Covering the business of education and training

According to tradition, Jesus of Nazareth was the son of a carpenter. 
According to the Bible, he was also the son of God. And, according to 
that same Bible, or at least the King James version of it, Jesus once 
told his parents, "I must be about my Father's business."

Of course Jesus was not talking about carpentry, he was talking about 
the business of heaven. But I wonder if he would be familiar with the 
business of heaven as it is practiced today.

I confess that I'm part of all this, so if I'm pointing any of my bony 
fingers at anyone, I'm pointing them at me, too. After all, I'm the 
minister at a small church in Palo Alto, California, and that is how I 
earn a living. But I'm also a writer of songs and musicals, and even a 
book of devotions, and I sell all of those. Or at least I try to.

Church, music and books are just three areas of business that have 
grown up around Christianity. All of those have sub-businesses, 
including church construction (combining, it seems, the two businesses 
of Joseph and God), church financing, church web sites, Christian 
record labels, Christian publishers and much, much more.

It all adds up to billions of dollars collectively, but it may not pay 
all that well individually.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported approximately 986,000 
carpenters in 2006, but only 38,000 clergy. Since there are about 
450,000 churches in the U.S., it may be that a lot of preachers, just 
like Jesus, are still doing double duty.

What do you make of "the business of heaven?"

See Lewis' regular writing at A Christian Worldview from Silicon Valley.