One Word—Three Meanings
No, we aren’t talking about the Trinity, although that marvelous mystery of the Christian faith is the ultimate example of what we are talking about. In this case, we are talking about the Hebrew word avodah or עֲבוֹדָה.
Avodah means worship. It also means service to others. And it means work, as in business. Avodah means worship, service, and work…all at the same time. And in all places and settings. Let your brain soak that in for a minute.
Our mindset says that cannot be. We can accept a word that has different meanings. But we can’t comprehend how a word can mean three different things at the same time. But avodah does. And in every setting and at all times.
You see, the Hebrew mind is an Eastern or Oriental mind and is different from the Occidental or Western mind. It’s an entirely different way of viewing the world, life, and our relationship with God and others. In the Eastern mind, a thing can easily have three meanings at once. No problem. It is like the Trinity in this sense—there is One God in Three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-equal, co-eternal, co-existent. Headache! Yep, but a beautiful truth. Avodah is the same. In God’s view, our work and our worship and our service to others is a unity with three distinct and equal expressions. Got it? Sort of? That’s OK. Me too!
Sadly, Western thought has dominated the Church since about the 2nd century AD and has forced us (unconsciously) to organize things into neat little boxes or categories. It’s all about separating things into parts in order to understand them. That makes us believe things like we are doing business at work or we are worshiping our Creator at church; they are not the same. Or we are helping our fellow man with humanitarian aid but not when we are selling him something that meets a need. The word avodah challenges our categories and leads us to start considering all of these things together in a united, cohesive, whole. In a way, you could say it helps it to see the trinitarian nature of life (note: the lack of capital “t” is deliberate).
Why does this matter? It matters because the heart of Business as Mission is not making money to give to missions, or doing business to get a visa, or doing evangelism at work, or trying to honor God in how we work . It is all these things (and much more) at the same time and it doesn’t change with our geography or the day of the week. It matters because it takes away the false guilt committed believers feel when they are at “work” thinking they should be doing “ministry.” It matters because it destroys the gap between “Sunday church and Monday church” and the different lives we live on different days of the week. It matters because it stops the piling of “ministry” on paid “ministers” while chaining gifted believers to their place in the pew. It matters because it gives us great joy in the Lord wherever we are and whatever we are doing because it is all equally for Him and pleasing to Him. It matters because it unleashes a horde of devoted Christ-followers to make disciples of all nations, to work to the glory of God, to help others in and through business, and to sing His praises in whatever building we meet in on Sunday.