This is
the final post in my series on myths about work. If you’re interested, here are
part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4. For this post, I’d like to broaden my focus
a bit to include not only the work we are paid to do but also other things we
feel we must accomplish. That includes things like housework, serving at church
or volunteering. Many people buy into the myth that these actions define our
relationship with God.
In the
Babylonian myth that I’ve been comparing to the Christian story, the gods
created people to do work for them. Since the work was assigned by the gods, we
can infer that their attitude toward you would depend on how well you work. In
Babylonian religious life, this worked out as sacrifices. People would give
sacrifices as food to the gods. In return for these gifts, they would bless
their worshipers (theoretically, at least).
Here in
Taiwan, I often see people burning incense or paper money or leaving out food
for gods, ghosts or their ancestors. But even in the religions that no longer require
these kinds of sacrifices, one’s relationship to God (or the gods) is often
dependent on obeying a set of commands or moral principles.
Even in
churches, this myth is prevalent. I accepted it for much of my childhood.
Sunday School lessons tended to focus on what God wanted us to do and examples
of heroes to follow. Or at least, that’s how I understood it at the time. When
I got into junior high school, the gospel message was proclaimed a bit more
often, but it still took an awfully long time for me to get the point.
Throughout
junior high school I felt incredibly guilty because I couldn’t bring myself to
do what God required of me. Most notably, I knew I should reach out and share
the gospel with people, but I was painfully shy and couldn’t work up the
courage to do so. Finally, I gave up. I told God, “I can’t do this. If You want
me to be a good person, You have to change me.”
Little
did I know that that was exactly what God wanted. I admitted that I couldn’t
earn His love, but I turned to Him in faith, believing that He could and would
accept me anyway.
When we
look at the Genesis creation story, God did ask Adam to tend and keep the
garden He had made. But it was already a beautiful place filled with fruit
trees. God showered Adam with blessings even before Adam had had a chance to do
anything. In other words, the Biblical creation story starts with a free gift.
And
although the Israelites and the Babylonians both performed sacrifices, their
purposes were very different. The Babylonians sacrificed in return for favors
to provide the gods with food. (Don’t want the immortals to starve to death.)
In
contrast, the Israelite sacrifices were given either to atone for sin or to
express gratitude. God was very clear that He didn’t need sacrifices. He didn’t
even want them as much as He wanted His people to obey Him. But the real
meaning of the sacrifices became clear thousands of years later. They were a
picture of Jesus, who died on the cross to bring people forgiveness for their
sins.
It is
this gift, the sacrifice of Christ, that allows us to have a good relationship
with God. Not sacrifices we give God. Not even our own obedience. Only a gift
of grace.
The
Biblical view of work is complex and multifaceted. We’ve seen how it is a good
thing that reflects the image of God in us. But it is neither our purpose nor the
thing that determines our value. We work, not primarily because God told us to,
but because God works, and we were born to be like Him. God’s work is the
foundation for our work. And it, not our own effort, is the foundation of our
relationship with Him.
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