1: When we reflect on the disasters and atrocities of the last 100 years, it is easy to be discouraged.
“It is more a mood than a coherent set of beliefs,” Tim Keller writes in Every Good Endeavor. “There is far more cynicism about all truth claims and plans for society—both older traditional ones and more modern, liberal ones,” he observes.
“Movies and novels about the future in the mid-twentieth century often depicted a human society filled with unceasing progress in health, education, scientific knowledge, and social harmony.
“Today nearly all movies and novels are far more pessimistic and narrate all sorts of dystopian outcomes.”
Beginning about five hundred years ago, big changes occurred in Western societies.
“With the rise of modern science and the philosophical movement called the Enlightenment,” Tim writes, “modern society dethroned the idols of religion, tribe, and tradition—replacing them with reason, empiricism, and individual freedom as the ultimate values that overrule all others.
“The modern value of ‘reason’ includes several elements. One is the ideal of progress, embodied in the unstoppable forward march of science and technology.”
This radical new hope in human reason was accompanied by an elevation in the importance of individual freedom. “Modern societies no longer saw the world as containing binding moral norms of truth to which all people must submit,” Tim observes.
2: Yesterday, we examined the concept of “idols” in our lives. Idols are “a good thing” we turn into the “ultimate thing,” Tim writes.
“The idols of modern culture have had a profound influence on the shape of our work today,” he notes.
“In traditional societies, people found their meaning and sense of value by submitting their interests and sacrificing their desires to serve higher causes like God, family, and other people.
“In modern societies there is often no higher cause than individual interests and desires.”
The new, modern worldview has had a profound impact on how we see our work. Tim quotes philosopher Luc Ferry, who writes: Work is now seen as “an arena for self-realization, a means not only of educating oneself but also of fulfillment. . . . Work becomes the defining activity of man. . . . His aim is to create himself by remaking the world.”
But, there is a “shadow” to our new way of thinking: Since we’ve left behind a larger vision for “healthy human life or good human society, we are left with nothing but individual competition for personal success and power,” Tim notes.
Which, at the extreme, can result in scandal, deception, and fraud, as evidenced by the 2008 financial crisis.
3: So, is there a way to find hope in our work?
Yes, Tim believes; the Bible shows us the path forward: “The Christian gospel,” he writes, “decidedly furnishes us with the resources for more inspired, realistic, satisfying, and faithful work today.”
We start by acknowledging a single important truth: “Nothing will be put perfectly right, as St. Paul says, until the ‘day of Christ’ at the end of history (Philippians 1:6; 3:12). Until then all creation “groans” (Romans 8:22) and is subject to decay and weakness.”
There will be challenges. There will be setbacks. There will be difficult times. Our work will not lead to personal nirvana.
Instead, as Christians, we approach our work “as partnering with God in his love and care for the world,” he writes.
“This biblical conception helps us appreciate all work, from the most simple to the most complex, by both believers and nonbelievers.”
We can also choose to see our work as a way to practice our faith. “The gospel gives us a particularly sensitive new moral compass,” Tim notes, “through a host of sound ethical guidelines to help us make decisions, as well as wise counsel about human hearts.”
Finally, because the gospel “radically changes our motives for work,” we are filled with a “durable inner power that will be with us through thick and thin.”
More tomorrow.
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Reflection: How might I re-frame my work through my spiritual beliefs?
Action: Discuss with a family member, friend, or colleague.
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