Tags
Christianity, city transformation, James K. A. Smith, Job creation program, Kingdom, renewal, work
Recently, I was invited to engage in a conversation regarding the role Christians should play in shaping out a theology of work. The people in the room were all highly committed Christians who were also very successful in their careers (CEOs of major businesses, grocery stores, and restaurants; directors of non-profits; public strategists and politicians; and faith-based community activists) who were all wrestling with what should be the Christian response to job creation and the elimination of poverty in our city. I was invited to speak to the ways in which education should engage these topics.
The problem is, both as a theologian and a philosopher, my response has very little to do with “job creation” as such. Indeed, I’m not sure that creating more jobs would do much to solve the deep needs facing our culture today, especially regarding poverty.
Let me explain by way of a thought experiment:
Let’s say that we woke up tomorrow and every single person from every gender, ethnicity, socio-economic background and neighborhood had a job that paid at least $75,000 a year. That would seem to be an end to our problems, yes? Jobs creation would no longer be necessary and the evils of poverty would be abolished.
Well, not so fast. I’m not sure that waving that magic wand does much to eliminate the deeper problems facing our culture, namely the relational poverty and “cult of Mammon” that drives and motivates everything we do both in our private lives and in the public square.
My concern is in addressing the overarching narratives that give shape, direction and “destiny” to our lives. Therefore, if we woke up tomorrow to find the “jobs” question resolved, we have yet to answer the narrative question; indeed, we may have only exacerbated it.
In his fascinating and brilliant book, Desiring the Kingdom, scholar James K.A. Smith outlines what he calls the “liturgy of the mall” where such formative worship practices as confession, offerings, contemplation and sacrifice (all surrounded by religious iconography) promise transcendence, redemption and eternal happiness. It is a liturgy (with just as many hymns, rituals, preaching and responses as any we see in religion) that is deceptive, seductive, dark and damning. It offers the myth of happiness through consumption couched in sexy, glittering, alluring commercials, magazine ads, tv spots, movies, etc. The problem, of course, is that these are hollow doxologies–the more we consume them, the more they consume us.
As I see things, the overarching narrative that governs everything in our culture is that of Mammon (the “erotic” worship of money): from education to politics to business to even the church. Mammon has a dark, enticing, ultimately damning sway over the larger narratives of our culture. Indeed, the narrative of Mammon plays in ten-thousand places. Therefore, if the Christian response is merely on getting good, solid “believers” in the marketplace, that, to me, is a good downstream response to a problem that is needed in the short run, but it does not go far enough upstream to de-contaminate the water.
Here is what I mean: if the focus is on getting more Christians into jobs of any kind, the narrative of those jobs is still, ultimately, about making money, bottom lines, cost-benefit analysis, P/E ratios, and a corporate ethos governed, in the end, by the larger narrative of the marketplace (i.e. Mammon). In other words, if we were to solve the “jobs” problem tomorrow and not wrestle out the deeper narrative of Mammon, in my opinion all that we would have accomplished is the unleashing of hundreds of thousands of additional worshippers of the mall. That is why my work in education is not about “skill acquisition” but is a narrative work concerned with shaping persons of wisdom and virtue, capable of being architects of repair in the world.
So what to do? My thought is not to set up “jobs” as our focus, but relationships. You see, I don’t believe that poverty is a financial problem (we could, if we wanted to, redistribute the wealth in a way that was equitable for all–a Marxist solution); I believe poverty is a relational problem. That’s why both education and jobs creation are, to me, about fostering covenantal relationships. People in relationship to each other know the other’s needs, work to share the burden, give sacrificially, refuse to let those close to them go hungry, etc. I don’t think the answer is in resume workshops or Christians being more influential in their workspace (though there is nothing wrong with either); I think the long-term solution is ushering in a Kingdom built on Isaiah 53 and 61 and Revelation 21 and 22.
So what would a redeemed sense of vocation look like? What if it were centered around living out an ethic of sacrificial agape in the context of covenantal relationship, particularly among the least of these? What if our “work” was to “spend ourselves on behalf of the hungry and to satisfy the needs of the oppressed” (Isaiah 58). Here is a wild and crazy idea: what if those of us who are trying to see the Kingdom come in our cities were to work to close up any institution (work/schools/media/etc.) whose ultimate ends are part and parcel of the “liturgy of the mall” and give our time, talent, resources, networks, intellects, and expertise to partner with God to make all things new in redemptive and restorative ways (thinking through new ways of doing school, business, entertainment, etc.)?
What if the Kingdom conversation were not about placing Christians in jobs, but about Christians reforming the very nature of the work (the narrative) itself?
What if that were our theology of work?
**I’d love to hear your thoughts!! Feel free to leave them in the comment section below.
The Wisdom Initiative 
Your article immediately reminded me of this. And I think this support the same idea. For to carry out this idea, relationship, in the context you speak of here, is key.
Peace, Alexandria
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/july-web-only/solving-poverty-is-rocket-science.html?paging=off
That is a really good article. We were learning about the successes and failures of international aid in my last uni subject. One of the things I learnt is that one needs to allow a community to drive the change that they want, and provide the means for them to accomplish it, rather than directing and controlling it all according to our perceived vision of what they need.
Thank you for this. To me, relational poverty is at the heart of most (if not all) of our pressing social ills. I’m always so glad to have your voice engaged in these discussions!
I wish we could “reform the very nature of work”! Do you think we actually can, and how? The apparent worship of profit and consumerism – by the wealthy countries of the world, and the governments of many of the poorer – seems so ingrained, and over-arching, that it would take concerted effort over a long period of time and in a broad, worldwide sense. Like actions on climate change. A lot can happen from the ground up, though, I know.
An example of one possible agent of change, or the potential for it, is in the percentage of the population who genetically classify as “highly sensitive”, or “deep processing”. This group processes stimuli in a more detailed way, leading to greater reflection and the ability to actually hear, see and feel things that the majority ignore. They would be a great resource. There are all different types, but this particular group would welcome such a change, and be some of the most enthusiastic proponents/instigators of it, because the current general state of the world of work is often a really bad fit for them. Reforming it in the way you suggest would be, I think, something they would eagerly welcome. Because so much of what is encouraged in the Anglo-European parts of the world is about loudness, brashness, getting ahead, etc. Which is a factor of the problem/s you describe.
So I’m interested to know how we can make this change; I want to help!
I’ve recently read the book of Ecclesiastes, and there was some pretty interesting perspective on daily toil. The gist of it to me was to enjoy what you do, and give glory to God doing it. The connection between a supposed greater good and underlying spiritual problems reminds me of what a professor said concerning “Plato’s Republic”. He believed that one of Plato’s biggest mistakes was equating proper education with virtue. Indeed, one can have a full education in the quadrivium and trivium and still have the potential to do deplorable things. It’s no wonder that his vision of the perfect city became the main inspiration for dystopian novels.
As for change, I certainly believe it can happen. However, I’m rather cautious. It embrace what C.S. Lewis espouses in “Mere Christianity”. He said that change within an individual only really occurs when the desire for change is there, and our culture begins with the people in it. How many people feel this way? What are they willing to do to change it? Unfortunately, we can only make changes in ourselves. And, sadly, it seems to me that there is too much profit, monetary and spiritual, from the culture of Mammon at this point. The advertisers make money, and the consumers get temporary alleviation. If a system is working, why change it? There are so many factors out of one man or woman’s control, so this will be a hard war to win. Can it be won? Absolutely. Will it be difficult? Oh, yeah.