Christ-centred approach to dignity and labour
Introduction
Last week’s post examined avoiding waste, arguing that Christ abhors it. Today’s post focuses on human dignity and labour in the context of Christ-centred theology of economics. This post focuses on labour rather than work because work emphasises vocation, stewardship, and creative purpose, while labour refers to the toil, effort, or exertion associated with the work. Nevertheless, the two terms are closely related, and in some cases, used interchangeably.
Human Dignity and Labour
The conception of human dignity and labour is based on the human person created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26-27). After creation, God mandated humans to fill the earth and have control over it (Gen 1:28). In other words, humans are to continue in the creation work, making human labour a participation in God’s creative power.
Hence, a Christocentric theology of economics places human dignity at the centre of economic life.
As the Second Vatican Council teaches, “For while providing the substance of life for themselves and their families, men and women are performing their activities in a way which appropriately benefits society. They can justly consider that by their labour they are unfolding the Creator’s work, consulting the advantages of their brother men, and are contributing by their personal industry to the realisation in history of the divine plan” (Gaudium et Spes, 34).
Since labour is the participation in God’s creative activity and a “fundamental dimension of man’s existence on earth” (Laborem Exercens, 4), it is not merely a factor of production but an action that must be ordered to the good of every person and of society, while rejecting any system that treats workers as instruments or reduces work to a commodity. “Work is for man, not man for work” (Laborem Exercens, 6).
Christ-centred approach to dignity and labour
Since Christ-centred theology of economics is based on the person of Christ, a Christo-centric approach to human dignity and labour is centred on the life, teachings, and mission of Christ.
Jesus came to the world for the salvation of the human race. Hence, the salvific mission presents the framework for this analysis.
First, Christ’s coming into the world and taking on human flesh ultimately reinforced the intrinsic dignity of the human person as the image of God. As the Second Vatican Council puts it, “He Who is ‘the image of the invisible God’ (Col. 1:15), is Himself the perfect man. To the sons of Adam He restores the divine likeness which had been disfigured from the first sin onward” (Gaudium et Spes, 22).
Second, Jesus’ labour spans the temporal and spiritual dimensions of his earthly mission. On the one hand, Mark’s gospel described Jesus as “the carpenter” (Mark 6:3), showing that he learned his father’s trade (Matt 13:55). This also suggests that Jesus laboured to support himself and the family.
On the other hand, Jesus described his salvific mission in the context of work when he responded to the persecution for healing the paralysed on Sabbath, saying, “My Father is working still, and I am working” (John 5:17). In response to the question about the man born blind, Jesus said: “We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work” (John 9:4).
When the people followed Jesus again to receive food after being fed with five loaves and two fish, Jesus said to them: “Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal” (John 6:27). Hence, St Paul rigthly admonishes us to work out our salvation in fear and trembling (Phil 2:12).
Third, while sending his disciples to new territories, Jesus emphasised that the labourer deserves his wages (Luke 10:7). In doing so, he established the foundation for fair compensation and the rejection of exploitation.
Fourth, the parable of the workers (Matt 20:1-16) solidifies the Christo-centric foundation of just remuneration. In this parable, the householder employed labourers at different times of day. He agreed to pay one denarius to those employed in the morning. To all others, he offered to pay them justly. However, those who worked from morning, expecting to be paid more than those called to work from evening, grumbled that they were paid exactly the same as those called to work from evening. This was not the agreement. In response to one of them, Jesus said: “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you, and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” (Matt 20:13-15).
Fifth, while the Sabbath is considered a day of rest from work, Jesus healed the sick on several occasions. He doubled down when Jewish religious leaders opposed him for doing this (Matthew 12:9-14; Luke 13:10-17; 14:1-6; John 5:1-18; 9:1-16). In another instance, Jesus defended his disciples who plucked grains to eat on the Sabbath day because they were hungry (Matt 12:1-8).
Lessons
First, by being described as ‘the carpenter’, which suggests that he worked, Jesus shows us the value and dignity of labour.
Second, Jesus emphasises that the worker is never merely an instrument because of the inherent dignity of the human person. Pope John Paul II reiterated this, arguing that “no one should be used as a mere instrument for production, as though the person were a machine or a beast of burden. The Church rejects any social or economic system that leads to the depersonalisation of workers” (Homily, Mass for Workers, Ranchi, 3 February 1986, n.7). He further tied the dignity of work to the dignity of the worker, arguing that dignity is not reducible to pay or status, and that economic hierarchies do not determine human worth. Thus, even the most humble tasks retain personal worth, because dignity depends “not so much on what you do, but on who you are” (Speech to residents of Bogotá’s “Barrios” on 3 July, 1986, n.3).
Third, by healing on the Sabbath and allowing his disciples to pluck grain when hungry, Jesus demonstrated that human welfare and dignity take precedence over ritual or legalistic systems and that the human person takes priority over rigid institutional or economic rules. This also means that work exists for the person and not the other way round. By allowing the loss of over 2,000 pigs in order to save a human person, Jesus emphasises that productivity and market systems must be subordinated to the good and welfare of the human person.
Fourth, the parable of the workers shows God’s care for all and His desire that all benefit and be able to fend for themselves and their families. By paying the workers their due, Jesus emphasised the need for just remuneration, suitable working conditions, and policies against unemployment to protect the dignity of the human person and family life.
Fifth, since compensation in capitalist societies varies according to qualifications, expertise, and time invested, Jesus’ action in paying all the workers the same does not align with modern-day economic principles, since the number of hours invested in work varied. Yet the labourers did not work because they did not want to, but because no one employed them, even after they followed the employment protocol. The scripture reads:
“And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went… And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing; and he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too’” (Matt 20:3-7).
Hence, a Christ-centred economic approach is more concerned with justice (giving each person their due) in remuneration and with creating suitable working conditions and policies to address unemployment, safeguarding human dignity and family life. Christ’s approach does not necessarily entail a capitalist orientation that emphasises profit maximisation, which can lead to an increased wealth gap between the rich and the poor.
Sixth, and flowing from the fifth, Christ, while not necessarily adopting a modern capitalist orientation, does not promote the reward of laziness. The workers employed in the evening went out to work in the morning. However, in the parable of the talents, the third talent was lazy to work, and thus buried his single talent in the ground, while the other two invested theirs. On his return, the master called him “wicked and slothful”, adding that he ought to have invested his money with the bankers so that he could have received his capital with interest on his return.
Hence, St. Paul said “we gave you this command: If any one will not work, let him not eat” (2 Thess 3:10). Other scriptural references to laziness include Proverbs 12:27; 13:4, 19:15).
Conclusion
Therefore, Christocentric theology of economics encourages us to emulate Christ, who “lived in full harmony with creation” and “sanctified human labour and endowed it with a special significance for our development” (Laudato Si’, 98).
May God continue to help us🙏🏾
K’ọdị🙋🏾♂️
