Often, when people are asked what it is they do for a living, they will reply with their job title, followed by "but that doesn't define who I am." I would like to suggest that what we do, not just vocationally but morally, does in fact make-up who we are as an individual.
Odds are, somewhere along the line in your education, you found something you enjoyed or were somewhat decent at. Accounting, HR, project management are all noble roles that individuals play in an organization. But these roles are often viewed as unglamorous or unexciting. There's nothing "sexy" about crunching numbers or resolving an internal employee dispute. However, this is something very right about working in an environment where we allow our God-given, intrinsic talents to flourish.
Did you ever think that perhaps God gave you the ability to perform math at a high level so you could be an accountant? Did you ever think that working in a job, regardless of how it is praised in culture, that utilizes your skills is empowering you to be the person God made you to be? There is a reason so many people feel like they've lost a part of themselves when they get fired from a job. It's because we were made to work! We were made to produce, to toil, to feel the burden of the the tension of working for a living. When that's taken from us, it's as if a part of us has died. And it has!
I would also like to suggest that morals are only valuable, and only define you as a person, if they lead to action. There are many people that hold noble moral values, but these are in effect worthless if they do not compel you to act in a noble manner. For instance, many will say they think stealing is wrong, but do these same people skirt the moral line on their taxes?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great theologian from the early 20th century said:
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
So, morals are in effect useless if they do not lead to a better life lived. The next time we hesitate to say our actions, or our occupation, define who we are, let's take a deeper look at the way they truly impact our lives.
