A lot has been written in the last decade especially about the artificial disconnect, for those who follow Christ, between the sacred and that which is commonly called "secular", and especially between the Monday-through-Friday world of "work" and the weekend world of "worship." The growing swell of Christian thought reminds us that our worship of the Lord must be all-encompassing, not something that is confined to a building for only a few hours a week.

In fact, much has been made of the fact that the Hebrew word avodah (עֲבוֹדָה) can mean work, worship, or service, depending on the context. The encouragement is for Christians to see their work as an important act of worship, not only because of the end product, whatever it may be, but also because the act of working itself is a sacred response to our Creator. And with this, I completely agree!

At the same time, I believe that simply saying “work is worship” is an oversimplification that risks confusion for the reader. The fact that a single word can be understood in different ways depending on the context does not in and of itself mean that those meanings are interchangeable in every context. For example, Genesis 2:5 says “and there was no man to work (avodah) the ground.” Clearly, in this case, avodah cannot mean "worship", as man was not supposed to worship the ground. In the same way, Exodus 8:1 says, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship (avodah) me.’” Again, we are clearly meant to worship God, not "work" God. The meanings of avodah in these verses cannot be interchanged. Work is not worship and worship is not work in these examples.

At least one writer, however, suggests that the fact that the same word is used for both suggests that "Avodah reveals that our labor can be a form of worship." He and others point out the necessity of leading an integrated life in which our so-called "secular" work is seen as a means to serving and loving others, and a way of loving and serving the Lord, as well - and this idea of having every part of our life focused on serving the Lord and bringing Him glory is certainly in line with the Scriptures. In 1 Corinthian 10:31, Paul writes, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” In Matthew 22:37, Jesus says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."

I would argue, then, that the idea that our work should bring glory to God is consistent with the Scriptures, and to reflect on that will bring us a step closer to an integrated life, more similar to the Hebrew mindset in which one's faith is an entire way of life.  All of that is good!

At the same time, not every act of work can or should be seen as an appropriate act of worship. I believe three things can interfere with "work" legitimately being an act of "worship".

First, if the work results in sinful activity, it is not something that glorifies God. Extreme examples of this might be a terrorist whose "work" results in the deaths of innocent people, or of someone whose "work" involves exploitation of others.

Second, if the way the "work" is done is sinful or contrary to God's revealed will, then I don't believe such "work" is "worshipful". This is where we must decide day by day how to apply biblical principles to our work - how we prioritize things, how we treat the people with whom our work brings us into contact, how we apply values of honesty and integrity and lawfulness to our business decisions.

Third, if the "work" displaces or distracts from worship, then I don't believe it is "worshipful". I believe this is part of what we see in Matthew 21:12-13 when Jesus drove the moneychangers from the Temple. Those "working", supposedly to enable worship, were instead distracting from the atmosphere of worship, and in the area meant for Gentiles to draw close to the God of Israel, they were focused on their own desire to make money. Jesus makes it clear that was not the intention of the Temple.

Most work, of course, both the end and the means, can legitimately done to the glory of God! And that is wonderful! But in the US system, that does not mean that our worshipful work entitles us as individual workers or business owners to benefits reserved for organizations with religious (and other) purposes recognized as worthy of exemption from income or property taxes.

A bricklayer building a church for God's glory is not allowed to be personally exempt from paying taxes on the income he earns for that work. A piano teacher helping her students learn music that praises God is not able to get a property tax exemption on the room in her home where she gives lessons.

​A Christian-owned fast-food establishment is not eligible for 501c3 status just because the owner loves Jesus. A private, Christian-owned tutoring business generally cannot begin holding classes in places such as a public library or the YMCA or a church facility - places that are reserved for community or nonprofit use - lest the property tax exemption of that place be impacted.

For the most part, that should not matter to us. If we are following the Lord, if we desire our work to be an act of worship, then our focus will be on bringing Him the glory, regardless of what it costs us. We will to go to all lengths necessary to honor Him by following our local and federal laws, by loving our neighbor as ourselves, and by holding ourselves to the highest standard of biblical integrity - because it is indeed the Lord we are serving (Colossians 3:23-24) and representing, every day of the week.

It's halfway through January and most of us are simply focused on the year 2020, but I'm still in a bit of a reflective mode, and wanted to share with my readers where my mind has been.

The year 2019 for us began with a keen awareness of the approaching first anniversary of the loss of my mother-in-law and all the “firsts” that had entailed in 2018. We missed her, deeply, and in the midst of that, felt the need to solidify our new normal. Little did I know the additional changes that our family would face in 2019.

Looking back on 2019, I see three seasons.

From January to May was mostly a season of FIGURING OUT the answers to questions and concerns I had developed about Classical Conversations, the homeschool company through whom I had been a leader and business owner for five years. I spent months researching and connecting with state and federal agencies to learn:

• What is the difference between an employee and an independent contractor?
• What is the difference between a franchise and a business opportunity?
• What is the difference between a nonprofit and for-profit organization?
• What does my state law say about for-profit businesses operating on church (usually property-tax-exempt) property?
• What is the Fair Labor Standards Act and what does it say about a business using volunteer (free) labor?
• What is liability when you own a business?
• What is inurement and conflict of interest?
• And how does all this affect me?

I also researched topics like what the trivium is, what classical education is, why and how to teach Latin, what the best use of memory work is, what resources exist for all of this outside of CC, how Matthew 18 can be misused, what spiritual abuse is, and what are the warning signs of a controlling organization. I looked at new grammar and writing curriculum options, and multiple choices for history and science as well. I was amazed to find a whole world of classical education options that were entirely separate from what I had been exposed to for nearly six years.

As a result of all this research, along with intense prayer and discussion with my husband, I terminated my Director license with Classical Conversations in May. Not only that, we chose to separate from CC completely, severing a six-year educational and business relationship that had defined our homeschool journey until that point.

Given the amount of time and blog-space I have spent promoting Classical Conversations, this may be as much of a surprise to you as it has been to me. (I promise, it was not a quick or light decision! We are still using a classical model, and with my new knowledge from the last year of research, I feel that what we are doing is actually more classical than what we were doing with CC.) Please feel free to reach out to me personally with questions about all of this!

May to September was best characterized by the word FREEDOM. Not only were the legal concerns and questions no longer weighing on me, but for the first time in six years, I had a summer when I didn’t have to recruit families, attend business training, buy supplies, negotiate facility space, or schedule our family activities around CC. We had a wonderful summer. The children attended multiple Vacation Bible Schools and camps, and they participated in a summer Children’s Theater production of Mary Poppins. We took trips to see family, including our first family reunion since the deaths of my husband’s mother and uncle, and we also took a trip to see the Ark and the Creation Museum in Kentucky.

Beginning in September, the phrase that comes to mind is FRESH START. We had a new homeschool curriculum, a new group of homeschool friends with whom we met on a regular basis, a new schedule that included an online writing club, and I have a new leadership role in my daughter’s American Heritage Girls troop.

Now, with the new year being 2020, everyone keeps talking about having “vision,” and the saying “hindsight is 20/20” comes to mind as well. For me, 2019 was a the year of clarity, of coming to a new awareness of issues I had just ignored previously, or had not fully seen, and of learning anew about the resources available, both spiritually and educationally, for those who adopt a truly classical homeschool model. It was also a year of clarity about my priorities and realizing that I had been putting business - not only mine but a whole other company - over family, and sometimes even over my faith.

As I look forward to this new year, the “one word” I’ve chosen to focus on is FOLLOW.

I want to be better at following up with people in my circle of influence.

I want to focus on following through with promises I make to myself and others, to seeing projects through from planning to completion (I’m much better at the planning end!).

I want to follow the lead of my husband and to be more diligent in praying for him and in using my gifts to support him as his helpmate.

Finally, I want to follow hard after God (Psalm 63:8). Having walked with the Lord nearly fifty years, it is all too easy to rely on past learning experiences in my relationship with Him rather than keeping it fresh and current. I want to draw closer to him - now.

What about you? How did God lead your in 2019? What are you entrusting to him in 2020? I would love to hear from you!

P.S. Feel do feel free to contact me with any questions about CC as well! This Facebook group is also a source of good information.

Most homeschool groups and programs are healthy and supportive, but others are not, whether that is a single local group or a whole geographically diverse system. Our family recently left such a system, and while it might seem like the choice of one homeschool curriculum over another might be fairly straightforward, the longer you have been in a system, or the more intertwined you have been with different levels of leadership (as we were), the more complicated it can be when you discover flaws with which you can no longer co-exist. Over the last year, I have seen myself and my family go through 12 steps of leaving one homeschool system and embracing a different path. I've written these from the perspective of leaving a homeschool system, but perhaps you have been on a similar path, with a different kind of group, an unhealthy church, or even a family situation. If so, you are not alone!