The Dignity of Work (God's Plan for Work)

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. - Genesis 1:26-27

We talked last month about God's design for work. God didn't create work as a punishment. In Genesis, we see that God even worked! Similar to last month, we're going to be talking about some incorrect perspectives of work.

The ancient Greeks saw work as demeaning. Adriano Tilgher, an Italian philosopher says, "To the Greeks, work was a curse and nothing else." Aristotle said unemployment was a primary qualification for a genuinely worthwhile life. Their goal was to be like their gods, and they believe work was a barrier to the highest kind of life. Not only that, but they believed that not all work was created equal. To them, work was more noble if it used the mind versus the body. Unfortunately, the attitudes behind Aristotle's viewpoint on work is still seen today – believing some work to be more "noble" than other forms of work (manual labor, etc.)

Two inaccurate (according to God) viewpoints of work that we still see today are:

Work is a necessary evil: work helps us make money so we can support our families.
Lower-status or lower-paying work is an assault on our dignity: people specifically seeking jobs that don't fit their gifts/strengths because they want to make more money. People believing that certain jobs (like manual labor jobs) are "beneath them."

The biblical view of work is very different! Regardless of if the work is with the hands or mind, they reflect the image of God in us. God has given each of us different gifts, and we are to use those gifts in our work. The viewpoint on work between the Greeks and what we see in the Bible are utterly different. Ordinary work, especially manual labor according to the Greeks brought humans down to the animal level (this kind of work was not dignifying); however, in the Bible, all work is seen as distinguishing human beings from animals and elevating them to a place of dignity. All kinds of work have dignity, not just the "scholarly" jobs! If we look back to God's work (creation) in Genesis 1 and 2, it can even be seen as "manual" labor. Jesus was a carpenter – a job we might not see as "noble" today.

"Simple physical labor is God's work no less than the formulation of theological truth." (pg 37)

Human life cannot flourish without all kinds of work. Seemingly menial work, like housecleaning, is incredibly important. Keep this perspective in mind when you don't feel like your "simple" work isn't dignifying!

"All work has dignity because it reflects God's image in us, and also because the material creation we are called to care for is good." (pg 39)

It is so important for us to have the right perspective on work. We need to forgo the idea that certain jobs are more noble. "Secular" work does not have less dignity than the "sacred" work of ministry. We see both kinds of work in the Bible because this is how God created it to be! Hopefully this shift in perspective will help you see the importance of your work, if you've seen it as just a lowly job in the past. The foundation for this entire study through, "Every Good Endeavor," is understanding the dignity of work. God has created each of us in His image and each of us with our own gifts. We should be seeking jobs that align with our gifts instead of just seeking a higher paycheck. Take some time this week to reflect on your current work. Are you doing work that you are passionate about and/or have a gift for? As we continue to study how to connect our work to God's work, we'll be looking at the biblical understanding of culture next month.