If one were to summarize the underlying thesis of the contemporary faith-work movement in a single sentence, it would probably be “Your work matters to God.”
Dozens of books have been published on the subject, and a seemingly large movement of conferences, websites, and resources has gained traction over the past two decades. Answers to the question of why our work matters to God and what that means in practice may vary, but the message “Our work matters to God” has shaped much of the conversations in churches and workplaces. Christians.
But I believe we need a more Kuyperian understanding of this concept. Our work counts for God because all of the created order belongs to Christ, and we find in the creation story not only the anthropological truths that are important for this subject (humanity is the bearer of the image of God), but also the ontological truths (our being even is connected to our pre-created being). Fall mandate to be workers and cultivators of God’s creation). This fundamental call for a theology of work requires an understanding of work and its purpose before the Fall, and then application after the Fall.
A Kuyperian understanding of this theology gives a vision for a work that, like all nature, is tainted by sin and yet under the redemptive work of God’s plan in history. Human beings, as image-bearers of God, created with an incomprehensible capacity for productivity and creativity, demonstrate the lordship of Christ even in a fallen world and participate in the glorious process of redemption as our earthly efforts build the kingdom of God, business by business.
“Some people imagine the state of glory around the throne of God as if all work were finished, to taste heavenly happiness in pleasant idleness,” said Abraham Kuyper. said. “These people know neither God, nor his angels, nor life as it will be in heaven. »
A declining view of work in the culture at large has successfully presented work as a significant contributor to stress, anxiety, desolation, and isolation. Humanist assumptions, often unconsciously linked to elitism, have given birth of the idea that standard market professions – often blue-collar or not requiring an advanced degree – are “less than,” contributing to societal snubbing and serious worker discontent. This cause-and-effect dynamic is a vicious cycle that undermines growth and fulfillment.
The Faith and Work movement promises to be an antidote to this negative feedback loop. An elevated view of work eliminates the need to succumb to the idea of a “dead-end job” and certainly avoids the temptation to leave the workforce altogether (where levels of despair are most amplified).
But I would argue that in the very mandate of creation (Genesis 1-2) we find meaning in our earthly efforts, which offers a remedy to this crisis of despair. Not only can we avoid the terribly counterproductive idea that work is provoking these problems, but we can accept the resolution that the work can bring in solve these problems.
Western society seems to suggest that high social strata and economic value in the marketplace are significant, but it gives in to the idea that other forms of work cannot provide meaning and fulfillment. But is the Faith and Work movement ready to do better? Have a few decades of saying, “Your work matters to God” really prepared us for the opportunity at hand? Or does “Your Work Matters to God” only matter to the same demographic that secular culture caters to: elite, well-paid, highly educated, white-collar members of the workforce who achieve important cultural distinctions in their professions?
I may be an imperfect candidate for saying our work matters universally to God, not only when accompanied by wealth and gravity. I freely admit that I am a financially successful white-collar worker in a field known for its cultural recognition (on Wall Street). The frustrated busboy or exhausted machinist may not be interested in hearing that their work matters from a wealthy, cufflink-wearing coastal elite. And yet, the universal value of all work is at the heart of a properly ordered understanding of work, vocation, creation, and the theological commitments surrounding this subject.
The 21st century call for the integration of faith and work, as well as any advocacy for the importance of all work, dies when not connected to a creational understanding of the human person, of its objective and its projects.
The message that our work matters to God is accurate, but the implication that this is true to the extent that it leads to corner-office success is exclusionary, arrogant, and, worst of all, theologically deficient. even if it is well intentioned. The world, and too often the Church, struggles to give purpose to the personal because the very foundation of the message that our work matters to God is imperfect or incomplete.
The foundation of our work and our vocation always concerns the human person. God cares about work because He cares about the worker, and in a clearly Christian anthropology we are not dealing simply with producers, consumers, and a unitary economy, but with human beings created by God with a purpose and a dignity.
Although some jobs require more skill or education than others, all work is done by a human created in the image of God and for the benefit of humans created in the image of God. The economic reality that people will only pay for work that provides value is paramount. Our work plays some role in producing goods or services that meet human needs. On a basic economic level, this was as true when I was sweeping the floors of my neighborhood movie theater at 16 as it is today, at 50, managing investment portfolios.
That the subject that work (the worker) matters to God is the message of Genesis 1. There can be a wide variation in value in the object of work, on a sociological, cultural and commercial level. What does not change is the subjective value of work anchored in a creation that gave domination and dignity to subjects. God, in His infinite love and wisdom, with no respect for any person, has charged all of human creation with the blessing of work – a creative, productive, innovative process of service and activity.
Throughout history, technology and capital have changed the game. objective consequences by changing the means and circumstances in which goods and services are produced. But they never changed the subjective reality of Genesis 1, that the mandate of creation was universal and indissolubly linked to the human person as the protagonist of economic activity.
And if the human person is this protagonist, it is work which is the word of the economy. In this framework, we move away from class envy, class struggle and caste system to the movement of faith and work. Market forces place different values on certain skills and functions, but cannot alter the creational reality at play in this discussion. Different levels of pay and status are not going to disappear, nor should they, when thinking about the objective dimensions of work and vocation.
The fact that a diverse workforce will always experience variations in market prices for different skills, services, and efforts raises the bar for those of us calling for the integration of faith and work.
The Kuyperian message of Christ’s lordship is respected in the restaurant’s kitchen And in the boardroom when the message begins with creational truths about anthropology. The folly of the world’s message is that work matters to the extent that it builds status, which leads to a high population of people dissatisfied with the difficulty of achieving such status. The message for the 21st century faith-work movement must be that work matters because the worker matters.
David L. Bahnsen is the founder, managing partner and chief investment officer of the Bahnsen Group and author of Full time: work and the meaning of life (2024).
