Part Two: Work as Service
When you think of personal worship your job is not likely something that comes to mind. “Personal worship” more likely evokes thoughts of prayer, meditation, song, stretching, or channeling some sort of energy. But your job? That’s something that you do with the other, less voluntary, parts of your life. When you think of work it is common to think of nosey coworkers, micro-managing and unappreciative bosses, monotonous repetition, fruitless labor, and entitled consumers. This is why The Office so successful. While each character is somewhat of an exaggeration, we laugh at it because it all feels so familiar.
If this is your experience with work it is important to re-examine the overarching purpose of work. I don’t just mean your current, specific job - but the concept of work, in general. Is it a means to an end? A necessary evil? Most people see the purpose of work encompassed in two primary goals: provision and fulfillment.
1. Work as Provision
When you see work as a necessary means to providing for your needs, you have grasped one aspect of work, but certainly not all of it. If work simply exists to put food on the table and keep the lights on, then really any monotonous task will do so long as the pay is good. Getting any measure of enjoyment out of it is nothing more than a bonus - like that time you ordered a Happy Meal and your server accidentally slipped in an extra toy. It wasn’t conscious and intentional, but it accidentally resulted in your joy.
Another downside of primarily seeing work as provision is it leaves the door open for substandard effort and maybe even compromised integrity. I have to confess that I once worked a job at War-Mart, gathering shopping carts from 5pm to 2am. I received zero fulfillment from this task. I’m not good with my hands nor do I like sweating outdoors. I did the job so that I can have recreational money to spend on material things and hanging out with friends. Because this was all the job existed for in my mind, I was willing to cut corners. It even went so far as trading clock-in badges with other co-workers to clock in for shifts that I didn’t even show up for. I was willing to compromise my integrity if it meant not doing a task I didn’t like while still getting a paycheck. How often do you find yourself slacking at your desk, putting forth minimal effort to get through the day, or even manipulating things in such a way to increase your own material capital at the expense of integrity?
When work exists solely as a means to provide, these approaches are very common.
2. Work as Fulfillment
Some also see specific work as a core part of their identity, or as the key to unlocking greater fulfillment in life. Some people even find that for long stretches in their life. However, this approach isn’t without serious problems. First, attaching your identity to your job is extremely problematic. I know a guy who landed the job of his dreams right out of college. He quickly ascended the professional ladder and took on a major position of influence in the career he chose at one of the best companies in his industry. The company, however, had to make some tough cuts during the economic recession of 2008-09 and he was one of the casualties. Believing himself to be a failure he went into a pretty deep state of depression. Of course, depression is not always linked to misplaced identity, but in this case it was. If your work defines who you are, then what do you think of yourself if others think you do it poorly or you lose the job altogether? Secondly, approaching work as the key to unlocking greater fulfillment is also problematic. Take the movie Soul, for example. Joe Gardener saw playing jazz professionally as his “calling.” The movie makes it clear that he believes that getting the opportunity to play jazz as his career is what he was born to do. Yet, when the opportunity finally came along he “thought it would feel different.”Euphoric, endless joy did not meet him on stage or especially after he got off, instead he was disappointed. Celebrities often speak of the difficult trade-off of less privacy, family time, and more arduous travel in exchange for fame and fortune. When you believe that the right job will fulfill all of your hopes and dreams, you usually end up disappointed.
3. Work as Service
At closer examination, the Bible asserts a third, better understanding of the purpose of work: service. When God created Adam, he put him in the Garden to “work it and keep it.” He had made Adam is his own image - a representation of God’s wisdom and dominion over all of creation. Adam’s task was to multiply that image as well as “subdue” the earth. He had a job and a purpose for that job long before giving into sin. In other words, work wasn’t part of Adam’s punishment for sinning, it was part of the purpose of his existence. This remains true to this day.
Work, therefore, is part of who we are. Meaningful work doesn’t have self-provision or fulfillment as its goal, rather it has the glory of God and service to his people as its goal. Work exists as a reflection of God’s own work in creating this world and actively caring for it. We reflect that in our own creativity and active care for the world in which we live. Doing good work is part of the act of “subduing” this world. We cultivate and bring out the potential of the earth in our participation in this kind of work. What is also important to note is the fact that this level of meaning in work applies to any job. Whether I’m pastoring and teaching, as I do currently, or waiting tables, working drive-thru, or pushing shopping carts, as I used to, my work has value. My identity isn’t altered by the job I do. Personal fulfillment isn’t tied to vocational success. Rather, you are always successful when you approach your work as a way to serve the people God created. In so doing, you bring glory and honor to him, resulting in the very fulfillment you sought all along.