Does God Help Those Who Help Themselves?
I remember the first time I heard that saying – God helps those who help themselves. I didn’t give it much notice except that my husband made mention of it later and hinted that it was not biblical. I was in my mid-twenties and for the life of me could not figure out the issue with this statement. Doesn’t He?
I had not thought about this saying for years but Max Weber’s The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism brought it back to my recollection. Weber posits that there were ideological shifts Protestantism brought to bear on society that made way for capitalism to flourish in Western Europe and beyond. It was John Calvin and others’ emphasis on work as the highest purpose and good, along with frugality, that helped ensure Christians of their predestination status. The unintended additional benefit was the increase of wealth and reinvestment of that wealth into the local economy.[1]It had to be easier during this time of transition to see the connection between hard work and God’s blessing.
So does God help those who help themselves? This statement is often contributed to Benjamin Franklin, of whom Weber devotes a section of his essay to his writings and its impact on Western society. It makes sense when you consider Franklin’s deism. But even earlier, the well-known Bible commentator, Matthew Henry, is given credit because of his comment on Joshua 5:13-15 that ‘God will help those who help themselves’.[2]
I still wrestle with this saying myself. I wonder why it is not easily resolved. It seems that the spirit of this saying is somewhere in the bedrock of my foundation. I am an Evangelical. I am a Protestant. I am a daughter of a Mennonite family. I am emmeshed in Western capitalism. We work hard. Do something and then God will help you. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. My inordinate need to earn, do, prove and produce has a complex foundation. And to complicate things further, I know there is goodness and godliness in much of it.
Perhaps the point of intersection and agreement for all Christians is that when it comes to our salvation, we are helpless. If we could help ourselves, we would have and sadly, many attempt it still. But what about after salvation? What about the rest of our time on earth? How dependent is God’s help on my own hard work and effort?
I continue to contemplate something I read from Thomas Keating, a Trappist Monk, that is related I believe to these tensions. Keating asserts that the orientation we approach God with in our early formation is the question of ‘what can I do for God?’ And it is a natural and appropriate posture and paradigm. After all, grace is amazing, and activism is a healthy response to it.
But then he adds that our primary life question shifts as we mature in Christ from ‘what can I do for God’ to that of ‘what can God do for me?’[3]
My initial response is one of resistance. I prefer to do for God than to be in need of having to have something be done for me. But as I’ve sat with these questions and pondered my own experience of the Gospel, I wonder if Keating’s question progression has more merit than I initially thought.
A strong work ethic is an amiable quality. I desire to see it cultivated in my children and am grateful for its cultivation in my life. My personal research is concerned with its elevation to the highest place in ministry leadership traits. Oftentimes, if work ethic and drive is idolized, love can be suffocated. And the truth of our helplessness can be missed, which would be grave indeed.
[1]Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Translated by Talcott Parsons. New York: Routledge, 2001, Loc. 262-4.
[2]http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2018/05/god-helps-those-who-help-thems.php
[3]HEUERTZ, PHILEENA. PILGRIMAGE OF A SOUL: Contemplative Spirituality for the Active Life. Place of Publication Not Identified: INTERVARSITY Press, 2017, 4.
About the Author
Andrea Lathrop
I am a grateful believer in Jesus Christ, a wife, mom and student. I live in West Palm Beach, Florida and I have been an executive pastor for the last 8+ years. I drink more coffee than I probably should every day.12 responses to “Does God Help Those Who Help Themselves?”
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This is a powerful reflection, Andrea. I do think sometimes these colloquialisms becomes so embedded into who we are, that we cannot recognize them as a social construct. We talked a lot about that last semester, and I think even Meyer points to all that as well. It brings me back to intersectionality. That the more we recognize that we are complex and socially constructed, the more layers we have, just like this soil. This was a good one to chew on!
Thank you Karen. No wonder it’s so difficult to discern truth from fiction – social constructs are tricky.
Andrea, I think we do unintentionally believe that everything we have is because we worked hard, then God blessed me. However, this thinking does negate the grace of God in my life. I think about the things God gave me, even material things, that I could never have afforded or earned; they were because of His grace. Perhaps part of my thinking is based on my Catholic upbringing causing me to believe for the impossible; all those Catholic movies about Nuns and miracles I guess. But there is a balance. Work is good. But it is also good to be surprised by the grace of God.
Love this, Mary. I do think subscribing to this statement squeezes out grace. You are right. And is another insight why receiving grace has not been an easy thing for me. But oh, how grateful I am for God’s persistence!
This is a fabulous reflection Andrea, but if I’m honest I’m kind of gobsmacked that you didn’t hear the saying “God helps those who help themselves” until your mid twenties. I think it was said to me first when I was about 2 learning how to walk. This sentiment was so worked into the culture I grew up in, that I can’t imagine being told it during my developmental years. In that way, I really envy you.
“Oftentimes, if work ethic and drive is idolized, love can be suffocated.”
This sentence struck me. Personally, I see this ugly truth in myself as I parent. I often become overly concerned with improving my sons’ work ethic, and I wonder if they sense love in all of the correcting. Don’t misunderstand, I think teaching them to serve well is valuable. However, my love for them is not conditional on their hard work.
Isn’t the same true of our leadership in every aspect of our lives? Do we allow love to come through all of the correcting and the training and the “getting buy-in?”
Andrea, Thanks so much for your well written and presented points. It is interesting I was not raised in the church at all but also recognize that a profound work ethic is part of my DNA (I think literally as all six of my brothers and sisters are just like me when it comes to work). I think this came primarily from my father who was a cultural Catholic who came to this land of opportunity after leaving war-torn post WWII Germany. While his work ethic was stellar, he never took the time to deal with his brokenness from the war (perhaps like most of his generation). This is the “trojan horse” of an inordinate focus on outward productivity, the inability to recognize and deal with our brokenness within (I and all of my siblings have wrestled with this). I look forward to the results of your personal research.
Intriguing blog, Andrea. I loved your question where you reflected on Thomas Keating’s statement that our primary life question shifts as we mature in Christ from ‘what can I do for God’ to that of ‘what can God do for me?’ That’s is a powerful reflection! I think that is true for so many Christians and non-Christians today. The question is always, “why isn’t God doing something about it?” The question should be, “why are WE not doing something about it ~ with God’s protection and direction?” Great post, Andrea! You are a talented writer, my friend!
Thank you for your kindness, Nancy. I think part of my struggle with those questions is the concern that it is or would become self-absorbed and narcissistic. But then I think about the apostle Paul’s progression as he kept writing and his marked humility that grew. God becomes greater and greater as we grow and we become less obsessed with people seeing us as great. Also I love your question about our response to the world’s brokenness – moving towards it with God’s direction instead of wondering why He doesn’t do something. Amen.
When I was in High School, our Art teacher had a sign above the door that I remember to this day, “God helps those who help themselves. But God help those who I catch helping themselves”. Worked for me.
Also, in light of your ongoing question about God being a ‘user of people’, you can turn that less than biblical statement around and make it true rather than false: “God helps those who cannot help themselves”. The opening passage of the beatitudes frames the entire Sermon on the mount, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. I think Eugene Petersen did a fab job of translating it, “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.” Whenever you can’t fulfil the teaching of Jesus, when it all get’s too hard, you go back to 5:3: When you’re at the end of yourself, you’re blessed! God helps those, who can’t help themselves. Cool.
Thank you Andrea for such an inspiring reflection. You nailed it on straight. Its true we have this common saying God helps those who help themselves. I thought it was common with my People here in Kenya but its a universal common saying for those who want to get it easy and justify what they have done wrongly. But on the other hand, what does faith without action mean? Many have referred to to justify their means but still lacks authenticity.