Work Ethics and Professionalism
Part I: Understanding Intrinsic Value of Work
Rinto Dasuki

This is the first part of a four-part series on Work Ethics and Professionalism. The first part will cover the nature of work from Biblical perspective as well as contributions of work to society and family. The second and third parts will expand on Work Ethics, both at the theoretical level and at the practical level. The fourth part will specifically address the issue of professionalism at workplace and how Christians can make a difference by their witness and involvements.

A biblical understanding of work will help find meaning and satisfaction from it. It is common to hear comments or teachings about work that consciously or unconsciously frame our thinking, but they need to be evaluated in light of the Bible. Work is often viewed as something that we need to do just to earn or accumulate money. This allows us to spend the rest of the time on something more meaningful, like spending time with family, doing church activities or evangelism, and the like. Some years ago while waiting for my children in a mall, a recruiter approached me and tried to sell some kind of business venture. The conversation went something like this. He asked, “Do you want to have a financial freedom?” Being unsure what he meant, I asked back, “What do you mean by financial freedom?” He answered, “Well, to be an owner of a private franchise business and earn enough money, to retire early and spend more time with your family.” I replied, “I already spend enough time with my family and I enjoy my work.” This person then challenged me, “Are you saying you’re interested only in the quality time with your family, but not in quantity? Don’t you like to spend more time with your family by being financially independent?” The conversation went on and you got the idea where this was going. According to this person’s worldview, work is a burden and without meaning and it only takes time away from family. Once you have earned enough money and retire young, then you have accomplished what an ideal life should be. Often the proponents of this idea sprinkle Bible verses to make the view more “spiritual”. Is this really a biblical idea though? Should Christians accept or reject it?

When we want to know the purpose of a toaster, we would look up the toaster manual. In the same way, we need to go back to the beginning of the Bible to know why God created human beings. Genesis 1 tells us that God is a worker. He spent six days to create the universe and rested on the seventh day. He was the original Designer of work and He deemed it as good. Being created in His image, we are designed to be workers also. He expected Adam and Eve to take care of His creation. It was untarnished by curse and drudgery. While this changed somewhat after the Fall of Man, the main nature of work has not changed, though it has become much harder. Sin has not changed work into a curse. Instead, we are still expected to be God’s partners and stewards in taking care of His creation. Work has intrinsic value, i.e. to carry out His purpose on earth. Of course, work here is defined in a broader context. It covers work outside of home, work inside of home, managing your own business, taking care of babies, teaching your children, doing chores around the house, and many others.

Genesis 1:27-28 provides us with a fresh perspective on work:

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Gen 1:27-28 NIV)

From the above verses, several observations can be made. First, the task to fill the earth and take care of His creation is given to both Adam and Eve. They are supposed to work as a team, thus requiring a teamwork effort. This is an early evidence of a task given to a community to accomplish. This principle has wider applications in many aspects of life and work. Secondly, God precedes His command with a blessing. This signifies our dependence on Him in carrying out the task. Without Him, we will be lost. We need His guidance and grace. Thirdly, several aspects of work can be deduced from the verses, including productivity, creativity, and responsibility. These aspects are the foundations of prosperity and progress for any communities or societies. The Bible starts with a garden and ends with a city, suggesting a progress in civilization. The command to fill the earth and increase in number assumes productivity. It includes both having children and fill the earth with cultural activities. Another aspect to note is creativity. Human beings are not limited by the physical surroundings. We are to use our creative mind to make the living environment more humane and less burdensome. Examples include providing water pumps or water-purifying equipment so that women and children don’t have to transport buckets of water from the water source to home, designing machinery to reduce back-breaking manual labor in farming, building computer and software to reduce labor-intensive labor in managing data (like in census, accounting, and finance), and so on. As we imagine, the list can be very long. Each individual is free to use God’s given talent to create, develop, and preserve the culture. Finally, it is important to remember the distinction between Creator and Creation. The universe and everything in it belong to the Lord. We do not own them. Instead, as His managers, we have the responsibility to take care of them and preserve them for future generations.

Understanding how our work contributes to society and family will give us a confidence and a sense of accomplishment. How does work contribute to society? It’s easy to take things for granted, but unless we grow and/or hunt our own food, we are dependent on a functioning government and a network of workers to accomplish a simple thing, like to get our daily food. Consider, for example, how we buy food at a local grocery store. First, we need money to buy it. This is only possible if the government backs the currency as an accepted form of exchange and the inflation is not super high. Institutions involved in printing and controlling distribution of money include the Treasury, the Central Bank, and the local banks. Next, transportation is required to move the rice or produce where they were grown to where they were processed and delivered to the local food stores. We need farmers that grow the food, truck drivers to move it, manufacturing workers to process it, and finally store employees to sell it. Each worker involved in this process contributes to one simple function, providing a way to buy and sell food in society. Without them we don’t get to eat. The next time you’ll say the Lord’s Prayer, besides giving thanks to the Lord for your daily bread, pray also for the workers who make it available.

How about the connection between work and family? This is probably easy to understand as each of us understands it quite well from personal experience. We know that every family must earn enough money to live. This is possible only our income or salary provides the resources to buy food, pay bills, pay taxes, educate our children, give money to charity, and so on. The Bible teaches that each person earns the bread they eat and if he will not work, he should not eat (II Thessalonians 3:10, 12). It’s not appropriate for an able body to depend on someone else for their food. After taking care of our own family, the Bible teaches that we should be generous and hospitable, contribute to local church and God’s work around the world, and help those in need (Review I Timothy 6:17-19). Refer to Matthew 25 to get inspirations of what we do or don’t do for the Lord.

In summary, God designed human beings to be workers. We are to enjoy our work and view this as part of our vocation, in addition to our roles in family, church, and society. We should live with a purpose, knowing that our work contributes to the society as well as our own family. This may require some retrospection from our part, especially for those who have difficulty to see the connection between their jobs and God’s calling. The choice of our line of work should not be based only on monetary rewards, but also on what we like to do and an understanding of what God wants to accomplish through us. Stay-at-home mothers can take pleasure in knowing that raising children, one of the toughest jobs on earth, is part of God’s calling. Family ought to work together as a small community to accomplish His purpose and bring the values of God’s Kingdom to whomever they connect with.