Talk 3: The Joy of Work
By the time Florence, who belonged to a wealthy and aristocratic family, was an adolescent, she had already begun visiting the poor and sick in her English village. In her Curriculum Vitae, 1851 – she wrote: “God has always led me of Himself … The first idea I can recollect when I was a child was a desire to nurse the sick. My daydreams were all of hospitals and I visited them whenever I could. I never communicated it to anyone, it would have been laughed at; but I thought God had called me to serve Him in that way.” [1]
She had inwardly longed to find a meaningful vocation – once asking Dr Howe, a visiting philanthropist “Do you think it would be unsuitable and unbecoming for a young Englishwoman to devote herself to works of charity in hospitals ….” to which he responded “…. go forward if you have a vocation for that way of life; act up to your inspiration and you will find there is never anything unbecoming in doing your duty for the good of others. Choose, go on with it wherever it may lead you and God be with you.” [2]Nearing the age of 30 she wrote in her diary, “Oh God, thou puttest into my heart this great desire to devote myself to the sick and sorrowful. I offer it to thee, do with it what is for thy service.” [3]
Florence Nightingale (1820 – 1910) went on to become the founder of modern nursing, a legendary pioneer in hospital reform. During the Crimean war she took thirty‑eight nurses to Turkey to serve in the army hospital. Best known as the ‘lady with the lamp’, this symbol does not adequately convey the radical path of discipleship she took, making nursing an acceptable vocation for educated women of all classes and the dramatic improvement she made in hospital care.
God enjoyed his work in creating the heavens and the earth which he looked at and saw it was good. He created humans in His image to be caretakers and cultivators of creation’s resources to promote the wellbeing of all. The Hebrew word “avodah” is translated in the Bible for both worship and work. The use of the word in Genesis 2:15 implies that God’s design for our lives would be that work would flow from a life of worship to God and would be an expression of worship. Work in the garden reflected creative and entrepreneurial giftedness and part of being authentically human.
After the Fall, the consequence was that work became a toil. In our culture, this is expressed in many ways. Often it is seen as a necessary evil to just earn a living so that we have money to enjoy real life at the weekend. For many, it has become a god where their sense of worth is bound up in being successful. For others, the lack of meaningful work through unemployment or underemployment, have led to significant wellbeing issues.
Education offers our students a range of dizzying choices regarding work. It is estimated that this generation will have “eighteen different jobs over six distinct careers.” [4] Many of these future jobs don’t currently exist. Therefore, for us as teachers, the question comes – how do we help our students navigate life whilst drowning in a sea of choices and opportunities? How do we help them choose well in the area of work?
It means that right from Kindergarten, we engage students in teaching and learning and service activities that affirm that each student has a unique calling to count for good in God’s creation, using their gifts and available resources. A calling, or vocation, is deeper than a job or a career, but a direction in life that serves to bless the world for Jesus’ sake. Work is service whether it is paid or unpaid. “Calling is the truth that God calls us to Himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do and everything we have invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to His summons and service.” [5] Can the redemptive power of the risen Christ help our students to embrace work in this new way?
The Bible makes it clear that God calls us to a vocation and gifts as to fulfil as part of our life’s purpose to love God and love our neighbours as ourselves. “The re-imagining of garden work through the lens of the resurrection calls us to apply the best insights from creation, vocation and gifts to re-shape our everyday work (Rise – Reimagining the resurrection life”. [6]
The primary purpose of life for all God’s people is to know and love God and be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8: 29). Each person is called by God to fulfil his/her particular calling as their life response to God. Seen through this lens a student’s calling is a sacred task, as it refers to all their work, including their schoolwork. In God’s Kingdom, there is no ‘secular’ work, as every area of life is a place of nearness and service to God. This understanding of vocation will be articulated in the language we use. How are students encouraged to use their gifts? In our culture, vocational education refers to the trade subjects and are generally seen as ‘less academic’. This is a false distinction, for all gifts are to be valued. What opportunities do we create for artistic and practical gifts to be exercised and celebrated? What opportunities in our class do we provide to nurture leadership gifts and to pursue a personal interest? As we speak to parents, do we speak loudly to the purpose of God for His people and the higher calling to a life of service?
Throughout my time as an educator, I am aware of many students who chose a career for the purpose of serving. Just like Florence Nightingale, God sowed a desire in their hearts to fulfil their distinctive calling. Assisting students to embrace this view of work is modelled by teachers and those whose lives reflect this reality. It is important to invite those to speak at our assemblies, presentations and classes who are doing ‘ordinary’ jobs and tasks with a heart to serve and bless. Let us tell stories of those whose lives made the world a better place and inspire students in the direction of their calling.
“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
[1] Os Guinness, Entrepreneurs of Life -Faith & Venture of Purposeful Living, (Colorado Springs, NAVPRESS, 2001), 119
[2] Ibid, 122
[4] The Future of Work (https://mccrindle.com.au/article / topic/work – wellbeing/the-future-of-work)
[5] Os Guinness, Entrepreneurs of Life- Faith and the Venture of Purposeful Living,17
[6] Jim Baucom & Ross Clifford, Rise-Reimagining the Resurrection Life, ( Australia: Morling Press & USA: Wpf & Stock Publishers, 2021), 86