norms of their sphere to areas under their influence, especially those that lack love, justice, and faithfulness.
The faith and work movement should spend energy on leaders and developing leaders, formal or informal. We must galvanize people who, in God’s providence, hold strategic positions to use their authority with the prayer “Your kingdom come, Your will be done” in view.
For example, you could get a group of professionals in a room, teach them the basics of a theology of faith and work, and assist them as they apply those basic principles to their workplaces. What would it look like to get a corporate lawyer, a family lawyer, and a trial lawyer in a room together to see what they believe needs to change in their profession? I (Dan) run groups like this. It can’t be all we do, but I’ve found that it’s a strong way to start.
It’s true, there is no “Christian way” to bake a potato or make a light bulb. But God’s rule over politics, economics, science, and technology is not just governed by law and justice but primarily by His good grace. Our faith shapes work globally—we invest in people and organizations, we hire and train employees, we source and produce products, and we offer our skilled service, all with a mind to promote the common good.
The call to follow Jesus is a call to place every part of our lives under his direction. As long as our theology of work is lacking, our discipleship is incomplete.
Dan Doriani & Ethan Hand