R. Paul Stevens - Work Matters: Lessons from Scripture

Lessons from Scripture

R. Paul Stevens

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i

PART ONE

God-Given Work

PART TWO

Stewardship Work

PART THREE

Soul Work

PART FOUR

Just Work

PART FIVE

Kingdom Work

The Christian faith, which arose as an extraordinary experience of the in-breaking of God's reign in history through Jesus Christ, was meant to be lived out in the midst of the world. Yet through the merging of many different intellectual and cultural currents, the call to bring God's life and justice to this world became relegated to the religious sphere of life and the rituals of the church. The extraordinary dualism between the spiritual and the secular that has so divided the Christian life for many people has had a devastating impact on those who try to live "in Christ" in every dimension of life.

The way out of this quagmire begins with reengaging the Bible from a different perspective; that is, by observing how God encounters his people and how they respond to him in the supposedly ordinary aspects of life. Little by little we begin to see what it means to live faithfully for him in every dimension of life, in every season of life. This will certainly involve the spiritual triad of "exercising faith," "extending love," and "bringing hope," but these spiritual practices are never isolated from the real stuff of everyday life.

In this extraordinary book, Paul Stevens captures this lived theology in the narratives of many of the best-known characters of the Bible. Each story builds upon itself as we move through the history of God's work in this world until we reach our final destiny in the new City of God. Woven throughout the book is a bib lical theology of God's character and work demonstrated in creation, fall, redemption, and its final consummation. In short, this is both a systematic theology of vocation and a spiritual theology of personal transformation. Along the way we are provided with many insights regarding the importance and means of cultural engagement.

These insights into the biblical stories reflect a lifetime of engaging the text and seeking to apply it to the lives of people who work in the ordinary places of the world. Paul's reflections are consistently thoughtful, never trivial, often challenging, and always inspiring. That is to say, this is a book that engages both head and heart. I found it natural after each story to stop and ask: How does this change how I think about God, how he relates to his people and his world? And what does that mean for me today as I seek to live faithfully for him in the particularities of my life? Often I found the answers both provocative and enriching.

Before there was a theologian there was a storyteller. But, as it happens, the first storytellers in the Bible were also theologians. They explained the meaning of things in the light of God and his purposes for the world and humankind. The Bible is a collection of stories telling us of God's loving determination to renew everything, including people. As such it is rich in accounts of the lives and work of individuals whom God intended to be working models of the kingdom of God. All the way through the Bible we see workers and workplaces, some good and some bad, but all of them described in story form.

These stories, by and large, are not told with an explicit moralistic conclusion such as, "You must not do what so and so did" but are simply told in such a way that, when we see the consequences of how people acted and worked, we can know what bad work is like, and, by contrast, what good work is like. Sometimes, however, the story is accompanied by an inspired reflection on its implications.

Over the years my own work has included making steel rivets by hand, preaching, filing, attending committees, listening, building houses, teaching, writing, grading papers, and doing domestic work. Is some of this holy work, which will last into eternity, and is other work just fluff? What is good work? What is the point of this work? Who benefits? Does work have both intrinsic and extrinsic value? What does work mean? Whose work matters to God? These are some of the questions that must be answered by a theology of work. I am defining work as any purposeful expenditure of energy - whether manual, mental, or both, whether paid or not. Work is counterbalanced with leisure, rest, and Sabbath, though the line between them cannot always be drawn exactly. This is especially true for children, for whom work is play and play is work.

Toward a Theology of Work

Most attempts at elaborating a theology of work concentrate on one of those doctrines. Here is a partial list of those doctrines, with representative authors listed in the notes:

In this volume each major section of the Hebrew Bible - the Pentateuch, the historical books, the wisdom books, the prophets - and of the Christian Scriptures - the Gospels, the letters, and the Revelation - is briefly introduced and then followed by stories of people in the Bible who are workers. Discussion and reflection questions at the end of each chapter can be used in study and discussion groups. Summaries of each major portion of Scripture can be found at the end of each part. The epilogue reflects on how we should work in light of the preceding discussion.

A Kingdom Perspective on Work

But we must remember that the whole revelation of Scripture points to the full coming of the kingdom of God, God's gracious and lifegiving dynamic rule in people and in all things. So, instead of always looking back to the utopian sanctuary of the garden in Genesis as our ultimate destination, the Bible points to the final vision of the Garden-City in the new heaven and new earth in a totally transformed creation. We move forward in biblical revelation, not backward.

A simple analogy may help. When my wife thinks about an imminent birthday party for one of our eight grandchildren, her first thought is about the celebration event. Then she goes to the store and buys the elements for making a birthday cake, whips them up in the kitchen, cooks the cake in the oven, ices it, and then, with candles and songs, presents it to the birthday child. But the first thought was the party. And it seems that the whole biblical revelation points to this: God's first thought was the marriage supper of the Lamb, the final rendezvous of God, creation, and humankind. And to get there he made a world, made Godimaging creatures, and even sent his Son to redeem everything.

15 That is kingdom work.

What will be obvious as you read this book is that I have not covered everything in the Bible. Several volumes would be needed for this. The selection I have made is based on my reading of the Bible and brooding on what this means to everyday life. I have also had the privilege of teaching a theology of work at Regent College, Vancouver; at the Bakke Graduate University, Seattle; and in various settings in Asia, Africa, Central Europe, and South America. I acknowledge my indebtedness to others who have taught me and to those who have read this manuscript and made helpful comments, especially my colleague Sven Soderlund, who has patiently and carefully edited the manuscript. I have left some quotations as they stand where "man" or "men" is used even though human beings male and female is implied and intended. Elsewhere I have tried to make this document as inclusive as possible including the use of an inclusive Bible translation.