Covid-19 and human identity

Covid-19 and human identity

 “Tell me about yourself” is a question we often ask when meeting a new person. Many answer by talking about our paid employment, profession or business activity.

And that leaves a challenge for those whose paid work has disappeared or been scaled back during the CV-19 season. Add that to the perceived humiliation of applying for government transfer payments and lining up at the food bank and our sense of identity may be shattered. We are what we are paid to do.

Let’s think about how work related to human identity. Does the loss of paid work undermine who we are?

In a Christian view, work is basic to human identity. In the foundational early chapters of Genesis, we read who we are. We are made in God’s image (1:26); we are gender differentiated (1:27; and we are made to be fruitful, to multiply and to rule over the rest of creation, including harvesting it for our food (1:28-29). We are also told to ‘work to work it and keep it’ with respect to physical creation (2:15), implying development and use of the earth’s resources, coupled with creation care. The curse on our work that results from our rebellion against God makes work hard and unsatisfying (3:17-19) – but work itself is not the curse.

In short, we were made to work as well as to socialise and to form family units (2:18-25). These activities were all there before the fall, are affected by it and are redeemed in Christ. In Him, we are still to do these things, only now as redeemed people who have an eye on eternity (eg, Eph 5:21 – 6:9).

The sense of shattered identity arising from lost or scaled back work during Covid-19 is real. However, it may be deepened by a too-narrow definition of work as ‘paid’.

The Old Testament discussion of sabbath rest shows the inadequacy of our definition of work as something we monetise. Israel was to rest from all her work on the sabbath (Ex 20:8). The scope of work from which Israel is to rest is wide. It’s no surprise that the ban included paid trading activities including food retailing and winemaking (Neh 13:15), but the prohibition goes far wider. Even the provision of heavenly manna (a passive act of gathering what God had provided) was not to be done on the sabbath (Ex 16:5-30). Gathering sticks, presumably for a fire, was forbidden (Nmbrs 15:32-36). Note also that the command included family members, servants, visiting strangers and even livestock (Ex 20:10). The fact that the severest penalty was applied for sabbath breaking is an indication of its seriousness (Ex 31:14). God takes our work, along with our rest, very seriously.

Our work is part of who we are as people. If our work is taken away, our identity is diminished. However, our work is far more than paid employment. Curating a garden. Cooking a nutritious and attractive meal. Creating artistic beauty. Raising a family. Building friendships. Caring for the needy. Caring for ourselves. These are all work, but are generally not monetised.

The redefinition of work beyond something we are paid to do aligns us with most people, in most places at most times. For them, the idea that work only involves coins or banknotes is as foreign that the thought that we are not male and female. Work is just the stuff that we do to live.

Covid-19 is an an unwelcome opportunity to rediscover the wider world of work in God’s economy. And to be satisfied in the work  that he gives us to do, whatever that may be for this season.