A Theblogogy of Work, Part 1
"To Adam he said...
Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."
Scripture, it seems, has a pretty good (if less than satisfying) explanation for why most people don't - and probably never will - find much joy in their work: we live in a fallen world, which reflects this so-called "curse" that is inherited from Adam.
But here's the thing. According to scripture, work isn't a result of the curse. It isn't an unfortunate side effect of the curse. It isn't one of a multitude of things that go along with the curse. It is the curse.
If I read Genesis 3 correctly, work is unpleasant for the same reason that women say all-sorts of unkind things to their husbands during childbirth. It flows out of the same circumstances that make women so unhappy in relationships with domineering husbands. For whatever reasons - and I won't try to speculate on them here - God saw fit to give work to people in a fallen world - and it was supposed to be difficult.
Its called work, for cryin' out loud! You're doing it because someone doesn't want to (or can't) do it themselves, so they're paying you to do it! If it were an enjoyable thing, you would be paying them to do it.
But here is the good news. Scripture is also telling a story about how God is redeeming creation (including, most importantly, humanity) from the circumstances that led to the fallen world. And if dissatisfaction with work is closely tied to the fall, then surely it is also one of the things from which we are being redeemed.
More to come.
______________________________
Recent related posts:
- The parable of Max the Bear
- Some commentary on Max's parable
- A depressing look at real world economics
- A discussion about the joys of margin
Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."
Scripture, it seems, has a pretty good (if less than satisfying) explanation for why most people don't - and probably never will - find much joy in their work: we live in a fallen world, which reflects this so-called "curse" that is inherited from Adam.
But here's the thing. According to scripture, work isn't a result of the curse. It isn't an unfortunate side effect of the curse. It isn't one of a multitude of things that go along with the curse. It is the curse.
If I read Genesis 3 correctly, work is unpleasant for the same reason that women say all-sorts of unkind things to their husbands during childbirth. It flows out of the same circumstances that make women so unhappy in relationships with domineering husbands. For whatever reasons - and I won't try to speculate on them here - God saw fit to give work to people in a fallen world - and it was supposed to be difficult.
Its called work, for cryin' out loud! You're doing it because someone doesn't want to (or can't) do it themselves, so they're paying you to do it! If it were an enjoyable thing, you would be paying them to do it.
Somewhere along the way, somebody got the idea that work and career are supposed to be about finding this uplifting, fulfilling experience. In more recent years, women were told that they could be happy if they just went out and found these upwardly mobile careers like men. As a result, all of us started chasing The Lie instead of just half of us.
Experience - and scripture - tell us that work and career probably won't be "fulfilling" for most people. It will be - well, for lack of a better term - work.
More to come.
______________________________
Recent related posts:
- The parable of Max the Bear
- Some commentary on Max's parable
- A depressing look at real world economics
- A discussion about the joys of margin
posted by Matt at Tuesday, June 14, 2005
3 Comments:
Why do we forget this? I wonder if I will ever find a job where I "love" my work...NO! It is work!!
Thanks for the reminder!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Jonathan-
Great comment! This theblogogy is a work in progress, so I hope everyone will feel free to add, subtract, criticize, question, etc.
If by "split hairs" you mean that you want to draw a distinction between work itself and the fact that work can be unpleasant in a fallen world, then you hit me right where I deserve to get hit. And I don't think that you are splitting hairs - its just sloppy thinking/writing on my part.
I should know better. I will eventually be talking about (1) the fact that we were made to work and - apparently - will be working in the new creation AND (2) the fact that God is redeeming work AND (3) that God can bless people with some level of satisfaction with work. I wish that my post drew that distinction clearly, but I won't edit it because I want people who follow this thread of comments to see where you are coming from.
What I should be saying is this: given the Genesis 3 account of the curse - we should not be surprised if work in a fallen world is difficult and unpleasant, not that work itself is a problem.
I stand corrected.
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