Christian Family Law Association

PRACTICING LAW FOR GOD'S GLORY 

By Lloyd Kelso 

Probably the greatest obstacle to attorneys accepting the view that family law practice should be conducted as a ministry is our concept of vocation. In law school, attorneys are taught that there is a wall of separation between church and state. Many attorneys interpret this as a wall of separation between God and legal work, so that work is divided between the secular and the sacred. For most attorneys, God has no place in their definition of vocation as it applies to legal work. Many attorneys believe in God, go to church on Sunday, but lay aside their "private religious life" when they head-off to work on Monday morning, only to pick it up again next Sunday morning. It is impossible to conduct life this way and be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. This may be one reason that there is such dissatisfaction in the legal profession. According to a recent survey of law students, 21% believed they made a mistake in choosing law as a profession. The suicide rate among lawyers is three times that of other professions. Some of this can certainly be attributed to attorney schizophrenia in trying to live a secular and sacred life.

If attorneys are to truly be disciples of Jesus Christ and live in obedience to God's word (and I believe we are so called by God), there must be a shift in our perspectives to include a definition of vocation, even in legal work, that includes our living in obedience to God's word. The Bible teaches us that we are to do "all" (meaning everything), to the glory of God. Everything includes the practice of law, even family law! Not only are we to do everything to the glory of God, but we are to do our work with enthusiasm, with excellence, and giving thanks to God. Consider the following:

Colossians 3:16-17: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossions 3: 24-25: Whatever you are doing, work at it with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not for people, because you know that you will receive your inheritance from the Lord as the reward. Serve the Lord Christ. [NET BIBLE]

In the movie, Facing the Giants. High school football coach Grant Taylor finds himself in his sixth year of coaching with a team that is losing games and does not seem to care anymore. Coach Taylor had never had a winning season. Even the hope of a new winning season was squelched when the best player on his Shiloh Eagles decided to transfer to another school. After losing their first three games of the season, Coach Taylor discovers a group of fathers are plotting to have him fired. Combined with pressures at home, Coach Taylor has lost hope in his battle against fear and failure. He discovers that he must change his philosophy of coaching, and the attitudes of his players. He demands that his players begin to play in a way that honors God, because God deserves our very best. As evidence of the kind of demands he placed on his star player, Brock, you may find it interesting to watch the Death Crawl. Most importantly, Coach Taylor and his players discover that God's power to do the impossible rests within his players' grasp when they properly prepare for victory. Daring to trust God to do the impossible, Coach Taylor and the Eagles discover how faith plays out on the field--and off. They discovered that nothing is impossible with God!

My career as an attorney can be compared to the experience of Coach Grant Taylor in Facing the Giants. When I began practicing law, for the first few years, I was highly motivated to do my best in every case. I had attended a good law school where I had made above average grades. I started my career winning almost every case. It felt good, built my ego, and people began to hear about my successes. My practice began to flourish. But as time went on, I found myself falling into bad habits. I had approached the practice of law like it was a sprint, only to find out that it was a marathon. I worked long hours, and became burned-out. Many days I did not feel like going to work at all. Because I had initially had success, I was busy. In fact, I was so busy that I did not have time to properly prepare each case. Important issues were not researched properly. At times, important details were overlooked. On a couple of occasions, I failed to issue important subpoenas for witnesses, and the judge had to begrudgingly continue my unprepared case. I often went to trial on cases that I did not truly believe in. In other words, my heart was just not in the case. Some of these cases, I took solely to make money, rather than based upon a genuine belief that I could help achieve justice for my client. I went through a period when it seemed that I lost almost every case. My self-esteem suffered, and I looked for other things in my life to make me feel better. In short, I became depressed. It seemed like my adversaries always had a better case. I rationalized that it was the facts of the case, the party I was representing, one or more of the witnesses, the judge, or a misguided jury that had led to a bad outcome. In some cases, the rationalization may have been true. But the truth was that my attitude had just become negative. I saw little hope of turning things around. Like Coach Taylor, I discovered that I had the wrong philosophy about the practice of law.

In the depth of my days of personal depression and mediocrity as an attorney, I turned to God's Word. I was in a Bible study when I came across the passage of Scripture in Collossians 3:23-24. Like a lightening bolt, God revealed to me that I was not practicing law with my whole heart for God. I was simply not giving God my very best in the practice of law. I was convicted of the fact that my personal greed and pride had become a major factor in my depression and mediocrity. Most importantly, I was not practicing law in a way that honored God. What God had to say in His Word was life changing for me. If I am under His authority, and I am, then I needed to be obedient to His Word. I repented of my sins, and made an adjustment in my attitude. Accepting God as authority for my life, I began to practice law with a new Christian perspective. I down-sized my practice, took fewer cases, took cases I believed in, worked less, worked smarter, and actually made more money. Like Coach Taylor and his players in the game of football, I was able to devote the time necessary to prepare each case for victory. Moreover, in conducting myself as an attorney, I gave my best to become a person of excellence and integrity. That required going the extra mile to do what was honest and right. That required a change in perspective, to see my work with people as a ministry for God. I learned that nothing is impossible with God. God's Word was life changing for me, and I pray it will be life changing for you as well.

Remember, "[w]hatever you are doing, work at it with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not for people, because you know that you will receive your inheritance from the Lord as the reward. Serve the Lord Christ."

PRAYER:

LORD, thank you for the guidance that You give us in Your word. I confess that I have at times worked for myself, rather than for You. Help me to be the kind of attorney that You want me to be. Help me to practice law with excellence and integrity. Help me to be honest in all that I do, and to treat others as I would want them to treat me. Let Your Holy Spirit correct my ways when I wander off the path that You have set for me. Let my personal and professional life be a reflection of You. Thank you for other Christian attorneys who are seeing their family law practices as a ministry for You. Help them in that endeavor. In Jesus name, Amen.

Christian Attorney Discipleship 

Until recently, the idea of a Christian attorney implementing elements of the Christian faith in professional life was considered taboo by some attorneys. Although God calls us to Christian discipleship every day, many Christian attorney are not willing to model or share their Christian views in their professional lives. Today, we see more attorneys who feel that the Christian faith should not be kept in the closet Monday through Friday, and only pulled out on Sunday morning. The Christian faith is nothing to be ashamed of in the legal profession or any other vocation. A number of attorneys are now modeling Christian life in their dealings with others on a day-to-day basis. It does not mean that every client must be bombarded with religious rehetoric by her or his attorney. Instead, Christian attorneys simply implement and model Christian ethics in their practices. There are a number of keys to accomplishing a Christian ethic in law practice. Two important keys are high levels of honesty and integrity. Part of the mission of CFLA is to help Christian attorneys to implement Christian ethics in their law practices. We hope you will join us in this cause.