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WE AND OUR
WORK
A brochure aimed at consideration
in the congregations
General Synod
8 November 2012
AZ 12-28
Translation: E. Overeem
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Table of contents
Introduction
5
The design of this brochure
7
1
God’s work and human work
2
Why we are working
10
3
Work as making a living
12
4
Working as a social phenomenon
13
8
Table of contents
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Introduction
We and our work
Dear Reader,
You might be out of work and feel discarded. Or you might be employed and hurry all day long to
combine your job with your care the family and the household. You might be enjoying yourself already while commuting to your job, because your job enables you to accomplish something
meaningful with your colleagues and to improve yourself. Or you might do volunteer work because you find this meaningful. However: you are involved with work. Who isn’t? Work that is exacting, or work that you would like to do, work as obligation of work to enjoy yourself with.
Working is something of all times. People always have worked and this will continue, if only for
people to earn a living and to survive. All the same hardly a theme exists evoking so many different images. One person might enjoy working: he or she has an exciting job with a lot of variety
and with nice colleagues; and the financial compensation package is excellent indeed. Another
person might find working to be a necessary evil, the job is challenging and monotonous, and the
wages are poor.
When we explore further we notice that most people wouldn’t like to give up working. This not only applies to jobs requiring a high level of education; it goes for jobs requiring less training as well.
Working provides content to people’s days, it brings them into contact with other persons, and
makes them feeling useful. Working provides the opportunity to “make” something and delivers
the satisfaction to have accomplished something with others, etcetera. Working is a genuine human phenomenon having a profound impact on people’s lives. People are busy - “from sunrise to
evening” – whether in paid jobs or as volunteers. They would feel very unhappy if they were not.
To be on holiday permanently seems an attractive option at first sight; however after three months
you might have had enough of the camping ground.
All the same the world of labor is full of tensions. People aren’t working in a harmonic world. The
garden of Eden has become closed and humankind finds itself working in a world of thorns and
thistles. We can identify some of those tensions:
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Young people face difficulties in finding a job; the job they eventually find themselves in
might not have much connection with the education they completed. The idea of “nice
job, inspiring work and attractive financial compensation” is crumbling quickly. You might
find yourself lucky to be employed at all.
Working is fine if only it is finite; now however the retirement age is being discussed, and
if the retirement benefits are being called into question working isn’t fun anymore.
A steady job provides security. However steady jobs become rather the exception than
the rule. The security a previous generation enjoyed is lost now. If the dismissal procedures will be simplified, you might find yourself simply being fired.
Working is becoming pressurized by the need to perform. An increasing workload has to
be carried by a declining number of people. Employers are being forced to set deadlines
and employees are being rushed by this. The loyalty of employees is strongly appealed
to; however is the loyalty worthwhile when you run the risk of finding yourself fired anyhow?
For many people working means the umpteenth reorganization and the umpteenth appeal to develop new skills. This causes older employees in particular to feel very worn
out.
The distinction between work and private life becomes blurred. Flexible work might look
attractive, but when does the job start and when is quitting time? Should a cell phone be
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answered and e-mail be checked just during working hours, or is the employee expected
to be available at all times? And what consequences one’s choice might have?
Women increasingly are employed. This is a positive trend and it offers many opportunities for self-development. For a two-income family it is however a challenge to keep both
the jobs and the family life well-organized. When women however prefer not to have a
job, they will be put down as old- fashioned.
The Sunday isn’t a self-evident day of rest anymore. Theoretically working on Sundays
might be presented as a free choice, in real terms however you aren’t free to choose at
all. The 24-7 economy provides freedom to the consumer, but puts severe limitations on
shopkeepers.
People facing with limitations or people with a decreased capacity for work would like to
be (part-time) employed but are denied the opportunity by government regulations or employer’s reluctance to engage with them.
This list could be expanded quite easily. It is not intended to be a list of laments. We absolutely
don’t want to suggest that working is bad and annoying. On the contrary: often people enjoy working. There is a lot of job satisfaction. When people become excluded from employment they only
discover the many positive aspects of having been able to work. The list however is intended to
indicate that looking at work through rose-colored spectacles only isn’t very helpful. Work is a
blessing, but this blessing is being threatened by a curse. There is need for a critical reflection on
working. What about working? More profoundly: why do people work? And in what kind of light
might we look at working?
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The design of this brochure
We believe that Christian faith and Christian tradition can help us to find answers to these questions. Those answers might not be cut-and-dried. Neither do we pretend to provide an extended
analysis of the theme “working today”. We are however convinced that it is very rewarding to take
a close look at the Christian tradition and at the Bible in particular. We believe the texts can shed
a beneficial and relevant light on our labor and on “working today”.
In this brochure we discuss four insights and present these shaped as basic principles. Each
principle will be introduced, briefly reviewed, and finally be completed with some evaluating remarks. At the end of this brochure a succinct postscript will be offered.
The brochure is aimed at discussion and reflection in the congregations. With this in mind some
questions for discussion have been added. As Protestant Church we hope with this publication to
contribute to the public debate on working as well.
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1
God’s work and human work
The Christian tradition teaches us primarily that human working should be considered within a
higher framework, namely the higher framework of God’s work. This is what the first basic principle is about. A key passage from the Bible makes this evident. It is a text from the very first book
of the Bible, the book of Genesis. There we find the story of creation. Genesis 1 provides the narrative of creation in the rhythm of seven days. Light is created on the first day, and the story continues to the creation of humankind on the sixth day. It is striking indeed: as soon as humankind is
created, work becomes an issue. Humankind after all is commissioned to “have dominion over
the fish of the sea, over the birds in the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth”
(Genesis 1 : 28). We are told as well that humankind is placed in a garden “to dress it and to keep
it” (Genesis 2 : 15). Work is the calling and this is the way humankind is constituted. Humankind
consists of working people, homo faber. However, before humankind starts working, we find a
remarkable passage:
The heavens and the earth were finished, and all their guardians. On the seventh day
God finished his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his
work which he had made. God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he
rested in it from all his work which he had created and made. This is the history of the
generation of the heavens and of the earth when they were created” (Genesis 2 : 1 – 4a).
Humankind was created and commissioned to work. But before breaking ground there is this
seventh day. The day of rest, the Sabbath. It is the day God rejoices about his work and it is a
day of blessing. Humankind’s working life doesn’t start with its work, but with celebrating the Sabbath. The Sabbath comes first and only after this day the first working day does start. First time is
granted to hear God affirming creation and humankind. After this sufficient time is left to go to
work. From the very first pages of the Bible it’s becoming evident that humankind doesn’t consist
of “performing animals” which have to make and to justify their own existence. What constitutes
life rather is God’s goodness and his love. First comes the blessing and work is secondary. Without God’s blessing “it is in vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, eating the bread of toll – for
he gives sleep to his loved ones” (Psalm 127 : 7). In the Ten Commandments it reads: “you shall
labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God” (Ex.
20 : 9). This seventh day actually for humankind is the first day. This first day radiates on the other six days.
This can be said in a different way again. Humankind isn’t in the first place intended as homo faber, as working persons drudging and toiling to scrape a living. Humankind primarily is intended
as liturgical persons. Humankind lives from God’s blessing and therefore gives thanks to its Creator. The Sabbath is a day for affirming God and for praising him for everything that he does and
gives. The primary work humankind carries out is the praise of God’s work and God’s goodness.
There is a profound awareness in the Bible that humankind’s work when standing alone isn’t
grounded at all.
This Biblical key passage results in a first basic principle:
First basic principle:
We don’t live from our work but from God’s work. Our work does matter indeed,
however it isn’t the final reality. Our salvation doesn’t depend on it.
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Working is a meaningful commission for humankind; it should however not be turned into an idol
and people should not become its slaves. Humankind doesn’t create the world with its work and
people don’t save the world by working. Working is good and meaningful if only moderation is exercised. If not, diligence will destroy the world.
This basic principle results in some evaluating remarks:
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We fundamentally call the 24/7 economy into question. Economy is good to participate in,
it however may not become an exclusive reality. We should allow one day not to be determined by producing and consuming. Otherwise we will wear out ourselves. Allow one
day to be reserved for God and for one another. People don’t live by bread alone. For this
reason we are critical of Sunday opening hours; we think the number of opening hours
that has been determined should not be increased. There is too much pressure on employees to show up for work on Sundays. Consumers should be satisfied without the extension of Sunday opening hours.
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We are concerned about the blurring of the distinction between work and time off. Flexible working hours offer many opportunities and provide much freedom. Flexible work enables people to switch frequently to different kinds of work and fields of interest; this for
many people is a perfect godsend. All the same being on call permanently and having to
be available continuously is inhuman. This turns work into a slave driver.
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There ought to be limits to the pressure to achieve and to the shortening of deadlines. We
are not required to work ourselves to death, even in the name of economic competition.
Work is useful and necessary. With working hard there is nothing wrong indeed. However
moderation and human standards and decent work should not become lost. It is important to be competitive, but work serves people and not the other way around. The
pressure of work can be increased to such an extent that people wear themselves out.
Work is not intended for that.
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Why we are working
People work, whether in a paid job, full-time, or part-time. There are many kinds of work: jobs for
highly educated people, unskilled labor, jobs requiring thinking ability and jobs requiring dexterity,
work in the office and work on the shop-floor, telecommuting, etcetera. Besides that there is unpaid work, work in family life or among relatives. Some kinds of caregiving volunteer working
sometimes require more hours than a full time job. Volunteer work presents itself in all shapes
and sizes. One kind of work isn’t more important than the other kind. Many people registered as
unemployed perform work as volunteers or in family life.
People start working sooner or later, whether after a long or a short training period. Working belongs to human life, and being idle isn’t proper. Some people are not or hardly able to work because of physical or mental impairments. This often is very frustrating for them. It is society’s
responsibility not to consider those people as a burden, but to recognize them as fully fledged
participants in the human community.
Why do we work? This question evokes different responses. One single answer to the question
isn’t appropriate because working has many dimensions. Many people might answer: “we work to
earn a living”. Other people might prefer to earn a lot of money (and to spend it, save it, or speculate with it). Many people again consider working to be important because of the contact with coworkers. Other people might perceive working as a way to implement the project of their lives.
Perhaps still other answers could be found. All these responses deserve to be heard and considered. We again from what the Christian tradition offers identify a second basic principle.
Second basic principle
All human work, whether paid for or not, primarily is ministry and a contribution to the
well-being of other people.
By working other people are being served. Something valuable is contributed to their lives. Society’s wellbeing is served. Even when this sounds awkward or other-wordy, we will put up with it.
We believe that from the very beginning working should be aimed at serving other people. Surviving or earning a living isn’t the primary purpose of life. People don’t exist to be occupied by the
project of their own lives exclusively. Living is aimed at contributing to other people’s lives and to
learn from the contributions other people provide. This becomes apparent already at birth. Other
people are ready to take care of you. Birth is entering a world where other people already have
been working in. Without receiving first from the efforts of other people nobody would be able to
accomplish anything. After receiving, people are enabled to contribute something of value as well.
Working has effect on the society and on the world. Working impacts the raw materials, the spiritual reality and the mutual relationships of people. Working is a ministry. This corresponds to the
classical Christian tenet that working is a response to a calling. Working is a profession of faith.
This now is expressed in secular words like profession and professional. A profession is a concrete and tangible expression of ministry to other people. This classical response encourages
people to really dedicate themselves when working. This contradicts an unmotivated attitude of a
minimal effort knowing that the salary will be paid anyhow.
This basic principle leads us to the following comments:
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Working as a ministry doesn’t only concern paid jobs. On the contrary: a lot of ministry
happens without any financial compensation. The essence of working is not to earn money but to contribute to the well-being of other people. It may be true that in a paid job the
concept of ministry can become vague, and that working in a volunteer caregiving capacity makes the reality of ministry more visible indeed. Level-headedness is required: not
everything people accomplish might be useful, if only parts of their work can be perceived
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indeed as being meaningful. In this respect the glass is seldom totally full, however it is
seldom entirely empty as well. A person wanting and willing to do so will be able to be
useful to other people anyway. It may be a choice to be satisfied with a lower wages in
order to save time for volunteer work.
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To what extent some kinds of work really contribute to other people’s lives? We do not
need to apply legalistic standards here. However the basic principle is critical of work only
aimed at self-interest and aimed exclusively at maximum income. Not all products being
marketed contribute to society. Just recently some financial products have been introduced that served just a few people and have been detrimental to many other people.
Questioning the relationship of work and its products with the interest of other people and
with the public interest remains essential.
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Working as a ministry evokes the appropriate question: “What can I contribute, and what
kind of service might be expected from me?”. People think about this. People look for
something they can dedicate themselves to. Ministry to others isn’t at odds with selfinterest, even when ministry to other people can require substantial sacrifices. People
look for opportunities to develop their talents, and quite often the outcome is something
that is meaningful to other people. We are challenged to make the most of our talents.
Talents are given by God, not to bury them but to put them into practice. Of course it
doesn’t make sense to wonder continuously where a contribution can be made. People
devote themselves to study an interesting subject, people look for a nice job where you
can dedicate yourself to working. To learn a profession is fascinating and conducting research can be very rewarding. When however this is dissociated from how other people
might be served, the project of life can become very individualistic or even egoistical. It
therefore is appropriate to unmask the myth of self-development as the ultimate goal of
life. This myth isn’t very realistic. Working isn’t always pleasant of exciting, it isn’t inspiring
all the time. Sometimes routine it’s all about. Working wears down almost all of us. Nevertheless working isn’t worthless or meaningless by this. We serve other people by working.
This might not be pleasant all the time, but ultimately it might be more satisfactory than
just being concerned with self-development all the time.
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When working is ministry to other people it is very painful when the labor market doesn’t
need one’s service. Being out of a job for many people is a dramatic experience indeed.
A really human society will therefore strive for the maximum participation of people in the
labor market. The gross national product isn’t the indicator for the success of civilization,
but the extent of participation of people in the job market. This goes for people with impairments as well. They might not be able to accomplish some things, but they do have
their abilities. They fully belong to human society and therefore entitled to contribute to it.
Conversely people are required to put an effort in finding a job. Settling for social security
benefits without willingness to contribute to society means being without an essential dimension of human purpose. Work is a calling and it requires commitment. Human society
justly asks everybody to participate.
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Work as making a living
Working is the way to provide for a living. Who plants a vineyard and doesn’t eat from its fruit? Or
who feeds a flock, and doesn’t drink from the flock’s milk? (1 Cor. 9 : 7). By working and serving
people provide for themselves as well. People produce in order to be able to consume. This goes
as well for people who don’t have paid jobs and are working nevertheless. They are entitled to
profit from the income of other people or enjoy social security benefits. They are not condemned
to eat the bread of charity. People who are not able to work are entitled to sustenance as well.
They appeal to society to provide care while working and to extend this care to people in need for
it. This leads us to the third basic principle.
Third basic principle
The laborer is worthy of his/her hire, no more and no less.
This basic principle is evident and will not be perceived as amazing. There is no need for this.
Some truths are self-evident. There however are some observations paid less attention to, or being less self-evident:
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Working requires compensation. People contributing to the well-being of society may live
from society as well. The wages may be different. A minimum wage has been determined, however there is no maximum wage. The Prime Minister’s Standard is a proper
criterion for a maximum wage. In some sectors of society remuneration and bonuses are
excessive; this is problematic. The current economic crisis for a large part was caused by
human greed. The much talked-of culture of grabbing what you can, had and still has disastrous consequences. Working isn’t perceived anymore as service to society, but as an
instrument for self-enrichment. Money became dissociated from the real economy and
from the concept of work as a ministry. “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1
Tim. 6 : 10). This statement and Christian ethics in a broader sense can hold up a honest
mirror to our faces.
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Labor quite often is considered in a partisan way as a debit item. People use the argumentation that keeping labor costs low means keeping up the competition. In the USA
this resulted in people needing two jobs in order to make a living. Many jobs were lost to
the Netherlands because labor could be had at a cheaper price elsewhere. The cleaner in
the past was employed by the firm he or she took care of. Now cleaning staff has been
outsourced to the lowest bidder. From the viewpoint of Christian ethics there is much involvement with fair remuneration. The Bible in many texts indicates the obligation to protect the rights of laborers. It is said about the day laborer: In his day you shall give him his
hire, neither shall the sun go down on it; for he is poor, and sets his heart on it (Deut. 24 :
15). Just labor contracts are very important, just like the right of an organization to negotiate on adequate collective labor agreements.
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Working as a social phenomenon
Whether people work in a paid job, or as a volunteer, or in running the home: it’s almost always
means working together. People are involved with colleagues, executives and subordinates. People work with members of the family, clients, patients, students, customers and suppliers. Working occurs almost always in meeting with other people. Many people consider this an important
added value of working and therefore find working preferable to not-working. Working is working
together and it includes therefore empathizing with other people and receiving attention from
them. Being out of a job often results in social isolation with all its consequences. This is expressed in the fourth basic principle.
Fourth basic principle
Working is working together and requires working together
By working people live with other people. The best way for people to integrate into society is being employed. People express themselves by working, and people participate in human communication by it. People hope to be recognized in this expression by other people. People
experience our appreciation of them and our understanding as beneficial to them. Even the artist
boxed up in the studio creating a work of art intends something with his work and looks for public
understanding and appreciation.
Some remarks can be made concerning this fourth basic principle:
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The social element of work is a value and this includes its vulnerability. On the shop-floor
irritations may come up and sometimes this results in harassment. Misunderstandings
may lead to latent or open conflicts. People can get worn out by the social labor environment, because they don’t feel heard or recognized. For these reasons many people start
their working week on Mondays with reluctance. Harassment at school has become a
debatable item now; harassment on the shop-floor often still is a taboo.
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Working is a way of living together. Sometimes this is shaped in a steady job with a constant circle of colleagues and other people. Nowadays however this is rather an exception than a rule. The labor market is flexible and people change their jobs frequently,
whether by necessity or voluntarily. It does not make sense to romantically hold on to
former attainments. For many people the job market offers a lot of opportunities and they
benefit from that. There are risks however. People can get worn down by the need for the
umpteenth retraining. Contacts on the shop-floor become more casual.