In “Futureville,” Skye Jethani offers a vision-shifting glimpse of how doing work that matters today will shape the world of tomorrow.
Whatever you’ve read about the future, don’t settle your opinion until after reading Futureville.
Who is Skye Jethani? He’s a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, The Washington Post‘s “On Faith” column and Relevant. He held various roles at Christianty Today was the senior editor of Leadership Journal.
Why Work is More Than A Four-Letter Word
Traditional Christian eschatology (the study of future events) throws the intrinsic value of “work” under the bus, teaching that only work associated with the ministry of the Church will have future value. The efforts of evangelism, missions, or discipleship will eternally outlive efforts like art, architecture and writing.
This is the sacred/secular dichotomy at its worst.
When this happens the institutional Church’s work becomes all consuming. People rightly begin to wonder if their leaders are merely using them or loving them.
Futureville is a smart, inspiring call to cultivate the order, beauty, and abundance that reflects the heart and purposes of God.
3 Views of The Future:
1. Evolution and its emphasis on human progress. A world which gradually gets better and better until it becomes all it’s meant to be.
2. Evacuation (aka “the rapture”) and its focus on leaving everything up to God. A world in which things get worse and worse until Christians are
eventually snatched away leaving everything to be destroyed.
Jethani offers a third way – Resurrection. “What we do today endures in the age to come.”
His argument is this: Jesus’ resurrection body was changed but not replaced. The wounds of His crucifixtion were still visible after His resurrection. When Jesus returns, the earth will be liberated not destroyed. Jethani envisions a time “when King David may admire Michelangelo’s statue of himself, Handel may well perform his Messiah for the Messiah and our work may continue into the next.”
3 Callings In Life:
The term “calling” has recently bridged the sacred/secular. Even Oprah talks about her “calling” and finding your “calling.” Jethani’s context is based on the principle of God’s calling on a person’s life.
1. A Common Calling – we have a calling to each other. The New Testament is saturated with commands relating to “one another.”
2. A Specific Calling – what God’s Spirit will lead you into as a vocation or station in life. This is the part of the world, both geographically and demographically that you are called to cultivate.
3. A Highest Calling –the highest calling is not a WHAT – as in what you do; it is a WHO – as in who you serve. Our relationship with Jesus is our highest calling.
There is a God-given dignity to ALL specific callings.
People of faith need not be wrestled away from “secular” work in order to accomplish the “sacred.”
What you believe about tomorrow determines how you live today.
Be clear about your calling.
APPLICATION: Please leave a comment below.
I was given a free copy of this book by BookLook Bloogers but did not have to give a positive review.
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