People today are defined by their work, now more than anytime in recent history. In his article, "Workism is Making Americans Miserable", Derek Thompson discusses the preoccupation of Americans on work. He spends a sizeable section of his article discussing the role religion has had on this trend in our country.
“The decline of traditional faith in America has coincided with an explosion of new atheisms, some people worship beauty, some worship political identities, and others worship their children. But everyone worships something. And workism is among the most potent of the new religions competing for congregants,” Thompson asserts. And I think he’s right.
I was introduced to this article through a radio interview with the author on NPR’s On Point. During the discussion, Adam Grant, one of the other guests on the program, suggested that the idea of workism has its roots in Christianity, “dating back to Martin Luther and the Protestant ethic, where work was your
duty from God.” (The highlights for this program can be found in an article titled "You Might Love Your Job. But Does Your Job Love You Back?" on wbur’s website or On Point’s Facebook page.) This is the facet of the issue I would like to concentrate on in this piece.
It is fair to say that work ethic is an important part of the Christian identity. Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” In fact, this mandate to work goes all the way back to the beginning of humanity. Genesis 2:15 says “The Lord took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Work was always a part of the plan, even before the fall.
Therefore, it’s obvious that work is a good thing. As Christians, our work ethic is a part of our spiritual testimony to the world. In first Corinthians 10:31, we are commanded to do everything, including work, to the glory of God. In Matthew 5:16 we are commanded to “…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (I understand that the works in this last verse is broader than just our jobs, but it is definitely inclusive of our means of income.)The manner and attitude in which we execute our daily responsibilities at work is an extremely important piece of our testimony.
However, nowhere does it say that our work should become our identity. There is a tendency in this day and age to define everyone we meet by what they do for a
living. This is an extension of, or a precursor to, the intersectionality movement we are experiencing today. This movement asserts that you can know everything we need to know about a person based solely in the social, racial, and economical categories in which an individual falls. (This is not Biblical. I will not be exploring intersectionality in this post except as it applies to our career identities.)
Perhaps the most important thing for a Christian to understand is that our identity is rooted in Christ, not our careers, economic status, or even our family. All of these are important parts of who we are, but should not be our driving identities. The fact of the matter is, career, economic status, and family are
fragile foundations for a structure as important as one's identity. One’s job can be taken away tomorrow. I’m a garbage man. That’s a fairly secure job. However, in a different world, my job might not even exist. If everyone recycled everything they could, reused everything that still had use, repaired instead of replaced, and composted food waste, there would be very little waste and therefore little need for someone to haul it away. The various depressions and recessions in our history have shown us just how fragile our economic status is. All it takes is for the stock market to crash or the housing bubble to burst and the vast majority of Americans can lose everything. Family is hopefully more secure, but nobody can know for certain what our future holds. Whether it’s a future full of familial love and fellowship or a tragedy that leaves you the sole survivor, nobody knows.
When we build our entire identity structure on something that can so easily be crumbled, we run the risk of collapsing completely when tragedy strikes. History is full of examples where individuals took their own lives because of job insecurity or dissatisfaction, economic hardship, or family loss. These situations are devastating in any case. However, when they are the foundation of a person’s identity, they can be deadly.
First John 3:1-2 states “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” John goes on in the first half of chapter three to make the contrast between those who practice righteousness and those who practice sin saying in verse ten “by this it is evident who are children of God and who are children of the devil…” So, through this passage, we see where our true identity lies, in God as his children, and in how we broadcast our identity through works of righteousness.
Horatio Spafford, a successful business man, lost everything in the great Chicago fire of 1871 not long after his son died. In 1873, he planned a vacation for him, his wife, and four daughters, but had to remain behind due to some unexpected developments in his business. He sent his family on vacation and promised to join them as soon as possible. On November 22, 1873, the ship his family took to Europe was struck by an English vessel called the Lochearn and sank in twelve minutes. Horatio’s wife telegraphed him from Wales, her message contained only two words. “Saved alone.”
Within a few short years, Horatio Spafford lost nearly everything. However, as tragic as these life events were, Spafford still penned the words to one of the great hymns of the faith, It Is Well With My Soul. “When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.” Such powerful words, penned at such a heart-wrenching time, are an incredible testament to where this man’s identity was rooted. His foundation was his faith. His rock was his God. So confident was he in the identity he had in Christ that, when sorrows like sea billows rolled, he was able to say “it is well with my soul.
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