Most people spend a major portion of their lives working. Since God is Lord of all that is, visible and invisible, then God must be surely also be the Lord of work. Therefore, Christian workers urgently need to know precisely how God is present and active in their work, or how God could be present and active in their work. In recent years hundreds of books, papers, curricula, magazines, courses, seminars and other materials have been produced to meet this need. Regrettably, there seems to be little common theological perspective among these materials.

Most people spend a major portion of their lives working. Since God is Lord of all that is, visible and invisible, then God must be surely also be the Lord of work. Therefore, Christian workers urgently need to know precisely how God is present and active in their work, or how God could be present and active in their work. In recent years hundreds of books, papers, curricula, magazines, courses, seminars and other materials have been produced to meet this need. Regrettably, there seems to be little common theological perspective among these materials. For example, some of them proclaim that a Christian's primary role in the workplace is to evangelize the people among whom they work, while others say that their primary role is to perform their job responsibilities excellently and ethically. Some state that sin is the chief problem in the workplace, which can only be remedied by confessing faith in Jesus Christ. Others barely mention sin at all, portraying vision or growth as the chief benefits of applying the Christian faith to the workplace. Writers in the field don't seem to hold a common idea of what the Christian faith means in the context of work, let alone how to apply it. Anyone perusing the faith-and-work shelf at the bookstore can easily end up confused, misled, or simply soured on the whole endeavor.

Perhaps because of this confusion, practitioners and scholars in related fields such as economics, management, and pastoral care, find it difficult to engage theology as a potential contributor to their work. For example, economists are increasingly aware that people do not always behave as rational, self-interested actors. While a theological perspective could contribute to a more accurate and complete understanding of economic behavior, an economist seeking help could benefit greatly from a well-developed foundational theology of work developed by people representing the breadth of the Christian faith.

Even when common theological ground is discovered among work/faith practitioners and theologians in one generation or one cultural context, the consensus has seldom been transmitted to later generations or to different cultures. Each generation and each culture has had to re-discover even the most basic elements of the theology of work, without effective help from those who have gone before, or those who labor with the same issues in other societies.

The Theology of Work Project is intended to offer a common theological foundation for writers, teachers and others in the field to anchor their particular research, development, application, writing, and teaching; not only for the present generation, but as a building block for the next generation to use, add to and strengthen. Fortunately, many of the beliefs and values crucial for applying faith to the workplace are shared by most Christians across generations and cultures, including such values as honesty, compassion, and fairness in business dealings.