Today is St. Patrick’s Day, and so it seems appropriate to offer a brief defense of St. Patrick’s hymn as a baptismal exhortation in three short points:

First, baptism is Trinitarian. The Great Commission affirms this truth in Matthew 28 (“Baptizing them into the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”), and Patrick’s hymn reflects this in the opening and closing verses: “I Bind Unto Myself Today the Strong Name of the Trinity.” The Triune God is the alpha and the omega of baptism.

Second, baptism is protective. It is the armor’s helmet in Ephesians 6, the Christian’s clothing in Galatians 3, and a sign of new life in Romans 6. Baptism protects. Patrick’s hymn reflects this: “Against the death-wound and the burning, the choking wave, the poisoned shaft, protect me Christ till thy returning.” Baptism signifies Christ’s protection over us.

And finally, baptism is fidelity. There is a rhythm to this great hymn. There is a logic to it all the way through verse 7, and then something dramatically happens in verse 8. The cadence changes, the rhythm is modified, and the central figure comes to the scene. Patrick puts Christ everywhere—above, within, behind, before, and in all places. And the allegiance is not ours to Jesus, but for Patrick, it’s Jesus’ fidelity to us to be with us from font to grave. Christ is ever faithful!

As we bring young and old to the font, let us remember our baptisms also, for in it, the Trinity is displayed, our lives are protected, and Christ surrounds us with his fidelity.

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“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 

‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; 

have dominion over the fish of the sea, 

over the birds of the air, 

and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”

Genesis 1:28

Ultimately, the Dominion Mandate from Genesis 1:28 defines what is economically valuable and what is not. Value comes from ruling the earth and subduing it, from being fruitful and multiplying. Conversely, activity that does not preserve or increase dominion isn’t economically valuable. The topic for this article is economic value and intends to speak to providers, those responsible for creating economic value to sustain themselves and others in their household.   

Christian providers must understand that value is measured in dominion. Knowing this changes your entire approach to work. Of course you must work for a living, but if your work is not steadily taking dominion, you will soon find yourself “out of work.” This biblical wisdom for work as taking dominion directs and motivates us in our labors away from just being active toward a truly productive work ethic. 

Work Ethic from a Dominion Mindset

While you can be active in many good things, only activity that rules and subdues is economically valuable to human existence. You are a creature, not self-existent like God, so you continually spend down resources in order to exist, and you will only thrive in your work if you obey the Lord’s Dominion Mandate to rule and subdue the earth. Thus, every day when you go to work, go to take dominion. This cultivates a work ethic from a Dominion Mindset.  

Keeping a Dominion Mindset about your work points you to value and it exposes how many things can pass for work that are not truly valuable.  For Christian providers, advice to“Work while you’re working” translates to: Make sure everything you do as “work” contributes toward taking dominion. If you do not keep a Dominion Mindset about your work, you will end up active, but not valued. You will be spent, yet have nothing to spend. If your business is not to be busy solving problems for your neighbors on a daily basis, your problems as a provider will be multiplied. 

Valuable Work

A workplace adage says, “You get paid for the value you create.” A variant adds, “You get paid in proportion to the problems you solve.” Taken together with the Dominion Mandate, value is something created by the worker who takes dominion over problems. If your work provides relief from problems or advantage over chaos, then it is valuable because it grants the economic benefit of taking dominion over what was previously unruly. Thus, when you turn unruly, complicated, problematic situations into a benefit for your community, the economy rewards these actions in proportion to the benefit you offer.

Whether working for yourself or someone else, the value of your work corresponds to the benefit it yields your neighbor. Self-employed business owners know you cannot just set any price for your labors in the marketplace. It doesn’t matter what the work costs you in effort and energy expended. The only thing that matters is whether what you do benefits your neighbors. If your work helps them solve problems, they will pay you for that benefit. The bigger the problem solved, the bigger the payday, because solutions to big problems are more beneficial, more economically valuable, than solutions to small problems. It is also true that solving a small problem for many people can be more economically valuable than solving a big problem for a few people. The value of your problem-solving skill all depends on how much dominion your solution can offer. 

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In the Transfiguration of our Lord, Jesus takes the disciples to the mountains. Mountains are places of worship in the Bible; they are types of the heavenly city.

The Father invites the saints of all ages to this glorious gathering of the saints. He brings Moses, who defeated and broke the false idols and delivered God’s people from tyranny, and Elijah by divine power manifested Yahweh’s authority over Baal, yet, Moses and Elijah are not the ones chosen to bring light to the world; they are not the ones chosen to reveal Yahweh to the nations; they are not the ones chosen to destroy the devil and death and they are ultimately not the ones to whom we must listen.

The Gospels say: “He (Peter) was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

Jesus is Creation’s light-bringer. He is exalted above every name and above all gods. He is the greater iconoclast and the greater Moses and Elijah, transfigured to bring his dazzling glory to the nations. We heed his call and listen to his voice!

On Transfiguration Sunday, the Church ascends to that holy mountain to join angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven to hear from the Son of God. Come, let us adore him!

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I’ve had this conversation several times in the last few weeks. The question ponders whether Republicans can keep up with the pace of aggressive moves by President Trump.

I share the enthusiastic moves of the president and, even more so, the ideological boldness of our Vice-President. But enough of our future 48th president.

Back to 47.

The overreaction some are having to the President’s boldness stems from the low expectations we have set for our leaders. We have acted as if certain realities cannot be changed in our culture. But the President’s recent encounter with the Maine Governor Janet Mills is a synopsis of the confrontational model of the new Republican administrator.

Trump urged Maine’s governor to comply with the executive order that prevents transgender women from competing in female categories of sports. The exchange was rather uncomfortable to some but a needed reality in an age of toxic empathy.

“You better comply, you better comply, because, otherwise, you’re not getting any federal funding,” he said. Mills didn’t back down. “See you in court,” she shot back.

Trump responded, “Good. I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one.” Then, after a pause, he added, “And enjoy your life after governor because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics (Economic Times).

The entire process is uncomfortable to many, but these discourses are needed. I agree with David Limbaugh’s assessment that anyone with buyer’s remorse is not operating in the same reality. We see a man with a mandate, which will be challenged soon during mid-term elections. Time is not on our side. Speed and efficiency are key at this stage.

While his recent executive order “to expand access to in vitro fertilization (IVF), and “aggressively reduce the costs” are rooted in misunderstandings about the nature of life, “the order does not directly change any policy” (Guardian). In fact, Trump had campaigned on “making the government or insurance companies cover IVF.” This does not appear to be on the agenda at this moment, and I pray it never walks through the doors of the legislative process.

While many of these realities need to be eradicated from the Trump administration, we are seeing ideas, though ultimately destructive, still rooted in the assumption that IVF will “provide more babies.” The original sentiment is noble, but the application is deadly. We pray that godly leaders will surround the president and alter his flawed thinking.

So, yes, we are witnessing a blitz of epic proportions. And I am hoping for some more refinement as we move forward. But we shouldn’t dizzy ourselves with it while acting confused. This is what we were promised, and given the monsters out there, we need a scintillating display of authority; a kind of assertiveness that says what it’s thinking out loud.

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