The Blue-Collar Bible: Blue-Collar in the New Testament (Apostles’ Teaching), Book Excerpt

The Apostles all had the same habit, and it’s funny how they all used illustrations across disciplines. Peter the fisherman used a masonry analogy,1 while James, the carpenter and Jesus's brother,2 used a fishing analogy.3

[This is an excerpt from my book, The Blue-Collar Blindspot in it I dig deep into how Christian Media tacitly ignores blue-collar workers and the dignity of human work. I’ll be posting more each week till I’m through the whole book.]

James described the process of desire leading to temptation, temptation leading to sin, and sin leading to death. This one is more subtle, but all of the verbs James uses are fishing vocabulary. To keep the phrasing in English while converting to blue-collar language, James 1:14 could be rendered: “But each man is tempted when he is lured by his own lust and baited.”

The image is sin leading to death because the sinner desires it. Any fisherman is going to think about the last fish they held, gasping for breath, dead because he took a bite and wouldn’t let go of what was killing him. The devil uses what we desire to get us to bite the hook of sin and reel us toward death. He makes the sinner do it to himself, something a fishermen understands at a visceral level.

Paul the tentmaker speaks with a lot of blue-collar imagery as well. He speaks of the “wages” of sin.4 A man works sin, and his paycheck is death. As sons of God on earth we have priceless treasure in simple clay pots.5 The potter gets it. Paul talks about Christ’s redemptive work in the life of the believer as simply, “workmanship.”6 We are made by God, as a tree is grown. Then we are made by Christ the way a carpenter takes a tree and makes a chair or bed. We become crafted for use by Christ. Tradesmen immediately connect with this phrasing

Paul describes a Christian’s life and ministry as a building,7 whether it will withstand the fire and is built to last for eternity - or not. Any construction worker will connect with that in a real way. The modern era of building codes and fire-rated materials makes the description especially poignant.

The true importance of this idea is seen when the average sermon is written by the average pastor. The difficulty of bridging the massive gulf between the life of a Christian 2000 or 3000 years ago and right now is often made simply by quoting the scriptures. The fundamentals of building haven’t changed hardly at all in that huge amount of time. God makes His Word quite relatable to the modern tradesman or soldier with little scholarly oratory. Blue-collar culture and language are central to the way God communicates His truth.

Any mason can immediately connect with the way Peter describes the complex and mysterious relationship all Christians have with God and each other. He says, “you are living stones building a temple” Boom. No dissertation is needed to connect with a common bricklayer in a way that inspires action and understanding. To a bricklayer it would be obvious, with a little thought, that he should fit with the other stones. He needs to be square and level. He needs to have a firm foundation. He doesn’t need to read an essay explaining the necessity of harmony with other believers, striving to live a holy life, or founding his life on God’s Word.

It’s obvious to any mason what happens if a brick doesn’t fit. It falls out. If the brick isn’t level, the wall falls over. If the brick isn’t securely placed, the brick falls out of the wall. If enough bricks fall out, the wall falls down. If one or more walls fall, the whole building goes. Peter’s simple analogy can make a common bricklayer an immediate expert in church harmony. A bricklayer knows the importance of each individual continuing Sanctification without ever knowing what any of those big words mean.

When Peter explains the unknowable mystery of the Christian royal priesthood and the necessity of unity, he does not spend pages and pages articulating various nuanced theological and practical points. Peter simply states that the people are living stones, building a spiritual house. The meaning is especially clear to your average bricklayer. Each brick must be fitted to the others around it - all bricks laid plumb, square, and true - or the building falls. This building is a temple of the Lord most high, and it’s important to build your life in a manner worthy of being part of that temple.

I could go on forever. I point all of this out just to show that God’s word speaks directly in blue-collar language. The people He chooses to share His Word with mankind repeatedly use analogies anchored in a blue-collar, hands-on life. Basically every allegory is grounded in some kind of manual labor or trade. Blue-collar language and culture seems to permeate the very heart of the gospel and how the Bible's authors chose to communicate. Next, I'll show how God chooses blue-collar people to implement His divine plan.

[This is an excerpt from my book, The Blue-Collar Blindspot in it I dig deep into how Christian Media tacitly ignores blue-collar workers and the dignity of human work. I’ll be posting more each week till I’m through the whole book.]

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11 Peter 2:5

2 The author is currently Catholic and believes all references to Jesus' brothers refers to cousins or half-brothers. This is consistent with the historical use of the word ἀδελφός and Catholic teaching on the perpetual virginity of Mary.

3James 1:14

4Romans 6:23

52 Corinthians 4:7

6Ephesians 2:10

71 Corinthians 3:11