I have never heard of Maitland Jones Jr. - I suspect most other folks have not either. Last October (2022), Jones Jr. was deep-sixed by New York University because his organic chemistry class was ‘too hard’ – at least that was what 80 of his 350 students who signed a petition believed.
Now, for the record, NYU released a statement saying that that there had been multiple complaints about other matters, like Jones’ dismissiveness, unresponsiveness, condescension, and lack of transparency over grading. Whether this is accurate or not, who can say, but it would not be the first time an academic institution has looked to cover its tail to make its decisions look good. I can speak with experience on this but will refrain.
Mattered not that pro-Jones students wrote glowing reports;
Mattered not that he taught organic chemistry at Princeton University for decades with excellency and then at New York University on a series of yearly contracts, even winning awards;
Mattered not that he wrote an influential 1300-page textbook “Organic Chemistry”, now in its Fifth Edition;
Mattered not that he taped 52 organic chemistry lectures, with two other colleagues, to help ease the pandemic stress that students were feeling;
Mattered not that one of his colleagues, Dr. Kirshenbaum said he worried about any effort to reduce the course’s demands, saying, “Unless you appreciate these transformations at the molecular level, I don’t think you can be a good physician, and I don’t want you treating patients;”
And … it mattered not that students were not showing up in class, not watching the videos or that many were cheating during on-line tests.
In the end … what did matter was that some students, who were spending $80,000 a year, felt they might not get the grades they deserved in organic chemistry in order to get into medical school. They wanted to be rewarded for their lack of effort. So, in a classic example of administrative over-reaction – the university folded to student pressure faster than the deck chair I keep by my gazebo. The class was “too hard” some cried, so professor Dr. John Jr was canned! One wonders if the scheme these days is for students to set the bar? Maybe we should replace grades for Letters of Recognition!
The Bible is clearly unapologetic when it declares that work is important and matters to God. After all, God works too! Whether you are a plumber, stay-at-home-mom, architect, schoolteacher or blue-collar, long-haul truck driver, God is interested in the work you do. Interestingly, shortly after bringing the material world into existence, he delegated Adam as his representatives to exercise dominion over “the fish of the sea …birds … livestock … wild animals … and over all the things that move along the ground …” (Genesis 1:26). Not domination, but dominion, because since we bear the image of God, our work is to always serve the purpose of God, not ours.
“The trouble with getting to work on time is that
it makes the day so long.”
In the second cycle of Genesis 2, humankind is equipped for this work of dominion. Subtly we are reminded by the writer “Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[b] and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground” (Genesis 2:5). Imagine! Not a farmer in sight … or more accurately, not a farmer YET in existence.
I have a dear friend who is a farmer. He is not a back yard, keep-my-fingers-cross-it-grows farmer – like me, but a full-fledged, tractor driving, combine-harvester driving, dip his hands in the fertile, spud-growing country soil of Prince Edward Island (PEI) farmer. Kind, generous, patient, Arthur thinks and dreams soil … like I do theology and good ice cream. He has an unwavering commitment to the harvest … which is why every load of seed and fertilizer, every investment in equipment, every long planting day – has ‘tomorrow’ in sight. A recent Royal Bank report (April 2, 2023) notes that 40% of Canadian farmers are set to retire by 2033 and that 66% of them do not have a succession plan – leaving the future of farmland in doubt. It is hard to imagine a world without hard-working farmers!
God clearly believes in farming, because in Genesis 2, verse 15 we read, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” And suddenly – the world’s oldest profession is born … farming ̶ not the other one! Later, others like Cain, Adam’s first born and Noah, Elisha, Amos, Uzziah and Boaz would follow suit and they would work the land for God’s glory … not against God’s glory.
It is doubtful that Old Testament ancients knew much about clean water, air or land, bio-diversity, or ecosystems. Still, they understand that because
their management was a contract under God, any
self-interests that threatened the environment
would bring dire consequences.
While working a farm remains an honorable career, did you know that all workers are currently classified into 867 detailed occupations according to their occupational definition? It is called The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC), and it assigns all jobs into a four-digit code based on skills and qualifications. While the butcher, baker and candle-stick maker appear to be on this rather lengthy list … I was unable to find drug dealers, defund-the-police activists, or drag-queen careerists ‘showing-off’ at our public libraries, though I am sure it is coming.
What I can say with a degree of Scriptural certainty however is that while the roles assigned to each work duty will have differences in importance, one thing remains equal - Work is ordained of God. It was His creative invention from the beginning and despite the ‘painful toil’ that work brings (Ecclesiastes 2:23) ― work serves at least three basic purposes:
To meet human needs – provide money or resources to supply the necessities of life. Remember Matthew 6:11 “Give us today our daily bread.”
Proverb: – “If you want your ship to come in you have to build a dock.”
To provide for a quality of life – work brings fulfillment to our lives, gives us personal dignity. “There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God” (Ecclesiastes 2:24). Have you ever noticed that when introducing ourselves, we often give both our name … and our occupation?
To serve and worship God – In Colossians 3:22 we read, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men … It is the Lord God you are serving.”
Ecclesiastes and Work
In the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter Two, Solomon turns his attention to this subject of work and the movement here from his earlier talk about wisdom (2:12) to a discussion about work (2:17) makes sense to me. He seems to be saying, “The 1st thing I need to do is get a good education (wisdom) … and then go find a job (work).”
“So, I hated life,” says Solomon (v. 17). “That’s pretty bad”, you say. “Well, actually, it gets worse.” In verse 18 he says “I hated all the things that I had toiled for as well.” Solomon’s honesty here about life is an admirable one – even if it offends our senses and afflicts our comfortableness … because most people put too much of their energies into trying to hide from the deeper questions of life – and one of those questions is “Does what we do in life matter?”
So, “Does what we do in life matter?” If most of what we work for is simply forgotten within a generation or two (2:17-26), then does work really matter? Does all the energy we put into securing a good job, climbing the corporate ladder, working overtime and on weekends to make a difference, gain a couple of bucks, and perpetually missing out on family times really make a difference at the end of the day, year, or the end of our life? I mean …
Go to college earn a degree. What’s next?
Go to Law School and get another degree. What’s next?
Get a job on Wall Street and successfully start a brokerage company. Exciting. What’s next?
Huge home and vacation cottage. Check? What’s next?
Build wealth through multiple real estate properties, stocks, commodities and hedge funds. Impressive! What’s next?
Become rich with billions in the bank and millions given to charities. Remarkable! What’s next?
Buy your way onto a submersible to visit the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, resting 2 ½ miles (4 km) beneath the surface, in a remote corner of the North Atlantic. Extraordinary! What’s next? We already know!
The tragedy, says Solomon, is that after working hard and finally getting to that place where all the ducks are in a row, Wham! We die!
Folks work diligently, methodically, thoughtfully. Yet, in the end, they are put in a box and all their earthly stuff gets left behind for someone who has not laboured for it. Plus, this person could be smart … or stupid!
King Solomon
Solomon is so right! If we are trying to find meaning and significance in our work (job) . . . and we are sacrificing time … health … and our family in pursuit of that meaning, the news is that there are still more miles of bad road ahead of us – because at the end of the day, we cannot protect our efforts …and when we die it goes to our kids, the Province, the Feds, the business partner, with no control over an idiot taking over all that we have worked for.
Some Christians believe that work is a curse, the result of Adam / Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden; a kind of 2nd original sin. This is biblically incorrect, for as Genesis 2:15 reminds us “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.” Work was woven into the very fabric of creation from the very beginning. The ‘curse’ was that work was made more difficult after the fall. Specifically, the curse of the ground (3:17-18) was three-fold:
"In toil you shall eat of it" — We would have to work harder
"Both thorns and thistles it shall grow" — There would be a whole lot more weeds
"You shall eat the plants of the field" — The fields will have to be worked; no more going to a tree for some fast ‘take out’.
So, what then are we to do about this whole matter? How are we to find significance in the work that we are destined to do every day? What is the remedy? Our answer is found in verses 24-26 . . . and suddenly in Ecclesiastes Two, Solomon starts to land the plane.
(1) Live and work by faith under God’s hand
“A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too I see is from the hand of God. For without him [God] who can eat or find enjoyment”
(v. 24-25)
Solomon is not saying, “Check Out! He is not promoting “eat, drink, & be merry, for tomorrow you die.” That is fatalism -- not faith. He is saying contentment is from God, so accept life as God’s gift. Thank God for what you do have, and enjoy it to the Glory of God! Eat well, work hard, sleep sound and trust God.
That is it? Yes – that is it. Because until we get to verse 24, we are just living under Karma ... not grace. Karma says – if I do this, I get this. Grace says – if I live under God and obey Him, He will provide everything I need, even if I cannot figure it out. Stop laboring thoughtlessly.
Work, even ‘hard work’ is a gift from God. When we forget this, we easily fall into complaining, ultimately not caring about the quality of our labour.
(2) Live and work by faith before God’s face
“To the man who pleases him [God], God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness.”
Solomon says that God is watching us, though not from a distance, as Bette Midler warbles. There Is no place we can go to hide from Him. Therefore, we need to live and work by faith before whose face we are working and wanting to please. ‘The Westminster Confession of Faith,’ [1647 AD], Chapter 16, Article 6
“Yet notwithstanding, the persons of believers being accepted through Christ, their good works also are accepted in him, not as though they were in this life wholly unblameable and unreprovable in God's sight; but that he, looking upon them in his Son, is pleased to accept and reward that which is sincere, although accompanied with many weaknesses and imperfections.”
Before whose face are we working today? God! Where do we find the face of God? Paul the Apostle in 2 Corinthians 4:6 points us in the right direction: “For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
Work was never intended to give us our legacy... or our life. Our identity is found only in God, for only He can create meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in the work that we do. So, show up for work on Monday, pay the bills, enjoy the friends, eat steak if you can afford it... and find your fulfillment in God... through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Apostle Paul and Work
In Colossians 3:23 we are reminded that folks should “work with all their heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” Admittedly, Paul here is speaking to slaves when he says “Just do it” but interestingly, simply doing it is not enough, for Paul says in the previous verse (v. 22), they are to work and serve “with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.” Wow!
Working is not just about avoiding the sin of doing nothing, but the sin of simply doing something, when we should be doing everything as an act of worship.
Work matters to God.
Paul was never one to slack off, avoid work or see work as something to be given reluctant effort. Indeed, when Paul was a student under the great Rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), whose grandfather was the great Jewish sage Hillel the Elder, I doubt that he whined about his Tanach classes being too hard. Even later as a missionary, in his New Testament letter to the Thessalonians, he writes that he diligently worked for his daily bread:
“We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this …. in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.”
(2 Thessalonians 3:6-7)
There is however one statement of Paul’s that draws either acclaim or the ire of believers and non-believers alike. Found in verse ten of this same Thessalonian passage, Paul writes under inspiration and with his reputable bluntness: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat” (3:10). Some have regrettably used this verse with evangelistic fervor to argue for strict enforcement while others set the bar so low that habitual idleness is really the product of that rigged, political old snake - a capitalistic state system that is systemically punitive … refusing to acknowledge the pathology of some people’s own choices and behaviors. Dwight Eisenhower was right: “The search for a scapegoat is the easiest of all hunting expeditions.”
Vladimir Lenin liked the biblical aphorism so much, he made it a necessary principle of socialism, the first phase of its more violent form – Communism. For Lenin, only productive people were permitted to consume. Within communist regimes these days, a more accurate aphorism would be “He who does not obey, does not eat.’ But I digress!
It is important to note here that the focus of Paul’s command in 2 Thessalonians 3, is against those who refuse to work and not those unable to work, a notable difference. The poor, marginalized, older widows, those handicapped, those who cannot find work, or who are repeatedly turned down after a job interview, even those retired like me, are not in view here. Besides, it would be contrary to the instructions found in James 2:15-16, “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?”
Two brief thoughts:
First, Paul is not trying to create a villain here; nor is he being judgmental. His words are practical, spiritual, and loving: Using resources for able-bodied people who are free-loading, lazy and content to live off handouts, is to deny these same resources to those who indeed are helpless. The truth of Proverbs 18:9 and 19:15 come to mind, “A lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things” and “Lazy people sleep soundly, but idleness leaves them hungry.” (NLT)
Work is the Gospel way to live before God.
Second, Paul is wanting folks to work so that they can contribute to those who are genuinely in need and this is consistent with his practical exhortation to the church in Ephesus (4:28), “Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.” Later in Titus (3:14) Paul essentially repeats himself: “Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.” Although a theology of work is not the same as a theology of charity – Paul effectively links the two.
Through my years pastoring, there were times when I went in search of additional staff to help carry the load of ministry. Each time, my prayer was always the same: “Lord, keep us from choosing a lazy person. A disorganized person can be taught! A novice can be mentored! But a lazy person needs an attitude adjustment – and that is not something Lord I feel compelled to solve.” I was looking for someone with a calling and gifts – not someone in need of long-term therapy. Each time, God was gracious enough to grant my wish.
Working hard is, well … hard work! The Bible speaks often of the cause/effect relationship of working hard with rewards attached or laziness and the consequential ruin that comes with it. We need to stop looking for surrogate criminals to blame for our lack of effort – whether we are in the church … or out.
I spent a lot of years going to school and ‘tons’ of money, too. The days were long, the nights much longer. During that ‘season’ I labored at survival-jobs to keep body and soul together. There were no pillows supplied by the schools I went to … no cry closets if upset … no hand holding or participation trophies either. My profs expected me to perform, and the exams given accurately tested my competence and grades assigned. To the students at NYU who pouted “I am failing my Organic Chemistry Class, because the course is tough, the assignments require effort, cheating is not allowed … and the prof is unreasonable,” my suggestion is, “Work smarter.” “OnlySaying…”
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