A few weeks ago we posted #322–Proudly Created by Humans, suggesting that, perhaps one day, the most meaningful label will not be “Proudly Made in the U.S.A.” but “Proudly Created by Humans.” We said that, without a radical rethinking of what “work” means, the replacement of people with machines will be dehumanizing to those replaced.

In that post we urged faithful leaders pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing, to use technology only when and to the extent it increases the flourishing of God’s creation, particularly humans, or is necessary for the sustainability of the organization.

We have had other topics in the wings, but news in the last week brought us right back to the relationship between “humanity” and technology, and God’s purpose for work and organizations.

The Inspiration

The inspiration for this post came from two articles–one about verification and one about replication.

Verifying.

Fast Company posted an article titled “Can Sam Altman make proving you’re human seem cool–and essential?”  It revealed something we had not heard about–“World ID.”  In case you are as out-of-touch as we were, World ID allows you to verify you are human.  Their website invites you to “join the real human network” and boasts, “Use World ID to prove you are a unique human, without revealing anything else about you.”  You find one of their “Orbs” and allow it to record your biometrics.  You can then use their app to prove you are human.

With the advent of deepfakes, it is no longer enough to check the “I am not a robot” box. We now have a way to prove we are not.  Reportedly, World ID is partnering with companies like Zoom.

Replication.

The other article that inspired this post was from the Wall Street Journal (“Behind Meta’s Huge Layoffs Is a Relentless Shift Toward AI“), reporting on Meta’s new software tool that will begin recording the keystrokes and mouse movements of humans in order to train AI models to use computers.  In other words, human activity is being recorded so it can be technologically replicated. Not surprisingly, the announcement of this new tool has resulted in negative employee reaction.

A Vicious Cycle

It seems obvious that replication and verification can create a vicious (rather than a virtuous) cycle.  The more you replicate humans, the more you will need to verify humanness.

As you continue to replicate, the process of verifying will become more difficult. Just think about how much more complex the CAPTCHA puzzles have become–sometimes too complex for actual humans!

As the cycle continues, being verified as a “human” is reduced to your biometrics, and being replicated as a “human” is reduced to HOW you work. Eventually, we risk reducing humanity itself to something that can be authenticated by a scan and imitated by an algorithm.

Being Human

Instinctively, we know that “being human” is about so much more than the unique characteristics of someone’s fingerprint or iris scan or the way in which they interact with computers. Being human includes something technology cannot verify or replicate, because it is rooted in something God uniquely created.

Being human is summed up in one Latin phrase with huge implications–Imago Dei–“Image of God”. Unlike every other element and creature of God’s creation, God created humans in God’s own image:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

In a talk given to the New Canaan Society in 2014, author and pastor Erwin McManus said that “We don’t know how to be human.”  McManus went on to explain that being human has to do with our relationship with God:

Once our relationship with God was severed, we lost our sense of self. Because we’re created in the image and likeness of God. we were created to live in relationship with God. but once we broke our union with him, we began reflecting our broken images of each other rather than the perfect image of him.

We were created by God to be human—uniquely brought to life with divine breath, made in the image of a creative, productive, and relational God, created for purpose, and endowed with dignity. As part of God’s creation, God wants us to flourish.

This is who we were created to be, even if broken workplaces within a broken world often pull us away from that design.

Becoming Human Through Work 

We are biologically human with or without verification by the Orb, and the most essential element of our humanness–Imago Dei— cannot be replicated by AI.

But how do we go beyond the biologically verifiable to realize that unreplicable aspect of our humanity?

Our friend Dr. Skip Moen argues that “humanness” is something we must choose to move toward in our lives:

We become human when we act as the Creator acts.

Because we were created by God to reflect God’s image through work, working actually moves us in the direction of becoming more fully human.  As Jeff Van Duzer observes:

When humans engage in creative, meaningful work that grows out of relationships and gives back to the community they become more deeply human.

If God desires his creation to flourish, and humans uniquely bear his image, then Imago Dei must hold a central key to how humans flourish and become more fully human. What are the characteristics of God–the characteristics implanted in every human–that we learn from creation?

• Relational. God is a relational being.  That means we are relational beings, and it also means God cares about relationships. If relationships are core to who we are, then they must be core to how we experience Biblical flourishing. That means they need to be core to how we work and core to the priorities of any organization of humans.

• Creative and Productive.  God is creative and productive, and he derives fulfillment and joy from his creation. God created the heavens and the earth and everything in it, sat back and declared the finished product “very good”. But God also enjoyed the process of creation, taking the time to appreciate each stage as “good”.  And then God put us in the Garden “to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15) as a good thing before the Fall.  That means creativity and productivity through work are central to our humanity and our capacity for Biblical flourishing. It also means we flourish more fully when organizational cultures are intentionally cultivated to unleash God-given creativity and productivity while enabling people to experience joy and fulfillment in both the process and fruit of their labor.

• Sacred. God cares about all of creation, including material things, because he made it. But humans are special as the only things created in God’s image. That makes every single human sacred and entitled to be treated with the same dignity (not more for the CEO and less for the receptionist). Biblical flourishing through work requires organizational cultures that value rather than devalue human dignity, treating people as ends rather than merely means.

We can’t say this enough times—people are more “fully human” and able to experience Biblical flourishing when engaged in meaningful work that unleashes their God-given productivity and creativity in a culture of Shalom built on Biblical principles of relationships, community, human dignity, and flourishing.

Cultivating Humanity

If you have been following our posts, you will know we believe one of the three bigger WHYs of business a better way is to Humanize People. People can live more or less aligned with God’s design. In other words, we can live in ways that reflect God’s design—or drift away from it.

A faithful leader pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way through Biblical flourishing should be actively seeking ways to cultivate the humanity of the people they are stewarding. Faithful leaders should help restore the fuller humanity God intended—both at work and beyond it.  This aligns with a purpose of maximizing flourishing of God’s creation.

Erwin McManus offered a call to action.  He said that when we our relationship is restored to God, “We begin to set a new standard for what it means to be human again . . .. What people need . . . is a reminder of what it means to be alive.”

Organizations pursuing faithful integrity should become platforms for restoring and modeling that new standard of humanity.

Faithful integrity represents integrity with an anchor of God’s purpose for work and business. It is a plumb line that flows from the Creation Mandate, Imago Dei, the Golden Rule, the two great commandments (love God and love your neighbor), and God’s model of love as giving and serving generously–a plumb line that leads to the ultimate WHY hard-wired into every human–to glorify God:

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Humans glorify their creator God through work by:

• Being (and helping others to be) all that God created them to be–fully human through living out Imago Dei as reflections of a creative, productive and relational God.

• Obediently pursuing the Creation Mandate in Genesis 1:28 (be fruitful and subdue the earth) toward the flourishing (Shalom) of God’s creation.

• Living out the Golden Rule and the two great commandments as they work and using their gifts to love their neighbor generously through the creation and provision of goods and services that people need.

That is the “new standard.”  When humans work in an organization that is aligned with Biblical beliefs, principals, and priorities toward Biblical flourishing, they are being reminded “of what it means to be alive.”

Organizations such as businesses have intrinsic Kingdom value because they are a creation of God’s image-bearers that provides the platform and the opportunity for humans to come together in relationship to express and fulfill their humanity through work by producing and promoting flourishing and “building for the Kingdom” in ways that could not be accomplished by people working alone.

In addition to creating a biblically-aligned culture at work, organizations can also cultivate humanity by providing the type of resources, benefits and encouragement we described in posts such as #132 (Integrity Idea oo6: Provide Humanity Resources), #166 (Integrity Idea 022: Adopt Adoption), #175 (Integrity Idea 025: Reward Rest), #195 (Integrity Idea 034: Fortify Family), #232 (Integrity Idea 055: Nurture Nutrition), #233 (Integrity Idea 056: Fortify Fitness), #234 (Integrity Idea 057: Waken Wellness), and #236 (Integrity Idea 058: Foster Financial Fitness).

As business as usual increasingly seeks to use technology to verify humans and replicate human behavior, faithful leaders must go beyond both. They must cultivate humanity—helping people become more fully human by aligning work, culture, and organizational purpose with God’s design for the flourishing of his creation.

That is a verification of humanity no Orb can provide and no AI can replicate.

The Orb of Faith as Usual 

Just as society may increasingly rely on the quick, external verification of the Orb to confirm humanity, well-intentioned faithful leaders may be tempted to rely on faith as usual Side Roads to confirm organizational faithfulness–detours that substitute a lesser “good” for the “best” of transformational heart-change in the organization.

Whether it is the ethical behavior of Individualizing, the generosity of Monetizing, the overt faith symbols and practices of Cosmeticizing, or the misguided “WHY” of Prosperitizing, they are better than doing nothing at all but can lead to missed purpose for the organization, missed calling for its leaders, and missed flourishing of its people.

Faith as usual can become the Christian business equivalent of the Orb—verifying outward markers of faith while the organization’s true heart remains Profit as Purpose–a heart that fails to cultivate the deeper humanity God intends through work.

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM): The one line I remember most vividly from one of Erwin McManus’s other talks at the New Canaan Society National Retreat in 2014 had to do with the name of Mosaic.  He said people often asked him why its name did not say “church.” He said it was for the same reason he doesn’t wear a t-shirt that says “Human”–if people can’t tell Mosaic is a church, then it is not living out its mission.

World ID may be the technological equivalent of wearing a shirt labeled “Human.” But true humanity should be evident without technological verification. Sadly, many churches might need the Orb if they removed “church” from their name.

ESSENCE: We have had other topics in the wings, but news in the last week brought us right back to the relationship between “humanity,” technology, and God’s purpose for work and organizations. The inspiration for this post came from two articles–one about using technology to verify that someone is “human” and another about using technology to capture human behavior so that it can be replicated through AI.  As these trends accelerate, we risk reducing humanity itself to something that can be authenticated by a scan and imitated by an algorithm. Instinctively, we know that “being human” is about far more than biometrics or behavioral patterns. Being human includes something technology cannot verify or replicate, because it is rooted in something God uniquely created. We were created by God to be human—uniquely brought to life with divine breath, made in the image of a creative, productive, and relational God, created for purpose, and endowed with dignity. Work can be a platform for moving beyond the merely biologically verifiable to cultivate that fuller, unreplicable humanity. Faithful leaders pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way through Biblical flourishing should actively seek ways to cultivate the humanity of those they steward. When people work in organizations that are aligned with Biblical beliefs, principals, and priorities, they are reminded “of what it means to be alive.” But faithful leaders must resist relying on faith as usual Side Roads as substitutes for true transformation. Like technology that purports to confirm “humanity”, these approaches can verify outward markers of faith while the organization’s true heart remains Profit as Purpose, failing to cultivate the deeper humanity God intends through work.

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Photo Credit: Original image by Thiago Matos : https://www.pexels.com/photo/mirror-fragments-on-gray-surface-with-the-reflection-of-a-person-s-hand-3022456/
(photo cropped)