A Christian view of work (part 1)

August 7, 10:00 PMSt. Louis Presbyterian ExaminerAlicia Donathan

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James B. Jordan, in his Primeval Saints, describes the rhythm of God’s work of creation, and its corresponding reflection in man’s work.  God, in the creation week, took hold of creation by the power of His voice (“And God said…”), restructured creation (separating light from darkness, waters above from waters below, land from sea), distributed His work (assigning governance to sun, moon, stars, giving the sea to fish, the land to birds and beasts, and all to man), evaluated His work (“And behold, it was good”), and enjoyed His work (on the Sabbath).  Man, as God’s image, was created to do the same: take hold (or name, as Jordan points out we can’t work with something until we’ve named it), restructure, distribute, evaluate, and enjoy.  Jordan gives as his example something as simple as giving a glass of water to someone: 1) I take hold of the glass in the cabinet, 2) I restructure the cabinet by removing one of the glasses, and I restructure the water by separating out a portion of it (from the faucet) into the glass for consumption, 3) I distribute the water to you, 4) You evaluate the water at the first sip (determining whether it is drinkable or not, cold enough or not, though this is sometimes unconscious in the case of water; still, it is at this stage of evaluation that we will react if the water is contaminated and tastes funny.), then 5) You enjoy the glass of water.  

This five-fold rhythm characterizes all work, God’s and ours.  To make a meal I must take hold of the ingredients (both collecting them physically and naming them and their relationship to one another via the recipe), restructure them according to the recipe (whether chopping, basting, boiling, etc.), then I will distribute the food (either I will keep my food for myself or give it away to someone else, or even perhaps sell it as a way of exchanging my work for someone else’s),  then either I myself or the person to whom I give the food will evaluate it at first bite (perhaps announcing their judgment of it, whether good or bad, or perhaps not announcing it), and then I/we will enjoy it by consuming the whole portion.

Economics, then, is the “distribution” part of this equation:  I choose to trade some of my work for the work of others (currency being the symbol that signifies work done and entitles me to then go out and select what type of work I would like to receive in return for my own).  For example, I get my paycheck in exchange for my work, then I go to the grocer’s and trade it for a portion of the farmer's labor, the butcher's labor, the store clerk's labor, and the truck driver's labor. Economics is the distribution, via trade, of all the work done by a society.

This, incidentally, is one reason economic downturns are not to be dreaded or avoided like the plague.  They are part of a healthy economic system. Downcycles in the economy are evidence that the economic system, the system by which people exchange labor with one another, are adjusting to changing needs of a society.  When jobs are lost, for example, it's because the labor represented by those jobs is no longer needed or wanted as badly by others.  It is a sign that the labor being expended in those jobs would be better spent elsewhere.  Sometimes it takes time for society as a whole to reorganize its labors, meaning some people will be out of a job for a time until they can find other work.  But, in a capitalist system, this is society's way of redirecting labor from less beneficial efforts to more beneficial efforts.  As societies change and grow, these periods of redistribution of labor will always be necessary.  But there is no reason to think that any downturn will last forever. As Henry Hazlitt said, “There is no limit to the amount of work to be done as long as any human need or wish that work could fill remains unsatisfied.”

Man is created to imitate this five-fold rhythm which God first established.  We are created for work.  

For more info: Primeval Saints: Studies in the Patriarchs of Genesis by James Jordan. Economics in Christian Perspective: Theory, Policy and Life Choices by Claar and Clay.