Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”… Vs 18 “The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

“Is it a good idea for a husband and wife to be in the same profession, or work for the same organisation?” That was the question that sparked a heated debate in our marriage fellowship once. It arose from a scenario shared by a member of the fellowship, where a Husband – the CEO of a firm was faced with a dilemma. His wife, a senior executive of the same firm had just undergone a rigorous Performance Appraisal process and found wanting. As a result, she was placed on a Performance Improvement Program for two months with the possibility of contract termination if no improvement was observed. The dilemma for the husband was that he was the final signatory for the performance improvement report, as well as the potential termination letter. In effect, he was the one to fire his wife!

While Human Resource best practices will give recommendations on how to best avoid or navigate around above scenario and also curb nepotism, it is still a common dilemma in especially family owned businesses, where husband and wife and other members of the family work together. 

For today, let’s focus on what God says about work and the family.

First it is important to understand the concept of work as defined in God’s Word. Note that this was work directly assigned by God, and forms a core part of man’s purpose. There are 2 Aspects of man’s work presented in Genesis 2:15:

1. Cultivation/nurturing/tilling the land – God Himself provided the water (rain) and caused the increase/growth of the plants. Man’s work was to create the right environment for the plants to grow and flourish.
2. Identification and Naming of the animals (vs 19-20) – God himself created the animals each with their own distinct characteristics, but allowed man to name them. This is indicative of man’s ability even today of “defining” or “determining” what each animal can accomplish. Man can train animals to plough the land, to dance and even do acrobatics!

In all this work, a suitable helper was required for Adam; and that’s how Eve came to be. A helper in this case will either:

• Assist with the actual work of cultivation and identity building.
• Create a conducive environment or state of mind and emotion to do the work.

The helper can become a hindrance to the work if he/she:

• Chooses her own line of work that is different. While husbands and wife may have different careers/professions, it is important for both to identify their joint purpose/work – that will cause them to team up.
• Antagonizes the man and causes emotional and mental strain. The husband can also antagonize the wife making it difficult for either or both of them to execute God’s divine mandate.

Our “Work” was summed up by Jesus in the great commission as requiring us to:

1. Disciple the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, thus creating a Godly environment – Cultivation
2. Teach them to obey everything commanded by God – Training and Identity building/ character formation

The Parent’s Mandate:

Children are neither plants or animals, but Cultivation and Identity building are a critical part of parenting – which is most effective if it is a joint effort between the husband and the wife. This places parenting smack in the middle of God’s idea of work, and is therefore an important component in the Great Commission. This “Work” has eternal significance and is therefore far more important to God than all other work that man has to do to make a living.