Pioneer Christian Monthly - September, 1974

Six Days Shalt Thou Labour
William Lensink

Up to a century ago this statement of the fourth commandment was perfectly clear in meaning. The majority of the people lived in rural communities. The whole family worked together to provide for the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter, even children helped with harvesting, food processing and household chores. The family was the self-sufficient economic unit, surplus production provided the funds to buy the things that could not be made at home. The motivation to work was easy: Nature dictated when the work must be done and if a man was lazy, his family suffered and went hungry. He worked in close relation to his Creator, on Whom he depended for health and good weather. Neighbours helped each other and encouraged perfection through competition, satisfying their social needs.

With the industrial revolution working conditions changed drastically. The place of employment was no longer the home, specialization made work simpler, but often repetitive and boring. As business enterprises grew more efficient each individual worker no longer saw the entire operation from beginning to end, he had only a small part to play. He could show little initiative in his function and often lost a sense of personal importance, accomplishment or pride in his work.

To compensate for those conditions there were serious efforts made to make the hours off the job more attractive than the working hours. The easier way of life and the higher earnings continued to draw people to the cities. Making money to buy the good things in life provided a satisfaction for which frustration on the job was often accepted. With the introduction of more and better appliances to make life easier the need for more money and ever higher wages remained. The tremendous interest in material goods and the ownership of property as a source r security and wealth has been the greatest driving force to work in recent decades, making working conditions acceptable and many a menial job bearable.

There is a definite change in attitude towards work noticeably lately. Monetary rewards no longer appear the great motivator to get work done. Overtime work is less attractive and moonlighting is on the decline. The goals set by labour unions are now 3 or 4 day workweeks and 30 years service and out. Shorter working hours, longer lunch and coffee breaks and extended vacations are all indications of a tendency away from work. Clean, noisefree, attractive working environments are now considered as conditions of employment. In high employment situations with a shortage of skilled workers employers must often pay higher wages and offer letter conditions to keep good 'workers and to keep the loyalty of employees.

Demands that are won through negotiations and extracted from companies through the threat of strikes may be appreciated but never improve attitudes towards work. After long periods of continually granting more and costly fringe benefits that provide better living standards but adversely effect the productivity of workers the cost of goods and services goes up. Add to this the desire for higher profit margins in the sales sector of the economy to safeguard dequate returns on investments demanded by the owners of business and the higher interest rates for financial institutions to present a simple illustration of the backgrounds that led to the present situation of spiralling inflation.

Election promises to increase the supply of goods and services to fill the present shortage and temporary high demands appear too simplistic a solution. There are only two things free in this world, the minerals available in the earth and the products that grow on the surface. After that all price increases are value added costs made by people. All manufacturing decisions and pricing policies are effected by the basic attitudes of people towards work and its rewards. That philosophy of work is often too idealistic. There is a view of utopia, a dream world, where machines and computers do all the hard work. It is man's privilege to enjoy the fruits of his technology and do only those things that please him and turn on his fancy during working hours that suit him and which he chooses guaranteed by an annual income not related to the physical or mental efforts he wishes to exert.

The Word of God has much to say about the attitude towards work. In the current period of rising prices and diminishing supplies the Church needs to present man's lot in life: Six days shalt thou labour. This does not mean, to be at work or to react correctly in every situation, but the application of his full potential abilities to his appointed task, during the hours he is required to do so. The original curse of hard labour in Gen. 3 :.19 - In the sweat of your face you will eat bread - has always included the blessings of physical fitness.

It is still through hard work and physical activities that strong and healthy bodies are developed capable to resist diseases and harbouring keen, alert minds and stable -emotions. The present soaring medical health costs and the problems of overweight people are not all the results of poor diets. These may not be solved until society again demands hard work from all capable workers, with a devotion displayed by the leader of Germany's largest trade union shortly after the war, when he was asked what his hobbies were and he answered with one word: "ARBEIT".

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