What's Tony Thinking

“The irony,” writes Anderson, “is that Trump rode vocational concerns to re-election, especially among the rural working class. That this same administration shows so little regard for people’s work  once elected—and has made it a priority to aggressively and carelessly cut jobs—is revealing. Ostensibly, the cuts are about reducing government inefficiency and waste (yet to be seen). But the claim is especially hard to accept coming from the man behind these cuts, Elon Musk, who also believes that human workers are replaceable with AI. Musk envisions a future where “probably none of us will have a job” due to technological advances and those who do work would simply do it “kinda like a hobby.”

“Besides being incredibly patronizing to millions of Americans who engage in routine but rewarding work, Musk misunderstands the essential link between our humanity and the work we do. AI technologies may support human efforts, augmenting and bettering our ability to fulfill our vocations–even freeing us to more intentionally pursue callings that do not have a price tag attached. But they cannot fully replace humans because working to serve others is part of what makes us human.”

The men in our group wanted to work. They needed to work and not just for a paycheck, although that was certainly important. It went deeper. Work was an important part of their identity and, as Anderson writes, “because working to serve others is part of what makes us human.”

Anderson writes as a Christian drawing on Christian thought about the importance of vocation. Our work is one of the ways we respond to God’s calling to us (the word “vocation” comes from the Latin vocare meaning “call” or “calling).” With the Protestant Reformation, the Reformers articulated a high view of human work. Anderson quotes Martin Luther on the ways that God works through the work of human beings:

“What is our work in field and garden, in town and house, in battling and in ruling, to God, but the work of children, through which He bestows His gifts on the land, in the house, and everywhere? Our works are God’s masks, behind which He remains hidden, although He does all things.”

Luther famously spoke of the “priesthood of all believers,” arguing that the priesthood was not limited to ordained priests in churches and monasteries. All Christians, said Luther, are called to be “little priests,” representing Christ to their neighbors and representing their neighbors and their needs before God.

That is high doctrine of work and of the dignity of work. Subsequently, it has been often dissed as “the Protestant work ethic,” cast as drivenness and sanctified avarice. But it was much more. A strong work ethic is a good thing, something you want your auto mechanic or roofer to have, not to mention your minister or doctor. Seeing one’s work as a form of service is another good thing.

That said, this has been eroded, if not lost, in our own time. Few jobs offer security. Jobs come and go. People ghost employers. Employers ghost people. Work becomes only drudgery, not a contribution, not a form of service. The hit-show “Severance,” depicts work life as completely divorced from the rest of life, expressing the contemporary disconnection of work from meaning and purpose in many contemporary lives. It also shows people working for a huge, faceless company without any comprehension of what the company really does. Such degradation of work is a terrible loss.

But it’s also why people and their work can be treated so cavalierly and capriciously by our new overlords. Many of the accounts of those fired by DOGE emphasize not only the excellent performance reviews employees had received — up until they were precipitously fired — but also how meaningful their work was to them and to the people they served. But none of that seems to matter to high flyers like Musk and Trump. I grieve for those they have fired, many of whom probably feel like ghosts just now.

With a recession now becoming more likely, unemployment will extend far beyond the DOGE cuts. It’s time for churches to again create support groups for those struggling with unemployment and its many costs. But such groups, and the church, should not only offer support for the unemployed, but call out the injustice of such capricious firings.

And there is also a deeper and more positive contribution for the church to make. Churches need to offer a theology of work, of its meaning, dignity and importance. “Our works are God’s masks,” said Luther. And, speaking as a mostly “retired” person, this also applies to the work people do without pay, as volunteers. In fact, I suspect some feel more like “priests to their neighbors” through their volunteer work.