It’s funny to me that I got caught for the moment on Sayers’ referent to the Church as “She”—the capitalization made me really think and remember that we are the Bride, and Christ is the Bridegroom. What a beautiful picture, just in that image, of two different roles that create one whole. Kraig and I have been pondering lately the importance of different gifts and roles (and vocations) within a church body, because without the variety we don’t have a healthy, vibrant community that can better reflect God. And God made us that way! This perspective of Sayers augments that idea.
In a world where any vocation is merely an exchange of my time for someone else's money, we need to hear the call to God's design for his image bearers.
You mentioned that some of her descriptions of the Church's attitude towards work might be outdated or overly broad for today, but I suspect the reason some of it feels overly broad now is because Sayers's influenced the Church through her essays. I've often heard church folk reference this essay or The Mind of the Maker when discussing work in essays or articles. So hooray for that!
She set the tone for the next century of Evangelical writing and thinking with this brief essay. However, there is a strong argument that work should indeed be set aside from worship and other contemplative practices, most forcefully by Josef Piefer (Leisure the Basis of Culture). I've come to agree with Piefer in that regard. The mutual reinforcement of work and the seeking of God's face must be sought.
It’s funny to me that I got caught for the moment on Sayers’ referent to the Church as “She”—the capitalization made me really think and remember that we are the Bride, and Christ is the Bridegroom. What a beautiful picture, just in that image, of two different roles that create one whole. Kraig and I have been pondering lately the importance of different gifts and roles (and vocations) within a church body, because without the variety we don’t have a healthy, vibrant community that can better reflect God. And God made us that way! This perspective of Sayers augments that idea.
In a world where any vocation is merely an exchange of my time for someone else's money, we need to hear the call to God's design for his image bearers.
You mentioned that some of her descriptions of the Church's attitude towards work might be outdated or overly broad for today, but I suspect the reason some of it feels overly broad now is because Sayers's influenced the Church through her essays. I've often heard church folk reference this essay or The Mind of the Maker when discussing work in essays or articles. So hooray for that!
Good point, Bethany!
She set the tone for the next century of Evangelical writing and thinking with this brief essay. However, there is a strong argument that work should indeed be set aside from worship and other contemplative practices, most forcefully by Josef Piefer (Leisure the Basis of Culture). I've come to agree with Piefer in that regard. The mutual reinforcement of work and the seeking of God's face must be sought.