Keller’s Book
In his book, Keller (2014) comprehensively discusses the profound and multifaceted connection between Christian ministry and one’s professional life. In particular, one paradigm proposed by the author describes this connection in more detail. First, human beings were created by God to perform work activities. Second, the performance of work gives dignity to the individual; that is, it ennobles the person. Third, work is an extension of the divine will, which means that God continues to create through human work.
Finally, work helps the individual to know love, both for others and for God. The positioning of work, humans, and God, according to Keller (2014), creates a vision in which work is the primary tool that binds the whole world together. Reading this gives me the impression that it is not the person but the work that is the crucial creation of the divine will. This is a surprising revelation to me, as I had previously thought that man’s birth into this world was the crowning achievement of His creation.
Still, the textbook author probably believes that work defines God’s central dogma. If I continue to think along these lines, I conclude that work is necessary for every living thing, especially human beings. Deprived of work, humans cannot serve God, cannot know love, and have no dignity. This raises counter questions for me about whether any work can be considered a worthy extension of the divine will, or whether there are even people with stable jobs who cannot be considered bearers of divine creation. In other words, Keller’s (2014) paradigm seems logical, but I need to conduct a lot more research to understand it more deeply.
Hardy’s Introduction
What I read in this textbook parallels Hardy’s opening thoughts (1990). The author believes that work transforms people into representatives of God on earth. I can find the answer to my previously postulated question in Hardy (1990): it is reported that work cannot turn a mere human being into God and cannot reduce human dignity to an animal level. In other words, human beings cannot be seen as empty carriers of work without considering individual “human” characteristics.
This means, to answer my question, not every job can contribute to the service of God; it depends on the individual’s motivations, intentions, and worldview. Working as a thief or criminal is also work, although it is not a socially approved practice (Korgaonkar et al., 2021). However, doing such work lacks Christian motivation and is contrary to the values of peace, mercy, and honesty. Therefore, Hardy (1990) helped me find an answer to my question: to serve God, a person must not only have a job but also ensure that the job is honest, just, and Christianly right.
Valentine’s Book
In his book, Valentine (2020) expanded the concepts of human occupational performance by elaborating on the role of strategic human resource management. The author showed at least three interrelated consequences of introducing competent human resource management into the organization’s structure. Firstly, it is an increase in business competitiveness through increased productivity. For example, the more care and support employees feel from the company, the higher their motivation to work and, thus, their overall productivity (Rasool et al., 2021).
Secondly, it improves employee satisfaction, thereby increasing corporate well-being by fostering a workplace where employees want to come to work, fulfill the plan, and reach new professional heights. Thirdly, when HR practices are successful and effectively executed, they provide an enhanced competitive advantage: such an organization can demonstrate improved market performance compared to other players in the given market (Valentine, 2020). The named outcomes can be associated with Proverbs 4:7, which emphasizes the importance of wisdom in designing suitable HR strategies (New International Version, 2020). All three named outcomes are interrelated, as each depends on implementing sound HR practices, and their outcomes overlap.
References
Hardy, L. (1990). The fabric of this world: Inquiries into calling, career choice, and the design of human work. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.
Keller, T. (2014). Every good endeavor: Connecting your work to God’s work. Penguin.
Korgaonkar, P., Becerra, E. P., Mangleburg, T., & Bilgihan, A. (2021). Retail employee theft: When retail security alone is not enough. Psychology & Marketing, 38(5), 721-734.
New International Version. (2020). Bible Gateway.
Rasool, S. F., Wang, M., Tang, M., Saeed, A., & Iqbal, J. (2021). How toxic workplace environment effects the employee engagement: The mediating role of organizational support and employee wellbeing. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(5), 1-17.
Valentine, S. R. (2020). Human resource management (16th ed). Cengage Learning.