The book’s title is suggesting: Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work. In this book by Tim Keller, the renowned pastor of Redeemer Prebysterian Church, Keller affirms the goodness of work as part of God’s original design in order for human life to be meaningful and purposeful, unlike some who deem work to be a consequence of the fall, thus to be dismissed in the coming Kingdom of God. However, this can never be enough for all the questions, struggles and doubts that workers in many areas and fields have. Thus, Keller employs the traditional orthodox framework of creation-fall-redemption in order to address such questions, struggles, and doubts. Interestingly enough, Keller’s strategy shows the effectiveness of this seemingly outdated theological framework for persuading contemporary audiences. That is not to say that Keller does not do any translating work in bringing in the framework for the concerns about faith and work: he turns them into questions that everyday people at work might naturally pose. For the element of creation, Keller asks, “why do you want to work?” For the element of the fall, the question is “why is it so hard to work?” Last, Keller asks, “how can we find satisfaction in our work through the gospel?” addressing each of the three respective parts in the book. Such attempt at translating theological and propositional language into that of life story and everyday lives seems successful, at least for the young urban working professionals in Manhattan, NYC.
In part one, Keller wholeheartedly admits that work, as it was originally meant, was good and necessary for human life in terms of pursuing meaningful lives, of expressing our God-given talents and gifts, and of becoming means to serving our neighbor and society at large. This has two deeper implications. First, since every work is good, it is wrong to see some work as novel and other as ignoble, judging them by the amount of financial remuneration each profession yields. Keller critiques Manhattan’s classism here. He provides as evidence that the Hebrew Bible uses a particular Hebrew verb, mlkh, usually referring to manual labor back then in the original context (20). Also, reminding that Jesus was a carpenter was part of the same strategy for cultural critique. In addition, Keller insinuates hints of critique for contemporary education that sees education only as means to well-paying jobs.
Second, arguing that in our fingers of milking cows lay the fingers of God serving and feeding people, Keller also critiques our dualistic perspective on the division between sacred and secular works. Back in Luther’s times, people generally understood that working as priests or nuns may be more favorable in the eyes of God for salvation, and Luther criticizes this cultural outlook on the basis of the doctrine of justification by grace through faith, whose message is that God never favors anybody by the measure of the work that person does, but only favors them by God’s inexplicable grace. Since every work is good and holy, what matters is our motivation and outlook being grounded in the gospel message, not trying to earn God’s favor in light of what we do. Reaffirming our callings from God as co-cultivators and vice-regents of God’s work of cultivating, creating, and sustaining God’s creation, Keller wraps up his discussions in this part.
Thus, in part three Keller is qualified to ask “how can we find satisfaction in our work through the gospel?” with all the justification for asking it accrued so far. Speaking straightforwardly, Keller argues that the gospel restores our connection to God, replacing our work-given identities with God-given identities, leaving work to be mere work, and nothing else. We no longer need to be workaholic to earn credit for who we are from people around us, nor can we dismiss work as nothing but a result of the fall, something to be discarded in the restored world of God’s kingdom. What Keller takes pains at showing here deep in the undercurrent of his discussions comes from Robert Bellah’s warning of the disappearance of individuals working for common good and communities. According to Bellah, our society trains and forms individuals who are intent on self-actualizing and self-asserting so much that little chance remains for our society to educate and form sacrificial people serving others faithfully. The alternative Bellah suggests is the restoration of the concept of God’s calling for work. It is in this background that Keller calls for the importance of faith and work, not just as an expression of the church’s public faith, but also the church’s unique ways of serving society at large through serving common good.
Some of my readers might find this dissatisfying, while others might be divided between agreeing and disagreeing with it. What we need to be reminded of is that Keller highlights an important issue that all contemporary church needs to pay more attention to than she does now. Restoring the perspective on work and labor as part of God’s calling should be seen more as ecumenical endeavor, bringing about collaborating between the Roman Catholicism and the Protestant church. While this book is nakedly exposed to the middle-income bias which Keller uncritically employs, it is still worthwhile reading because it shows how the lost connection between the public faith and serving the common good in the lives of God’s church. I highly recommend it. Thank you!