I am an electrical designer, preparing the electrical circuitry for fire halls, schools and offices and supervising the installation. But I also teach the theology of work in churches, conferences, and seminaries. I have studied both theology from above and from below. My preference is for the latter. Let me explain why….Without minimizing the value of theology that starts with the revelation of God and God’s purposes, there is another way of constructing theology: “doing theology from below.” This approach starts with life and concrete experiences in the workplace and the church. It is that approach that I am anxious to develop.

For too long, the Church has had the practice of waiting for people to come to church to be equipped. The time is ripe for the Church to go and equip rather than wait for people to come. Discipleship can no longer be confined to the four walls of the church. It is not just in the gathered but also the scattered life of the church where discipleship needs to be practiced. Therefore, it can no longer just be about Sunday gatherings and a few other church gatherings, but should be inclusive from Monday to Saturday – be it at homes, coffee shops, or workplaces. The Great Commission (Matt. 28:16-20) is to be carried out to all ἔθνη (ethnē), which can be translated as race, a nation, and people groups. Today, it is in the marketplace where one can find a huge diversity of people from different nations and ethnic backgrounds.

Most Christians live and work in the world. A few, of course, work in the church as pastors, sextons, administrators, youth workers, and worship leaders. Some are immersed in Christian organizations where they have relatively little contact with the world unless their organization is truly missional. Some live and work in a monastery such as the one to which I visit every few months for prayer and reflection. And life is not easier for the monks, nuns, pastors and religious workers. Indeed it is in many ways harder as it has been said, and I quoted earlier, that there is nothing quite so debilitating as the constant handling of holy things. And there are profound dangers in living and working in the church gathered. It is all too easy to become like Job’s friends, talking about God rather than to God in prayer. This volume addresses the meaning of their life in the world first, in terms of ministry, as priests, prophets and princes in the workplace and the world, second, in terms of their mission, and third in respect to the trouble they have in the world through their engagement with the principalities and powers.