Poverty, Creativity Spring 1996

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Bravo! Your issue on work (rq 2.1) is a refreshing contribution to a long and much neglected area of faithfulness in the Western Christian church. I read every word, and passed it along to my associates for their consumption, distribution, and rejoicing.

However, I did find the prioritization reflected in Albert Hsu's "Dilbertization of America" a little disconcerting. Exaltation of any one of the three scriptural mandates (Creation—Gen. 1:26-31; Love—John 13:34; Evangelization—Matthew 28:18-20) is bad scriptural interpretation and unleashes a matrix of problems that have hindered the work of the Word, the Spirit, and the Church for centuries. So Hsu would suggest that all believers leave the stewardship of God's creation and enter religious professions? Are all believers to abdicate the systems of the world and live off the efforts of people outside our faith? Where would the salt then be? What are the implications of ending an article in your work issue with the peculiar comment, "After all, Peter left his nets and Matthew walked away from a. lucrative career as a tax collector. Maybe it would not be too weird to follow their example."?

I applaud Lisa Long Kennedy's testimonial about how a hard choice opened windows into work and faith. I now define work in a biblical sense as "having responsibility for resources for the benefit of God and others." This does not equal having a job for pay, although that is included. It does include parenting, volunteering, leading, and serving others, as well as employment or business ownership.

Thanks for the review of All You Who Labor. It is a great contribution to the 200+ books in this field in the past fifteen years. I do agree that it stands out among them.

Pete HammondDirector, ...

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