Work in the Spirit, part 2

This was my most “technical read” so far, yet Volf’s thoughts are not only clear but provocative, challenging and insightful. One part that stuck out to me was when Volf spoke of the concept of “expanding needs.” The thought was basically this: as the wealth of a society grows, its “felt product-needs” grow as well. We begin to think we need more things as “wealth, technology and opportunity” grow in our midst. For example, just a few years ago, I was satisfied with my AOL “dial-up” internet connection. Today, not only do I “need” high-speed access, but I can hardly “go without” my blackberry phone with internet access “all the time.” And don’t we see this in many areas of life as we experience expanding "needs" for “conveniences, according to the nicety and delicacy of taste” (p. 149)? Isn't it much more difficult to be satisfied with “bread and water,” once you’ve tasted delicate pastries and wine?

Nonetheless, what fascinates me the most about Volf’s assessment isn’t so much his assessment; most reading this would agree with this idea of our “expanding felt product needs,” rather what fascinates me the most is Volf’s answer to the “challenge.” He begins by critiquing the more typical Christian response, asceticism, i.e. denial of “good things.” As Volf says, asceticism denies the “dynamic nature” of human needs and misinterprets the “Biblical tradition that affirms the goodness of creation and the enjoyment of it” (Matt. 11:19, 1Tim. 6:17). Still, the “endless spiral in which today’s desires become tomorrow’s needs” must be limited as well, lest great damage result. For one, creation becomes destroyed and ravaged if limits aren’t imposed (see Haiti’s ecological crisis, for example). Also, good things become ultimate things. The consumption of a created thing for enjoyment for the glory of God (a good thing) becomes the sole object of our pursuit and desire, i.e. idolatrous (an ultimate thing) and lives become harmed as a result.

So, if the “answer” is not asceticism, how do we deal with these problems? and affirm the goodness of pursuing material “needs,” at the same time? Volf’s answer is we must see that we have other fundamental needs as well. These are what Volf calls “fundamental non-product needs”: 1) Communion with God; 2) Need for Solidarity with Nature; 3) for Tending to the Well-Being of Others; 4) Human Development of Moral Capacities (nurturing “fruit of the Spirit”) and Practical and Intellectual Skills (developing “gifts of the Spirit”). And ultimately, these “fundamental non-product needs" point us to our single, universal underlying need, ... the Kingdom, i.e. the New Creation (Matt. 6:33).  

In fact, the pursuit of these “non-product” needs are not only a way to keep us from unlimited and unhealthy consumption, but a way for us to realize the fullness of our humanity. So we might see some ways in which these four areas are inter-connected. Working for structures that promote human creativity and flexibility in work, matching human “giftings” (by the Spirit) with work roles and giving workers a clear sense of how their contribution fits into the larger narrative of the purpose behind their work (i.e. the organization’s “larger purpose”), also how their work benefits the “common good” (#4 connects with #3), ... all this fulfills fundamental needs we have. The well-being of society becomes our need and therefore our aim. Also, while work has instrumental value to sustain us and meet our needs, it also becomes an end in itself. You see, our work is meant to glorify God (#1). We see ourselves as working for Him ultimately. As the Reformers insisted, we were meant to work “in play and with the greatest delight” (p. 198). As much as producing efficiently, we were meant to delight in our work as well. Self-forgetfulness is our aim as working for Christ becomes our fundamental pursuit; “everything is added to us as well” as we seek His Kingdom and righteousness (Matt. 6:33). Finally, we steward "non-human creation," because it is a co-heir with us in future glory (Rom. 8:20,21). Not only does this care and preservation of nature (#2) honor a “co-recipient of divine blessing” but benefits others globally and future generations as well. Care of creation becomes a way for producing and extending limited resources to a broader reach (connecting #3 with #2), instead of consuming with only the needs of the individual self in mind.

Where there is creative freedom, understanding of the larger purpose behind the work and how it benefits the common good; where work glorifies God and becomes an end in itself, an object of delight and worship; and where our solidarity with creation and with one another is strengthened, ... the Kingdom comes. Still, it is naïve to ignore the larger structural and economic forces that keep us in roles of “alienating” work. We can pursue these opportunities and seek to place ourselves in the best possible situations; however, part of working for the "common good" means that we examine the systemic and structural evils that keep others from engaging in meaningful / nonalienating / humanizing work. Volf argues that a market economy provides the best possibility for this kind of work; however, that the common good must be a high valuation in this kind of society. What is our responsibility to one another and to the world in which we live? As Calvin once wrote, “It is not enough when a man can say, ‘Oh, I labor, I have my craft,’ or ‘I have such a trade.’ That is not enough. But we must see whether it is good and profitable for the common good, and whether his neighbors may fare better for it” (p. 189). Ultimately, as we work in the Spirit, what we seek is a vision of the New Creation. In the present, we are realistic in that we understand there will always be “toil” this side of “glory,” ... still we work with hopefulness because in our possession is the Resurrection of Christ and the resultant pouring forth of the Spirit's gifts onto His people.