Third Principle: Work is
Relational
The university would be a
great place to teach if it
weren't for the students."
— A university professor
Creation is a relational act of God. When we read, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," we envision God the Father working alone to make a world and fashion His creation. But Creation was a cooperative act of the Trinity — God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Initially, they may have worked as one in focused power to create the world out of nothing. Then they divided their labor according to the unique expression of the Godhead that they represent throughout divine revelation.
God the Father is the executive of the Trinity. He oversees the work and makes judgment on its quality. God the Holy Spirit is the architect, who performs the task of brooding over the dark and void and chaotic world to plan its grand design. God the Son, then, works as the engineer of the Trinity. He speaks the word and "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made" (John 1:3).
Throughout the Creation story, throughout biblical revelation, and throughout human history, the Trinity continues
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to work together in cooperative relationship. The Spirit plans, the Son speaks, and the Father judges. Their example is the basis for another practical principle of the Creation Ethic. Work is relational. This principle is especially important to our understanding of how our daily work is affected by sin. In the Garden of Eden, the nature of human relationships was established in three dimensions: between Adam and God, between Adam and Eve, and between Adam and nature. When these relationships are spiritually intact, they are characterized by a quality of interaction that is spiritual within itself. Adam's relationship with God was characterized by the quality of worship, his relationship with Eve, by the quality of wedlock, and his relationship to nature, by the quality of work. Note that each of these qualities has value within itself. Worship, wedlock, and work are intrinsically "good" and need no outside support to give them value.
WORK AND HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Immediately, God's intended meaning for work comes forward. Work is one of the three vital dimensions in human relationships which are ordained by God. Worship, wedlock, and work stand together in the Creation story. Later on, priority will be given to the relationship with God and other persons in the first and the greatest commandment," And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" and "Your shall love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30-31). While these commandments do not mention work, they set the stage for the biblical priority that makes work more than just our relationship with nature. Work reflects our relationship with God and our neighbor as well. Therefore, we can advance to the principle that our work relationships are integral to our human nature. While worship, wedlock, and work have intrinsic value in themselves, they are not independent of each other.
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Genesis implies that the quality of one affects the quality of the other. Just as our human personality of body, mind, and soul is one, our human relationships of worship, wedlock, and work are interrelated. Practical examples abound. How many times have you known persons who dropout of worship and get in trouble with their marriage? Perhaps more often, we recall persons whose marriage relationships are broken and then they drop out of worship. And this happens not just in a marriage. In organizational settings, I have noted that persons who cannot work together also find it difficult to worship together. For instance, faculty members who seem to carry a chip on their shoulder will find a thousand ways to avoid a communion service and, especially in the Methodist tradition, a "love feast" in which bread is broken between members of the body of Christ as a sign of forgiveness and love. If a critical attitude keeps us from celebration in worship, we are in trouble.
We see then that our work relationships are also integral to our spirituality. Before Adam and Eve sinned, the spiritual nature of their relationships with God, each other, and nature, was taken for granted. Once they sinned, however, they learned the meaning of alienation from God, each other, and nature. Significantly, God used their work relationship with nature to define the nature of sin as alienation. The earth became a curse, work became hard, and the birth of children became painful. Certainly, the alienation with nature seems complete. But this was just the beginning Adam and Eve were also alienated from God. When they lost the naturalness of communion with God as a sign of their alienation, they hid themselves from His presence. We hear the sadness in God's call to His beloved, but fallen, creation, "Where are you?" The astounding fact is that Adam broke the relationship, but God initiated the search for reconciliation. His call, "Where are you?" is universal to all humankind across all ages.
Adam's alienation became complete when he turned
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against Eve and blamed her for his sin. Then to excuse himself with God, he whined, "The woman tempted me to eat." Thus the stage was set for fractured marriages for all time to come. A current joke going around is that the hairstyles and clothes for men and women are so much alike that you can't tell which is husband and which is wife until one of them complains, "You never listen to me." That's the wife. And if it were Adam and Eve, the husband would be the one who retaliates, "It's your fault." Broken relationships also have a way of rippling through the generations. Adam's alienation from Eve created the climate in which hostility became aggravated between their sons, Cain and Abel, even to the point of murder.
While on our vacation at a lake cabin, my wife and I introduced ourselves to a neighbor, a young man in his early thirties. In turn, he introduced us to his fiancée, a slightly older woman. All seemed normal until we learned that we had come from the same city and she said, "We live just over the hill from you." Immediately, we understood that they were living together as an engaged couple. Then, out of their cabin bounded two teenage boys, who came up to their mom to be introduced to us. Of course, the mystery thickened and our curiosity took wings. So, for the next week, we watched the personal interaction among this "modern" family. The boys and their mother often huddled as a threesome to talk about their plans. When this happened, the boyfriend always sat apart, never entering the conversation and sometimes walking away. Once the boys were gone, the woman changed instantly from a solicitous mother to a seductive lover. Stranger yet, when the boyfriend did interact with her sons, he became a third teenager, playing with the boys and being scolded by the mother for foolish pranks.
After observing this pattern of relationships for a week, my wife and I wondered aloud, "What kind of family will they be after marriage?" Then projecting further into the future we
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asked, "What kind of model will the boys have for their marriages and their families?" The web of divorce, cohabitation, remarriage, and divided families is tangled indeed.
Alienation causes breaks in all of the relationships of life and these pass on from generation to generation. As children of Adam and Eve, we personally experience this truth. When sin alienated them from God, their worship turned to fear, their wedlock, turned to hostility, and their work turned to pain. Who of us has not known the same symptoms of our sin? Worship, wedlock, and work represent our ideals; fear, hostility, and pain represent our sin.
Work, then, is not an afterthought to God. Quite the opposite. Work is integral to human relationships with God, other persons, and physical nature. What happens in our worship affects our work and our wedlock; what happens in our wedlock affects our worship and our work; and what happens in our work affects our worship and wedlock. Each of us can supply our illustrations. If something goes wrong at work, how many of us leave the problem on the job? If I try to hide my job frustrations from my wife with a fake smile and quick kiss, she will quietly ask, "Did you have a rough day at the office?" God also gets His share of my problems. Devotional time turns into a refuge from work rather than a preparation for work. More often than not, however, I find the resolution to my work problem in the wise counsel of my wife or the prayerful answer of God.
Right this minute I am praying for a colleague who is also a dear and loyal friend. When I called him this morning, his crisp answers and cool tone told me that something was wrong. At first I took the blame upon myself. But when I asked him if something was the matter, he told me of an undiagnosed pain in his stomach that troubled him. Later I talked with another colleague, who shared my concern about the change in our friend. He too had talked with him, and had found out that a combination of family and work crises over which he had no
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control had hit him all at once. A superior executive, an exemplary Christian, and a loving father felt exhausted, frustrated, and even alienated from his closest friends.
THE RELATIONSHIPS OF WORK
Work is more than a task to be done. It is a relationship that involves the totality of life. If work were just a task to be done, we could define its relationship functionally. Imagine a series of concentric circles with the technical tasks to be done in the smallest, center circle. From there draw a larger circle, which is labeled as the collective effort to be done in the company of other workers. A third circle, then, identifies the economic system in which the worker performs the task, whether it is capitalism, communism, socialism, or a mixture of systems. In the fourth and outer circle, the task is defined in the historical setting in which the work has been done in a given society, such as North America since Colonial times, or India since its independence.
Such a functional scheme for the relationships of work is far too sterile. The person seems to be lost as only a cog in a machine of technical tasks collective efforts, economic systems, and historical settings. Not that these more impersonal relationships do not affect the individual worker. We have already noted the actual and potential negative aspects of history, economics, organizations, and technology upon the personality and character of the worker. To define the relationships of work functionally rather than personally only aggravates this issue.
The spirituality of work requires quite a different model. Begin with the person as worker in the center circle. Expand, then, to the next circle of coworker relationships, add community relationships in the next outer ring, and conclude with church relationships in the outer concentric circle. In one way or another, our daily work interacts with each of these relationships in a spiritual context.
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As workers, we cannot avoid interpersonal relationships with coworkers
on the job. The relationships may be vertical on a boss/employees level,
horizontal on a coworker/coworker level, or even diagonal in what is called
a matrix in which workers and even bosses change roles from project
to project. Hi-tech companies, for instance, will let leadership be determined
by the expertise required in a given project. In a "matrix" organization,
today's leader may be tomorrow's follower.
On one given day recently, three of our children went through traumatic lessons in human relationships on the job and called home to talk about it. Douglas, our older son, got caught in a political trap which contending forces in an administrative structure stalemated on a decision. Although the issue did not involve his work or his reputation, he became the frustrated victim of a vertical relationship to his superior over which he had no control.
On the same day, our youngest daughter, Sue, ran into the buzz saw of the matrix organization where she works. As a manager of women's clothing in a large store, she has to deal with her immediate supervisor and six buyers of women's clothing. In preparation for the annual sale, she worked until midnight sorting the stock and arranging the merchandise. Early the next morning when Sue arrived at the store, one of the buyers confronted her with the charge, "Your floor looks like a mess!" (You are spared the vulgarity. Our daughter burst into tears and fled to the restroom. Her salespeople, however, heard what the buyer said and the one with seniority pushed the woman into a dressing room and "dressed her down with equally strong language. Now it was the buyer's turn to flee in tears. Some minutes later, however, she returned with a bouquet of flowers for Sue, an admission of being wrong, and a request for forgiveness. As part of her plea, she confessed that she was under pressure to sell the clothes that she had bought and wanted them located in the best spot for high sales.
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At the close of the same day, our youngest son, Rob reported his first encounter with an irate mother of one of the teenagers on his summer tennis team. Due to a double booking in the main office, a group of mothers appeared on two different days from their tennis lessons at the same times our son was coaching their children. On the first occasion, Rob divided the time between the mothers and the children, but the second time he had already scheduled private lessons. Like a wounded tigress, one of the mothers verbally pounced on him and dug in her claws with the accusation that he was shortchanging her daughter in favor of private lessons. A nonviolent, "people" person, our son tried to explain that the front office set the schedule for him. Still, to make up for the double booking, he offered to give the mothers' class extra time. The mother would not be satisfied and stalked away with the threats to pull her daughter off Rob's tennis team which had a key competitive match the following day. Although the girl did appear for the match, she came with orders from her mother to play first so that the family could get away for their weekend. Obviously, the mother wanted to extract a pound of flesh while admitting that she was wrong.
How should we as Christians relate to our bosses, coworkers, subordinates, customers, or constituents? Although each of us must establish our own pattern of interpersonal relationships, my experience leads me to these five working principles.
Pray for them in daily devotions,
Value them as persons created in the image of God,
Love them unequivocally through conflict,
Praise them for positive changes in attitude and constructive achievements in work,
Lead them by example — quality of work, integrity of character, consistency of position, and joy of spirit.
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Let's apply these principles to our daughter's encounter with her buyer. As hard as it may seem, she would have to commit the buyer to God in prayer before each working day. Flowers and forgiveness are not quite enough. Their relationship took a beating that day, and when the pressure for sales rises to fever pitch again, the old conflict can resurface. Yet, there is a positive side to their confrontation. They both understand how pressure can take them to the breaking point. Our daughter now knows how to pray for her buyer as well as for herself at work. Furthermore, her daily prayer can help her see the buyer as a person with special gifts as well as nagging needs. Imagine our daughter praying this way, "Help me, Lord, to value her as Your child, love her with your love, and why she leads her staff and her buyers by the personal example of a joyous, caring spirit, as well as strong sales and good profits which come from her reputation for integrity with customers and fairness with her staff. These same principles apply to believers and nonbelievers alike.
Our daily work also extends into community relationships as part of
our spiritual obligation. When Christians counter the ethic of self-interest
with a demonstration of self-giving for the moral good of the community of
which they are part, they exercise an indisputable witness on the job. This
brings up the question of whether our daily work is contributing to the moral
good of the larger community. A construction worker on a new highway might
well justify the job as a contribution to the community, while an apartment
manager whose owner exploits the poor cannot. A politician who compromises
principles for power must seriously question his role, while a police officer
in a swat squad combating drug pushers might not. Every Christian needs to
ask the question, "Am I contributing to the moral good of the larger community?"
If the answer is yes, we should
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continue to explore the potential of the job for the community impact. If the answer is no, we should either find a way to make a contribution or change the jobs.
Another option for Christians is to volunteer for community service, either on or off the job. United Way, the Red Cross, the Heart Association, Habitat for Humanity, drug prevention, and literacy programs are just a few examples of community agencies which depend on volunteers on the job to lead their campaigns. I believe Christians should be the first to volunteer. The impulse is in our history. Just before Governor John Winthrop led the Pilgrims ashore to found Massachusetts Bay Colony, he preached a sermon to them which focused the biblical vision for the moral community.
We must delight in each other, make other's conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes of our community as members of the same body.
Even though centuries have passed and our society has leaned heavily to the secular side, Christians cannot give up the biblical vision of the moral community. At every turn, on and off the job, we should be seeking ways in which to renew the moral roots of our community in our generation. Even now, we are living on the borrowed spiritual capital of the past. Our forebears founded and sustained the moral foundation upon which we depend. For us, then, the question remains: "Will we revitalize these moral roots in our generation so that our children and grandchildren will inherit not just the rights we enjoy, but the moral and spiritual qualities of life upon which we depend?"
The relationships of our daily work do not stop at our community. As Christians,
our work is also tied to our church
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relationships. Central to that relationship is our corporate worship, the formal expression of the body of Christ which we have already seen in direct relationship to our daily work. Even though this relationship is formal and highly structured, none of us can afford to neglect the scriptures, none of us can afford to neglect the scriptural admonition, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together" (Hebrew 10:25). Nor can we ignore the other, less formal, expression of the body of Christ. Students of spiritual renewal find evidence of what they call ecclesiola and ecclesia whenever there is a revival in the church. By ecclesiola they mean smaller, informal bodies of believers within the larger, formal structure of the ecclesia or the corporate church. We need both the ecclesiola and the ecclesia in support of our daily work. Especially in small group settings, we find the relational climate in which we can be honest about the victories and defeats in our daily work. We can discover the biblical meaning of the diversity and development of our individual gifts. The genius of the body of Christ is its variety of gifts in which each member brings the skills and experiences of daily work into the seamless fabric and Spirit-guided design, which represents the will and kingdom of God on earth. We see that relational reality in Peter's inspired insight.
At each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 4:10-11).
The practical outworking of Peter's admonition brought ancient observers of the early church into awesome wonder.
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Celsus simply could not understand how the new community of Christ chose its leaders: "Wool workers, cobblers, and fullers, the most illiterate and vulgar of mankind, became venerated as teachers." Celsus failed to understand how Jesus, presumably the illiterate and vulgar handyman of Nazareth, became the teacher whom scholars confessed as "Masters."
Peter's ideal remains with us. In too many cases, the body of Christ is built upon the segregation of callings, deference to wealth, and leadership of the clergy. Despite the lessons of history, most of us still do not draw a direct line between our daily work and our contribution to the body of Christ. Yet, we cannot deny what God wants to teach us through the life of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. When the body of Christ first gathered as the Apostolic Church, Stephen offered his gift for waiting tables — a menial task to be sure. He also brought his reputation for practical wisdom and his experience of the Spirit-filled life (Acts 6:3). Quite appropriately then, the members of the body of Christ elected him to the position as a deacon — to wait on tables so that the apostles could give themselves totally to the ministry of the Word and prayer. On first reading, one would think that the early church espoused to the split-world view of work that made preaching and prayer superior to waiting on tables. Not so. After performing his duty as a deacon, Stephen went into the temple to preach the resurrection of Christ in one of the most eloquent sermons of all time. His pungent preaching cost him his life, but not without showing us how the practical skills of daily work contributed to the body of Christ and how the New Testament church created a climate that brought the hidden gifts of its members to their full potential. The spirituality of our daily work will never be fully known or appreciated until we see that model demonstrated once again.
As part of our spirituality, then, our daily work must be relational. God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, established the principle for us in the fellowship of work in Creation — each one
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doing the work that expressed His unique contribution to the Trinity. Naturally, God followed His own example in His human creation as He put Adam in relationship to Himself through worship, to Eve through wedlock, and to nature through work. By this act, God demonstrated that work is more than a technical task to be done, it is also a relational activity that expressed the quality of our interaction with God, other persons, and physical nature. Once we accept this truth, our daily work can never be separated from our spirituality or segregated from the totality of our lives. Rather, we will see it as a center from which we extend our spiritual witness to our coworkers, our community, and our church. If there is any place where the connection between our daily work and our spiritual growth needs attention, this is it.
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SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS
ON OUR WORK AND PEOPLE
Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather
let him labor, working with his hands
what is good, that he may have something
to give to him who has need.
Ephesians 4:28
* * * * * * *
A PROVOCATIVE QUESTION
How do you deal with conflict in your relationship with coworkers? Does resolution come most often and most quickly if you are patient or confrontational in your response? Does it make a difference if the conflict is with a Christian or a non-Christian? Do you have any unresolved conflicts with persons in your work? What does the Spirit of God prompt you to do?
A PRACTICAL EXERCISE
Put names and faces to the practice of praying for, valuing, loving, praising, and leading your coworkers. How does this change your situation? Your attitude?
A PERSONAL PRAYER
Loving Father, enlarge the view of my daily work to embrace with love all of the people with whom I work, especially those who are hard to like, much less love. Amen.
