Liberation and labor

Much of the discourse surrounding artificial intelligence and the economy rightly focuses on disruptions in the labor force and the changing landscape of work in a modern society. Some AI enthusiasts promise deliverance from suffering and scarcity as a consequence of this new technological revolution. Others fear significant displacement of workers as jobs become obsolete and the skills gap for workers widens. We certainly live in a time of great uncertainty and instability, and it is easy to be anxious about what the future might bring.

But in such distressed times the best move is to look back to foundational truths and seek solace and stability in them. As the prophet Isaiah instructed Israel: “Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug” (Isaiah 51:1). Isaiah had in mind God’s covenant with Abraham and Sarah and the blessings promised to His people through them. These blessings included a reiteration of the blessings and mandate given to humanity at creation: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28).

With these divine words at the very beginning of the Bible, we find a firm foundation for all of human life. God’s words here are a universal calling for all humanity. Very soon after this we find a corresponding account of the comprehensive corruption of God’s calling in the fall into sin and the subsequent curses of Genesis 3. Our call to be productive and procreative is now cursed. To Eve, God says, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children.” To Adam, God says, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:16-17).

In these few chapters at the start of Scripture we see the basic dynamic of work and human development that remains consistent for all time. The key here is to distinguish between work itself, which is given in creation, and the corrupted, distorted form it takes in a fallen world. Sinful human beings must seek sustenance through “painful toil” rather than fulfilling and generative work. Sin has transformed work into labor.

Labor Day is a secular holiday that seeks to honor work, but from a Christian perspective it can be seen particularly as work that is pursued in the context of a deeply fallen world. Because of human selfishness and greed, true justice is all too rare in our economic relationships. Even our celebration of Labor Day attests to this basic corruption. A day that seeks to honor work is a day that most of us expect and certainly hope to be free from work. The need for a day off from work is a testament to the burdensome and toilsome nature of work in a fallen world.

Rather than seeking to be free from work, we should seek freedom in and through our work. But this requires a transformation of our fundamental understanding of work itself. It is right for us to try to do our work better, to avoid its evils, to minimize suffering, and to maximize the benefit we bring to others. But it is a deep error to try to avoid work itself, as if there is something more important or fulfilling for us to pursue in this life. And it is a dangerous mistake to seek liberation from work through technological development, such as artificial intelligence, and the false promises of salvation that technology so often promises.

If we understand work as service to others through which we serve God, then we will find our true liberation in our labor. Most of us will pursue this service through paid work at some point in our lives. But all of us will serve others in all kinds of other ways throughout our lives as well.

That is the basic form of our true calling from God: to be fruitful and multiply in our service of others. This universal calling takes particular form in all kinds of unique ways in different lives and at different times. We are called to be free for God through our work, and remembering that divine mandate can help us better celebrate the deeper significance of Labor Day.