Acts 4:32-35
Work…we need it, we spend most of the day consumed by it, and we are at a loss when we don’t have it. When we do, it can be the source of both our greatest “highs” and deepest “lows.” I know many people who find their identity, self-worth, and reason for being defined by their jobs. For some, the corollary to this truth is that the measure of their success in life directly corresponds to the amount of their salary.
Some would say that we live in a culture which idolizes work, that today’s capitalistic society has taken the Puritan work ethic, one which praised individualism and thrift, and distorted it into a dangerous, frenzied race for “the top.” Once people worked to live; now they live to work. Work is often worshipped, and one’s status, intelligence, and virtue are determined by how well that work pays.
As Christians, we attempt to recapture the vision of work as related to the creating, sustaining, and transforming work of God. Our vocation is not defined simply by our paid employment. What we do at home, in churches, in our volunteer and political activities, all contribute to the “work” that embraces the whole of our lives. As Alistair Mackenzie writes, this kind of Christian vocation is not a passive one that “surrenders to the status quo, but one that will contest corruption and exploitation and work to name and resist what is evil and to transform bad circumstances” (Vocation: Historical Survey of Christian Understandings, June 1997, www.faithwork.org.nz).
As members of One Body, we know that each part of that Body is unique, valuable, and respected. The early Christian community recognized this truth and set a system in place which protected the dignity and worth of every member, regardless of economic status. These early followers of Jesus recognized that an uneven distribution of wealth impacted the health of the whole community. One’s ability to secure, or hold onto, financial resources did not elevate that person to a position of higher regard. In a society where many barriers made it extremely difficult for the poor to better their plight, the Christian community created a system which allowed every member to have basic needs met and to feel respected for his or her contribution to the whole body of believers. It was only then that they could all be “united, heart and soul.”
In today’s society, similar forces are at work to create great disparities between rich and poor. The worship of work and the measure of one’s worth by one’s salary cause a devaluation of many types of employment. People who work in textile mills, sweet potato fields, fast-food restaurants, or many other types of low-paying positions are seen as less “valuable,” not as important to society at large, and indeed, even “expendable.” Coupled with this devaluation of certain types of labor is the pervasive American ethos that hard work will always allow one to succeed. If someone is poor, it is simply because she is not working hard enough to pull herself (and her children) up by her own boot straps. Therefore, to be poor, by this reasoning, means that a person has been irresponsible and lazy. Also, if she has been working in one of the devalued jobs which have been labeled less important and therefore poorly paid, she is also considered unintelligent and unimportant.
The fact that
North Carolina
has kept the minimum wage level at $5.15 since 1997 is a reflection of our society’s buy-in to this way of thinking. Corporate profits have taken precedence over quality of life issues for the whole community. Numerous studies have shown that a person living in
North Carolina
simply can’t survive on the income from a full-time, minimum wage job. Working hard is not enough. These same studies reveal that a living wage of $10.60, twice the current level, is necessary just to get by. Yet, citizens and legislators have failed to step up to the plate when it comes to increasing minimum wage to a living wage standard.
In David Shipler's book, The Working Poor: Invisible in America, he tells the story of Caroline Payne. Her face and gums are distorted because her dentures, financed by Medicaid, don't fit. Because they don't fit, she is turned down for jobs due to her appearance. She was born poor and has bounced from one poverty-wage job to another all her life. She has the will to move up, but not the resources to deal with unexpected problems like a mentally handicapped daughter, a broken marriage, a sudden layoff. Shipler writes, “In the house of the poor, the walls are thin and fragile, and troubles seep into one another.”
This would make Jesus angry. It should make his followers feel righteous indignation and a determination to work for change. Over the years some have done just that. As Bill Moyers points out in his sermon, “Let's Get Jesus Back,” we need to reclaim the prophetic Jesus who has been hijacked by the religious right.
“Let's get Jesus back,” he writes. “The Jesus who inspired a Methodist ship-caulker named Edward Rogers to crusade across New England for an eight-hour workday…the Jesus who caused Frances William to rise up against the sweatshop…The Jesus in whose name Dorothy Day challenged the church to march alongside auto workers in Michigan, fishermen and textile workers in Massachusetts, brewery workers in New York, and marble cutters in Vermont…The Jesus who led Martin Luther King to Memphis to join sanitation workers in their struggle for a decent wage” (from an address by Bill Moyers at Riverside Church, New York City, October 4, 2004.)
It is time for Christians to reclaim our vocation in the original sense of working for a fair and just society where evil is named and oppressive structures are transformed. Our work is to acknowledge the worth and dignity of those who work beside us, whether it be in factory, field, office, or store. We work for the common good, so that we move closer to the day when we may all be “united, heart and soul.”
By Rev. Denise Cumbee Long,
Binkley Memorial Baptist Church, Chapel Hill, NC
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