ABSTRACT:

I have had the honor of being a Christian for many years. As a Christian librarian, my faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ shapes every aspect of my work. I share how the message of Christ’s sacrificial love and resurrection motivates me to serve others with humility, grace, and selflessness. Every day at work is a chance to embody God’s love for all of my patrons. Rather than viewing faith as separate from my professional life, I describe how it is the driving force behind my ethics, interactions, and commitment to service. I encourage other Christian librarians to let the transformative power of the gospel guide their work as well.

FULL ENTRY:

The gospel of Jesus Christ must drive librarianship. Let me unpack that statement. First, the word “gospel” literally means “good news.” The good news is that Jesus Christ came, was put to death, and was resurrected. In other words, Jesus Christ lives! But this leaves another question: for what purpose did Jesus Christ die? Was he a criminal? Was he a wicked person? Not by any means. Scripture clearly portrays Christ as innocent, holy, and not guilty. Jesus Christ took my place on the cross: I deserve death, I deserve punishment, I deserve the wrath of God. My thoughts, actions, ill intentions, and passivity (and much more) are all things that deserve God’s wrath. The gospel (or “good news”) notes that the death of Jesus Christ was substitutionary: Jesus Christ took my place on the cross. Because the death of Jesus Christ was substitutionary, I have been forgiven. But God’s action did not end in the death of Jesus Christ. By his resurrection, Jesus defeated death. This is the good news. Because of Christ’s victory, I, as a believer in Jesus Christ, do not need to fear death because Scripture teaches that I am part of God’s eternal kingdom. A foundation of this nature radically drives how I see life and subsequently drives my professional endeavors.

In his work entitled, The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is, when talking about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, N. T. Wright (1999) states: “(I)t is the crucified Messiah we are talking about. His death was not simply the messy bit that enables our sins to be forgiven but that can then be forgotten. The cross is the surest, truest, and deepest window on the very heart and character of the living and loving God…. And when therefore we speak … of shaping our world, we do not — we dare not — simply treat the cross as the thing that saves us ‘personally,’ but which can be left behind when we get on with the job. The task of shaping our world is best understood as the redemptive task of bringing the achievement of the cross to bear on the world, and in that task the methods, as well as the message, must be cross-shaped through and through” (94-95). In other words, the cross of Jesus Christ must be more than just a piece of my personal story. The cross of Jesus Christ, as a critical component of the gospel message, must shape and form every component of my life, including my professional endeavors of librarianship.

What do I mean when I say that the gospel of Jesus Christ drives librarianship? The gospel propels librarianship, sets it in motion, and is a primary motivation behind it. If the cross is the “surest, truest, and deepest window on the very heart and character of the living and loving God…” (Wright, 1999, 94), how should that impact librarianship? In the gospel of John, Jesus states, “(g)reater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13, ESV). The gospel provides a clear picture that God’s love for humanity led Him to offer His son (Jesus) as a sacrifice. God the son (Jesus) took his Father’s wrath, which we deserved. This was an act displaying God’s love to humanity. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I aim to use all contexts of life, including librarianship, as a way to display God’s love. Librarianship is not the only means through which this is done, but as God has placed me in this profession, and I have spent and will continue to spend a fair amount my life in the profession of librarianship, I believe I am responsible for demonstrating that love in that context. I fail at this many, many times. Thankfully, we worship a gracious, merciful, and loving God who offers a means of forgiveness: confession based on my acceptance and belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because I have accepted God’s good news and confess my sins, he is faithful and just to forgive me.

I have two suggestions for how the gospel should drive librarianship. First, if the cross reflects the nature of God, it should be something for which I strive. Humility is a central component of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ: service, sacrifice, putting the interests of others before my own, and loving my neighbor. Humility should be a central component of practicing librarianship in the light of the gospel. Humility should be foundational in how I treat patrons with respect and love, strive to discover means through which I can better serve others, and sacrifice my interests for the interests of others. One of the challenges I have with such a broad application of the gospel is that there are many contexts in which service can appear to reflect humility, in both religious and secular contexts. However, I would like to argue that there is one key differentiation: motive. Am I offering service to a colleague to earn “brownie points” that they can repay me at some point? Or am I doing it as an expression of the wonderful work which God has done for me? Some may argue that a distinction of this nature is so fine that it compels one to ask: does it matter? I would answer that question with a definitive: “Yes! It matters!” It matters because God looks at the heart; God knows our every intention and mixed motives. To be honest, that is difficult to take in because I have offered very few acts of service (either professional or otherwise) that do not have some ill motive. Thank God for His mercy and grace and His blessing of my many endeavors despite my ill motives.

Secondly, if the cross reflects the nature of God, I would like to suggest that many (if not all) of the fundamentals of librarianship can be spurred by the gospel of Jesus Christ. For example, sharing resources is a foundational component of librarianship. The resources we purchase, the items we lend, and the services in which we invest often stem from a fundamental component of serving others, empowered by humility. While God’s sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ, was much more exceptional than a librarian’s investment of time assisting a student in a reference interview, a similar ethos is possible. Does that librarian’s investment reflect their gratefulness for God’s work in their own life? Is joy embedded into their service to a stranger because of their recognition of what a great gift God has given them through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Do I treat the patron with utmost respect and dignity because I know that they are made in God’s image?

Many of us have had the privilege of experiencing outstanding service. Service like this often motivates us to work harder, perform stronger, and improve. Outstanding service driven by the cross of Jesus Christ can transform many facets of life. However, it takes time, consistency, and determination for people to see that the exceptional service was not a rare instance driven by selfish ambition, but a manifestation of God’s grace displayed through a follower of Jesus Christ striving to please God by serving their neighbor. This kind of service, a manifestation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, empowers librarians to be change agents.

In closing this entry, I would like to suggest that there are many ways through which the cross of Jesus Christ, which reflects the nature of God, can be displayed in librarianship. I hope that future entries in this blog serve to explore ways in which the gospel of Jesus Christ can be manifested through librarianship.

Reference

Wright, N. T. The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1999.