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Is there a Biblical Work Ethic?
Devotional Thought of the Day”
15 Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth. 16 Avoid worthless, foolish talk that only leads to more godless behavior. 2 Timothy 2:15-16 (NLT2)
Since we should behave at all times as God’s envoys, we must be very much aware that we are not serving him loyally if we leave a job unfinished; if we don’t put as much effort and self-sacrifice as others do into the fulfillment of professional commitments; if we can be called careless, unreliable, frivolous, disorganized, lazy, or useless … Because people who neglect obligations that seem less important will hardly succeed in other obligations that pertain to the spiritual life and are undoubtedly harder to fulfill. “He who is faithful in very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in very little is dishonest also in much.”
It was known as the “protestant work ethic” but it was imbedded in me while I grew up Roman Catholic. Simply stated we were to work hard, simply because our work habits would reflect on our parents, our school, and our God. So, getting good grades, or doing the dishes, or shoveling the driveway was done the best we could do. To do less than a perfect job, well that brought into question our devotion to God, and our appreciation for the family God gave us as a gift.
So we pushed the limits, in our schoolwork, in our early jobs. We could be told to slow down, to stop embarrassing others who did not put as much (if any) effort into their work. Now we were embarrassing people we had to work with, live with and that too was uncomfortable.
As I read St. Josemaria’s words, I wondered about the tie between working hard and the two great commandments. Are we truly loving our neighbor Do we love them if we only invest ourselves 40% in the work, we are doing for them? DO we love God if our work reflects poorly as we fail to love our boss, our employer, our clientele? (Never mind the commandment about not stealing – which we do if we work at our best!)
These are heavy thoughts and could turn into using the Law to motivate behavior.
Because someone used the wrong tool to motivate us, are we free to slack off? Can we find the justification to argue we are only working at the level for which we receive pay?
I think we find the answer in Paul’s words to Timothy – the idea that we are presenting our work, not to a manager, owner, or board. We present ourselves to Him, the Lord who loves us, the Lord who cares, the Lord who fixes our mistakes, who forgives our sin. Our reaction to that is what our work is, or at least it needs to be. We do this because, not out of obligation, not out of some guilt motivated, but as a response to love. The response is not mandated, forced, it simply comes from know the love that is shown us.
Spend time with the Lord who loves you! Spend time thinking about the cross. You will never have to worry about whether you are working hard enough, or doing enough.
Escrivá, Josemaría. Friends of God . Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Myth Of the Protestant Work Ethic
Devotional Thought of the Day:
15 Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth. 16 Avoid worthless, foolish talk that only leads to more godless behavior. 2 Timothy 2:15-16 (NLT2)
When you want to do things well, really well, it’s then you do them worse. Humble yourself before Jesus, saying to him: Don’t you see how I do everything wrong? Well, if you don’t help me very much, I’ll do it all even worse! Take pity on your child: You see, I want to write a big page each day in the book of my life. But, I’m so clumsy, that if the Master doesn’t guide my hand, instead of graceful strokes my pen leaves behind blots and scratches that can’t be shown to anyone. From now on, Jesus, the writing will always be done by both of us together.
One of the greatest challenges in life has been living up to the standards I have set, to live up to my expectations. As a result, I’ve battled self-esteem issues. and I’ve felt like a failure in a lot of things I do.
Or at best, I am a jack of a few things, master of none. Barely competent. and knowing that is incredibly frustrating.
I never ever thought that the problem was with my expectations, I always blamed it on what I did. And so I would push myself more, and fail more. I would read books of people that were successful, and try to emulate what they did. Or at least what they looked back and saw themselves doing right.
The passage from Paul, read out of context, added to my stress. It is one of those upon which the mythical protestant work ethic is based. Work hard, gee approved b God. Overcome, adapt, succeed. If you have enough drive – you can do anything! Just pull yourself up by the bootstraps and get er done.
But the context of service there is, the diligence is focused on our relationship with God, keeping His message, the gospel correct.
Or in the words of St. Josemaria, depending on God, and welcoming His participation in our life. His work in keeping us righteous, His guidance working through us in our ministry, whatever that is, wherever it is.
Even if it is at home during a virus. …
Life is too important to do our work alone, struggling through it, trying to keep up with images that we cannot hope to attain. The stress alone will destroy our effectiveness. The times of failure, of guilt and shame, even of inactivity will shatter us.
But as we relax, as we focus on God’s presence with Him, as we walk with Him, it changes how we work, as we begin to enjoy it, even the rough parts. It becomes like a child’s play! Not that we are any less enthusiastic, in fact, we might be more so, as we depend on God’s presence, as we work with Him.
But the work isn’t the primary focus – it is all about Him….
For the Lord is with you!
Escriva, Josemaria. The Way . Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Ethics, Ambition, Apathy and Success
Devotional Thought of the Day:
16 Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. 17 He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ 18 And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods 19 and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!” 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ 21 Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”
Luke 12:16-21 (NAB)
441 Take note of this. I told a certain noble, learned and dauntless man, on a memorable occasion, that by defending a holy cause, which “good people” were attacking, a high post in his field was at stake: he was going to lose it. With a voice full of human and supernatural seriousness, despising the honours of this earth, he answered: “It is my soul that is at stake.”
A long time ago, before I became a pastor, I remember being driven to do a good job. Not because I always enjoyed it, but because if I did well, if my numbers looked good, I would be promoted. I took my joy in the bonuses and added responsibility.
I eventually burnt out on that, for I found out it was all vanity, a never ending circle of having to do better, for you prior best was now considered the standard, and so yuo were driven to do more, to take one more, to feel more pressure. The temptation to take advantage of the letter of the law was large, again for both ego and the salary need had to be fed.
Then came a point where I didn’t want more responsibility, my ambition waned. I just wanted something I could invest myself in, and do well. But not so well that others would want to add more responsibility to my burdens. I didn’t want to coast, or slacken the work, but neither was I ready to take on more responsibility. In a way, I lost all sense of ambition, struggling with what appeared to be the cost. For I thought ambition would always lead to the end of the man in the parable, who fulfilled his desire, and didn’t get to enjoy it.
In those days, I would read that passage, or the St. Josemaria’s narrative, and use both to deny my sense of ambition, to pacify and counter it. Simply put, you can maintain status quo, and have that negatively impact your soul, and the soul of others. We have to realize that what we do, and our attitudes and drives can be costly. It doesn’t matter the goal, or whether we are driven to success or apathetic. We have more than that binary option, don’t we?
I am struggling with the idea that ambition and ethics, ambition and Christ-likeness may not be as contrary as I think. Nor is it the goal of the ambition that we must question. It is who benefits from seeing our goals acheived. Is it our ego, or our soul, or the souls of others?
Maybe the question isn’t between being apathetic (masqueraded as contentment) or driven. Maybe the question is how we define the “success” that we are driven to achieve?j
Can our ambition, our drive be harnessed to serve people? To care for souls, to be as effective as we can, because we know the love poured into us. To embrace the hardships that ambition requires, not to be praised as martyrs, but because we walk with Christ, and His desires become ours. Can our souls and the souls of others benefit from our “success?”
St Paul wrote, “We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. 4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.” (Corinthians 10:3-5 (NLT) )
This is the start to “holy ambition”, this focus on Jesus, on making Jesus known to others, to serving them sacrificially so that we give them the opportunity to find rest and healing in Jesus. To take our thoughts and make them obey, to have them hear and be consistent with the nature of Jesus.
That takes effort, and work, patience and ambition.
The end result is worth it all.
We know Him. Souls are saved…
It’s monday – time to get to work!
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Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1960-1963). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
