Working and Keeping
In the 4th episode of Productive Pastor I talked some about Genesis 2 and the idea of “working and keeping.” As I have been on a personal identity journey in regards to my relationship with work over the last couple of years I wanted to share some of what I have thought before. So let’s call this a theological reflection.
And you can listen to the podcast episode here. It isn’t nearly as nerdy as this reflection is.
Genesis 2:15 says that the LORD took “the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Later on, in verse 18, The LORD said “It is not good that man should be alone, I will make him a helper fit for him”.* Several things are happening inside of this origin story that guide us.
“To work and keep” - God’s first intention for humanity was to be alongside of Him as co-creators and stewards of the world. We were given agency and authority in the space.
We were also created to live a life of mutuality alongside each other, living in support and awareness of how everyone’s abilities and presence compliment the larger whole and lead it towards thriving.
Because of the redemption of Jesus Christ, and His gift and invitation to the Kingdom, we want to step as much into a Genesis 2 space as we can. This means taking a posture of working and keeping as servant leaders. By doing this, we realize we are stewarding a movement of the Holy Spirit in our midst with agency and authority in the neighborhoods around us. This is a call of assumed servanthood and one in which our own personal relationship with God precludes any action we can take. It means taking seriously the words of Jesus that those who seek to be first will be last, and the last will be first. We outwardly model our belief in this primary teaching. Working and keeping also means forming ourselves around another favorite teaching of Jesus that those who are faithful with the small will be trusted with the larger. Our own understanding of this teaching can either inhibit and decrease our span of care and kingdom, or we can show through our faithfulness that we desire more of Jesus and this responsibility of “working and keeping” in His kingdom. This isn’t about some sacred ordination of control in and over our community, but the co-operation alongside of Jesus Christ in His redemption of the world and our call to serve Him.
We also want to step towards spaces of mutual work together. We can’t do this as rogue individuals. This is a work of we instead of me. This is a complex task, one in which our own “work” together will succeed based off of the health of the interior “work” we are doing with us and God. The failure point of Genesis 3 happens when one decides to find power outside of the vision of working and keeping in mutual cooperation. This is also a relationship that honors the uniqueness of each other as we each traverse this journey.
The unique task of doing this in our day and age means beginning to step away from an identity relationship with work alone. To keep means to accept responsibility. That means we are willfully putting ourselves in a relationship with others that forms identity. Placing ourselves outside of whatever janky understanding of work and self-actualization will never end well.
So let’s dig deep into working and keeping. Knowing that it is inside this call we find our identity as the beloved creation of God.
*at this place it would be easy to descend into gender equality and all sorts of debates. While there is a place for that conversation (#egalatarian here), the larger part of this story is how part of our anthropology means understanding individuality isn’t a goal of the kingdom. If we can’t get around that idea, there really isn’t a point having any more of a conversation.