This is the best book on the the topic of the Christian and his/her vocation that I have read. It is rooted in carefully considered theology of work, the implications of which the author draws out in ways that were new and challenging to me. It is also replete with many examples of Christians who have discovered kingdom significance in their work.

Kingdom Calling stands out as one of the best works on faith & vocation that I've come across. I read this as a part of a work book club, and am so glad I did. Amy Sherman does a lovely job giving both big picture vision & practical application. She doesn't fall into the pitfalls many books I've read on the topic have fallen into - her examples are diverse, her focus global, and she doesn't propose one-size-fits-all solutions for the problems she names.

Reading a woman on this topic was more refreshing than I can even put into words. Her work is grounded in a meta-narrative about the upside-down kingdom of Jesus, and highlights a stunning variety of ways people have put these kingdom values into practice across the world. She speaks quite a bit to churches & church leadership, but I felt it was still a really applicable read as an individual. It was well organized, well written, and thoughtfully done.

"Vocational Stewardship For the Common Good" was a perfect subtitle, as her book is really aimed at helping bring restoration and healing to our cities. I LOVED her emphasis on the call for Christians to use their vocational skills for the good of their neighbors - her approach was well-rounded and I believe would be palatable even to those skeptical to calls of social justice.

Highly recommend, very excited to read her forthcoming book, Agents of Flourishing, soon!

If you are a Christian pastor or leader do yourself, and those in your community, a favor and read this book.

Many Christians in America believe their work, the stuff they do most hours in their week, does not matter to their faith. The spiritual stuff happens on Sunday or at church, the rest is irrelevant. Or if it is relevant, it is so only as a means of evangelism (be an engineer so you can work among non-Christians and get them saved!) and as a means of making money to financially support church work.

This book brilliantly shows that work matters. Sherman offers everything from theological and biblical foundations to exciting stories of people using their gifts to change the world.

That last phrase is where many of us raised in the church go astray - we think of "gifts" as something spiritual to be used in the church. So we are gifted to sing a solo, or teach a Bible study, or clean the church. That is NOT what Sherman is talking about. She does agree that people are gifted to use gifts inside the church. But the big, exciting story of God gives people gifts to use in all areas of creation.

So we read about a businesswoman whose antique store consistently wins awards, using her business savvy to open stores, providing work and good quality products at affordable prices, in the inner-city.

We read about a man who was a "paper chemist". This man often saw others in the church use their gifts on the "mission field", primarily doctors. When he had the opportunity to utilize his skills as a paper chemist, teaching people in an underdeveloped region, he finally felt like his secular skills had a spiritual purpose.

The book is filled with stories like this. The point is that God gifts chefs and engineers and teachers and real estate agents and doctors and everyone else to bring restoration to every corner of a broken creation. Or, more simply, the work you do matters to God. I recommend this book because i think this is a lesson people in churches need to, and would love to, hear.

We read this in our church’s reading group for the liturgical season of Pentecost. During Pentecost, we celebrate the power of the Holy Spirit to equip each one of us to live out the gospel. One key way we get to do this is through our work, and this book helps us explore the intersection of faith and work. It’s a theologically-sound treatise on the goodness of work with inspiring examples of the ways Christians are working for the common good of their communities and workplaces. One glaring omission (as is the case for so much that’s written on the subject of faith and work) is the kingdom work in “blue collar” jobs. We need to continue more robust research and conversation on all forms of labor!

If for nothing else, read this book for the preview passages in which the author skillfully and eloquently integrates her research and premise with Tim Keller’s teaching that the “righteous” (Hebrew tsaddiqim) is the just, the people who follow God’s heart and ways and who see everything they have as gifts from God to be stewarded for his purposes. Sherman beautifully calls us to the Scriptural vision of a “rejoiced city” where the two, closely related features of the consummated kingdom: justice and shalom. I love that I am called to work in this kingdom!