Irreplaceable

God calls us to be content in Him, and to seek to be obedient, bringing Him glory in all things,
including our work. 1st Timothy 6 addresses the concept of contentment:
6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

In our demeanor, we can radiate contentment; we can reflect a confidence in the God whom we know and serve.  We can show His character in the work that we do, knowing that ultimately, we are serving Him so that Christ may receive glory.  We have been given unique gifts and talents, and He desires to use us.  Each person has inestimable worth, and God invites all of us to walk with Him daily and to enjoy His presence.

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The Bible instructs us to bring glory to Christ through the work we are called to do - I think that
applies to paid employment, volunteer endeavors, or whatever pursuits in which we participate. Colossians 3 states:
23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

The burger chain based in California, which is named, appropriately enough, Caliburger, has just announced its new employee.  Meet Flippy.

Flippy is not a human, it is a robot and is capable of flipping some 2,000 hamburgers a day, according to a USA Today article.  As of last Monday, according to the article:

...a human at Caliburger's restaurant here is making the burger patties, seasoning them and placing them in a tray for the robot. Flippy pulls them out, places them on the griddle, monitors their temperature, flips them and takes them off the griddle to cool. They then get placed by a human into buns for customers.

In some quarters, the presence of Flippy has opened up a discussion about the minimum wage.  A Washington Examiner piece states: "if we raise wages, we push the economy as a whole further toward automation and away from employing humans – higher minimum wages kill human jobs. You may or may not care about that effect of voting to increase the minimum wage, but those who become unemployed as a result might not be so overjoyed."   

David Zito, CEO of Miso Robotics, which created Flippy, along with the chain's owner, said: “This isn’t about replacing jobs. This is about a third hand in the kitchen.”

The USA Today story stated:

In late 2017, a study by the Pew Research Center showed three-quarters of Americans said it is at least "somewhat realistic" that robots and computers eventually will perform most of the jobs now done by people, and the survey found respondents worried about the fallout, such as income inequality.

Well, Flippy has received his or her first vacation.  Another USA Today piece reported:

When news coverage about Flippy went viral, the Cali Group said it realized it needed to spend more time on training humans to keep up.

While Flippy held up its end of the deal, the restaurant is short of humans to prepare the patties for the grill and then pile on the lettuce and other fixins', said Anthony Lomelino, chief technology officer for Cali Group. For now, there's no robot for those tasks.

So, while technology may present the opportunity for a company to be more productive, you still can't eliminate the human factor.  Flippy, which will provide a source of conversation and even debate for some time, it seems, needs...the human touch!

And, someone had to actually develop the technology, build the robot, and program the robot to accomplish the desired task or tasks.

I think, Biblically, we have to recognize the value of every human being and the unique skills that he or she brings to the workplace.

Now, there are those that would contend that insufficient human labor is a factor in developing robotics, and that is a conversation worth having - every person should be willing to bring his or her best to the work we are called to do; that is a Biblical principle.  We recognize the wages we receive are provided for a full days' work, and if we are using our company's time for other pursuits, then we are in essence taking from our employer what we have agreed to provide.  Remember, the Bible says, "Thou shalt not steal."

The goal, I think, is to become that "go-to" person at work, to acquire, present, and develop skills that make us irreplaceable.  That's the goal, even though we also should not think of ourselves in a puffed up way about the level of work we do.   We have the opportunity to work so that we may glorify Christ.  We can also be determined to be content in our work, even if it may not be the fulfillment of God's call on your life, remembering that godliness, with contentment, according to 1st Timothy, is "great gain."