WORK MATTERS
Lessons from Scripture
By R. Paul Stevens. Eerdmans (distributed by Alban Books). 176 pages. £10.99
ISBN 978 0 802 866 967
Considering that 30 million people in the UK are in paid employment, it is surprising that more books are not published, and sermons preached, exploring biblical perspectives on the world of work. It dominates national and personal life, but the view which Christians should take of it, and of their part in it, goes largely unaddressed, as though the Bible were silent on these issues.
Work Matters is a welcome attempt to fill this void. Its broad definition of work as ‘any purposeful expenditure of energy — whether manual, mental or both, whether paid or not’ — brings its lessons relevantly to a wider readership. Although necessarily touching on the theology of work, the main focus is on 20 'work' situations found in the Bible, 17 of them based on Bible characters, from which are drawn lessons of attitude or conduct. The inclusion of Bezalel, Ruth, Nehemiah and Martha indicates the range of issues confronted.
The author's pattern is to open up subjects, leaving much for the reader to determine, rather than closing down topics by making categoric assertions. Each chapter has a ‘For discussion and reflection’ section which will help both individuals and groups to arrive at practical conclusions relevant to their own circumstances. However, the style of these discussion sections is inconsistent — delightfully simple in the chapter on the Proverbs businesswoman, but painfully complex and conceptual in the case of the sluggard, where the author appears to forget that he is not addressing a class of philosophy students.
Although the author is from American academia, his material crosses the Atlantic well, lacking the irritating cultural assumptions and trite anecdotes common to many American publications.
In different places, Work Matters will stretch most readers, but Christians wanting to review their working lives will find sufficient from which they can benefit.
Rod Badams,
General Secretary of Christians at Work from 1979-1998
