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Relates to The Church and work.
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The primary motivation for James to have a job is responsibility. I want James to be responsible.
I’m not giving James a job because I want to write all about a job.
If anything, from day one of the job direction, I have been subconsciously hesitant to go all-out with it.
The reason is I’m afraid of idolizing the job. People—especially men—have a tendency to find their identity in their job.
Now, there is a part of job identity that is natural and healthy. People take on different roles and those roles partially define them.
This whole job topic is a narrow road with a ditch on either side.
On one side are two related states: laziness and apathy.
Laziness is when a person capable of working doesn’t have a job or isn’t trying hard enough to get a job, or isn’t working enough to provide a significant income.
Apathy is when someone has a decently paying job, but is only putting in enough effort to get by. They aren’t really trying to serve and bless others through their work.
A part of responsibility is taking on undesirable jobs, but there’s a fine line between doing whatever is needed to be done for the greater good, and a mercenary mentality of simply taking a job for the pay.
In other words, a job isn’t simply about providing for a family, it’s about service through the job, and too often disinterest in the job goes hand-in-hand with apathy.
It’s not enough for a man to care about his family, he should also care about the people he is being paid to serve, and care about the details of the service he is providing.