People Who Live and Work in the Public Square

Introduction People in the marketplace hold jobs in a variety of professions: business, law, engineering, medicine, teaching, politics, government, agriculture, media, leisure, sports, art, entertainment If you could have any job, what would that be and why? Or, what according to you would be the most fun job and why?

1. God and the Public Square God created it Gen. 1-2 Work matters because it was God’s intention for us Work is not the result of “the curse” God audits it Amos 5:12-15; Amos 8:4-7; Jer. 7:9-11 God governs it Gen. 50:19-20

1. God and the Public Square God redeems it 2 Pet. 3:10-13 Rev. 21:24-27 Ponzi scheme How should we then live? Constructive engagement Courageous confrontation

2. Missional Engagement in the Public Square Positioned to serve the state – Daniel, Joseph, Esther They accepted where God had put them – adapted to the culture They worked constructively and conscientiously in the secular world They preserved their integrity Commanded to pray for the city and see it’s welfare Jer. 29:7 – Abraham’s mission of being a blessing to the nations Earn a living by ordinary work 2 Thess. 3:6-13

3. Message to Christians in the Public Square You set forth every morning into the public square that is both the world of God’s creation and the world of Satan’s usurped (and temporary) dominion – as well as the world of your participation in God’s mission You are the Daniels of the present world – or at least, you can and you should be You are the disciples of whom Jesus said that you are “in the world” but not “of the world” You live and work in the world’s public square, but you take your ultimate goals and values in life from another source – the kingdom of God You are the salt and light of the world