Worldview Wednesday: Need For Basic Sufficiency

From an early age, I was raised in an environment on the farm that I would call basic sufficiency. What I mean by this is that the average farming family had enough skills to take care of itself to provide for basic needs. Some would say self-sufficiency, but I would venture to say that, though we could do a lot for ourselves, we would still benefit from a specialist in a particular field (ie a doctor) or even machines that we were not capable of constructing but found useful.

To further elaborate, basic sufficiency went something like this. For starters, we grew a large amount of what we ate, so we did not have to rely on the grocery store for everything. However, it went much further than this. My grandmother was an incredibly gifted and skilled seamstress. For the most part she made curtains, but she was also competent in making and mending clothes. Therefore, anytime a hem needed to be done, we didn't need to go elsewhere; we would just ask her. The list could go on to many other things, but one gets the idea.

Today, we have been indoctrinated to believe that each person is to be specialized in a single skill and to rely on everyone else to meet the rest one's needs. It is as though it is taboo to learn how to do other tasks that do require skill so as to save money and be able to spend more time at home. For example, instead of learning how to maintain your own yard, fix a plethora of things in your home, grown your own food, etc., one is taught to work longer hours at a specialized job and then pay someone else to other skilled tasks.

Whether one realizes it or wants to admit it, this type of mentality is somewhat communistic because in a communistic society each person does a specialized task and relies on everyone else to do other tasks for them. Is this Biblical? No.

God created man in the garden to tend it, and this would have required Adam to be able to do many different tasks well. The difference is that work is arduous now because of the Fall. Even so, a small garden requires one to plant, water, harvest, etc. Each of those tasks are unique, and man is given satisfaction when he sits down and eats what he as meticulously cared for from seed to table--a table he may have even built.

In an attitude of humility and thankfulness to God for blessing his labor, much joy is gained, but it can and does turn into pride and haughtiness when man is exalted and not God. Nevertheless, man was not created to live a life where he only did one thing all of the time so much so that he was incompetent at everything else. Man was not created to soley have competence in doing this one task all his days and little of anything else.

This particular attitude has carried itself over into child-rearing, for now a child is sent off to day-care so that the mother can go and do her specialized task for society. It is the whole 'it takes a village to raise a child approach.' On the contrary, God has ordained that it takes 'a family to raise a child' and not 'a village.' Humans are not mere robotic drones; on the contrary, we are created in the image of God and are capable of doing many tasks well, especially with regard to all of the complexities involved in child-rearing.

In no way do I demean specialization, and its usefulness, for I am thankful for the surgeon who has spent a great quantity of time in developing his skill on a particular part of the body. I also find benefit in machines like cars that are produced more efficiently in an assembly line like fashion where each person is specialized in their particular skill. The artist or musician who has attained great skill through many hours of labor often times brings great pleasure to my eyes and ears.

However, this does not mean that one should not learn other basic tasks well in order to save money and be able to spend more time at home with one's family. For example, I currently work as a dispatcher, but that does not mean that I cannot take care of my own yard, grow at least some of my own food, build my own furniture, etc. As our family grows larger, each person is able to do more for the benefit of our small family, which, in turn, fosters greater loving unity and loyalty to each other. In time, this will enable each of our children to take all of these learned and developed skills (whether more specialized or general) and put them into practice when they raise their own families.

One of the great beauties of God's created order within humanity is that each family is capable of learning many tasks well, yet each person can become more specialized in a skill that they enjoy. For example, though I can do neccessary yardwork without the need for a 'professional' in every single thing, I enjoy developing agricultural and carpentry skills the most. However, when I needed some limbs removed from over my house, I was more than willing to hire someone else to trim the trees back. In time, I may have a child that can do this, but, ultimately, specializiation does prove beneficial when tasks require a specific skillset like a skilled theologion, surgeon, or a lawyer that may take quite some time to develop.

For this reason, God has designed man to be basically sufficient but not totally self-sufficient. We are given the privilege of knowing how to do many things well as individuals so as to cultivate strong family bonds, yet we are also kept in our place as no man knows everything about all things. In this way, we are interdependent upon one another within the Church and society in general. Ultimately, God in Christ is back of all things to His glory alone.

In a fallen world, it is difficult to maintain a balance between general and specialized skills, yet the common grace that God gives enables us to achieve at least some semblance of that in the present. Therefore, let us seek to balance these two as we raise our families on the one hand and yet graciously accept the specialized skills that others bring to the table on the other.

To Him be the glory! Amen!