How We Cultivate The Earth
Our Calling
Sociologist Robert Bellah wrote a very significant book in 1985 titled Habits of the Heart.
He and his team interview 200 people asking the question
How is American culture affecting the fabric of our society.
He based his study on the work of the famous 19th Century French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville who in his sociological studies warned or the destructive nature of excessive individualism.
This book helped many identify the thing that is eroding the cohesiveness of our culture
“expressive individualism”
Bellah and his team argue that Americans have created a culture where individual choice and expression have grown to a point where there is no commanding values, and little shared life that has been the historical glue of American society.
“We are moving to an ever greater validation of the sacredness of the individual person, but our capacity to imagine a social fabric that would hold individuals together is vanishing… The sacredness of the individual is not balanced by any sense of the whole or concern for the common good”
Bellah proposes one measure that would counteract the unraveling of our culture and help reweave American society:
“To make a real difference there would have to be a reappropriation of the idea of vocation or calling, a return in a new way to the idea of work as a contribution to the good of all and not merely as a means to one’s own achievement.”
Tim Keller in his book Every Good Endeavor writes
“The hope for our unraveling society is a recovery of the idea of that all human work is not merely a job but a calling.”
The Latin word vocare – to call- is the root of our word “vocation”
Although we think of vocation as our job, it is actually much more.
A vocation is when someone else calls you to do something and you are doing it for them rather than yourself.
And so our work can be a calling only if it is reimagined as a mission of service to someone beyond merely our own interests.
As we shall see, thinking of work mainly as a means of self-fulfillment and self-realization slowly crushes a person, and undermines society itself.
But if we are to “reappropriate” an older idea we must look at the idea’s origin. In this case, the source of the idea of work as vocation is the Christians Scriptures.’
Tim is right. Work for your own self interests has led our American society to a point of personal and cultural desperation.
Let’s see what the Bible says about our Calling, or our Vocation:
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. 2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. Genesis 2:1-3
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. Genesis 2:15
Work is a godly activity. In the Old Testament God appears as a creator, as a gardener
In the New Testament he appears as a constructor, a carpenter.
God creates man and assigns him work: to fill the Earth, rule over it and cultivate it.
Cultivate:
1) to develop, establish, foster, devote yourself to;
2) improve, better, train, discipline, refine, enrich, civilize
From this word we get the word Culture:
The total of the inherited ideals, beliefs, values, and knowledge, which constitute the shared bases of social action.
God’s primary calling, or vocation for us all is to cultivate the Earth with His culture.
Paul echoes this in his letter to his friends in Ephesus:
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 NLT
This was a verse that changed my attitude about work, and my life.
This idea of work being a high idea is unique in human history.
Work has always been viewed differently.
Ancient Greeks thought that the gods had created men to work for them. According to Plato, the ideal life was to develop the soul in a quest for truth and work only hampered this quest.
Greek philosophers like Epictetus and others taught that true peace and happiness was achieved through a non attachment to things in this life.
Leisure contemplation was the ideal form of life, separating you from the cares and concerns of living a physical existence. Work was a barrier to the highest form of life.
However God knows that work is essential to us humans.
Work is a basic need, like food, rest, friendship, sexuality, beauty, and pleasure.
Many Christians through the ages have considered “vocation” to be a work directly for God as a priest, a nun, or monk.
This thinking changed during the Reformation when Martin Luther began to look at the Scriptures and see the divine dignity in every task that benefits society.
Psalm 145 for example God feeds every living thing
The LORD sustains all who fall
And raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to You,
And You give them their food in due time.
You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing. Psalms 145:14-16
Luther wrote that it is through the work, the vocation of society that God provides for all.
“When you pray for your daily bread, you are praying for everything that contributes to your having and enjoying your daily bread. You must open up and expand your thinking, so that it reaches not only as far as the flour bin and baking over but also out over the broad fields, the farmland and the entire country that produces processes and conveys to us our daily bread and all kinds of nourishment.”
“God milks the cows through the vocation of the milk maid.”
I think its clear in the Bible calls us to cultivate our society through Godly behavior, morality, and ethics. He has assigned us positions in our world to accomplish this.
What positions?
First or all we are members of a family. We were all children, and now perhaps we are fathers and mothers.
Next we live in a community. We are neighbors and have people who live around us.
We are citizens of a nation and a city.
We have jobs that provide our income, and ultimately should benefit all those around us.
We are called by God to be a
Good Friend, Good Husband, Wife, and Child
Good Employee Good Boss
Good Citizen and finally A good follower of God.
How are we to do this?
God does give us specific instruction on how we are to be effective in our calling.
Paul wrote a letter to his friends in Colossae to try to help them understand their calling and how to walk it out.
For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. Colossians 1:9-12
- filled with the knowledge of His will;
- walking in a manner worthy of the Lord,
- pleasing Him in all respects,
- bearing fruit in every good work and
- increasing in the knowledge of God;
- strengthened with all power,
- joyously giving thanks
Then he gets into the specifics:
6 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Col 3:16
Being a good friend Encouraging one another
Worshipping together Walking out life together
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Col 3:17
Excellence in your work and speech.
Competence, professionalism, being the best at everything that you do.
18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.
20 Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.
Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart.
Col 3:18-20
Harmonious familiar relationships
Each member knowing their roles to care and cultivate one another.
22 Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23
Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.
It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. 25
For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.
Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven. Colossians 3:22 - 4:1
Proper conduct in the workplace
Giving respect to each member of the team
Never doing a half job, but wholeheartedly making your best effort
Treating each other with kindness
5 Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. Colossians 4:5-6
How to make friends in your community.
Being a “salty person
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16
We Christians are to be know as loyal, friends people who are know for our service to others.
Leonardo DaVinci Last Supper
God has called each of us to serve Him through our specific “vocations” – our callings.
I hope that we will all be able to see how clear and simple are
- Our Roles that we play in our society in this vocation and
- How we are to conduct ourselves in each of these roles.
The Bible makes it very clear.
The most important aspect is that we are first called away from our self centeredness to an awareness of our roles to serve those that God has placed around us.
I work in a café business. You could say I am the boss of Rio Coco Cafes, although I never allow myself to think that way. Mostly.
I have various executive roles to play- financial accounting and planning, cost analysis of our products, managing labor costs, purchasing green coffee, purchasing coffee and kitchen equipment, training our team members.
Then I have my other responsibilities:
I’m the maintenance department. I fix toilets, paint walls, repair plumbing, change light bulbs, repair equipment.
But my most favored job is washing dishes.
There is something about the effect of a 5 second scrub and rinse on a dirty plate that brings me great joy.
A few years ago I found myself at the sink on a very hot day at our café on the Caribbean island of Utila. I was very tired, and there were a lot of dishes. We had many people coming in. Arielle, Moselle, and Naomi were very busy serving the customers. Laura was totally occupied in the kitchen preparing lunch plates.
It is in that moment of fatigue that I remembered a memory verse from Bible school days.
Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. 43 But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:42-45
Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
This became my matra for the rest of the summer. It still is.
This element of service is the key to fulfilling our calling- our vocation.
Tim Keller
“Christians should be aware of this revolutionary understanding of the purpose of their work in the world. We are not to choose jobs and conduct our work to fulfill ourselves and accrue power, for being called by God to do something is empowering enough.
We are to see work as a way of service to God and our neighbor, and so we should choose and conduct our work in accordance with that purpose.
The question regarding our choice of work is no longer “What will make me the most money and given me the most status?”
The question must now be “How, with my existing abilities and opportunities, can I be of greatest service to other people, knowing what I do of God’s will and of human need?”
This is counter intuitive, and counter to our culture.
Yet it the secret to a fulfilled, fruitful, and faithful life.
It is the key to cultivating our Earth with God’s culture.
Rodney Stark The Rise of Christianity
9000 Christians at the end of the First Century
By the middle of the Fourth Century there were 33 Million Christians
53% of The Roman Empire population
How did it happen?
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