I recently read an article by Bobby Jamieson titled The Workism Trap, excerpted from his book on Ecclesiastes. The article, despite having a distinctly American bent, can also be applied to our Kenyan context. The article primarily discusses the trap of living in a world that has made having a career the primary path to fulfillment. Today, even when choosing a spouse, their job is often considered a criterion, as well as their earnings. The worst case is the upward drift of the retirement age. Instead of being revised downwards, it’s on an upward trajectory. Indeed, we truly live in the bubble of workism.
Here’s a quote from the Atlantic article cited in Bobby’s article from a few years back: “The economists of the early twentieth century did not foresee that work might evolve from a means of material production to a means of identity production.” Borrowing from this quote, we may ask: “Are we turning what was supposed to be a means to an end into an end in itself?” With this article, I aim to explore this question and offer helpful insights into why we work.
Where Work Came From
For starters, we must answer this pertinent question: Is work a product of the Fall or a gift from God? Immediately humans were created, they were instructed to multiply, fill, and subdue the earth (Genesis 1:26-31). Man was brought into the Garden of Eden to work and keep it (Genesis 2:15). We also read of how God gave Adam the task of naming the animals (Genesis 2:19-20). Therefore, from the first two chapters of Genesis, it is evident that work preceded the Fall.
Inasmuch as work is not a product of the Fall, laziness is. Laziness is a sinful response to the call to be fruitful and multiply. Laziness is essentially a rebellion against God’s good design. The following are biblical examples of those who were slothful in zeal.
David, due to a laxity in upholding righteousness, committed adultery and ended up killing Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband (2 Samuel 11). The Israelites didn’t fulfill the command in Deuteronomy 6:7 to tell their children of God’s mighty works. The consequence: a nation of people that had forgotten their God and did only what was right in their own eyes (Judges 18:21; 21:25). By discarding what they were supposed to do, the Israelites left in their wake a ripple effect of devastating results.
What Work Isn’t
However, just as with all gifts from God, humans have found a way to abuse work, which takes us back to the quote from the Atlantic. I agree with the author that work was not meant to become a god, as workism is the religion that worships work. Instead, it was intended to be a means for us to achieve man’s chief end: to glorify God and enjoy him forever. The book of Ecclesiastes brings this point home excellently (Ecclesiastes 12:13). The Preacher in Ecclesiastes speaks of how work without God is pointless (Ecclesiastes 2:18-26). He showed how difficult it is to enjoy the fruit of our labors as long as death beckons (Ecclesiastes 2:18-23).
Despite these warnings, man has made work, not God, the thing we can’t live without. As we had earlier seen, work was never supposed to be the end. However, we have not only made it an end but also the only way we can survive. We have turned this gift that was supposed to point us to the Gift Giver into the giver of gifts. It is easier to rise early to go to work than to rise early and commune with God. We would rather sleep in on Sunday to prepare for the workweek rather than attend church on Sunday. We are all but ready to give ourselves up for the good of the workplace, but rarely for the good of our walk with God. To many, building our work muscle is more urgent than that which is of absolute necessity, enhancing our spiritual muscle (Hebrews 12:12-17).
Why Work Exists
What, then, shall we do differently? We must work urgently to redefine everything surrounding work. We shouldn’t make the gift more important than the Giver. Instead, we should let the gift point us to the Giver as was intended (Luke 10:20). As he concluded Ecclesiastes 2, the preacher points out how we can never enjoy the things we do apart from the hand of God (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25). We are told that those who work and are empowered by the hand of God will gain wisdom and knowledge (Ecclesiastes 2:26). Not only that, but they will also have a joy that isn’t fleeting.
Those who work without God, on the other hand, will not enjoy the fruits of their work. The products of their toil will end up in the hands of those who haven’t toiled for them (Ecclesiastes 2:18-23) and in the hands of God’s people (Ecclesiastes 2:26). The parable of talents comes to mind here (Matthew 25:14-30).
In conclusion, work exists not to be our identity but the means we outwardly rejoice in our identity in God. If work were how we gain identity, Adam wouldn’t have felt lonely after fulfilling his tasks (Genesis 2:18-20). His loneliness suggests that work couldn’t satisfy him. It is why we praise God for our salvation. If the origin of our salvation were our works, we would end up very lonely and unfulfilled. However, when it’s all in Christ, there’s great joy. What we do for him doesn’t justify us. Instead, it outwardly expresses the great end of glorifying God and enjoying him forever—all of it as his workmanship in Christ (Ephesians 2:10). Therefore, dear reader, work to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).