Imitating God With Our Work

In the last several posts we examined Jesus' feeding of thousands along the northern shores of Lake Galilee, his walk on the waters of that sea during a violent storm and finally his long conversation with some of the people who followed him across the sea. In the first part of that conversation Jesus talks to them about what they should be working for,

"Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which, but the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal."

As I write, the people of the United States are celebrating a holiday called Labor Day. According to Wikipedia, Matthew Maguire, a machinist, first proposed the holiday back in 1882 while serving as secretary of the CLU (Central Labor Union) of New York.[1] Others argue that it was first proposed by Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Labor in May 1882,[2]after witnessing the annual labor festival held in Toronto, Canada.[3] Oregon was the first state to make it a holiday in 1887. Since then all states have made it a statutory holiday.

This is the time of the year when summer is over, the American football season kicks into gear and the kids start back to school. Playtime is over. Time to get back to work, but work for what? Jesus tells us not to work for the food that perishes. What could he possibly mean? Surely God's Word commends the value and importance of work. For instance we read that Adam was put into the garden for that very purpose.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. - Gen 2:15 ESV

Work is a good thing, a part of God's blessings. Later on in the New Testament, we read this about work,

Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. - 1Th 4:9-12 ESV

Even scholarly men like Paul were taught a trade. During his missionary journeys Paul supported
himself with his trade of tent making, using his hands to fashion tents and sails. As I said, work is good. The suffering and trouble connected with work is a result of sin, as Adam learned at the beginning when the LORD God put a curse upon it, saying,

"Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." - Gen 3:17-19 ESV

Because of our sin—greed, selfishness, hate, stealing, etc.—the whole business of work and economics is messed up. In fact, economists even talk about the original sin of economics, namely countries borrowing money in a currency they do not control. However one analyzes what is going on in the area of work and jobs, this is the central issue in the current presidential race in the United States. Millions of Americans are out of work and many have been so for years.

Is Jesus giving us some sort of lesson about economics and work then? Yes, in a very real sense he is. He contrasts work for the food that perishes with working for the food that endures to eternal life, the food that he along gives. He asks us to consider carefully our fundamental reasons for working in the first place. Are you working merely to make money, to have enough to satisfy your self-centered wants and desires, have a bigger house, travel, wear fancy clothes, drive a fast car, etc., etc. Is the focus always upon ME and upon what's in it for ME, like the people who chased Jesus to the other side of the Sea of Galilee? After all, he was the kind of king they wanted. Without working at all they were fed by him. They wanted a king, a government that would give them handouts, food without having to work.

Going back to Paul's guidance in his letter to the Thessalonians quoted above:

"Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another."

Work has a purpose, a meaning found in the second of the great commands of God, namely to love your neighbor as yourself. Paul writes that we are taught by God to love one another. Whatever your vocation, whatever your work, it is a nobel, high and honorable thing to work. Not only does work give you fulfillment and purpose, it is also the way God has given to you to imitate him. So the Apostle writes,

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. - Eph 5:1-2 ESV

 God bless you, worker. God bless you as you do your work as parent, teacher, football player, pianist, nurse, artist, garbage hauler, engineer, storekeeper, politician, clergyman and all the thousands and thousands of other ways by which we work. Do your work carefully, diligently and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. And know thus that you work under the blessing of God.

Difficult Times And Church Going

Economics is a huge issue in the current race for the American presidency. Our debts need to be paid and our budget needs to be balanced. However, based on earlier American history, don't expect thousands to rush back to church to pray for wisdom and God's blessings. 

With millions of people out of work and millions others having lost their life savings, one might have predicted (as many at the time did) that there would have been a strong resurgence of the church during the period of the Great Depression in the 1930s. Indeed, after decades of declining church membership and what many perceived to be a general decline in religious piety throughout the country, many clergyman saw the Depression partly as a heavenly response to these developments. 

Moreover, many believed that the suffering masses would quickly rush back into the church, swelling membership rolls, and seeking forgiveness for their folly. Yet while most major denominations did see an average membership gain of about 5% during the thirties this gain fell far short of the clergy's collective hopes. Moreover, contemporary evidence indicates that religious piety among these church members may actually have been on the decline even during this period of crisis. At the same time that popular religion was experiencing a decline, the spread of radio allowed such people as Father Charles Coughlin to achieve nationwide fame.

The Lynds' famous study of "Middletown," the everyman of the small American city, indicated that little had changed in the years between 1925 and 1935, despite the intervening onset of Depression. Middletown is the title of the classic sociological study of a typical middle-American city published in 1929 by Helen and Robert Lynd. The study was based on field research done in Muncie, Indiana, in 1924-1925. A sequel published in 1937, entitled Middletown in Transition, was based on the Lynds' return to Muncie in 1935. Muncie was referred to as Middletown to convey the representativeness of the city and their findings there.

The Middletown studies were influential in identifying and popularizing the idea of America as a consumer culture. By observing the day-to-day life of the city's residents, the Lynds showed how traditional values and customs were changing under the influence of industrialization. They contrasted Middletown in the 1890s and 1920s, portraying the shift from an active, civic-oriented citizenry to one embracing materialistic values. Since work and community life in the 1920s provided fewer satisfactions to Middletowners, they turned to consumerism to fulfill their social needs. Middletown depicted the

dynamic conflict over this change, although most citizens believed it was inevitable and good. The Lynds implicitly criticized this emergent commercialism by successfully combining their moral critique with scientific analysis. The combination gave the study its power and originality.

Middletown in Transition focused on the power relationships in Muncie during the Great Depression. The Lynds showed how the residents were subordinate to both a powerful, local business elite and the national consumer culture. This domination rendered Middletown citizens somewhat impotent, unable to change their society. The solution, the Lynds concluded, was for professional managers to mold social institutions for the greater public good.

In religious matters, the Lynds found that the majority of churchgoers remained middle age women, with few people of either sex under the age of 30. One possible reason for this was the marked decline in piety among the younger generations who felt that religion did not occupy a significant place in their lives. While there was some resurgence of piety among the lower classes (which manifested itself in an increase in the strength of religious fundamentalism during this decade) most middle and upper class individuals remained unmoved even though they too may have suffered from the Depression.

Here is a cover from the New Yorker Magazine of October 13, 1934. This cover plainly represents how the uppper classes during the 1930's continued to pay little attention to religion during this decade. The tip of a hat by the dead rich gentleman being rushed up to heaven shows the only tacit attention which such individuals, often caught up in the business world, paid to matters of religion.

I suspect that the current economic crisis in the USA will have the same non-effect on church going.