Monday 8 November 2021

Every Good Endeavour - Tim Keller, Katherine Leary Alsdorf

Introduction

obstacles - expressive individualism; job vs. vocation; work to live vs. live to work

hope - Leaf by Niggle by J.R.R. Tolkien (the author of The Lord of the Rings, writer's block, question his vision to produce a fantasy, in the league of The Iliad, The Mahabharata); our work will bear fruit in heaven; Is this idea backed by the scripture?

how to make the right choice - ability (Can you do it?), affinity (Do you like it?), opportunity (Is there any open position?);

Part One: God's Plan for Work

1. The Design of Work - God-ordained; God did work and God saw that the creation was good; God took rest; Jesus was a carpenter (The Chosen); Paul was a tent-maker;
2. The Dignity of Work - basic human need; The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (depicts the dignity of labour, the protagonist is a butler); Mike, the doorman;
3. Work as Cultivation - culture mandate (culture building); job description (Genesis 1)
4. Work as Service - the Divine providence; spiritual work vs. secular work (Martin Luther, we have many needs including food, clothing, shelter, WiFi);

Part Two: Our Problems with Work

1. Work becomes fruitless - sin (paradise lost, things fall apart); two extremes: idealism (optimistic about good end-result) vs. cynicism (pessimistic about good end-result); choice (post-war years vs. current years, my parents' generation vs. my generation); wrong job probably;

2. Work becomes pointless - Ecclesiastes (meaningless, chasing after the wind;); alienated labour, Karl Marx (unable to see the end-result, agrarian economy vs. industrialized economy vs. service economy);

3. Work becomes selfish - Tower of Babel (establish one's identity, pride in one's own labour, tribalism to ensure security); Esther "in the Palace"; the Ovarian lottery (privilege, grace of God); IIT-JEE top rankers (identity through CS IITB); competitive pride (C.S. Lewis, publish or perish, by hook or by crook);

Idols of `Workship': Idol is something that is prominent, takes away too much of your energy and is considered sacrosanct. (1) traditional: collectivism (racism, religious fundamentalism, casteism, nationalism); (2) modern: individualism, emphasis on science, facts and figures, power of reasoning; and (3) post-modern: rise of cynicism (e.g. Terminator, Jurassic Park), liberalism (e.g. gender fluidity), means-without-an-end. 
Christians ought to discern the idols functioning in their professions and industries. Some examples are shown below:
  • Idols in UESI Ministry: organize camps vs. personal evangelism, share gospel vs. build relationships, study WoG vs. practise WoG;
  • Idols in NLP research: publication quantity vs. value of output; SOTA vs. elegance;

Part Three: The Gospel and Work

a new worldview: three questions (origin, purpose, destiny); the gospel worldview (everything was good, the world is fallen, Jesus as the embodiment of God's grace); think of the gospel as a pair of glasses through which you look at everything else in the world;

impact of gospel view on society: culture of Europe and the West in general; high regard for human rights; development of democracy; civil society (waste management, punctuality, product quality, efficiency at work);

dualism vs. integration at work: wrong notion that Christian work means taking part in overtly Christian activities; the danger of excessively spiritualizing things in life;

the doctrine of common grace (everybody is created in the image of God; Psalm 19); appreciate the work done by non-Christians; the Divine providence; avoid disengagement with popular culture (James Cameron, Hans Zimmer, Blessy, JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, MN Karassery, Sunil P Ilayidom, Santhosh George Kulangara);

ethics and morality at workplace: personal dishonesty (e.g. exaggerate current salary), corruption (e.g. lobbying), lack of transparency (e.g. complex financial instruments);

How to incorporate faith into work? 

  • in general: respect coworkers and colleagues; exercise wisdom (know God, know oneself, learn from experience, the book of Proverbs, the Holy Spirit); be generous with time and investment; display resilience under distress or failure;
  • gospel worldview and business: serve the common good; profits are not inherently evil;
  • gospel worldview and higher education: improve quality; make it accessible to everyone regardless of background, sex or race; avoid pride (IIT/IITM, Ivy League)

Do the right thing not because of the incentives it brings but because it is the right thing to do.

"Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 2: 11)

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness..." (2 Timothy 4: 7, 8a)

vocational discipleship

How can we have any freedom from the temptations of work and still keep our job?

motivation: passion (passion of the Christ), living sacrifice (Romans 12: 1); serve the work;
rest: rest in the finished work of God (Leaf by Nibble);

people matter < institutions matter

References

  1. Book URL
  2. Study guide, Nancy Erisman
  3. Keller/Alsdorf, Redeemer Church
  4. Alsdorf, ToW

 

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