Dan Doriani, professor of biblical theology and vice president at large for Covenant Seminary, has written a number of books about Christian manhood and how to interpret and apply Scripture. He’s also written commentaries on Matthew, James, and 1 Peter.
But his latest book is called “Work: Its Purpose, Dignity, and Transformation.” And recently Doriani founded the Center for Faith & Work, St. Louis, “a ministry focused on engaging the world through a biblical understanding of work and vocation.”
ByFaith asked Doriani about his current focus on a subject that affects us all.
You’ve written and taught on a wide range of biblical and theological subjects. What prompted the recent focus on work and vocation?
I do like new challenges, but this project has substantial continuity with biblical interpretation. The first part of the book provides a biblical theology of work, and later chapters depend on a close reading of Old Testament narratives touching on work, as well as passages like 1 Corinthians 7. That said, work has fascinated me since I discovered that one grandfather was an opera star and the other a farmer. I’ve been interviewing people about their work for more than 25 years, out of curiosity and pastoral interest.
Someone said that if we want to love our neighbor, we can probably do it best at work.
Work and discipleship are a pair. Someone said that if we want to love our neighbor, we can probably do it best at work. At work, we have teams, capital, expertise, and time, so if anyone hopes to change their corner of this earth, they just might do it at work.
Mankind has been working since God placed Adam in the garden. How is it that we don’t understand the proper role of work and vocation?
I’d like to say we understand work, but don’t apply it, and that is surely a factor (We can understand that we should put our clothes away promptly and still leave them lying on chairs). But we must remember the noetic effects of sin. The godless are prone to plunge into ideological error. If there is no Creator, there is no created order and people think they can create their own order.
Godless philosophy breeds bad policy. One New York City public elementary school, in an effort to accommodate transgender students, abolished all boys’ and girls’ bathrooms. The kids hated it. For a while, many refused to use a restroom. In short order, leading boys and girls took over. They told their classmates, “Boys use that bathroom. Girls use that one.” The children had to correct the effects of current ideologies.
Sin distorts everything, work included. With the fall, people went from “love, cherish, and steward” to “desire, dominate, and exploit.” Sin also brings disorder, so that work and vocation split apart. People work where they have no call. Or they sense a call, but no one will hire them for it.
The foundation of the Center for Faith & Work’s ministry is “vocational discipleship cohorts.” What does that mean? How do they work?
Our cohorts consist of small groups of leaders. Historically, faith and work centers have focused on mentoring young adults at the start of their careers. Our center focuses on men and women who are already in leadership positions — entrepreneurs and business owners, the heads of non-profit organizations, corporate leaders, department heads. These leaders don’t need lectures; they need good readings and reflection with a group of peers who can stimulate them by bringing insights from both similar and dissimilar economic realms.
At the end of this training program, what’s different? What will students know that they didn’t know before they completed the program? What will they do (or not do) that they didn’t do before? How will their mindset be different?
This program doesn’t emphasize knowledge per se, but knowledge that inspires action. So, the “not-secret sauce” of our leadership program is the preparation, presentation, and implementation of a project that will enable leaders to effect change from the position they already have, by putting biblical principles into practice. We help men and women see which biblical principles apply to their situation and offer categories or mnemonics to aid recall of core ideas.
We have learned that with a little nudge, Christian leaders will see how to bring justice, love, and mercy into their workplace or neighborhood far better than we theologians can.
For example, we talk about principles, position, passion, and perseverance. So, we help people identify their leadership position and the capacity it gives them to effect change. Transformative change requires both passion — we have to care — and perseverance, since every proposed change rouses “adversaries” (either people or structural forces). This program is not essentially intellectual, but we do read and review the Bible’s foundational principles for work.
If there is a distinctive theological aspect of the training, it is our foray into the history of thought regarding work. Whether we realize it or not, Christians tend to read secular views — from Karl Marx, Adam Smith, or work-efficiency movements — into the Bible so that we receive them uncritically.
What’s your vision for the workplace? How will the center’s graduates influence their offices or their city?
We have learned that with a little nudge, Christian leaders will see how to bring justice, love, and mercy into their workplace or neighborhood far better than we theologians can. Leaders develop amazing projects. They include obvious cases of showing mercy in the city, by reclaiming and repurposing abandoned spaces and offering housing or clinics in underserved areas. Others are working on strategic changes at public universities or at Fortune 100 firms. Business owners, finally, are eager to implement programs that improve their care for their employees or their firm’s impact on God’s creation.
Dan Doriani is currently professor of biblical theology and vice president at large, Covenant Seminary, and executive director of the Center for Faith & Work, St. Louis. He has pastored churches, taught in colleges and seminaries, and authored and edited a number of books. He’s also been a security guard, construction laborer, freight handler, tennis coach, and tour guide — among other roles.