In the middle of a long day, teaching in a stifling, leeward classroom that still hasn't recovered electricity and the fans it powers, it's easy to think of work as something unnatural or unfortunate. After all, as the saying goes, they wouldn't call it work if it were fun.
But between reading news accounts of abortive home front employment initiatives and hearing people approach me, the conspicuous (but ironically, unpaid) foreigner on the street, for jobs on at least a weekly basis, there's another perspective. A lot of people are familiar with Genesis 3.17, after Adam's original sin: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life." That's why they don't call it fun. But less known is Genesis 2.15, "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." So work was around before we had the chance to curse at it. That's why many people in a position to freely volunteer their labor often do it.
The German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer's first question for the ethics of vocation was, “What is the place
and what are the limits of my responsibility?” His answer was another question, To whom are we being called? His answer to that was Jesus. Though I can't claim to have always and everywhere heeded the call to Jesus while on (or off) the clock, I'm grateful that the answer is so simple, since my career, as it were, is a bit scattered. Since the age of 14, I've been a...
But between reading news accounts of abortive home front employment initiatives and hearing people approach me, the conspicuous (but ironically, unpaid) foreigner on the street, for jobs on at least a weekly basis, there's another perspective. A lot of people are familiar with Genesis 3.17, after Adam's original sin: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life." That's why they don't call it fun. But less known is Genesis 2.15, "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." So work was around before we had the chance to curse at it. That's why many people in a position to freely volunteer their labor often do it.
The German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer's first question for the ethics of vocation was, “What is the place
and what are the limits of my responsibility?” His answer was another question, To whom are we being called? His answer to that was Jesus. Though I can't claim to have always and everywhere heeded the call to Jesus while on (or off) the clock, I'm grateful that the answer is so simple, since my career, as it were, is a bit scattered. Since the age of 14, I've been a...
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| John after a hard day's work in Malakal |
Librarian
English teacher
Model (I’m huge in Japan)
Camp counselor
Legal secretary
Mover
Risk management clerk
Mineral rights lease recorder
Deli cashier
Christmas tree salesman
NATO grand strategy researcher
Asia policy wonk
Caterer
Nuclear lobbyist
Driver
Nuclear non-proliferation consultant
Immigrant church researcher
Church pastoral staff member
Church secretary
Seminary professor
Non-profit development officer
Of course, some of those jobs have been longer and more lucrative than others, but at 1.5 jobs per year, I'm glad that career tracks don't define piousness. Also, really, really thankful to my employers, my parents, my country, my wife, and God for helping me find all those opportunities, even the sweaty ones.
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