Paul Stevens — IMT Introduction

About — Institute for Marketplace Transformation

Many Christians feel their work is disconnected from what they incorrectly perceive to be God's work in the world. At best, the money they earn can support God's “real workers”: missionaries, church workers, and those in not-for-profit ministries. Their part is merely to provide resources, to obtain those resources without sinning, and to witness to co-workers. The actual work they do is merely secular, so it does not matter in the same way sacred work does. Discovering that God cares about the actual work we do, and that everything we do is sacred, is giving many Christians new meaning and purpose, and is advancing God's kingdom in new and fresh ways.

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Hi, I'm Paul Stevens. I'm the chairman of the Institute for Marketplace Transformation, and we're in the work, the mission of integrating faith and work. And I've been working, uh, pretty well. All my long life. I started off being a pastor and then I became a student counselor, and then I became, uh, a carpenter and then a business owner in the construction and renovation business. And then I became a professor. And I bet you every one of you has actually been working, whether you get paid or not, and whether it is work with your head, your heart, or your hands.

And what's really important is that you know what the meaning of your work is and who it is you're working for. The Institute for Marketplace Transformation has three values, integrating meaning and thriving.

Integrating, which means seeing everything seamlessly as a whole. Integration is not an aha moment. It takes a lifetime of harmonizing our whole life seamlessly so that everything we are and do is done for God and for our neighbor. And through it, we begin to see life as a whole.

The second value is meaning, which is really making sense of what we are doing. And I think a lot of people really struggle with meaning in their workplace. And the tricky thing is we don't find meaning just by working. We have to bring meaning to our work. And that's what IMT is helping people with to discover the meaning of their work.

And the third value is thriving, which is flourishing. Thriving is indeed the litmus test of the kingdom of God, and is the kingdom of God. That happens not just in church, but in the workplace, in the home, in the family, and so on. Human flourishing is really what God wants to accomplish with us in our lives and in our workplace.

So join us please for a lifetime of learning and growing and flourishing and discovering meaning, and integrating your life as a whole.

大家好，我是保羅·史蒂文斯。我是「市場轉化學院」（Institute for Marketplace Transformation, IMT）的主席，我們致力於推動信仰與工作的整合。這也是我投入大半輩子的事業。我最初是一名牧師，後來成為學生輔導員，接著做了木匠，再後來成為建築與翻修公司的企業主，最後成了教授。我相信在座的每一位其實都在「工作」——無論有沒有薪水，無論是用腦、用心，還是用手。

真正重要的是：你是否明白自己工作的意義，以及你究竟是為誰而做。

市場轉化學院有三個核心價值——整合、意義與興盛。

第一個價值是「整合」，意思是將生命中的一切視為無縫的整體。整合不是某個靈光乍現的頓悟時刻，而是一輩子的功課——持續地將我們的全人全生活和諧地融為一體，讓我們所是的、所做的一切，都是為了上帝，也為了我們的鄰舍。透過這個過程，我們開始以整全的眼光看待生命。

第二個價值是「意義」，也就是真正理解我們正在做的事。我認為許多人在職場上對「意義」深感掙扎。而棘手之處在於：意義不是單靠工作就能找到的——我們必須帶著意義去工作。這正是 IMT 在幫助人們做的事：發現自己工作的意義。

第三個價值是「興盛」，也就是生命的豐盛與繁榮。興盛正是上帝國度的試金石，也就是上帝國度本身的彰顯。這不僅僅發生在教會裡，也發生在職場上、家庭中、生活的各個層面。人的全面興盛，正是上帝渴望在我們的生命與工作中成就的。

所以，歡迎加入我們，一同踏上這條終身學習、持續成長、活出豐盛、發現意義，並將生命整合為一的旅程。