Sailing as a metaphor for life

Labor Day and the Question, “What Would Jesus Do?” As we celebrate Labor Day, we rightly give thanks for the people whose labor makes our lives possible—the people who build, clean, teach, care, deliver, harvest, cook, serve, repair, drive, and keep our communities going. But Labor Day also gives us an opportunity to ask a harder question: What does it say about us when someone can work hard all week and still not have enough money for food, gas, or a decent place to rest from their labor? The old question, “What Would Jesus Do?”, was never meant to be simply about being nice to the person standing in front of us. The Social Gospel movement understood that following Jesus also means asking about the conditions in which people live and work. Religious leaders such as Walter Rauschenbusch and Washington Gladden challenged Christians to look beyond individual charity toward the systems that create poverty and exploitation. They believed that the Gospel had something to say about wages, working conditions, economic inequality, and the dignity of every worker. The Bible is remarkably clear about this: Jesus says, “Just as you did it to one of the least of these…you did it to me.” And the Letter of James declares that the wages withheld from workers “cry out” to God. If that is true, then the way we treat workers is not merely an economic question. It is a spiritual question. When a person works full-time but cannot afford enough food, is that simply a failure of the economy—or is it a question of how we are loving our neighbor?When someone must choose between buying gas to get to work and buying groceries for their family, what does that say about the value we place on their labor? When someone works hard all day but cannot afford a safe, decent place to sleep and rest, have we really honored the biblical command to love our neighbor? Labor Day reminds us that work has dignity—but workers have dignity too. The Social Gospel challenged Christians to move beyond asking only, “How can I help this person?” and to ask, “Why does this person need help in the first place?” So perhaps this Labor Day we should return to that old question: What would Jesus do? And perhaps the answer begins with this: Jesus would see the worker—not simply the work. And if we truly believe that every person is a child of God, then a decent wage, safe working conditions, food on the table, enough gas to get to work, and a decent place to rest after a day’s labor aren’t luxuries. They are matters of human dignity. This Labor Day, may we give thanks for those who labor—and may we also work toward a world where every person who labors can share in the fruits of that labor. “The laborer deserves to be paid.” — Luke 10:7 Happy Labor Day. And perhaps this year, let’s ask not only “What would Jesus do?” but “What would Jesus have us do?”