A Theology of Work 2

In A Theology of Work, Darrell Cosden observes that, in the modern Roman Catholic teaching on work, “the instrumental aspect of work (here [in Laborem Exercens] primarily referring to economic function) is subordinated (metaphysically and ethically) to the relational or ‘human’ aspect….”

He traces this in part to Pope John Paul II’s view that “the essential meaning of ‘kingship’ and ‘dominion’ of man over the visible world, which the Creator himself gave man for his task, consists in the priority of ethics over technology, in the primacy of the person over things, and in the superiority of spirit over matter” (emphasis mine).  If this hierarchy is assumed, Cosden concludes, “the instrumental [aspect of work] is always subordinated to the relational [aspect].”

I find it disturbing that the head of the Roman Catholic church so bluntly held that spirit is “superior” to matter.  Isn’t this essentially a gnostic position which the church has consistently, at least officially if not functionally, refuted?

I also hear the echo of this subordination of the instrumental aspect of work to the relational aspect in how we — evangelical Christians of North America — speak about many subjects, including work.  “It’s the relationship that matters,” we may say to someone who is struggling over the intrinsic value of his work.  The intent behind those words is good.  We mean to encourage.  We mean to point out how the worker is making a difference through his being there for his co-workers.  But embedded in such a statement, at times, is the view that “what really matters is people’s souls, not what your work produces.”

Cosden would argue, it seems, such a view is not only unbiblical but unnecessary: “the nature of the ontology of work is such that it places both the relational and instrumental aspects on an equal, mutually restricting plane while it also places itself on that same level.”

A Theology of Work 1

Miroslav Volf in Work in the Spirit tries to build a theology of work in light of new creation rather than one anchored in vocation.  In A Theology of Work, Darrell Cosden seeks to provide “a more detailed unfolding of the implications of this eschatological realism for a theology of work.”

“Normative theological understanding of work is best construed threefold as a dynamic inter-relationship of instrumental, relational, and ontological aspects,” says Cosden.  

First, work is instrumental “in the mundane sense” — “a means to continued survival” and “a means for further economic expansion and growth.”  Here, “the focus is not on work, but rather its product used directly or indirectly as a way of securing more of life’s necessities or wants.”  Work is instrumental “in the spiritual sense” as well — e.g., building character, meeting other’s needs, generating profits to be given to charity in order to lessen the pain of others and spreading the gospel message.

Second, work is relational when it “refers to work’s aim toward appropriate social relationship and / or to some form of human existential realization and fulfillment.”  This could be considered “a sub-category of the instrumental.”

Cosden’s focus, though, is on the third — ontological — aspect of work.  “God created us to be workers in nature” “not as an accident of nature but because God first is a worker and persons are created in his image.”  And work is “built into the fabric of creation by God.”  As such work “is a thing in itself with its own intrinsic value apart from but of course related to these [instrumental and relational] functions.”

How Then Should We Work? 3

Words like calling, vocation, career and job get used sometimes interchangeably though they can mean different things.  Hugh Whelchel organizes them in this way in How Then Should We Work?  

We are first called “to follow Jesus out of darkness into light.”  This call to faith in Christ is the “primary calling.”

Then come four “secondary callings.”  First, to be “a part of our human family: brother, sister, son, daughter, father or mother.”  Second, “to the church.”  Third, “to serve God’s purposes in the world through civic, social, political, domestic and ecclesiastical roles.”  Finally, “to vocational work.”

Whelchel says this fourth secondary calling, the vocational calling, “is usually stable and permanent over a lifetime” and is “based on giftedness, interests, passions, and human need, which are all easy to identify.”  A caree, in turn, “should be based on the opportunities for service which are presented to a believer enabling him or her to fulfill their vocational calling.”  Finally, “finding the right occupation [i.e., job] at any one time is a matter of God’s specific leadership, guidance and provision.”

How Then Should We Work? 2

Hugh Whelchel points out two lies that together define “success” in our culture in How Then Should We Work?

The first is, “If you work hard enough, you can be anything you want to be.”  The second is, “You can be the best in the world.”  Put the two together, and you have this message: you achieve success when you work hard to be the best in the world in whatever you choose to do.  But this definition of success — “being the master of your own destiny” — is an idol.  Whelchel quotes Tim Keller:

More than other idols, personal success and achievement lead to a sense that we ourselves are God, that our security and value rest in our own wisdom, strength and performance.  To be the very best at what you do, to be at the top of the heap, means no one is like you.  You are supreme.

The Biblical alternative, drawn from the parable of the talents according to Whelchel, is to define success as being faithful with the talents we are given by God.  And we should all “feel God’s pleasure when we are faithful to our calling.”

How Then Should We Work? 1

In How Then Should We Work?, Hugh Whelchel quotes Richard Pratt’s “down-to-earth description of how the Cultural Mandate works” as follows:

The Great King has summoned each of us into his throne room.  Take this portion of my kingdom, he says, I am making you my steward over your office, your workbench, your kitchen stove.  Put your heart into mastering this part of my world.  Get it in order; unearth its treasures; do all you can with it.  Then everyone will see what a glorious King I am.  That’s why we get up every morning and go to work.  We don’t labor simply to survive, insects do that.  Our work is an honor, a privileged commission from our great King.  God has given each of us a portion of his kingdom to explore and to develop to its fullness.

Viewing work as stewardship over a portion of God’s kingdom helps one make the connection between the Great Commission and the Cultural Mandate.  Namely, the goal of the Great Commission isn’t just the salvation of people; it is the salvation of people so that they can fulfill the Cultural Mandate as was originally envisioned.  All to the glory of God, of course!

“Great Love”

Rod Dreher opens his book, The Little Way of Ruthie Leming: A Southern Girl, a Small Town, and the Secret of a Good Life, with this quote from St. Therese of Lisieux: “What matters in life are not great deeds, but great love.”

It is so easy to lose my way when I am constantly surrounded by co-workers, clients and advisors  working on “important projects” with “hundreds of millions of dollars” at stake.  It is so easy to think what I do is “very important” simply because so many big companies, big banks, big law firms and big industry players are hyper-focused on, and negotiate tooth and nail over, every detail of the project. It is so easy to convince myself that I am doing “great deeds.”

That’s nonsense in every way.

Especially, if I don’t do any of it with “great love.”

Why Work? 5

What is a worker’s first duty?  

Well meaning Christians might respond, “to serve the community.”  But Dorothy Sayers says, no, it is “to serve the work” in Why Work?

If you aim to serve the community through work, you run into three problems, says Sayers.

First, “you cannot do good work if you take your mind off the work to see how the community is taking it,” and such “work will not be good.”  (Work that is not good serves neither God nor the community; “it only serves mammon.”)

Second, if you aim to serve the community, then “you begin to have a notion that other people owe you something for your pains; you begin to think that you have a claim on the community.”  “But if your mind is set upon serving the work, then you know you have nothing to look for; the only reward the work can give you is the satisfaction of beholding its perfection.”

Third, “if you set out to serve the community, you will probably end by merely fulfilling a public demand” “instead of doing the work as its own integrity demands that it should be done.”  “The work has been falsified to please the public, and in the end even the public is not pleased.”

This is why Sayers concludes “the only true way of serving the community is to be truly in sympathy with the community, to be oneself part of the community and then to serve the work without giving the community another thought.  Then the work will endure, because it will be true to itself.  It is the work that serves the community; the business of the worker is to serve the work.”

As for the role of the church?  “It is the business of religion to make us Christian people, and then our work will naturally be turned to Christian ends, because our work is the expression of ourselves.”  Thus, “if work is to find its right place in the world, it is the duty of the Church to see to it that the work serves God, and that the worker serves the work.”