At Work & Theology 101

Marx and Our Longing for Work to Matter

LinkedIn Email Print

Following up on our post discussing cultural movements in the 17th-19th centuries that have shaped our view of work, let’s not fail to address Karl Marx.


While Marxism and capitalism (as discussed in a previous post) are regarded as opposites, both see the pursuit of a vocation as an end in itself. Both encourage workers to look for personal fulfillment through the labor of their own hands. Where once the medieval church threatened to divorce faith from work, work over the centuries has become an idol to which we look for our identity.

As my friend Steve Garber of The Washington Institute has often stated, what Karl Marx promised the alienated workers of mid-19th century England was that the work of their hands mattered to history. While he profoundly misread the human heart, he did speak to the deep human longing that we all hunger for our work to matter. The hammer and sickle, ordinary tools, represent the hope that what one does day after day will affect history and that the world will be different because of what we do.

Neither capitalism nor Marxism could deliver on the promise to bring significant meaning to our work.

Therefore, as a result of sociological changes and the theological shift brought about by the Second Great Awakening, by the end of the 19th century the Biblical doctrine of work was all but lost to the church.

It is said that history repeats itself because so many people do not pay attention the first time. That proves true in the area of integrating faith and work.

To summarize our series on the history of work, consider the following:

So where are we today? The church needs to embrace the truth and return to the Biblical doctrine of work. It is one of the most important gifts God has given us to influence the world and to find deep satisfaction in our lives here and now.

What does the worker gain from his toil? . . . I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God (Ecclesiastes 3:9, 12-13).

Question: What is your current view of work and to which historical period or cultural movement does your view most closely align? 

Have our latest content delivered right to your inbox!

Further readings on At Work & Theology 101

  • At Work
  • Theology 101
Continuing God’s Work of Creation

By: Russell Gehrlein

7 minute read

Editor’s note: Russell Gehrlein was a guest on the syndicated radio program The Plumb Line, hosted by Jay Rudolph, on…

  • At Work
  • Theology 101

Editor’s note: Russell Gehrlein was a guest on the syndicated radio program The Plumb Line, hosted by Jay Rudolph, on…

Have our latest content delivered right to your inbox!