Morality And The Workplace

Tuisem A. Shishak *

Moral questions deal with values about what is good and bad, or right and wrong, or statements about what ought to be done or ought not to be done. Theologically speaking, we are moral and spiritual creatures. As rational beings, unlike the brutes, we do think and make judgments on what is right and what is wrong. According to Mortimer J. Adler [1]: "… moral relativism and moral subjectivism, so common among the best educated . . . are the result of poor thinking about what is really good for us" (Reforming Education, p. 239).

Within secularism, all of life, every human value, and every human activity is to be understood in the light of this present world. What matters is "now" and only "now". We must make our decisions, live our lives, make our plans, all within the closed arena of this time—the here and now, whereas the biblical worldview is always concerned with the timeless. The Bible teaches that we are created for eternity. Hence, the necessity of moral and spiritual absolutes.

The best understanding of the subject—Morality and the Workplace—is provided by the Judeo-Christian worldview. The question of work is foundationally rooted in the creation story of Genesis 1 where God is shown as a worker: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." By creating human beings in his image, God made them workers as well.

In the words of Lamar Thompson [2], "Life is work, death is retirement." And Mother Theresa has said, "Work without love is slavery."

The "workplace," narrowly defined, is the office, factory, farm or any place where one works, but the biblical definition of the "workplace" encompasses the whole of God's creation (the universe). The global house, biblically speaking, is the world, which is our home. The world (cosmos) then is the ultimate workplace for every human being. Economics has to do with managing the resources that ultimately belong to God. God holds us accountable for what we do in that management process as we take care of the world that He has given us.

The uniqueness of work has been misunderstood, misinterpreted, and abused by men and women the world over. In this article I have attempted to present the What, Why, and How of WORK through the eyes of Judeo-Christian faith.

1. What is Work?

Two dictionary definitions of "Work": "1) Continued exertion or activity, whether physical or mental, directed to some purpose or end. 2) The activity or job that a person does to earn money. … especially, the activities by which one earns one's livelihood."

The Judeo-Christian Scriptures depict God as creatively involved in the affairs of man and the whole creation. Man, being created in God's image (Gen.1:26, 27) is to work as a steward of God's creation (Gen. 2:15). After the Fall, man is to work even more, not less, all his life (Gen. 3:17-19) for his livelihood. But "Work" is not primarily about jobs and pay. The Christian doctrine of work is closely related to the doctrines of the creative energy of God and the divine image in man.

In the words of Dorothy Sayers [3]: "The fallacy (is) that…work is not the expression of man's creative energy in the service of society, but only something he does in order to obtain money and leisure" (Creed or Chaos, p. 52). Quoting William Bennett [4], "Work is applied effort; it is whatever we put ourselves into, whatever we expend our energy on for the sake of accomplishing or achieving something. Work in this fundamental sense is not what we do for a living but what we do with our living" (The Book of Virtues, p.348). Work, therefore, is the natural exercise and function of man, created in the image of his Creator.

2. The "Why" of Work

To think that work is a necessary drudgery to be undertaken for the purpose of making money or making a living is a wrong start. Rather it should be thought of as a way of life in which man finds his proper exercise and delight and thus fulfills himself to the glory of God. Work should be viewed biblically as a creative activity undertaken for love of the work itself, and as Sayers says, "Man, made in God's image, should make things, as God makes them, for the sake of doing well a thing that is well worth doing" (Sayers, p. 63).

There is no place for lazy people in any society because man is created to work. Work is indispensable to man's survival and for making his life worth living. The Apostle Paul's mandate to the Thessalonian Christians is, "If a man will not work, he shall not eat" (2 Thess. 3:10). Hard work enables one to support himself as well as to help others. As someone has said, "Free enterprise depends upon a society that encourages a strong work ethic. The two share a robust, symbiotic relationship—remove one from the formula and the other will be significantly weakened."

3. The "How" of Work

For a true Christian, even secular vocations are sacred. When a person is called to a particular job of secular work, that is as true a vocation as though he or she were called to religious/Christian work. He or she must be able to serve God in the work. For example, a carpenter should make good chairs and tables regardless of whose furniture he is making. There are no two moral yardsticks--- doing a good job for self but a poor job for others. He insults God with bad workmanship. Again Sayers, "No crooked table legs or ill-fitting drawers ever, I dare swear, came out of the carpenter's shop at Nazareth. Nor, if they did, could anyone believe that they were made by the same hand that made Heaven and earth" (Sayers, p.77).

Every worker and maker is called to serve God in his profession or trade—not outside it. In the Bible (Acts 6) the Apostles complained rightly when they said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on tables" (v.2); their vocation was to preach the Word. On the other hand those whose vocation it is to prepare meals might with equal justice say, "It is not right for us to leave the service of our tables to preach the Word." Such was the work ethic in their profession (sacred or secular) among first-century Christians. A high standard of work ethic was also the hallmark of 17th-century Protestants.

Max Weber [5], in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, stressed the importance of "vigorous discipline" and the selection of "vocation as a duty and virtue." He observed among his contemporaries "that business leaders and owners of capital, as well as the higher grades of skilled labour, and even more the higher technically and commercially trained personnel of modern enterprises, are overwhelmingly Protestant" (p.35.). These Protestants believed in "devotion to labor," and the "rejection of short-term gratification."

I believe that even our forefathers, who were all Animists, had a similar high standard of work ethic. But where is that Protestant work ethic of commitment and dedication to one's profession or vocation today? Look at the Christians (in general) in Nagaland and Manipur, for example. Whether they work for private enterprises or government, their only interest is to draw their full pay at the end of the month while working perhaps only 3-4 hours a day. This is the same as stealing or robbing or even extorting.

What about punctuality? Is it not the right thing for a follower of Christ to go to work a little earlier and leave work a little later? Several so-called "evangelical" Christians in government service often take leave with pay to preach the gospel. It's like the devil footing the bill for doing God's work. Then there are so-called Christian teachers in government schools who hire proxy teachers with whom they share their pay while they themselves pursue their own individual business.

The God they profess to worship every Sunday is denied, even blasphemed, in the workplace during the week. Christians in general have lost their testimony to non-Christians in our land. It is an insult to the God we profess to worship and serve. Whether we are self-employed or work for the government or others, we are mandated to "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free" (Eph. 6:7).

The quality of work done each day must never depend on how much we are paid; it should be a normal thing always to do our daily tasks with the sole purpose of completing the job well-done. If the quality of work is determined by reward or money, work ethic is dead. Work ethic is at its best when a man works with no ulterior motivation of money or promotion but with sincere heart to the best of his ability to get the job done well.

Conclusion

There is nothing wrong with working to earn money, but there may be something very wrong if one thinks earning money brings him happiness. Hence, one must know the primary purpose or doctrine of work from a biblical perspective.

First and foremost, work is an integral part of the life of man who was created in the image of God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Work is what we do with our living, not for our living. Work is the expression of man's creative energy in the service of society, not just what he does in order to obtain money and leisure.

Secondly, as employees, we work diligently and honestly so that our employer may not suffer any loss, but profit by it. Finally, in the words of John Stott [5], "Work is the expenditure of energy (manual or mental or both) in the service of others, which brings fulfilment to the worker, benefit to the community and glory to God."