Tuesday, February 05, 2008
On Work
Justin Taylor links to an article on how Christians should approach work. Article author Jonathan Dodson comes up with fours "approaches" to work
It is in his summary, where the author examines how over emphasis on any one of these points can lead to problems, that the author begins to hit his real stride:
Jesus came to transform US, and when we allow ourselves to be so transformed, what we choose to do as an occupation will naturally reflect that transformation.
Work on being God's man or woman in whatever you do. Other questions will resolve themselves in the goodness of God's timing.
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- Christian Work is Excellent
- Christian Work is Ethical
- Christian Work is Evangelistic
- Christian Work as Reflection on Vocational Essence
This last one takes a little explaining:
It is not just the way we work, but what we do for work that can glorify God. There is work that is inherently good, a product of creation, and work that is inherently bad, a product of the fall. There is society-building work, and there is society-destroying work. In short, it is good to work, but not all work is good.A little explaining maybe because it is a little silly? Creation reflects the very nature of God because it is, by definition, His creation. This is reaching for something that I am not sure is there.
Work as reflection on vocational essence is simply working with the nature and character of God in view. The attributes of God are reflected in the very warp and woof, in the essence of our work. Gardening reflects God's life-giving creativity. Computer based work relies upon binary code, a sequence of ones and zeroes that enables our computers to function. In essence, computer work reflects order, order that reflects the orderly nature of God. Orderly computers can be used to crank out pornography or care for hospital patients. Nevertheless, the essence of what computers do in our work still reflects the orderly character of God. Another word for this approach to work is theological integration.
It is in his summary, where the author examines how over emphasis on any one of these points can lead to problems, that the author begins to hit his real stride:
Finding our worth in our work, however excellent, ethical, evangelistic, or theologically integrative, is spiritual suicide. Willy Loman built his worth on his work, its failure and success. Acceptance by others and significance based on their perception of our work does not satisfy. In fact, it displaces Jesus from his rightful place as our Lord.As a young man, I remember pondering much that this, apparently, young man is pondering. As someone eligible for AARP, I find a bit of a smile enter my mouth as I examine his thoughts.
Jesus came to transform US, and when we allow ourselves to be so transformed, what we choose to do as an occupation will naturally reflect that transformation.
Work on being God's man or woman in whatever you do. Other questions will resolve themselves in the goodness of God's timing.
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