Tim Keller, the former pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, had as the heart of his ministry the need for Christians to realize and embrace the roles they played in helping cities like New York City flourish.
Katherine Leary Alsdorf served as the founding director of Redeemer’s Center for Faith and Work (CFW) from 2002 to 2012. She recently wrote an article, “A Reformed Theology of Work in New York for the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics. In it, she references Jeremiah, the prophet who told the Jewish exiles, who thought they would be in Babylon only a short while, to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I (God) have carried you into exile. Pray the Lord for it because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:7).
She states that Keller repeatedly reminded his congregants of this message, noting that rather than exploiting the city where they live they should “pray, serve and work for its shalom.”
Alsdorf points out that this proclamation raises questions and challenges for Christian workers. “One is loneliness: many (Christians) feel isolated and alone, lamenting that they don’t know of any other Christians at their workplace.” She notes that it also raises a question: “How can committed Christians work alongside, learn from, and collaborate with colleagues who are very different from them in terms of their faith and values?”
Regarding the issue of loneliness, Alsdorf notes that “in the power and pervasive presence of the Holy Spirit, these workers are never alone.
To the question of how to work with non-Christians, Alsdorf reminds readers that “through the common-grace workings of the Holy Spirit, their non-Christian coworkers are the graced recipients of many blessings from God. These non-Christian workers have received the gifts of creativity, education, virtue, generosity, wisdom, and insight from the Holy Spirit.” Because of this, Christians must “collaborate with, learn from, and celebrate the good work done by their non-Christian colleagues.”
She continues, “God has blessed all humanity with gifts of morality, aesthetics, and craftsmanship. Christian workers can appeal to their coworkers’ kindness, ethics, and excellence because—by the grace of God—these good gifts are within them as well.”
Alsdorf notes that on multiple occasions, Tim Keller said that because of “common grace, the works—the thoughts, contributions, cultural creations, science—of non-believers are never as bad as their wrong beliefs should make them. Likewise, because of total depravity, believers' works—the thoughts, contributions, cultural creations, science—are never as good as their right belief should make them.”
Common grace allows all people to do good work—even non-believers. Total depravity—the fact that we are all sinners and that our goodness comes only from God—keeps Christians from being and doing all they can be and do-this side of heaven.
This permits us, as Christians, to see the good in what non-believers offer and to realize that no one—including Christians—fully lives out the work they are designed to do.
This is both freeing and humbling. Ultimately, it allows us to be gracious to all, serve all, forgive all, and look to God for guidance.