God at Work with Ken Costa

Feature in The Baptist Times and idea

THE BAPTIST TIMES

‘God is in every workplace’
24 May 2007

Ruth Dickinson meets Ken Costa to find out how God and work can fit together.

It’s probably fair to say that Ken Costa’s working life is not, on the face of it, going to be that representative of anyone else’s. While you might wonder what this high flyer has got to say to the ordinary nine-to-fiver, it’s worth taking a look at his book…

Right from the beginning, Ken rejects the lazy but pervasive assumption that the only real Christian work happens in Christian organisations.

‘It is a very sad state that we’re in, that we divided up creation into those things which God is really keen on, and those things that God doesn’t really mind if they happen or not,’ he says. ‘That is a reductionist view of God. He created the entire world order for us. To separate them out would be for us to look at the creation and to actively pick and choose from within it. So you either have the view that he is lord of all - including commerce and [secular] work - or he is not Lord at all.’

What actually matters according to Ken, is working out what God has called us to do and how he has gifted us to perform our calling…

Work, according to Ken, is something which the church has overlooked at great cost to itself. ‘The principal cause of the decline of the church in this country is that it is irrelevant to 95 per cent of people 95 per cent of the time.’ Addressing issues of work, he says, is one major way in which new life could be breathed into the church…

The whole point of the book is to help people seek to glorify God in the work that they do…

More here.
The Baptist Times.

IDEA

‘Bringing God into the Workplace’
May/June 2007

Extract on Tough Decisions, from God at Work in the in the May/June edition of Idea, the Evangelical Alliance’s bi-monthly magazine.

Read here.
idea

BBC London Radio

Ken Costa was interviewed on Inspirit, BBC LONDON’s multi faith magazine programme, about religion in the office and whether God belongs at work.

The weekly Sunday morning show takes an ethical look at the week’s top news stories and tackles a wide range of religious subjects.

Discussing his book and personal experiences, Ken was joined by Christian GP Dr Mark Pickering and Muslim lawyer Aina Khan.

God at Work on Five Live

Ken Costa appeared on Jeff Randall’s Weekend Business show to chat about religion and the workplace. The weekly slot discusses the latest news and features from the world of business and finance.

Jeff Randall:
Now how do you reconcile the pursuit of great personal wealth with strong religious beliefs, well, that’s the subject of a book by Ken Costa, a senior director at the giant investment bank, UBS. Ken welcome to Five Live.

Now Ken, you are a devout Christian but as a city banker you earn more money in a week than some people earn in a year. Can you live comfortably with that?

Ken Costa:
Well Jeff, I think it depends on the attitude, it depends on how you view that prosperity and I love the remarks of John Wesley, you know, ‘Make all you can, save all you can and give all you can.’ And that’s been a pretty good guide for many people.

Jeff Randall:
So you’re saying it’s no sin to earn lots of money, but it’s what you do with it once you’ve got it.

Ken Costa:
Well it’s both that. I think it’s to do what you – you’ve got to be sure that what you’re working in is the right place, that you’re providing a service to the community and then what you do with it matters.

Jeff Randall:
So do you agree with Peter Hain, the government minister who said that he wanted people in the city to give their bonuses away…

Listen to show here.
Read a transcript of the interview here.

Listen to Ken Costa

Ken Costa gave a talk at Holy Trinity Brompton on God at Work.

Listen to the talk here.