David Kim on Faith and Work Movements

Here’s a short but stimulating read for those interested in this area:

David Kim, ‘From Ethics to Enlivenment: The Evolving Story of Faith and Work.’

Kim draws up what he admits is an oversimplified attempt to capture changes in the faith and work movement (or movements) in three phases:

Phase One: 1975–1995 – Ethical Distinction – How do I witness the gospel?

This is the era in which ‘the Christian faith was lived out through evangelism in the workplace and the living of ethical lives that testified to this salvific reality. To witness the gospel at work was to live with the ethical distinction that would open the way for evangelistic opportunity.

‘The dismantling of the sacred–secular divide was a meaningful achievement as the gospel needed to go forth into every domain of life. Its focus, though, remained largely individual, as the question of witness was answered by personal conviction and ethical behavior.’

Phase Two: 1996–2015 – Cultural Renewal – How do we transform culture?

‘This phase asked a new question: Can Christians transform the culture itself and turn the tide of its radical secularity?

‘The Christian language shifted accordingly. “Cultural renewal,” “culture making,” and “faithful presence” became the animating phrases… Work was no longer seen merely as a site of personal ethics but as a platform for cultural engagement and transformation.

‘And yet, over time, cracks appeared. The assumption that culture could be “changed” through the right people in the right positions proved more complicated than anticipated.’

Phase Three: 2016–Present – Spiritual Formation – How do I remain grounded?

‘In recent years, a convergence of forces has reshaped both work and the human experience of it. Political polarization, economic instability, a global pandemic, and now the accelerating disruption of artificial intelligence have together produced what researchers at the Institute for the Future describe as a “BANI world”: brittle, anxious, nonlinear, and incomprehensible.

‘In this BANI context, the central question has shifted again, not outward, but inward. How do we remain grounded amidst all the uncertainties of our age? … The gospel does not merely call us to behave differently or to influence culture. It invites us into a transformed way of being.

‘To respond to our world faithfully in this moment requires spiritual competencies that anchor us when the ground feels shaky. This phase invites an attentiveness to God’s presence in the midst of ordinary work. It asks us to listen for God’s voice not only in special seasons of discernment and uncertainty, but in day-to-day life that includes the realities of loss, disorientation, and grief. And it begins to reimagine work itself as something that the gospel can enlivened [sic] from the inside out.’

•••

As Kim notes, ‘the first two are not meant to be cordoned off or discarded. We still need ethical clarity. We still long for cultural renewal. But without spiritual formation, both become unsustainable’. He describes this as ‘enlivened work: work that flows not from excellence or ambition alone, but from a deep awareness of God’s presence’.