1 00:00:00,672 --> 00:00:08,896 Teacher, your job, what you do day in and day out, it matters for eternity, even when you're not sharing the gospel. 2 00:00:08,896 --> 00:00:10,366 Today, we're gonna talk about why. 3 00:00:10,366 --> 00:00:16,099 Well, welcome back to the Teach 4 the Heart podcast, where we tackle teaching challenges from a biblical perspective. 4 00:00:16,099 --> 00:00:17,079 Why are we here? 5 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:22,222 Because we don't believe that our spiritual walk and teaching profession should exist in two separate domains. 6 00:00:22,222 --> 00:00:28,234 Rather, the hope we have in Christ should change how we approach everything, not just at home, but at school as well. 7 00:00:28,234 --> 00:00:36,452 So join us as we explore both the spiritual and practical sides of key teaching challenges, integrating them together so we can succeed at teaching, glorify God, and make 8 00:00:36,452 --> 00:00:39,875 a lasting difference in our students' hearts and lives. 9 00:00:39,936 --> 00:00:43,819 This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Herzog Foundation. 10 00:00:43,819 --> 00:00:47,382 We also want to thank our sponsor, Dordt University. 11 00:00:47,443 --> 00:00:53,368 Unlock the science of reading with Dordt University at a free webinar on October 15th. 12 00:00:53,396 --> 00:01:01,202 This webinar will help you explore how to use data to make targeted teaching decisions and incorporate high impact instructional routines. 13 00:01:01,202 --> 00:01:11,399 You will leave with a clearer understanding of the research behind reading development, gain practical strategies for greater instructional impact, and tools for purposeful 14 00:01:11,399 --> 00:01:12,390 assessment. 15 00:01:12,390 --> 00:01:16,243 Register today at dordt.edu / webinars. 16 00:01:16,243 --> 00:01:21,396 That's D-O-R-D-T dot E-D-U / webinars. 17 00:01:22,228 --> 00:01:36,906 Today, we're going to be sharing with you a clip from last year's summit, a conversation we had with Jordan Raynor around why our work matters for eternity, not just when we're 18 00:01:36,906 --> 00:01:39,777 sharing Christ, but no matter what we're doing. 19 00:01:39,777 --> 00:01:46,141 And before we get to that, I wanna tell you first of all, if you are not signed up yet for the Rise Up Summit, I really, really hope that you'll join us this year. 20 00:01:46,141 --> 00:01:52,236 uh Everything is completely free the weekend of the event, or you can get an all access pass. 21 00:01:52,236 --> 00:01:56,178 Purchase an all access pass that will give you access to all the sessions forever. 22 00:01:56,178 --> 00:02:04,502 uh regardless of which option you choose, can also kind of choose, man, I want to watch every session or I just want to watch one session. 23 00:02:04,502 --> 00:02:08,282 So I know there will be at least one session that you will not want to miss. 24 00:02:08,282 --> 00:02:10,144 There's so many great topics over there. 25 00:02:10,144 --> 00:02:13,946 And once again, it's completely free to sign up and to attend the weekend of the event. 26 00:02:13,946 --> 00:02:19,568 So please go to riseupchristianeducators.com and sign up if you haven't done so yet. 27 00:02:19,870 --> 00:02:31,316 And then today, as I said, I want to play you guys a clip, a longer clip, about a 10, 13 minute clip from last year's summit session with Jordan Raynor because this session was so 28 00:02:31,316 --> 00:02:32,427 amazing. 29 00:02:32,427 --> 00:02:40,971 And in this clip, he is really talking about why your job matters for eternity, even when you're not sharing the gospel. 30 00:02:40,971 --> 00:02:49,696 Because I do think sometimes we fall into this trap of thinking that, you know, some of our work is like done for God and actually matters, and then some stuff doesn't. 31 00:02:49,696 --> 00:02:52,796 I mean, I had a great conversation with the student. 32 00:02:52,796 --> 00:03:00,436 I was able to really help them and impact their life, whether I got to share the gospel or whether I just really made a difference and I could tell, okay, man, this moment really 33 00:03:00,436 --> 00:03:01,196 mattered. 34 00:03:01,196 --> 00:03:08,116 But doing my grading, cleaning up my room, laminating, making copies, that doesn't really matter. 35 00:03:08,116 --> 00:03:09,896 It's not really that important, right? 36 00:03:09,896 --> 00:03:11,456 And it's the same thing sometimes we feel at home. 37 00:03:11,456 --> 00:03:12,616 I'm just doing the dishes. 38 00:03:12,616 --> 00:03:14,076 I'm just cleaning the house. 39 00:03:14,076 --> 00:03:16,216 This doesn't really matter. 40 00:03:16,216 --> 00:03:19,392 But Jordan argues that is not true. 41 00:03:19,392 --> 00:03:26,294 ah And he actually has a book that these thoughts are coming from called The Sacredness of Secular Work. 42 00:03:26,294 --> 00:03:32,596 The sacredness of secular work for ways your job matters for eternity even when you're not sharing the gospel. 43 00:03:32,596 --> 00:03:39,998 And he's talking here about how God delights in everything we do, every detail of our life, no matter what. 44 00:03:39,998 --> 00:03:44,119 It doesn't have to be, quote unquote, spiritual for it to matter. 45 00:03:44,119 --> 00:03:48,201 And how it's really not about what we're doing for our work. 46 00:03:48,201 --> 00:03:51,212 Right, I mean, think about, everybody has different professions, right? 47 00:03:51,212 --> 00:03:54,723 Some people are doctors and lawyers and nurses. 48 00:03:54,723 --> 00:04:00,864 We are teachers or educators, know, there's people that are custodians, homemakers. 49 00:04:00,864 --> 00:04:11,807 There's all just all so many different jobs out there and it's not, you know, certain jobs God is more pleased with, but it's rather who you are doing the work with and who you are 50 00:04:11,807 --> 00:04:12,627 doing it for. 51 00:04:12,627 --> 00:04:14,804 And if we're bringing God into, 52 00:04:14,804 --> 00:04:16,565 those moments with us, right? 53 00:04:16,565 --> 00:04:22,579 And because we have the Holy Spirit, everything we do should be done with God and for God. 54 00:04:22,579 --> 00:04:26,952 And so nothing we do is absent from him or quote unquote secular. 55 00:04:26,952 --> 00:04:32,826 So this is kind of some of the background that we talked about before this clip, but I'm gonna go ahead and send you over there right now. 56 00:04:32,826 --> 00:04:41,422 Once again, he's gonna jump right into the four ways your job matters for eternity, even when you're not sharing the gospel. 57 00:04:41,422 --> 00:04:44,504 Enjoy this clip and then I'll come back at the end to wrap us up. 58 00:04:45,587 --> 00:04:49,507 when I tell a teacher or a barista, 59 00:04:49,543 --> 00:04:53,205 or an entrepreneur like me that their work matters for eternity. 60 00:04:53,205 --> 00:04:56,327 The most typical response I hear is, yeah, amen Jordan. 61 00:04:56,327 --> 00:04:57,737 My job is my mission field. 62 00:04:57,737 --> 00:04:58,188 Right. 63 00:04:58,188 --> 00:05:01,549 And that is, listen, that is of course gloriously true. 64 00:05:01,570 --> 00:05:13,719 But if the only way your work matters for eternity is because you can use your job to quote unquote, the gospel, then frankly, most of us are wasting 99.9 % of our time. 65 00:05:13,719 --> 00:05:14,897 I don't know about you. 66 00:05:14,897 --> 00:05:19,615 I find that to be deeply, deeply depressing, but more importantly, 67 00:05:19,615 --> 00:05:22,495 It's deeply, deeply unbiblical. 68 00:05:22,495 --> 00:05:33,495 Psalm 37 23 says that the Lord directs the steps of the godly and delights in every detail of their lives. 69 00:05:33,495 --> 00:05:41,695 In other words, God doesn't just delight in watching you teacher share the gospel with an unbelieving teacher in the teacher's lounge, right? 70 00:05:41,695 --> 00:05:48,521 He doesn't just delight in watching you write a check to the missionaries pictured on your refrigerator. 71 00:05:48,521 --> 00:05:57,699 He delights in every lesson you plan, in every Zoom meeting you lead, in every single thing you do in a godly way. 72 00:05:57,699 --> 00:06:01,952 Those are all ingredients into the eternal pleasure of God. 73 00:06:01,952 --> 00:06:13,731 So my heart is for every believer to see how 100 % of their time at work matters for eternity, not just the 1 % they spend sharing the gospel. 74 00:06:15,143 --> 00:06:21,088 Yeah, and that's so powerful because I do think a lot of teachers and a lot of us, right, we do think, okay, this matters. 75 00:06:21,088 --> 00:06:21,889 I can see it. 76 00:06:21,889 --> 00:06:25,812 I had this moment or I was able to specifically share something that maybe would lead. 77 00:06:25,812 --> 00:06:29,955 And I think we're just so hyper focused in on that one aspect. 78 00:06:29,955 --> 00:06:33,358 And we're like, does the rest of this really matter? 79 00:06:33,358 --> 00:06:39,983 So what do you think keeps Christians from seeing ah kind of the sacredness in all those other pieces? 80 00:06:40,349 --> 00:06:42,541 Yeah, this will be a controversial answer. 81 00:06:42,541 --> 00:06:54,150 And if you want the fuller answer, you can, ah we could dig into it if you'd like, but I would argue at the root of this is that for the last few hundred years of church history, 82 00:06:54,150 --> 00:07:07,091 for the first and only time in church history, we have begun treating the great commission to save souls, make disciples as the singular mission of the Christian life. 83 00:07:07,091 --> 00:07:09,695 And let me state this as clearly as I possibly claim. 84 00:07:09,695 --> 00:07:12,095 can, lest I be labeled a heretic here. 85 00:07:12,095 --> 00:07:15,715 The Great Commission is indeed great. 86 00:07:15,715 --> 00:07:21,715 It's a non-optional command for every single follower of Jesus, right? 87 00:07:21,715 --> 00:07:24,115 But it's not the only commission of the Christian life. 88 00:07:24,115 --> 00:07:36,235 In fact, I quote in the book, these theologians from the very conservative Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, who say that before 400 years ago, nobody ever interpreted 89 00:07:36,235 --> 00:07:38,001 the Great Commission to make disciples 90 00:07:38,001 --> 00:07:39,652 As the mission of the Christian life ever. 91 00:07:39,652 --> 00:07:42,593 is brand new in church thinking, but here's the problem. 92 00:07:42,794 --> 00:07:50,118 If as so many of our pastors and religious leaders have uh led us to believe, I don't think maliciously, right? 93 00:07:50,118 --> 00:07:54,180 But have led us to believe that the great commission is the end all be all the Christian life. 94 00:07:54,180 --> 00:07:58,182 Then the work of a teacher doesn't matter in the grand scheme of eternity. 95 00:07:58,182 --> 00:08:06,787 Unless he or she gets that very rare once in a decade chance to lead some lost person to Jesus Christ. 96 00:08:06,787 --> 00:08:07,557 Right. 97 00:08:07,557 --> 00:08:10,769 Again, that's deeply depressing, but that's not what we see in scripture. 98 00:08:10,769 --> 00:08:24,147 In fact, Jesus himself said, therefore go and make disciples dot dot dot teaching them to obey everything I have commanded them to do, including, by the way, love your neighbor as 99 00:08:24,147 --> 00:08:27,128 yourself, which is a complete statement. 100 00:08:27,128 --> 00:08:35,355 And isn't that what teachers do all day, every day, love their little neighbors as they want to be loved themselves and that 101 00:08:35,355 --> 00:08:43,427 is good and eternally significant, even when it doesn't lead you to a chance to walk somebody through the Romans road. 102 00:08:44,351 --> 00:08:53,611 Yeah, and I do think this is a when you first said this to me I said, wow, that is just something really helpful to recognize just how how elevated the Great Commission has 103 00:08:53,611 --> 00:08:59,671 become and not that it needs to be de elevated, correct, but that all these other commands are not. 104 00:08:59,671 --> 00:09:01,391 It's not like they're less than this. 105 00:09:01,391 --> 00:09:02,131 Correct. 106 00:09:02,211 --> 00:09:09,831 And so all these other things that God calls us to it's not like, okay, I did, you know, I'm following God every moment, but I didn't get to share the gospel today. 107 00:09:09,831 --> 00:09:11,431 So today was a waste, right? 108 00:09:11,431 --> 00:09:19,633 And by the way, let's not forget that that term great commission is not a part of the biblical manuscripts. 109 00:09:19,733 --> 00:09:29,336 It is a manmade heading that according to the preface to my NIV Bible says is not to be regarded as part of the biblical text. 110 00:09:29,336 --> 00:09:31,746 This chart, and by the way, this term is brand new in church. 111 00:09:31,746 --> 00:09:40,779 It was invented 200 years ago by Hudson Taylor as a marketing slogan to recruit people to move to China as missionaries, which that praise God that people did. 112 00:09:40,779 --> 00:09:41,417 Right. 113 00:09:41,417 --> 00:09:52,925 But we gotta be careful with these man-made headings that they don't lead us to stray into false theologies that treat everything else we do in this life as a waste in the grand 114 00:09:52,925 --> 00:09:54,135 scheme of eternity. 115 00:10:58,651 --> 00:11:01,112 So as you're listening, this is like, okay, this is great. 116 00:11:01,112 --> 00:11:02,623 This is kind of great news. 117 00:11:02,623 --> 00:11:08,726 You know, what I'm doing matters no matter what, but we might be thinking, okay, but how, what does that look like? 118 00:11:08,726 --> 00:11:14,448 And I your book is subtitled, Four Ways Your Job Matters for Eternity, Even When You're Not Sharing the Gospel. 119 00:11:14,448 --> 00:11:16,485 So can we dive into some of those ways? 120 00:11:16,485 --> 00:11:17,065 Let's do it. 121 00:11:17,065 --> 00:11:23,059 Number one, your work matters for eternity because it is a vehicle for bringing God eternal pleasure. 122 00:11:23,059 --> 00:11:35,655 Now this is crazy because God doesn't need us to do anything for him, but in his goodness, he allows for his children to contribute to his eternal pleasure based on how we live this 123 00:11:35,655 --> 00:11:35,996 life. 124 00:11:35,996 --> 00:11:43,249 already quoted Psalm 37 23, the Lord directs the steps of the godly and delights in every detail of their lives. 125 00:11:43,249 --> 00:11:46,601 When you do your work with excellence, 126 00:11:46,773 --> 00:11:55,138 and love and in accordance with God's commands that contributes to the eternal pleasure of your Heavenly Father. 127 00:11:55,138 --> 00:11:59,080 That's the first and most fundamental way, mind-blowing way. 128 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:00,361 work matters for eternity. 129 00:12:00,361 --> 00:12:01,601 Here's the second. 130 00:12:01,681 --> 00:12:07,485 Your work matters for eternity because it is largely through your work that you earn eternal rewards. 131 00:12:07,485 --> 00:12:10,306 And we're not talking about earning salvation here, right? 132 00:12:10,306 --> 00:12:15,861 But man, we in the church do not talk about eternal rewards today, which is kind of crazy because 133 00:12:15,861 --> 00:12:23,886 Jesus talked about them non-stop, over and over and over again in the gospels. 134 00:12:23,886 --> 00:12:39,274 He's commanding his followers to sacrifice in the present so that they might earn eternal rewards like treasures and crowns and increased job responsibilities on the new earth. 135 00:12:39,274 --> 00:12:44,687 And the way we work today is a big part of what contributes 136 00:12:44,687 --> 00:12:46,658 to those eternal rewards. 137 00:12:46,658 --> 00:12:56,902 Number three, your work matters for eternity because I think through our jobs, we can scratch off the thin veil metaphorically between heaven and earth, revealing glimpses of 138 00:12:56,902 --> 00:12:59,363 the kingdom of God in the present mysteriously. 139 00:12:59,363 --> 00:13:08,828 And then finally, number four, your work matters for eternity because yes, you can leverage it to the instrumental end of sharing the gospel with those you work with. 140 00:13:08,828 --> 00:13:12,315 And I would argue history would argue 141 00:13:12,315 --> 00:13:18,467 that it is not pastors and donor supportive missionaries who are most effective at the Great Commission. 142 00:13:18,467 --> 00:13:28,770 It is mere Christians working as teachers, working as entrepreneurs, working as marketers who will do the most for the advancement of the gospel through God's grace. 143 00:13:28,770 --> 00:13:34,161 And while that is far from the only way your work matters for eternity, it is certainly a way. 144 00:13:34,161 --> 00:13:40,353 And so we better get really, really good at this, especially in this increasingly post-Christian context. 145 00:13:41,487 --> 00:13:41,937 Yes. 146 00:13:41,937 --> 00:13:42,378 Okay. 147 00:13:42,378 --> 00:13:42,588 Wow. 148 00:13:42,588 --> 00:13:44,659 This there is so much there. 149 00:13:44,677 --> 00:13:48,783 And obviously this is why I get the book dive into all of this with Jordan. 150 00:13:48,783 --> 00:13:50,675 Can I go back to number three though? 151 00:13:50,675 --> 00:13:53,167 You talked about kind of you can pierce that thin veil. 152 00:13:53,167 --> 00:13:55,953 Can you expound on that and share a little bit about what you mean by that? 153 00:13:55,953 --> 00:13:57,073 Yeah, I'd love to. 154 00:13:57,073 --> 00:14:01,373 This is a this is definitely the most mysterious of the four ways. 155 00:14:01,373 --> 00:14:04,072 And I'm not going to act like I've got it all figured out. 156 00:14:04,072 --> 00:14:09,333 But the analogy I use in the book that's been helpful to me is think about think about the scratch off paper. 157 00:14:09,733 --> 00:14:10,633 There are kids love. 158 00:14:10,633 --> 00:14:11,933 I don't know if your kids love this. 159 00:14:11,933 --> 00:14:12,833 Linda, my kids love this. 160 00:14:12,833 --> 00:14:17,253 That leaves black residue all over my house on the surface. 161 00:14:17,253 --> 00:14:18,013 These scratch. 162 00:14:18,013 --> 00:14:18,793 I'm talking to teachers. 163 00:14:18,793 --> 00:14:20,133 You know exactly what I'm talking about. 164 00:14:20,133 --> 00:14:21,773 Right on the surface. 165 00:14:22,073 --> 00:14:25,833 These scratch off look like dull pieces of black paper. 166 00:14:25,961 --> 00:14:35,809 But when our kids rub the surface with a stylus or a quarter, that thin dark veil fades away and reveals a really beautiful picture on the other side. 167 00:14:35,809 --> 00:14:37,931 I think that's a picture of the Christian life. 168 00:14:37,931 --> 00:14:49,871 I think that through our jobs, through our lives, we could serve as a stylus of sorts, scratching off what doesn't belong in the eternal kingdom of God, planting what does so 169 00:14:49,871 --> 00:14:52,963 that people can get a glimpse of the kingdom of God on the other side. 170 00:14:52,963 --> 00:14:55,101 Let me give you an example of what this looks like. 171 00:14:55,301 --> 00:14:59,984 Let's say, uh let's say you're a teacher committed to the public school system. 172 00:15:00,244 --> 00:15:03,767 I would argue that's an act of justice in some ways, right? 173 00:15:03,767 --> 00:15:11,052 You are scratching off a day, a glimpse of the day when the God of justice will reign supreme. 174 00:15:11,052 --> 00:15:22,219 Even if you never use that language, you are scratching off this desire for justice and righteousness just by choosing to work in hard places. 175 00:15:22,219 --> 00:15:25,481 All right, let's say you're, uh I have a friend who's a hairstylist. 176 00:15:25,545 --> 00:15:40,612 Right her name is chassis chassis interest when chassis creates beauty as a hairstylist She is planting a seed in people's hearts for the day in which Beauty will cover the face 177 00:15:40,612 --> 00:15:46,414 of the earth which will only be found ultimately in Jesus Christ see Revelation 21 right? 178 00:15:46,414 --> 00:15:53,647 Let's say you're let's hear a principle and You're working in these crazy times without fear 179 00:15:53,819 --> 00:16:08,251 without anxiety, with just transcendent peace that can only be described by your apprenticeship to Jesus Christ, you are scratching off a glimpse of the day when anxiety 180 00:16:08,251 --> 00:16:09,272 will be no more. 181 00:16:09,272 --> 00:16:20,691 See Isaiah 32 verse four, you are rubbing off more of that scratch off and giving people just a taste, just a glimpse to what their appetite is, something that they will crave 182 00:16:20,691 --> 00:16:23,577 until they find it in full. 183 00:16:23,577 --> 00:16:25,474 in the person of Jesus Christ. 184 00:16:26,789 --> 00:16:27,500 Wow, yes. 185 00:16:27,500 --> 00:16:29,141 And that is really powerful, right? 186 00:16:29,141 --> 00:16:35,748 And I think I love this way you're saying it almost as, yeah, this picture of the kingdom and picture of what God is trying to do. 187 00:16:35,748 --> 00:16:41,804 think I maybe also heard this described as almost like pushing back the curse a little bit, Kind of like, what is this? 188 00:16:41,804 --> 00:16:49,181 We are in the curse and just kind of partnering in God and what it would have looked like without that and have these little glimpses of that. 189 00:16:49,181 --> 00:16:50,032 Yeah, I love that. 190 00:16:50,032 --> 00:16:51,389 oh 191 00:16:51,389 --> 00:16:54,450 For a long time I believe Linda that okay great. 192 00:16:54,450 --> 00:17:03,894 I'm on the other side of Easter I'm in between Easter and Revelation 21 and the New Jerusalem dropping down from the sky and my job is to just sit on my hands away for it to 193 00:17:03,894 --> 00:17:12,228 happen That's not the story of scripture read Acts chapter 1 the disciples were like, okay Jesus Are you gonna bring the kingdom in full? 194 00:17:12,228 --> 00:17:14,749 He's like no, no, no, no, will be my witnesses. 195 00:17:14,749 --> 00:17:19,771 And yes, that means evangelism But it means way more than evangelism Tim Keller 196 00:17:19,771 --> 00:17:33,611 pointed out that to be Jesus's witnesses is to implement his kingship and his kingdom in every square inch of creation in the school system, in our neighborhoods, in culture, in 197 00:17:33,611 --> 00:17:34,592 media. 198 00:17:34,592 --> 00:17:40,146 We are actively partnering with Christ in the renewal of all things. 199 00:17:40,146 --> 00:17:47,231 And as we do, we are playing trailers for a watching world of the kingdom that is to come. 200 00:17:48,014 --> 00:17:51,026 I hope you guys enjoyed this conversation with Jordan Raynor. 201 00:17:51,026 --> 00:17:58,551 I love just his passion and just these important thoughts about how much what you do really, really matters for eternity. 202 00:17:58,551 --> 00:18:01,823 How much God cares about what you do day in, day out, moment by moment in the classroom. 203 00:18:01,823 --> 00:18:04,163 I hope this was really an encouragement to you. 204 00:18:04,163 --> 00:18:06,866 And if you've enjoyed this session, I hope you'll do two things. 205 00:18:06,866 --> 00:18:11,439 First of all, I hope that you'll share this episode with a friend and tell them about it. 206 00:18:11,439 --> 00:18:13,452 And number two, I hope that you will... 207 00:18:13,452 --> 00:18:17,906 Sign up for the Rise Up Summit for more amazing sessions just like this one that you just heard. 208 00:18:17,906 --> 00:18:20,999 Once again, that's at riseupchristianeducators.com. 209 00:18:20,999 --> 00:18:27,164 And we really look forward to sharing more encouragement and ideas with you there as well. 210 00:18:27,505 --> 00:18:30,757 Well, this episode has been brought to you in partnership with the Herzog Foundation. 211 00:18:30,757 --> 00:18:35,612 All views and opinions are our own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Herzog Foundation. 212 00:18:35,612 --> 00:18:41,036 If you'd like the notes and links from this episode, you can get them at teachfortheheart.com /358 213 00:18:41,997 --> 00:18:45,200 And once again, if you enjoyed this, please do like, subscribe, share. 214 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:48,383 All these things really do make a big difference. 215 00:18:48,383 --> 00:18:50,170 Well, thank you for being with us today. 216 00:18:50,170 --> 00:18:51,876 I look forward to speaking with you again soon. 217 00:18:51,876 --> 00:18:56,949 In the meantime, teacher, remember God is at work in you and through you, and he's using you to make a difference. 218 00:18:56,949 --> 00:18:59,084 Keep your eyes on him and teach for the heart.