Christians and The Office: Episode 30

I wrote about half-naked Olympians this week, which sparked quite a discussion on the blog. Prior to that post we had a discussion about it on The Boundless Show. So go ahead and press play here or download the show through iTunes because I know you'll want to hear what Candice, Steve, Lisa and Ted have to say too. Especially if you thought I took a hard line.

In addition to immodest sportswear, we address all the weirdness that happens when a communist country hosts the Olympics ... like disappearing pastors. It's more solemn than we usually get in our chat. But we wanted to take a moment to remember those suffering from persecution while the world's spotlight is on China.

Christians and The Office -- 9:20
Most of you probably work in a secular environment. So you've likely experienced cursing, inappropriate jokes, pressure to indulge in too much wine, flirting, and for some of you, even anti-Christian sentiments. Heck, even we have to deal with stuff like that here at Focus, especially working with Lisa. Anyway, we brought in the Christians-working-in-the-secular-environment experts for this Roundtable, Senior Vice President Clark Miller, Vice President Rich Bennett and Executive Director Debbie Rusch. All came to Focus on the Family from Fortune 500 companies and we think you'll benefit from hearing their stories.

The Scripture Singer -- 28:10
You know that question that all the kids are asking these days, "What's on your iPod?" Well, Nathan Clark George (NCG), IndieHeaven's Acoustic Artist of the Year two years running, is on my iPod. I bought a NCG cd immediately after I heard him lead worship at my church. Hearing Scripture put to music -- and put to music very well -- is just edifying, isn't it? In this week's Culture segment, NCG sits down with Lisa and tells us how he got started and answers a question that's on everybody's mind: Why are there so many worship styles in churches these days?

Marrying in College -- 42:00
Is waiting until after college to get married the best advice for all Christian couples? Steve and Candice Watters answer this one with an unequivocal (click here)!

Comments

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1. James said the following at 7:56 PM on Aug 15:

It's good that you're covering the olympics, but aren't y'all going to put some attention on an even BIGGER issue, that is the Russian invasion and now occupation of parts of Georgia?

You've spent time harping on the evil's going on in the Congo and in Darfur, and rightly so. So, why are we hearing nothing from you on the blatant violation of sovereignty by Russia on Georgia (especially since it was Russian-encouraged Ossentian terrorists that provoked Georgia in the first place)?

2. Yrneh said the following at 6:32 AM on Aug 16:

You included "flirting" as part of list of "anti-Christian sentiments." So is it an anti-Christian sentiment to ask someone out from work?

3. Nicole (from Boston) said the following at 6:53 PM on Aug 16:

I found the Boundless Inbox predicament very interesting. Not that I'm in this situation (and highly doubt I ever will be), but my mom has frequently said that if I (or any of the kids for that matter) were engaged while in college, she would rather us marry, even if it meant living in my parents' basement, than be engaged for an extended period of time. Long engagements are just yuck.

4. Leah said the following at 8:47 PM on Aug 17:

Yrneh - if you're working in a secular environment and ask out a non-Christian person, then yes.

And they did not list "flirting" as "anti-Christian sentiment"... it's just that "flirting" and "anti-Christian sentiment" both appeared in the list together.

5. BDB said the following at 9:33 PM on Aug 17:

Technically, China is not anywhere near a Superpower. The might be a Great Power like the other permanent members of the UN Secruity Council (Britain, France and Russia). But to be a Superpower, China needs to build a few aircraft carriers for power projection. There are nine countries with working carriers, and China is not yet among them.

Regarding the whole tiny-gymnast discussion, did anyone see the women's 8+ rowing gold medal race? The coxswain certainly looked tiny compared to the rowers towering over her.

6. Miriam said the following at 7:59 AM on Aug 18:

Re: being a Christian in a secular office. In my first job as office junior at a medium sized law firm, I was always made to put my fingers in my ears when the girls wanted to tell dodgy stories in the tea room. They even told me to close my eyes sometimes! I'd block my ears and hum something until they tapped me to let me know they'd finished. It would've been nice if they'd just not told the dodgy stories in the first place, but I did really appreciate their attempt to keep me innocent!

7. Rachael said the following at 12:46 PM on Aug 18:

I like that an aspect of 'conventional wisdom' (waiting to marry because of timing reasons) was questioned or challenged in the response to the inbox question.

The issue of timing in marriage is a good one to consider not just for people who are in college or who are waiting for financial stability.

People always have ideas about things -- marriage decisions, parenting...at some point we just have to decide something and move on. It's easy to be concerned about outside opinions and appearances. And parents should be respected and listened to.

But awkward timing shouldn't have to be the only deciding factor to prolong an engagement. Even if people decide to get married at "awkward timings" and end up with strange temporary post-wedding living situations (like if one has to have a horrible commute for awhile) until the circumstances change, I'd bet it could still often 'work', even if it's challenging...