When It Comes to Work, We Are Never Alone

As a freelance writer, I often work alone. No one greets me when I come into the office or meets me at the water cooler to talk about last night’s game. In fact, right now, I’m sitting at a table outside a university library, working on my laptop, and waiting for a call. Although the table has three chairs, I’m the only one here . . . or am I?

Work Is Relational

The truth is that—even when I work alone—I’m actually in relationship with hundreds of other people. From the person who mined the bauxite that was used to make my laptop to the person who packaged my phone so that it wouldn’t be damaged in shipping, I’m interacting with hundreds of “co-workers,” if you will. In this moment, we are knit together in a vast network of mutual service built on trust, honesty, sacrifice, and hope.

Work, therefore, is not merely a means of sustenance and survival. It is not just about utility, efficiency, and progress. It is, in fact, relational and personal. It is creative service because it is our opportunity to enact our creative agency on the world, so that we might cultivate the life of the world through service to others.

For the Life of the World

“What is our salvation actually for?” is the question at the center of For the Life of the World: Letters to Exiles, a seven-part film series that we’ve been featuring this summer as a way to examine the bigger picture of Christianity’s role in culture, society, and the world. Today, we’re delighted to share with you Episode 3: The Economy of Creative Service.