StreetWise - May 2013
by Paul Hazelden
Dear friends,
A number of conversations recently have turned to the subject
of work.
Perhaps it has been on my mind - as you probably know, we have
been recruiting for a new Head of Fundraising - but perhaps I've
been discovering that other people are also concerned about the
subject.
On top of these conversations, I have found various reports and
studies on healthcare which say there are 'two major determinants of
public health' (two things which affect the health of people more than
anything else): a home, and a job.
I don't think it is a coincidence that our two longest running
projects focus on precisely these two needs: helping people find and
keep a home, and helping them find and keep a job.
Of course, this is not news to anyone who reads and takes seriously
the Old Testament. We are told that after the first man was created,
"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work
it and take care of it." (Genesis 2:15)
The very first thing God did for Adam was to give him a home and a
job. It's not surprising: He knows what we need.
After the fall, work becomes harder, but work is not a result of the
fall, and it is not something we shall be redeemed from. "Do you not
know that we will judge angels?" (1 Corinthians 6:3) Who knows what
other work we will be given to do in Heaven?
As soon as we start to talk about work, all kinds of other things need
to be said.
Not all work is equally good. There are good jobs and bad jobs, work
which helps other people and encourages you to grow as a person, and
work which is harmful and soul-destroying. God created us to do good
work, so we have to choose the right work.
Of course, not all work is fun, and sometimes we just have to grit our
teeth and get on with it. And sometimes work is good for us precisely
because it makes us do things we don't want to do.
Not all work is paid. People sometimes seem to assume that if work
has no salary, it has no value. We know this is not true. This whole
ministry depends on the work done by hundreds of volunteers who work
and love and give themselves without payment.
And there are many other forms of unpaid work, the most obvious one
being the work done by parents and grandparents in caring for and
nurturing the next generation. People don't stop working just
because they retire. Society may not fully value this unpaid work,
but God does.
We should not be defined by our jobs. You may work as a dustman,
dentist or delivery driver, a sales assistant, secretary or surgeon,
but you are a child of God, created in His image to reflect His
character by the way you live. And much of the way you live, the
opportunities and challenges, will be shaped by the work you are
called to do.
We live in a society in which work has been devalued, regarded as only
an economic activity. We live in a society in which many people have
bought into the lie that work is an imposition, to be avoided where
possible.
Affirming the Biblical truth is a good start, but we need to go beyond
this. People need jobs, so we need to create jobs - good jobs. Jobs
that can be done by the people who need them, not just the highly
educated and the privileged, jobs that can grow with the skills and
confidence of the worker.
A few organisations have made a start in this area - Aspire and Emmaus
are two obvious examples. But we need much more. We need to pray and
think and plan and work to create the jobs that can get people off
benefits and enable them to start building a future they want to live
in.
Work - good work - is a blessing. And it is a blessing everyone
should have the opportunity to experience. Because that is what our
Father wants for all His children.
Every blessing,
Paul