Our current economic difficulties are significant and serious. Almost daily the media report plant closures, high unemployment rates, and the corresponding social problems such events contribute to. Most can relate through firsthand ex­perience to the personal difficulties which these reports and statistics represent. Many of us have family or church members, neighbours, or friends who have lost their jobs, faced pay cuts, or had to make involuntary mid-life career changes.

On the one hand, these events challenge our faith and reliance upon God to provide for our every need. Jesus' words, Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? (Matt. 6:30), serves as a rebuke to us all. How focused we are on this life and the possessions of it, and how weak is our dependence on God to provide! We also know, however, that the command to trust God and His providence does not justify irresponsibility and indifference about these matters. Various Scripture passages call us to live and work responsibly, as well as to be good stewards of our possessions.

When we reflect on economic matters, it is easy to resign ourselves to the inevitability of events. Surely, we cannot be held responsible for the policies of governments, corporations, international trade bodies, businesses, labour organizations, and consumers – all of which play a role in shaping our economic policy. This mindset, however, ignores the moral framework and presuppositions which guide economic and public policy, and our responsibility to be Christian citizens in this confused world.

Work or Income?⤒🔗

Our society understands work as simply a means to acquire an income. Consider the discussion regarding the lack of incentive to work provided by a generous welfare system (after all, why would one work if at the end there is little additional income?) or the solutions of job-sharing, early retirement incentives, or a shortened work week as a solution for unemployment. Essentially, all of these proposals focus solely on the question of distribu­tion of income, and work is seen only as a means to obtain that income. There is little discussion about the impact of not work­ing, both socially and of not being able to exercise and cultivate one's talents and ability.

This also holds true for the currently employed. How many in our society view a job as a means to achieve a paycheque, and nothing more? The "best" job is one where the highest level of income can be obtained for the least amount of effort.

In part, all of these perceptions are understandable in our highly industrialized society. Many jobs are repetitive and provide little opportunity for individuals to express themselves, and no clear product is produced that the worker can point to and feel some accomplishment for. Hence, the only motivators are the rewards of a paycheque, and the fear of losing one's job. Any attempts to provide input or creativity are met with resistance, as the "system" is not accommodating to change. And so many workers serve their time in their workplace, eagerly awaiting the bell which signals the end of their daily sentence. Fulfilment and meaning have to be pursued outside of the workplace, and the only positive benefit derived from work is the slip of paper with the dollar signs and signature.

Redefined Leisure←⤒🔗

Such a view of work is not new. In fact, Aristotle is quoted as saying, already in the fourth century B.C., that "The end of labour is to gain leisure." It is only in recent decades that the workweek shrank to its current 40-hour standard. In previous eras, long working hours, combined with more arduous working conditions and a shorter life expectancy, resulted in fewer hours available for leisure. Generally, leisure was enjoyed during religious and seasonal festivals which were intermittent and short.

Today, leisure is experienced very differently. We understand leisure as something to be bought – be it a boat, restaurant meal, or electronic toys. For many, leisure is not a diversion, but the focal point of their lives. Consequently, entire industries and a significant proportion of our economy (and incomes) are dedicated to the pursuit of leisure. Work is only a means to an income, which is used to "buy" leisure. That is not to say that this leisure is actually being enjoyed or is fulfilling for people. In fact, for many leisure is a status symbol, which they feel compelled to pursue with considerable energy.

The changing concepts of work and leisure are more than items of historical curiosity; they reveal the driving forces which have contributed to our economic difficulties and which colour the supposed cures our leaders are offering. In a society which has rejected all notions of the transcendent authority of God and His Word, and thereby deny any sense of purpose for individuals and society, such consequences are logical and natural. If there is no God to glorify and serve, what other purpose is there than to pursue per­sonal pleasure?

A Biblical View←⤒🔗

These views are in stark contrast with the biblical teachings regarding the origin and purpose of work. The Scriptures do confirm a connection between work and income. If any would not work, neither should he eat (2 Thess. 3:10). For the labourer is worthy of his hire (Lk. 10:7). But to reduce work to a means for a paycheque is a most unbiblical and incomplete view of work.

The task to work was assigned to Adam before the fall in the Garden of Eden. When creating man in His image, God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth (Gen. 1:26). It is part of man's nature that he works. We were created with an assignment on this earth. God explicitly commanded Adam after his creation to Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it (Gen. 1:28).

Even in paradise, Adam had to work. God put Adam into the garden to dress it and to keep it (Gen. 2:15). Adam had to name all the animals (Gen. 2:20) and till the ground (Gen. 2:5). Adam had to find his food from the trees of the garden in order to eat. In short, Adam was to be a steward (literally, to take care of things on behalf of another) in the service of his God, who also "worked and rested" in the seven days of creation. Adam did not spend his time in idleness in the Garden; he was to work, even as God worked.

The fall had a dramatic effect on Adam's assignment. God told Adam Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return to the ground; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return (Gen. 3:17-19). From that point forward, the experience of work changed dramatically.

That, however, does not change the fundamental character of work. The task given to Adam remains our task today. True, it is a task we cannot fully obey. Our depraved nature perverts our motives from the service of God, for which we were created and called, to selfish motives. The cursed ground and the sweat on our brows can make work an unpleasant experience. A certain drudgery, monotony, and difficulty is part of work and cannot be avoided. Yet, through God's grace we are created as image-bearers of God whose fundamental characteristic and calling is to work. Work is not something to be avoided; the Reformers focused on the nature of work as a vocation (Latin for calling) from God, through which each person is responsible before God to utilize the talents they have been given. And, through God's grace, we can in our fallen nature experience something of the satisfaction that work was designed to bring.

After God finished His work of creation, we read, And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good (Gen. 1:31). God derived satisfaction from His creation and the work of His hands.

Man, too, can derive satisfaction and fulfilment from his work. Totally apart from the question of compensation, there is a fuifilment and meaning which even unredeemed mankind can find through work, it is part of who we are as human beings. This experience is of course, very imperfect and clouded by sin, but it is real and should not be diminished.

Biblical view of Rest←⤒🔗

In reflecting on the creation account and its implications for our modern economic circumstance, it is important not only to look at the six days in which God created things, but also at the seventh day in which He rested. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made (Gen. 2:3). The reason God gave for the sabbath commandment is the pattern He set in creation. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it (Ex. 20:11). The purpose of a Sabbath rest was not leisure, in the sense that our modern society understands it, but rest. This rest is referred to throughout Scriptures as a spiritual rest – communion with God. That follows from the creation account. "What is the chief purpose of man?" asks the Westminster Confession. "That we might glorify God and enjoy Him forever." Through our labours we are called to glorify God, but already in the perfect gar­den, God rested that He might enjoy the creation. We too, are called, to enjoy the Creator.

A Salting Influence←⤒🔗

By contrasting the view of work promoted by society with that presented in the Scriptures, we have a perspective from which to analyze our current problems and the various solutions proposed. The answers to our economic difficulties do not rest only, or primarily in innovative solutions of debt reduction, work reorganization, and productivity increases – as important as all of these prac­tical matters are. At the core, the question that challenges our society is a question of meaning and purpose. Who are we? What are we doing here? Where are we going?

While individually, or even collectively, Christians cannot single-handedly change or solve our economic predicaments, there is a responsibility to live and act dif­ferently, also in these matters. Practically, that implies a number of things.

We must take personal responsibility for our work. Are we good stewards of the gifts and talents that we have been given, taking and seeking opportunities to cultivate them? Certainly this too is an area where our lives fall woefully short of the divine standard of holiness, and for which we should seek forgiveness. Do our attitudes and habits stand out from those who are busy pursuing dead-end promises and empty dreams?

True, work will not save us, nor should it be the single focal point of our lives, any more than should leisure. At a far less noble level, we cannot solve the world's economic problems based only on personal piety. This should not make us indifferent to the real problems of work and income distribution, debt reduction, etc., for which there are no easy answers. As citizens, we are responsible to evaluate the various economic proposals which are put forward. One of the questions we must ask is, "How does this solution fit within the biblical framework of understanding work and leisure?" Solutions aimed solely at redistributing wealth, as if that were the primary question, without any regard for the opportunities and responsibilities given to people in the economic realm, are not the answer to our problems. For example, shorter workweeks and job-sharing solutions may be appropriate in certain circumstances, but the real challenge is to create an environ­ment where there is increased opportunity for individuals to apply and cultivate their talents in economically-productive ac­tivities. Putting that biblical principle into practice is a challenge for all those who seek to apply their Christian faith to public life.

The Word of God speaks clearly to us as citizens, employees, and employers about the nature of what we do in our economic lives. An honest self-examination must lead us to pray, Give us this day our daily bread, but also Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. May God give us grace to work, and rest, to His honour and glory.