Courage and Calling (eBook)

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The Meaning of Our Work

A Theological Vision for Engaging Our World

We will be best able to discern and respond to our calling—our vocation—if we have a deeper appreciation for the meaning of work. If vocation is about responding to the call of God to be in the world and to do work that reflects this call, then we naturally need to ask about the meaning and purpose of work, and what constitutes good work, work that is congruent with God’s purposes in our lives.

We are living with a crisis of the “active” life. The life of engagement with the world is for many, if not most, marked by a hectic, busy and bewildering pace. We have a remarkable capacity to live overworked lives, caught up in hectic activity that “has to be done.” This is one of the sins of modernity and of life and work in urban, industrialized societies. In our disturbed passion to accomplish so much and to accomplish it as soon as possible, we have lost a sense of true leisure and also of what it means to be reflective and contemplative.

Yet this frenetic, unfocused approach to life and work is but one side of the greater crisis of our day: a loss of meaning—in our work, our relationships and of our own identity (but for our purposes here, it is especially about our work).

The identity of some is wrapped up in their work, and the loss of employment or a forced retirement has left them feeling hollow, with little sense of purpose, or perhaps they are still on the job but are just floating from one assignment to another without focus or direction. For others the problem is that they are trying to do so much—running around caught up in hectic activity. The busyness often makes us feel important, but we know that that is all it is, busyness. And we know we are mistaken to assume that if a person is busy he or she must be important or, to turn it around, that if an individual is important than he or she must be busy. Underlying all of this lies an inevitable awareness, if we are honest, that in our busyness we begin to lose a sense of what our actions mean and ultimately what our lives mean.

As a result, people of all religious persuasions are trying to find answers, solutions and meaning. Well-written books on work, career, career transitions and career development are best-sellers. There is a palpable sense within our communities that we need to be able to resolve this crisis and come to terms with both our identity and our work so that we can find meaning, joy and purpose in that work.

While various helpful resources are available, it is critical that we think deeply about a theological response to this crisis. Many may consider this idea either strange or perplexing because they have not given intentional theological thought to anything. But when a crisis looms in our lives, we often have to ask the most critical questions. And here is where careful theological reflection can provide us with a way forward.

A Theological Vision for Good Work

The huge assumption of our social context is that work is bad and leisure is good. Our only hope for a transformed vision for vocation, work and career, and for navigating the transitions of life, is to engage our world with a theological vision for good work—to redeem the very idea of work.

The revolutionary message of the Bible is that work is precisely that: good. Central to the biblical description of the formation of the first man and woman is the mandate they received to till the earth and name the animals (Gen 2:15, 19-20). They were created to work, and their work was meaningful. God made them workers so that they could be co-creators with him—not in the sense that they are creators of the earth, but that their work was a part of God’s continual re-creation, and as such it was important, significant and valued by God.

With the Fall and with sin, work becomes toil (Gen 3:17-19). And thus a crucial part of the Christian mission in the world is to seek and declare a recovery of meaningful and joyful work. Work is a central expression of what it means to be a Christian believer, a critical component of our spirituality. Indeed, in many respects our work is a central context for living out our Christian identity. In this, then, we can and must affirm that not all work is good. Work can be destructive, hurtful and a disservice to Christ and to others. We can violate the very meaning of work whenever, through the skills and energy God has given us, we exploit or injure others or merely gratify our misguided desires. Consequently, our longing for meaningful work must be framed in the context of that which is good, noble and excellent—that which enables us to bring pleasure to our Maker, that which we can with genuine passion say that we do “as unto the Lord” (Col 3:23 kjv).

Unfortunately, we have been deeply influenced by the notion that work is bad and to be avoided, and many people live with the longing to be released from work, looking forward to retirement, when they will no longer work. While retirement does mark an important transition, our ultimate joy is not to be released from work. Jesus promised his followers that if they were diligent and careful in small things, they would be rewarded with more work to do (Mt 25:21). The hope of the new kingdom is not that we will be released from work but rather that our work will be in perfect partnership with God, in the kingdom that is yet to come. The prophet Isaiah spoke of the new heavens and the new earth as a time when we would build houses, plant vineyards and enjoy the work of our hands (Is 65:21-22).

One of the most powerful depictions of good work in the Scriptures is found at the conclusion of the book of Proverbs. Proverbs assumes and demonstrates that we are not wise unless and until we are wise in our work. This theme of good work as the sphere in which we live in wisdom is found in threads throughout this book of the Bible, but it is particularly instructive to consider the theological vision of work that is implied in Proverbs 31.

Many tend to think of Proverbs 31 as the celebration of a woman and a wife. And it is. But implicit in this celebration is another: the affirmation of her work and of thus of work as something we engage with energy, passion, joy and diligence. All of us, both women and men.

Could it be that one of the most helpful ways of reading Proverbs 31 is not to see it so much as an addendum or epilogue, as is so frequently done, but rather as a capstone to the collection of proverbial sayings found in this book of the Bible? What is instructive is that the woman described in this chapter is clearly an embodiment of the wisdom that emerges throughout the book of Proverbs, and further, this wisdom she embodies is most evident in the quality of her work. While there is surely more to wisdom than our work, this chapter celebrates a person who is wise in doing good work. And what is implicit in these verses of Scripture is the contours of a biblical theology of work that has profound relevance for us as we seek to make sense of our lives and recover a theological vision for work.

A capable wife who can find?

She is far more precious than jewels.

The heart of her husband trusts in her,

and he will have no lack of gain.

She does him good, and not harm,

all the days of her life.

She seeks wool and flax,

and works with willing hands.

She is like the ships of the merchant,

she brings her food from far away.

She rises while it is still night

and provides food for her household

and tasks for her servant girls.

She considers a field and buys it;

with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

She girds herself with strength,

and makes her arms strong.

She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.

Her lamp does not go out at night.

She puts her hands to the distaff,

and her hands hold the spindle.

She opens her hand to the poor,

and reaches out her hands to the needy.

She is not afraid for her household when it snows,

for all her household are clothed in crimson.

She makes herself coverings;

her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Her husband is known in the city gates,

taking his seat among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them;

she supplies the merchant with sashes.

Strength and dignity are her clothing,

and she laughs at the time to come.

She opens her mouth with wisdom,

and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

She looks well to the ways of her household,

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and call her happy;

her husband too, and he praises her:

“Many women have done excellently,

but you surpass them all.”

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Give her a share in the fruit of her hands,

and let her works praise her in the city gates.

Consider then the biblical vision or theology of work implicit throughout this text of sacred Scripture. And in passing I would note that perhaps in cultures that have a one-dimensional view of women, who are...