"What are you going to be when you grow up?"
Children soon learn that what they are being asked about is their future work, not their character. Our place in society is largely defined by what we do rather than by who we are. Our view of ourselves is also affected by how we see the work that we do. Social researcher Hugh Mckay describes work as "occupational therapy", in recognition of the fact that work has a much greater role in most people's lives than simply providing food on the table.
Yet we are presented with conflicting views of work. For some, it is the fulfillment of an ambition, the opportunity to use their innate skills in a satisfying and rewarding way. Our education system encourages children to dream of working in a job which perfectly matches their interests and abilities.
Not everyone finds this to be the reality. Many are happy enough in their work, but see it as a necessity rather than a joy. It provides for their material needs, gives them social contact and structures their time in a useful way. They feel that they are contributing something to society.
For others, work is a curse, either because their work is unpleasant and unrewarding, or because they do not have a recognisable job. Many, women in particular, face an inward conflict over what value to place on the work they do. Is work which is unpaid still worthwhile? Does it matter that the work they do does not make full use of their talents and skills?
The precedents for each of these views can be traced through European history. The ancient Greeks and Romans saw work as a curse. Manual labour, and even practical mental tasks were carried out only by slaves. Free men were to pursue virtue, the arts, politics and warfare. Wealth was not an end in itself but a means to achieving other ends. Free men who, because of poverty, were obliged to work were held in contempt.
Even in the Middle ages, when the Roman Empire had been replaced by Christendom, the idea persisted that "spiritual" and intellectual work was of a higher order than manual labour. Work was necessary to meet personal and community needs, but had no intrinsic value, except to avoid the idleness which leads to sin.
People were expected to stay in the God-given occupation into which they were born. Wealth was not to be strived after, but was to be shared. In general, people tended to work only as much as was necessary to provide for themselves, and anything earned in excess of this was spent either in feasting or charity.
A markedly different view of work appeared with the Reformation. Martin Luther rejected any ranking of occupations. He believed that a person's occupation, while fixed by birth, was also a vocation, a calling to serve God. There should be no distinction between secular and spiritual occupations.
Calvin went further, suggesting that success in one's work was a sign of God's favour. Everyone, including the rich, should work hard. Profits should not be accumulated but re-invested to further God's work on earth. Calvin's followers extended this idea until it became a religious duty to find profitable work, even if this meant leaving one's inherited occupation.
It has been argued that the "Protestant Ethic" (a term first used by Max Weber early this century) was an important factor in the rise of capitalism in the sixteenth century and those following. It provided the motivation for people to work beyond what was required to meet their basic needs, sanctioned profit-making, and allowed people to move to wherever their labour was most needed. Diligence and the deferment of pleasure in the pursuit of other ends became secular virtues. At the same time, idleness was viewed with contempt.
Work as a means of self- fulfillment is a fairly recent concept. It reflects not only the more general emphasis on self in this century, but also the fact that as automation and computerisation have abolished many mundane and boring jobs, those jobs which remain tend to be more interesting (for those who can find them).
Which of these views has biblical support? God's words to Adam in Genesis 3:17, "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life," has been taken by some as a description of all future labour. Secular writers in particular have seized on this verse as the "Hebrew" view of work.
Others have pointed out that Jesus hardly stands as a model of the Protestant ethic of work. He drew his disciples away from their nets, told them not to worry about food and clothing, and commended the birds of the air and the lilies of the field for their lack of toil. Hard-working Martha got no such commendation. Jesus died owning nothing but the clothes he was wearing.
Whilst this may be taking a rather extreme view, it is certainly true that no occupation is free of difficulties and frustrations. We are no longer working in the garden of Eden. Both the Old and the New Testaments recognise this in their provisions to protect workers from exploitation and ensure that they receive adequate rest and fair payment.
That work is a necessity which provides for our needs for sustenance, social contact and structure in our lives is assumed in much of the bible. The book of Proverbs has many warnings about what will become of the person who is unwilling to work. (See for instance 10:4, 18:9, 24:30-34.) St. Paul, too, reminded people of the dangers of idleness, (2 Thess 3:6-15).
Many of Jesus' parables are about people at work - farmers, servants, managers, housewives. Whilst Jesus called his disciples away from the jobs they were doing into a new kind of work, he left many others to continue as disciples in their own occupation (Zaccheus, for instance). He gave stern warnings against working because of anxiety for the future, or in order to accumulate riches, but did not suggest that work itself was unnecessary.
Those who see work as a blessing or a vocation point to the fact that Adam worked in the garden of Eden before the fall. God himself was at work in creation and is described elsewhere as a shepherd (Ps 23), a potter (Jer 18:1-4), a builder (Prov 8: 27-31) or a gardener (John 15:1-2). "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working" said Jesus (John 5.17). Whether we bake bread, teach children or entertain crowds, we are co-operating with God in his work as provider, and sustainer of the earth.
There is danger, however, in letting work become an end in itself, or making self-fulfillment our goal. God calls us to work with him and for him, using the talents and gifts he has given, and it is in serving him that we find our satisfaction. Psalm 127 reminds us that unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain. We cannot earn merit with God by working harder and longer than anyone else. Ultimately it is God's grace, not our labours, which provides for our needs.
By Dr Stella Budrikis
© Copyright 1998