从圣经看“文化使命”God’s plan for work: Thecultural mandate

作者: Paul Grimmond  译者/校对者:  王培洁/雅斤

http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/07/gods-plan-for-work-the-cultural-mandate/

https://www.churchchina.org/archives/180109.html

午餐时间，一位年轻的母亲坐在长椅上，给8个月大的婴儿喂饭，孩子扭来扭去，糊得满脸都是，她还背后长眼一般顺带留意着旁边刚刚学会走路的那个小家伙，他正和另一个四岁的小胖墩儿洽谈公园公德的细节，要分享那个能弹起来会摇摆的东西，小胖墩儿似乎不太愿意和他玩儿。有一瞬间，她设想了一下，若自己是公园那边正在挖沟的市政工人，生活会是什么样子。

It’s lunchtime. A young mother sits on the bench, painting her eight-month-old’s face with food—that mouth is hard to find. With her spare third eye she watches her toddler negotiate the finer points of park etiquette with the oversized gorilla who isn’t interested in sharing the springy rocker thing—he’s four! For just a moment she gives herself permission to dream about being the council worker digging a trench on the other side of the park. What a life!

工人对自己已经成为白日梦的主角毫不知情，他倚在铁锨旁，看着那个总是穿西服的人在公园里跑步。总是穿西服的人现在没穿着西服，这是午餐时间，又是他跑步出汗的时候。挖沟的工人自言自语地说了句“要好好干呀”，在休息过后，又开始使劲儿挖沟。

Oblivious to his starring role in another’s dreams, the labourer leans on his shovel and watches the suit run through the gardens. The suit isn’t in his suit because it’s lunchtime and he’s part of the get-sweaty brigade. The trench digger mumbles something to himself about ‘an honest day’s labour’ as he attacks the trench with renewed vigour.

总是穿西服的人看到自己以前的同事在照料两个孩子，就向她跑去。“假期过得怎样？”他问道——他这辈子对照料蹒跚学步的孩子的经验为零。他俩开着玩笑，都注意到了旁边长椅上和一对老夫妇热情讲话的牧师。（他穿着黑西服，带着那种滑稽的领子，所以他们知道他是个牧师。）他们都觉得他应该找一份正式的工作。学步的孩子大吼了起来，看来谈判进行得不太顺利，穿西服的人继续跑了起来。

The suit spies his old work colleague managing her two charges and jogs over. “How’s the holiday?” he asks, never having spent more than two minutes with a toddler in his life. They exchange pleasantries and both of them notice the priest talking earnestly to the old couple on the other bench. (They can tell he’s a priest because he’s dressed in black and has a funny collar.) They both agree that he should get a real job. The suit jogs off as the toddler breaks into a howl. The negotiations haven’t gone well.

当然，刚刚描述的这一幕完全是我虚构的。但是，我希望用这个场景来提出几个关于工作的问题，供大家思考。第一，工作与我们的自我价值紧紧相连，是一个很难客观看待的主题。神如何看待工作，神如何看待我所做的工作，这些问题在我们心里与我们生活的意义和价值息息相关。因此，我们中的许多人都对我们作为基督徒所珍视的工作有自己的看法，不论我们是否曾经按照圣经来考查过这些观点正确与否。

This scenario is, of course, entirely fictitious. But it helpfully raises some of the difficulties that we face when it comes to thinking about work. First: work is so closely tied to our sense of self-worth that it’s a difficult subject for us to be objective about. What God thinks that work is, and what he thinks about the work that I do, cannot be separated in our hearts from the very significance and value of our lives. As a result, many of us have ideas about work that we cherish as Christian, whether we have examined them biblically or not.

第二，从一个完全不同的角度来看，我们所谈的工作到底是什么？穿西服的人跑步的时候也是在工作吗？他要是个铁人三项赛选手，答案会有所不同吗？那位妈妈一分钱不挣，她做的事情是工作吗？脑力劳动与体力劳动有不同吗？使工作成为工作的是什么？

Second, and in an entirely different direction, when we speak about work, what exactly are we speaking about? Is the suit working when he runs? Would it be different if he were a triathlete? Can the young mum really call it work when she does it for nothing? Is mental labour different to physical labour? What makes work work?

第三，除了以上的问题，倘若我们的目标是要从圣经和基督徒的角度来看待工作，那么我们要从另外一个思考层面来看。“福音工作”和“世俗工作”有差别吗？还是所有的工作都一样？工作一定总是在荣耀神吗？

And finally, into the midst of all of this, if our purpose is to speak biblically and Christianly about work, we enter yet another minefield. Is there a distinction between ‘gospel work’ and ‘secular work’? Is all work the same, and does it always glorify God?

特别是最后一个问题，已经成为这些年来在福音派圈子里热议的话题。我针对常常被人误读和误解的三个关键圣经理念，写了这个系列文章[2]，旨在讨论这几个问题。我希望，在我们细看这几个观点的时候，你能很快明白其重要性。至于我对圣经观点的解读是否正确，就留待读者来评判。但是，我希望这几篇文章能够激励我们不断去思考，神在基督里赐给他的子民的工作，其本质为何？

This last question in particular has become a hotly-debated topic in evangelical circles in recent years. My contention in this series of articles is that much of the debate centres on a misunderstanding of three key biblical ideas that have been misrepresented and misunderstood. Hopefully, as we look at each of these ideas, you will rapidly see why they are important. Whether my explanation of what the Bible actually says about them is accurate, I will leave you to judge. But I am hoping that these articles will stimulate us to keep thinking about the nature of the work that God has given us in Christ, as his people.

The ideas we are going to examine are: (1) the cultural mandate, (2) the doctrine of vocation, and (3) our understanding of value and work in light of the gospel.

一、文化使命Culture Mandate

我们要看的第一个关键的圣经理念就是文化使命。要想认真研究，就要先明白文化使命是什么。我通常并不太推崇维基百科对神学问题的解读，但是它对文化使命的概括却非常得当：

Our first key biblical idea is the cultural mandate. And to investigate it, you have to know what it is! I’m not usually an advocate of Wikipedia when it comes to theological issues, but on this occasion, it’s pretty much spot on:

文化使命或创造使命是创世记1:28中神的命令，神（雅威）在创造世界和其中的一切之后，把遍满地面、治理这地和管理这地的任务交给人类。对于基督徒和犹太人来说，这个命令是一切文化行为的基础，包括：经济上的参与、科学上的探索、文学上的求知、军事上的扩张以及对自然资源的保护或利用。[3]

The cultural mandate or creation mandate is the divine injunction found in Genesis 1:28, in which God (YHWH), after having created the world and all in it, ascribes to humankind the tasks of filling, subduing, and ruling over the earth. It has served as a basis among both Christian and Jewish peoples for all manner of cultural activities: economic engagement, scientific inquiry, literary exploration, military expansion, and alternately, exploitative as well as conservationist responses to the natural environment.1

关键在于这个问题的基础是什么。大部分基督徒（包括大部分犹太人）都认同，神要我们“生养众多，遍满地面，治理这地”。真正的问题是：神是什么意思？下文讲的就是这点：神在创世记的话语对于我们今天而言到底是什么意思？

The key thing to note is where the issue lies. Most Christians (and most Jews!) agree that God said that we were to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it”. The real question is: what did he mean? And that’s what the rest of this article is about. What exactly do God’s words in Genesis mean for us today?

 1、厘清问题A brief history of an idea

从教父以来，创世记1:28的经文对于我们如何看待人类的使命就起到了非常重要的作用，但是，从对这节经文的理解中产生了几乎完全不同的观点。[4]主要的争论围绕着几个关键问题产生。但是最重要的一个问题是：文化使命描述的是1）我们当下的情形；或2）始祖犯罪前的情形（对我们而言已经失去）；还是3）我们将来要拥有的情形？[5]

From the church fathers onwards, the words of Genesis 1:28 have played a significant role in how we talk about the purpose of humanity, but these words have formed the basis for almost entirely opposed views.2 The main issues surround a few key questions. But perhaps the most important one is this: does the cultural mandate describe (a) our current state, (b) a previous state that has been lost to humanity, or (c) a future state that we will one day occupy?3

这是个重要的问题，因为你的回答确立了你对工作的看法。一种观点（教父和阿奎纳的观点）认为文化使命描述的是人类的现状，我们现在就是世界的统治者。我们是因着理性的美德而成为统治者的（大多数如此认为）。我们对世界的思考能力使我们像神一样，让我们去理解和掌管被造物。我们的统治可以在我们对动物世界的治理、我们的创造力以及我们对环境的重塑能力上可见一斑。

This is an important question because how you answer it shapes how you speak about human work. One strand of thought (coming from the church fathers and Aquinas) is that the cultural mandate describes humanity’s present status. We are, right now, rulers of the world. And we are rulers (according to most) by virtue of our reason. Our ability to think about the world makes us like God and allows us to understand and manipulate the creation. Our rule is seen in things like our power over the animal kingdom and our ability to create and reshape our environment.

但是奥古斯丁认为（当然路德的观点更是如此），统治的地位和任务是赐给亚当和夏娃的，在人类犯罪堕落后，就彻底消失了。他们可能也认同，我们对动物还具备有限的治理能力，但是他们认为，我们一生中大部分时候展现出来的是治理上的无能。奥古斯丁和路德都认为，人类并不是现在就治理全地，而是要等待因着属乎基督而在新天新地中治理。在当下和此刻，我们的工作是通过敬虔和圣洁的生活来参与基督的治理。

But for Augustine, and even more so for Luther, the status and task of ruling was something that was given to Adam and Eve but almost entirely obliterated by the fall. While they would agree that we have a limited power over the birds and animals, they would contend that most of our lives in fact display our inability to rule. For both of these men, humanity does not rule now; rather we wait to rule in the new heavens and new earth as a result of belonging to Christ. In the here and now, our work is to participate in Christ’s rule by living godly and holy lives.

这样，我们就要思考一个关键问题：我们在世界上的工作是要借着我们的技术能力更多地掌控世界，建立和推动神对被造物的治理？还是我们只是在等着继承我们作为治理者的合法地位，因此，我们目前所作的不过是在给一个行将就木的世界贴个创可贴而已？

Which brings us to the key question. Do we, as we work in the world, act to establish or progress God’s rule over creation by bringing more and more of the world under our control through our technological prowess?  Or are we people who can only wait to inherit our rightful position as rulers? And as such, are our current actions merely bandaids for a dying world?

 2、圣经是如何看待的

What does the Bible say?

文化使命之所以会引发出如此不同的观点，其中一部分原因是由于缺少相关的圣经支持。这节对我们理解自己有着如此重要神学意义的经文，圣经其他地方却几乎没有明确的阐述。

At least part of the reason that the cultural mandate has given rise to such differing opinions is the relative scarcity of biblical material. For a verse that has played such a significant theological role in our understanding of ourselves, it is hardly mentioned in the rest of the Bible.

除了旧约的几处暗示之外，我们可以从诗篇第八篇看到唯一一处清晰的参考经文，其中讲到人类的治理及其和神在最初所说话语之间的联系。诗人是怎么说的？

Despite a few allusions in the Old Testament, the only clear reference to the idea of humanity’s dominion and its connection to God’s words in the beginning occurs in Psalm 8. What does the Psalmist say?

我观看你指头所造的天，

并你所陈设的月亮星宿，

便说，人算什么，你竟顾念他？

世人算什么，你竟眷顾他？

你叫他比天使微小一点，

并赐他荣耀尊贵为冠冕。

你派他管理你手所造的，

使万物，就是一切的羊牛、

田野的兽、空中的鸟、海里的鱼，

凡经行海道的，都服在他的脚下。（诗8:3-8）

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honour.

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet,

all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas. (Ps 8:3-8)

这是一首充满敬畏的奇妙诗歌。诗人观看天和神的工作，思想人的地位。我们与神所造的其他所有一切相比，是那么渺小，为什么会被赋予如此的尊贵和权力？

The psalm is a song of awe and wonder. The Psalmist examines the heavens and the works of God and he wonders about the place of humanity. Why are we treated with such honour and power when we are so small in comparison to everything else that God has made?

但是创世记一章的问题仍然没有解决：为什么诗人认为人被赐予尊贵荣耀作为冠冕？是因为他观看世界，看到人类在掌管一切吗？亦或是他知道创世记一章的话语，借着启示，他明白我们是拥有某种治理权柄，即使现在不是立时可见的？

But the question of Genesis 1 still remains: why does the Psalmist think that humanity has been crowned with glory and honour? Is it because he looks at the world and can see human beings in control? Or is it because he knows the words of Genesis 1 and so by revelation understands that we have some sort of dominion, even though it is not immediately obvious?

单看诗篇第八篇本身，我们很难回答上面的问题，但是经文中还是有暗示。虽然诗人想起神的话，知道我们是治理者，但是他还是注意到了我们的渺小。这就暗示人的治理并不明显。那么我们该怎样回答这个问题？

While this question is difficult to answer on the basis of Psalm 8 alone, there is at least a hint here. The fact that the Psalmist notices our smallness, even as he remembers the words of God that we are rulers, is an indication that human dominion is not obvious. So how are we to answer our question?

关键是，我们要注意到，诗篇第八篇掀起的那朵小小的浪花卷到了新约的彼岸就变成了龙卷风。我们从指向基督的角度来看，就能明白诗人所讲的意思，以及神在创世记中所讲的含义。

The key lies in seeing that what begins as a gentle current in Psalm 8 becomes a swirling torrent by the time it reaches the banks of the New Testament. We come to understand what the Psalmist was talking about, and indeed what God meant in Genesis, when we come to see where these words land in Christ.

3、新约中的成就

The New Testament fulfilment

值得注意的是，一系列常被用来解释整个人类技术进步的经文，其实在新约中没有任何一处提及是指向我们的。事实上，创世记一章和诗篇第八篇关于治理的话语，在新约中除了指向那个真正的人耶稣基督之外，并不应用在其他地方。新约中只有为数不多的几处经文参考创世记1:26-28和诗篇8，其中大部分是在说明别的主题，只有三处关键经文讲到诗篇第八篇关于治理的应用，每处经文都直接与基督相关。三处关键经文都指的是万物降服的观念，但不是向整个人类降服，而是唯独向耶稣基督降服。

Somewhat remarkably for a set of verses that have been used to explain the whole history of human technological progress, they are not used anywhere in the New Testament with reference to us. In fact, the dominion language of Genesis 1 and Psalm 8 aren’t applied anywhere in the New Testament apart from the one true man, Jesus Christ. There are only a handful of references to Genesis 1:26-28 and to Psalm 8 in the New Testament, and most of them are on other topics. There are really only three key applications of the dominion language of Psalm 8, and every one of those is directly related to Jesus. The three key passages all apply the idea of the subjection of all things, not to humanity at large, but to Jesus in particular.

在以弗所书1章中，保罗祈求我们能有神的圣灵，好叫我们能明白神向我们所显的能力是何等浩大：

In Ephesians 1, Paul wants us to have the power of God’s Spirit so that we will know the extent of his power at work for us when he:

就是照他在基督身上所运行的大能大力，使他从死里复活，叫他在天上坐在自己的右边，远超过一切执政的、掌权的、有能的、主治的和一切有名的，不但是今世的，连来世的也都超过了。又将万有服在他的脚下，使他为教会作万有之首。教会是他的身体，是那充满万有者所充满的。（弗1:20-23）

…raised [Christ] from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Eph 1:20-23)

在哥林多前书15章，重点再一次放在基督身上，称他是万物所降服的那一位：

In 1 Corinthians 15, the emphasis again falls on Christ as the one under whom all things are made subject:

因为基督必要作王，等神把一切仇敌都放在他的脚下。尽末了所毁灭的仇敌就是死。因为经上说：“神叫万物都服在他的脚下。”即说万物都服了他，明显那叫万物服他的，不在其内了。万物既服了他，那时子也要自己服那叫万物服他的，叫神在万物之上，为万物之主。（林前15:25-28）

For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Cor 15:25-28)

最终，诗篇第八篇的论证在希伯来书第二章中被完整地讲述清楚：

And finally, in Hebrews 2, the argument of Psalm 8 is spelled out in full:

我们所说将来的世界，神原没有交给天使管辖。但有人在经上某处证明说：

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere,

“人算什么，你竟顾念他？

世人算什么，你竟眷顾他？

你叫他比天使微小一点，

赐他荣耀、尊贵为冠冕，

并将你手所造的都派他管理，

叫万物都服在他的脚下。”

What is man, that you are mindful of him,

or the son of man, that you care for him?

You made him for a little while lower than the angels;

you have crowned him with glory and honour,

putting everything in subjection under his feet.

既叫万物都服他，就没有剩下一样不服他的。只是如今我们还不见万物都服他，惟独见那成为比天使小一点的耶稣，因为受死的苦，就得了尊贵、荣耀为冠冕，叫他因着神的恩，为人人尝了死味。（来2:5-9）

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:5-9)

在这几处经文中，诗篇第八篇的话语“你……赐他荣耀尊贵为冠冕，并将你手所造的都派他管理”，主要指的并不是各个地方的所有人，而是特别指着基督说的。希伯来书完全清楚地说明，这些经文并不是现在成就在我们现今世界的人类身上。任何一个人只要花时间观察一下我们所居住的世界，就能隐约看到人类有着特权和尊贵，但是他们绝对看不到世界上的所有一切都降服在人类脚下。

In each of these passages, the words of Psalm 8 “you have crowned him with glory and honour, putting everything in subjection under his feet”, are not primarily words about all people everywhere; they are particularly about Christ. And what Hebrews makes absolutely explicit is that they are not words that are currently fulfilled in human beings in our world. Anyone who takes a moment to observe the world in which we live may see the hints that human beings have a place of privilege and honour. But what they absolutely won’t see is a world in which everything stands subject to human beings.

神在起初对人类所说的话：“要生养众多，遍满全地，治理这地；也要管理海里的鱼、空中的鸟，和地上各样行动的活物。”这是应许的话语，是等待在基督里成就的应许。圣经教导，这种意义的治理主权并不是我们目前就拥有的，而是藉着主耶稣基督的主权才找到的。

God’s word to humanity in the beginning—“be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth”—was a word of promise—a word of promise that awaited its fulfilment in Christ. The Bible teaches us that dominion is not what we currently possess, but what we come to find through the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

这当然是福音带来的美好的信息中的一部分。我们有一天要和基督一起在新天新地中一同作王（提后2:12；启22:5）。像你和我这样的人要统管世界！但是这样的治理要等到耶稣的再来。

This is, of course, part of the wonderful news of the gospel. One day we will share in the rule of Christ over the new heavens and the new earth (2 Tim 2:12; Rev 22:5). People like you and me were made to rule the world! But that rule awaits the return of Jesus.

那么这一切与我们的工作有什么关系？在各个方面都有许多关系！

So what does all of this have to say about our work? Much in every way!

二、对工作的意义

1、工作的价值与有限

Some implications for work

首先，我们藉着这幅画面，再来看创世记的叙述，我们就知道，神从起初就知道人不可能靠着集体的智慧来使万物降服。“耶和华神将那人安置在伊甸园，使他修理看守”。（创2:15）在那个时候，神没有期待我们努力工作来成就他对世界的计划。神并没有计划让万物服在我们手下，这工作总是指向耶稣。

Firstly, with this picture in mind, we go back to the Genesis narrative and we realize that God knew from the very beginning that human beings weren’t going to subdue the creation by their collective genius. When “the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it”, God wasn’t expecting that our hard work would bring about his plans for the world. God wasn’t intending to subdue the creation under our hands. That was a work that was always meant for Jesus.

罪进入世界的事实让我们看到，我们不能靠着避免犯罪来成就神的计划，乃是显明神一直以来的计划，让他的能力、权柄和荣耀藉着基督的拯救工作展现出来。罪是神计划的一部分，要向我们显明我们是谁，也向一切被造物启示他自己（罗11:32-36）。

What the entry of sin into the world shows us is not that if we had managed to avoid sin then our works would have completed God’s plan. Rather it reveals what God always planned, that his power, might and glory might be displayed through the rescuing work of Christ. Sin is part of God’s plan to show us who we are and to reveal himself to all of creation (Rom 11:32-36).

但是这对我们的工作（我在这里所说的“工作”，指的是我们在神创造的世界中所做的一切）有着相当深远的含义。圣经在谈到我们工作时的表述方式，使工作的第一个含义梳理起来有些困难。一方面，按照神满有恩慈的良善，我们的工作[6]会在末日荣耀他（太5:16；彼前2:12）。新约中随处可见对那些属基督之人的呼召，要他们做善工，所以我们要小心，不要诋毁任何一种工作。

There is a very real ambivalence about the significance of human labour in the Scriptures. Work is what God has given us to do in this world and through it God will glorify himself. But at the same time, the Bible is adamant that our work won’t fix the creation. We are to view all of our works as the life of obedience, just as Adam and Eve were to work for God’s rule in the garden at the beginning. But we must be equally convinced that we cannot bring about the new creation by our labours.

但是圣经也说明，我们手里的工作并不是神重建世界的途径。在罗马书8章，我们读到“一切受造之物一同叹息、劳苦，直到如今”，我们也读到，受造物通过“末日”事件得以脱离辖制。受造物并不是通过神的众子做成出色的工作得以脱离叹息和劳苦，而是藉着基督再来时在基督里展现出来（罗8:18-22）。

But the Bible also says that the works of our hands are not the way in which God will restore the world. In Romans 8, where we learn that the whole of creation is groaning as if in labour, we also learn that the release of the creation from its groaning is a ‘last day’ event. The creation is not released from its groaning by the sons of God doing a fantastic job, but rather by their revelation in Christ at his return (Rom 8:18-22).

在圣经中关于人工作的意义有正反两面的情感。工作是神赐给我们去做的，神会借着我们的工作来荣耀他自己。但是，同时，圣经也坚定地说明，工作不能重建被造界。我们要把自己的工作看做是一生的顺服，就如亚当和夏娃起初要在伊甸园中因着神的统管而工作。但是，我们也要同样确信和明白，我们的工作并不能产生和带来新的创造。

There is a very real ambivalence about the significance of human labour in the Scriptures. Work is what God has given us to do in this world and through it God will glorify himself. But at the same time, the Bible is adamant that our work won’t fix the creation. We are to view all of our works as the life of obedience, just as Adam and Eve were to work for God’s rule in the garden at the beginning. But we must be equally convinced that we cannot bring about the new creation by our labours.

我要特别说明一个近几十年来非常流行的说法，即工作的内在价值。这种观点认为：“除了工作创造的价值之外，工作本身就有其价值。工作的意义不限于它的成果。工作仅凭工作本身，也能产生价值，因为神创造了工作。”其含义是任何工作都是好的，因为工作是神所造美好的事物之一。

This speaks especially to a question that has been in vogue over recent decades, the question of the intrinsic value of work. “Surely”, it is argued, “work has a value beyond the things it produces. Work is about more than what it achieves. Surely work has a value in and of itself, just by being work, because God made it.” The implication is that any work is good because work is a good kind of thing that God has made.

稍加思索之后，我们不难发现其中的问题。我们所做的工作并不是独立存在的。其价值出自它与许多其他事物的关系。刷牙可能是件好事儿，但是一天刷牙两个小时很可能就不是件好事儿。因着爱别人而刷牙很可能是件好事儿，但是为了让自己有个完美的外表，好去哄别人进入骗局，就让刷牙的工作变质了。我们不能脱离自己心中的动机和神创造的本质去衡量自己的工作和行为。

A little reflection reveals the problem. The work that we do is not a thing in and of itself. Its value occurs in relationship to many other things. Brushing my teeth might be a good work. But brushing my teeth for two hours a day would probably not be a good work. Brushing my teeth out of love for others is likely to be a good thing. But brushing my teeth in order to have a perfect outward appearance so that people believe in the scam I am about to commit makes my teeth brushing something else. Our works and actions can’t be evaluated apart from the motives of our hearts and the nature of God’s creation.

工作并不是因为是神创造的就自动变成美好的，人类的工作总是人心的外在显明。工作或者显出我们爱耶稣和服事耶稣的愿望，或者是我们内心反叛的表达。

Work is not an automatic good because it is created by God, rather human works are always the outworking of the human heart. Works will either reveal our desire to love and serve Jesus or they will be an expression of our rebellion.

这样，我们就很难衡量世上的工作了。互联网、智能手机和无人驾驶汽车的发明是人类治理的表现还是显明了我们反叛的程度？答案很明确，两者都有可能！所以，我们若说工作本质上有固有的良善，那么我们的观点就并不是圣经所涵盖的范畴。

This makes evaluating life in our world very difficult. Is the invention of the Internet, smart phones, or cars that can drive themselves an expression of the rule of humanity or our rank disobedience? And the answer is an unequivocal both! So to speak of work as ‘intrinsically’ good is to try and step into a space that the Bible is reluctant to occupy.

圣经也同样清晰地说明了另外一个观点：技术的进步并不能拯救世界。这并不是说我们不能或不应该为了神在世界上的荣耀而使用技术上的进步（我们并不是要像阿米什人那样生活），而是说，技术上的进步——为了工作本身而在工作上卓越——并不是人类的终极目标。我们要说的最重要的就是，文化使命并不是要靠着我们的工作来完成，文化使命已经在基督里成就了。我们现在的工作是我们与基督关系的外在表现，而不是神重新创造世界的手段。

What is equally biblically clear is that the world will not be saved by our technological advancement. That is not to say that we can’t or shouldn’t use technological progress for the glory of God in the world (we are not supposed to end up as the Amish). But it is to say that technological advancement—being good at our work for our work’s sake—is not the chief end of man. What we must say most of all is that the cultural mandate is not going to be fulfilled by our working. It has already been fulfilled in Christ. Our works now are an outworking of our relationship with Jesus, but they are not the means by which God will re-create the world. (Although there is more to say about this in the coming articles.)

 2、善工与工作

这就自然引发我们思考关于工作的第二个含义。在新约中，对于在基督里的“善工”的强调并不局限于你所做的工作。其实，就我所看到的，圣经中甚至很少谈到一般意义上的工作（job），而且几乎没有提到职业（career）。

This leads us naturally to the second implication of our study so far for our thinking about work. In the New Testament, the emphasis on the life of good works in Christ is not limited to the job that you do. In fact, the Scriptures have very little to say about jobs in general and, as far as I can work out, almost nothing to say about careers at all.

新约有少数几次谈到一般意义上的“工作”，其中一处是这样的：你和我倾向于认为是不敬虔的工作（如士兵或税吏），若做这个工作的人心里存着神的价值观（路3:10-14），那么这个工作就是完全可以接受的职业。至少，在我看来，圣经明确反对的职业只有偷盗和卖淫。

On the jobs front, one of the only things that the New Testament has to say is that quite a few jobs that you and I might be tempted to think of as fields of ungodliness (like being a soldier or a tax-collector) are in fact perfectly acceptable occupations if they are undertaken with God’s values in mind (Luke 3:10-14). As far as I can work out, the only career paths clearly rejected by the Bible are thievery and prostitution (and the second of those only by inference).

新约并没有讲到我们的工作，而是谈到我们的整个生命。新约呼召我们，在做任何工作时，都要有委身基督主权之人的样式。这当然就包括了我们整个的“工作”生涯。但是现代的“工作狂”则不是圣经的原意。我们在有薪水时所做的，和没薪水时一样，都要为神的荣耀而做。

Rather than speaking about our jobs, the New Testament speaks to us about the whole of our lives, and calls on us to do every work as someone who is committed to the lordship of Jesus. This of course covers the whole of our ‘working’ life. But the modern obsession with our ‘jobs’ is not a biblical invention. What we do when we are paid, just as what we do when we aren’t paid, is all to be for the glory of God.

所以，我们所谈的并不是现代意义上的“工作”，而是神在圣经中所告诉我们的“善工”——我们一生作为基督的跟随者而活。当我们来到圣经中求问工作的时候，我们要小心，不要扭曲圣经中关于工作的含义。

And so rather than speaking about ‘work’ in our modern sense of that term, what God keeps talking to us about in the Scriptures are our good works—our whole lives lived as followers of Jesus. When we come to the Bible asking about our jobs, we need to be careful that we do not distort what the Bible says.

若是如此，就意味着基督徒不应再用属世的价值观来衡量自己的工作。我们所做的工作并不等于我们的身份。横亘在财富精英和工薪阶层之间在地位上、威望上和社会阶层上的可笑鸿沟在基督徒的团契中根本就没有立足之地。我们要做的并不是去寻找完美的工作或是追求职业的各种网罗。我们必须平等地看待每个人，通过神的视角来评估工作。

If this means anything at all, then it must mean that Christians need to stop evaluating their work by worldly standards. The job that we do is not who we are. And the ridiculous gap in status, prestige and social class between the wealthy elite and the working class has no place in Christian fellowship. Our work is not to find the perfect job or to chase the trappings of career. We must treat all as equals and evaluate work through God’s eyes.

还有，神并没有告诉我们说：“不论你的工作是什么，都要竭尽努力去做，因为你的卓越能够荣耀我。”他反而这样说：“在你生活的每个领域做善工。”这也就意味着，我们需要更进一步，并问自己：在我们行善工的人生中，我们领薪水的工作到底占据什么样的位置？某些工作要比另外一些更有价值吗？还是我们只要做好当下的工作就好，无论这工作是什么？

Further, God does not say to us, “Whatever your job is, work as hard at it as you can, for your excellence will glorify me”. Instead he says, “Do good works in every part of your life”. What that means is that we need to move on and ask questions like: what place does our paid job have in a life of good works? And are some works more valuable than others, or should we just do whatever our hand finds to do?

这些都是我们以后要讨论的问题。现在，我们要记住的是，文化使命，也就是神要我们遍满全地的命令，并不是在我们自己的工作中成就的，乃是成就在那一个伟大的人子主耶稣基督的工作中。神对我们人生的计划并不是去找到癌症的治愈方案，或是把全世界的银行系统都联网，甚至也不是建造一座完美的桥梁。他对我们的计划是要我们在与主耶稣基督的关系中找到我们的身份。在他里面，我们就能够为了神的荣耀来做我们一切的工作。

Those are questions that will wait for next time. For the moment, we ought to stop and remember that the cultural mandate, God’s command to fill and subdue the earth is not fulfilled in our works but in the work of that one great human being the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s plan for our lives is not primarily that we might find a cure for cancer or unite the banking systems of the world or even build the perfect bridge. His plan for us is that we might find our identity and life in relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that in him, we might do all of our works for the glory of God.

[2] 本文是作者发表的系列文章的第一篇，其余两篇分别为“召命是什么？”（Vocation? What’s that? ），“工作、价值和福音”（Work, value, and the gospel）。——编者注

[3]‘Cultural mandate’, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_mandate, viewed 27/11/2012.

[4] As RE Manahan explains in his doctoral thesis: A re-examination of the cultural mandate: an analysis and evaluation of the dominion materials, 1982 (unpublished thesis, cited from http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/OTeSources/01-Genesis/Text/Books/Manahan-Cultural/Manahan-Cultural.htm). Much of what follows in this section comes from Manahan’s work.

[5] 虽然有时候2）和3）会被分开讲述，但是它们常常被紧紧联系在一起。

[6] 和合本圣经翻译为“行为”。——编者注

作者简介：

保罗•格里蒙德（Paul Grimmond）牧师1993年于新南威尔士大学获得理学学士并于2000年获得摩尔神学院道学学士学位。从2010年起在新南威尔士大学校园服事。