我從事會計師職業生涯中，第一份工作得到的「工具」包含機械加法器 (adding machine註1)、鉛筆和綠色橫線的會計紙。我記得當時唯一的一台電腦是放在客戶辦公室裡，價值一百萬美元的巨型機器，卻沒人知道如何使用它。隨著時代進步，科技日新月異，現在能應用的工具已經不可同日而語了！

時至今日，我的筆記型電腦的大小和以前使用的機械加法器差不多，讓當年價值100萬美元的巨型計算機徹底相形失色。筆記型電腦取代了機械加法器，我也很少用鉛筆來做事，而綠色的會計紙早已被多功能的軟體取代，這是我在剛開始做會計的頭幾年無法想像的。

最有趣的是，雖然我們知道科技會繼續發展出新的工具和資源，卻無法預測未來幾十年會進步到甚麼程度。當我們認為已經「達到」頂峰時，一些新的工具就會出現。

不僅在工作場所，這件事也適用在我們私人生活的各個方面。如果你的車很久之前買的，你會對現在新設計的車子可以讓駕駛更安全、更舒適的新功能感到驚訝。而通訊技術的進步更是一日千里，幾乎讓人望塵莫及。

科技的創新持續帶給我們驚奇，但是聖經告訴我們，我們也應該殷切期待在靈性上發現新事物。以賽亞書42章9節中，上帝說：「看哪，先前的事已經成就，現在我將新事說明，這事未發以先，我就說給你們聽。」

如果我們看「創世之書」——舊約中的《創世紀》，就會讀到上帝創造的工作：祂如何從零開始，創造了整個宇宙，並繼續創造我們所知道的世界以及其中的一切，最重要的是人類。最後，創世記2章1-2節告訴我們：「天地萬物都造齊了。到第七日，　神造物的工已經完畢，就在第七日歇了他一切的工，安息了。」

但是，這不代表上帝停止了創造或看顧我們每天經歷祂奇蹟的計劃。正如耶穌基督告訴跟隨他的人：「我父做事直到如今，我也做事。」（約翰福音5章17節）最重要的是，上帝所作的工不只是概念性的籠統觀念。上帝的「新事」每天都在祂子民的生活中發生，祂希望且有能力在我們當中動工。

正如使徒保羅所寫的：「若有人在基督裡，他就是新造的人，舊事已過，都變成新的了。」隨著時代的變遷，我們看到不斷有新統治者取代舊的。聖靈在我們心中做工，使我們在舊生活中的許多失敗和沮喪中，能經驗到新的生命——有新的盼望、新的動機、新的價值觀和新的力量。

我們未來工作的工具，以及我們用於日常工作的資源，通常乍看之下毫不起眼。但無論是在我們工作或居住的地方，如果我們保持警醒、心裡柔軟，就能為上帝宣告將要在我們身上、透過我們要做的新事做好準備，為的是要榮耀祂。

註1. 機械加法器 (adding machine)，在數值計算上扮演輔助角色。相關知識，可參閱維基百科的文章https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%AE%A1%E7%AE%97%E5%99%A8
版權所有2019  非傳統商業網路(前身為純全資源中心)。節錄自和Rick Boxx的純全時刻，這本刊物主要是從基督徒的角度來探討職場上正直這個主題。如果希望知道更多關於這個事工或是想訂閱每日純全時刻，請上這個網站: www.unconventionalbusiness.org. Rick Boxx最新出版的書提供用五個關鍵的神的方法來建立企業。

反省與討論問題

1. 你在工作中使用的工具從過去到現在有什麼變化？其中最大的變化和創新是什麼？
2. 你是否對未來的職業或產業變化感到焦慮？你是否能夠適應變化，尤其是涉及技術創新上面的變化？
3. 你對屬靈上的「新事」有什麼看法，包括我們的信念、價值觀和動機等精神層面？
4. 上帝在你的生活中做了新事嗎？你相信祂會繼續這樣做嗎？請解釋你的答案。如果是，你會如何描述祂在你身上做的新事？

備註：如果你有聖經，想閱讀更多相關的經文，請參考：

約翰福音3章3-8節
3:3 耶穌回答說：「我實實在在地告訴你，人若不重生，就不能見　神的國。」
3:4 尼哥底母說：「人已經老了，如何能重生呢？豈能再進母腹生出來嗎？」
3:5 耶穌說：「我實實在在地告訴你，人若不是從水和聖靈生的，就不能進　神的國。
3:6 從肉身生的就是肉身；從靈生的就是靈。
3:7 我說：『你們必須重生』，你不要以為希奇。
3:8 風隨著意思吹，你聽見風的響聲，卻不曉得從哪裏來，往哪裏去；凡從聖靈生的，也是如此。

羅馬書6章1-11節
6:1 這樣，怎麼說呢？我們可以仍在罪中、叫恩典顯多嗎？
6:2 斷乎不可！我們在罪上死了的人豈可仍在罪中活著呢？
6:3 豈不知我們這受洗歸入基督耶穌的人是受洗歸入他的死嗎？
6:4 所以，我們藉著洗禮歸入死，和他一同埋葬，原是叫我們一舉一動有新生的樣式，像基督藉著父的榮耀從死裏復活一樣。
6:5 我們若在他死的形狀上與他聯合，也要在他復活的形狀上與他聯合；
6:6 因為知道我們的舊人和他同釘十字架，使罪身滅絕，叫我們不再作罪的奴僕；
6:7 因為已死的人是脫離了罪。
6:8 我們若是與基督同死，就信必與他同活。
6:9 因為知道基督既從死裏復活，就不再死，死也不再作他的主了。
6:10 他死是向罪死了，只有一次；他活是向　神活著。
6:11 這樣，你們向罪也當看自己是死的；向　神在基督耶穌裏，卻當看自己是活的。

羅馬書12章1-2節
12:1 所以，弟兄們，我以　神的慈悲勸你們，將身體獻上，當作活祭，是聖潔的，是　神所喜悅的；你們如此事奉乃是理所當然的。
12:2 不要效法這個世界，只要心意更新而變化，叫你們察驗何為　神的善良、純全、可喜悅的旨意。

加拉太書2章20節
2:20 我已經與基督同釘十字架，現在活著的不再是我，乃是基督在我裏面活著；並且我如今在肉身活著，是因信　神的兒子而活；他是愛我，為我捨己。

以弗所書4章22-24節
4:22 就要脫去你們從前行為上的舊人，這舊人是因私慾的迷惑漸漸變壞的；
4:23 又要將你們的心志改換一新，
4:24 並且穿上新人；這新人是照著　神的形像造的，有真理的仁義和聖潔。
 

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THE EVER-CHANGING TOOLS OF THE TRADE

By Rick Boxx

The “tools” I was given for my first job in public accounting included an adding machine, pencils, and a pad of green columnar paper. The only computer I recall was a $1 million albatross located at a client’s office that no one could figure out how to use. How the times have changed since then!

Today, my laptop computer is about the size of my former adding machine, capable of putting that $1 million dinosaur of a computer to shame. My laptop has eliminated the need for an adding machine, I rarely use a pencil for anything, and the green accounting paper has been replaced by software with a capacity for doing work we could not have imagined during the first years of my career.

What is most interesting about this is how along with not being able to anticipate today’s advancements in decades past, we know that technology continues to present us with new tools and resources that we cannot envision right now. Just when we start thinking we have “arrived” in terms of technological breakthroughs, we learn about some new innovation.

This is true not only for the workplace, but also for every aspect of our personal lives. If it has been a few years since purchasing a new car, we find ourselves amazed at new additions that make driving safer and more comfortable. Advances in communications move so quickly, it is almost impossible to keep pace with them.

All of this newness continues to amaze us, but the Scriptures tell us we can eagerly look forward to discovering new things in the spiritual realm as well. In Isaiah 42:9, God said, “See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”

If we look at the “book of beginnings,” the Old Testament book of Genesis, we read about God’s work of creation, how He started with nothing and created an entire universe and proceeded to create the world we know, along with everything in it – foremost of all, humankind. Finally, Genesis 2:1-2 tells us, “Then the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing, so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.”

However, this did not mean God forever ceased from His plan to create and oversee the wonders that we experience every day. As Jesus Christ told His followers, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (John 5:17). Best of all, this work is not limited to a broad, general sense. God’s work of “newness” takes place in the lives of each of His people every day. He can and desires to perform an act of recreation in us as well.

As the apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” As the seasons change, we see a continual march of new replacing the old. And as the Spirit of God works in our hearts, we can experience new life – new desires, new motives, new values and new strength – moving in to replace our old lives that brought us so much failure and frustration.

The future tools of our trades, the resources we utilize for performing our daily jobs, are usually announced in a very rudimentary form. However, if we pay attention and are receptive, we can be prepared for the new things God has declared that He will do in us and through us, for His glory, whether it is where we work or where we live.

© 2019, Unconventional Business Network Adapted with permission from “Integrity Moments with Rick Boxx,” a commentary on issues of integrity in the workplace from a Christian perspective. To learn more, visit www.unconventionalbusiness.org. His latest book, Unconventional Business, provides “Five Keys to Growing a Business God’s Way.”

Reflection/Discussion Questions

1. How have the tools you use at work changed since you began your career? What have been the greatest changes and innovations for enabling you to do what you do?
2. Do you have any anxieties about forthcoming changes in your vocation or industry? How easily are you able to adapt to changes, especially those involving technological innovations?
3. What are your thoughts about “newness” as it applies to spirituality – the spiritual dimension of our lives that includes our beliefs, values and motivations?
4. Has God performed a new work in your life? Do you believe He is continuing to do so? Explain your answer. If so, how would you describe the new work that He has been doing in you?

NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to read more, consider the following passages:
John 3:3-8; Romans 6:1-11, 12:1-2; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 4:22-24

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