Homily at Penance Service
By James L. Connor, S.J. In his wonderful book, Habits of the Heart, Robert Bellah and his collaborators
talk about work and three different ways in which we can regard it. We can think of our
work, they say, as a job, or as a career, or finally as a calling or vocation.
Each of these perspectives has its merits and its limitations. I will describe each in
order, mentioning strengths and weaknesses in each case. This process will provide, I
hope, a handy examination of consciousness for each of us as we think of our own work
place and ask ourselves, "What it is to be a Christian in the work place." A job is something we do from 9 to 5 in order to put food on the table. In this view,
work is purely instrumental, a means to an end, the end being to support ourselves, to
support our families, and to meet our other economic needs or desires, including donations
to charity. Work is not our "real life." Our "real life" is with our
family, with God and the church, with our friends in the recreational and social
activities that we enjoy. We work in order to get the money to do good; work is not
particularly doing good. Hopefully we are not doing bad at work, and most of us are
conscientious and careful not to lie, cheat, steal, or otherwise hurt others. There is something very good about this model or view of work. It keeps work in
perspective, not allowing us to be driven by ambition or greed. It balances work with the
responsibilities and joys of family life and social life. With this perspective comes a
certain personal freedom not to be overly concerned with what people at work think of me,
or whether we are a close knit community or a random gathering of misfits. It doesn't
matter. Work is not that real. It is important only because it brings me an income. If I
could get better income elsewhere, I would go there. There are down sides to this viewpoint and model of work, as you can see. For one, this
makes what I spend 40 or 50 hours a week on to be practically neutral in my life. That's
an enormous investment in what is seen as of no intrinsic value or worth. Moreover, given
this attitude, there is the constant risk that you lack the motivation really to do a
careful, conscientious job at work. You can tend simply to serve time, punch the clock,
and be careless about the product or service. Third, you can regard your fellow workers
almost anonymously -- as changeable parts -- units in the work-machine, and therefore not
to try to develop friendships or collaborative working relationships. Finally, there is
the risk that I am not developing my God-given talents and growing in my gifts, so as to
make my maximum contribution to others -- principally to customers and clients. Here we definitely do strive to develop ourselves, our talents, and gifts. We see work
as an opportunity for personal advancement in the world, to climb up the social ladder, to
achieve greater economic security, and in a real sense to "become ourselves." We
go to work with enthusiasm; we study constantly how we can improve that work, its
productivity, and ourselves in the process. We are desperately concerned that customers
are happy with our product or service, shareholders are satisfied with their returns, and
our supervisors pleased with us. Our heart is in our work, and therefore, we are concerned
for our smooth and productive relationships with fellow employees. We attend professional
development sessions with eagerness, expecting it will be the ladder to higher
responsibility and compensation. This is all to the good. The danger to regarding work as a career is that work can become an ego-trip: focus can
be set on our own advancement and success, and this can titillate pride and vanity.
Moreover, since we are eager for own advancement there is the constant temptation to
undercut others, belittle them as we go up the ladder, and to view our relationships as
competitive: "I win, you lose," (or vice versa). Moreover, the intrinsic purpose
and value of work is no more important to the careerist than to the "job"
person: work is a means to my advancement. I care about the product, the customer, and the
company only to the degree that and insofar as they serve my personal interests of
advancement. I feel no particular loyalty to any of them in themselves. The careerist
understandably finds it painful to hear Jesus' words, "Whoever seeks self will lose
self." Or elsewhere: "What doth it profit a person to gain the whole world and
lose oneself in the process?" Such a person's view includes the good aspects of the two previous points of view about
work, namely a job and a career. With the "job perspective," this person
realizes that work puts food on the table, supports the family, and all the other
activities that go into a full and productive life. Work, for this person, is also
important and valuable as the way he or she hones skills, develops talents, and utilizes
God-given gifts. Talents are not hidden under a bushel basket or buried in the ground. But besides being a job and a career, work, for this person, is a calling or vocation
-- because it is seen as a response to collaborate with Jesus in his work of shaping our
world and us human beings to become the Kingdom of God. This person hears and takes
seriously what St. Paul said about us in the reading we just heard from Ephesians:
"Each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gifts ... for
building up the body of Christ, until all of us come..to maturity, to the full measure of
the stature of Christ." With this perspective, whatever we do at work is regarded as a way of assisting people
to form caring community. What I do not only supplies individual needs but helps us all to
achieve the good of us all -- the common good of all. The focus, therefore, is not on me
-- either my survival or my advancement -- but on "us," how I am helping us
human beings to become a happy, harmonious, peaceful, and productive family of God. Seeing
my work within this full scope of God's plan, my work is obviously intrinsically
important: people need clothes if they are to live in dignity as God's people, and I sell
clothing at the Hecht Company. People need education if they are to fulfill their
vocations in life, and I am a teacher at Holy Trinity grade school. People need food to
become a family of God, and I check them out at the Safeway -- and that is important.
Moreover I regard the people I work with, my fellow employees, as indispensable
collaborators in the building of this community. I realize that all of us, working
together, are building up the Body of Christ. The down-side to this vocational viewpoint of work is not that the model itself is
limited or partial. By nature the model is altruistic, other-oriented, and all-embracing.
It sees work as a practice of charity, regard of others, of all of us others together. The
danger, rather, is in the person who prides him or herself on doing work as vocation and
then judges others' behavior self-righteously and sanctimoniously. There is the additional
temptation of confusing work as vocation with a subtle form of work-aholism: we are so
busy "loving and serving the world" through work that we have no time for
family, friends and the recreational activities that preserve balance, perspective, and
good humor in our lives. I am reminded of the child's prayer, "Dear Lord, please make
the bad people good, and the good people nice!" But even with the best and most balanced perspective it is not easy to live out
work-as-a-vocation in the market place. It is a constant challenge to our generosity.
Moreover, some businesses have a culture that seems diametrically opposed to the charity
that underlies the work-as-vocation motivation and viewpoint. In such businesses, the
worst aspects of careerism reign: egoism, competitiveness, greed, and cut-throat treatment
of others. Then part of our vocation is to do our best to modify and convert the place in
which we work. Other work places, thanks be to God, are much more congenial to the person
who sees work as a vocation. As you review these three perspectives on work, where do you see yourself? That is the
question we ask ourselves in our examination of consciousness this evening. And as each of
us reflects on ourself, let's pray for one another a prayer that Robert Bellah quotes from
the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, " Lord, so guide us in the work we do, that we
do it not for the self alone, but for the common good. Amen." (Habits, page
66)
Holy Trinity - January 21, 1997
So first, work can be viewed as a job.
Beyond it being a job, we can regard our work as a career.
Finally, it is possible to regard one's work as a calling.
See also: