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Endeavoring Towards Non-Compartmentalization
I cannot begin this post without first addressing the irony within the very title of the project. Communication through words is one of the most powerful responsibilities we have and as such we should be very careful with it. So, I’d like to say the irony was intentional from the start, but alas, it was only in seeing it written at the top of the page that it struck me. I have always disagreed with the notion of separate “theologies”. As a Christian, I believe in One God, Three Persons. With that in mind, I’ve maintained that an attempt to focus your theology through a certain lens like Liberation Theology, distorts your view and will eventually corrupt your notion of God as the creator of all things and the only means or end. We should always go back to First Things. So, when we look at a particular subject, issue, debate we must always follow our line back to fundamental characteristics of God. Namely, those ways in which He has described Himself in His Word. Nothing in the particular can dispute the general and foundational.
In other words, as Casey Stengel, the famous manager of the New York Yankees said,
“The main thing is to always keep the main thing, the main thing”
(headier more intellectual types may attribute it to Stephen Covey, but…).
So, we’ve looked at the “Theology” part of the phrase, now let’s look at “work”. Various definitions of the word as a noun, verb, etc. can start to illuminate the differing notions of what work is and what it means. Some descriptives used to define work are labor, toil, effort, employment, endeavor, and shape. The last one I believe is closest to how we’ll view “work” in this space going forward, but I think we should take a quick look at the others. There’s a general sense in them that work is a bit like medicine. You do it because you have to, you’ll be glad when it’s done, but you’re not going to like the process. This misses the complete point. I want to be sure to make something else clear, you do not need to be a Christian to understand our discussions on work in these columns or even to agree with them, but man will it help!
Compartmentalization as a methodology, in general, is a serious mistake. We’re not talking about focusing for a time on smaller components of a larger endeavor. That’s called process. Compartmentalization involves separating a facet from the diamond and decontextualizing it. Its value is in its role as a part of the collective. The better placed and proportioned facets, the more beautiful the diamond. So, what does compartmentalization have to do with work? Simply put, we have compartmentalized work form its source. A second look at the terms for work denote an endeavor towards something. Work, then, by its nature is movement towards, and for, a higher purpose.
In future articles, we’ll look at the different ways we work: professionally for pay, personally on goals or self-improvement, on our possessions for maintenance or beautification, on our relationships to cultivate peace and happiness, all of these things require work. An understanding of work as a component or facet, but never separate, will take the toil out of our efforts and replace it with joy because we’ll see it inextricably linked to our higher purpose. In fact, its the only way to get there.
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