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<\/a><\/p>\nIt seems safe to say that the Reformers were not big on balance and personal boundaries. In fact, the way Weber describes Calvin and Luther in his book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/em>, shows me these two theologians can be held responsible for the\u00a0crippling fear I will not make enough money, as well as my proclivity toward being a workaholic. I\u2019m kidding, of course, but only a little.<\/p>\n In his landmark sociology text, Weber sets out to discover and explain the psychological conditions that brought about capitalism, or at least made it possible for it to develop.[1]<\/a> In his journey, he explains how Luther and Calvin set the course in Protestantism for work to be considered a calling, and earning and multiplying money to be considered a duty. Weber notes that this is particularly astounding because, historically, the pursuit of money was considered not only gauche, but morally questionable at best.[2]<\/a> The Reformers and, according to Weber, Calvinists in particular, viewed the accumulation of wealth through work and wisdom to be a hallmark of the elect. At the very least, it was proof of God\u2019s blessing. Thus work became a religious rite of sorts. Hence the whole Protestant work ethic thing.<\/p>\n Work and save. Save and work. Sabbath on Sunday, then back to the grind. This was considered the blessed life. Truth is, we STILL honor the work, earn, save, repeat grind. Deep within our (particularly) American culture, the heart of overwork beats steadily. We call moms who work 10-12 hour days and still make it home for dinner and bath time \u201cWonder Woman.\u201d A person who spends more hours of the day in the office than anywhere else is a \u201creal go-getter\u201d who will climb the corporate ladder in no time. Missed birthdays, recitals, dinners, and even vacations are seen as legitimate sacrifices that must be let go for the greater good of hard work and building that nest-egg. And we are killing ourselves to do it all, sanctioned by culture and our religious roots.<\/p>\n While this might have started with Calvin and Luther, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair to leave the blame with Calvinism or the Reformed Church. I will admit that I don\u2019t really understand the drive to make more and more money. I don\u2019t see that as a God thing. I don\u2019t think that people who have little or no money are lazy, and I don\u2019t see the wealthy as particularly blessed. I do, however, consistently fall into the trap that I must work, work, work to show myself approved. This is why I can\u2019t blame Calvin. Wesleyan social justice work runs deep within my bones and bloodline. My grandmothers made little or no money as they did this work, but they worked too hard, too many hours each week, and created little to no margins in their lives. My grandfathers worked six days each week and still served on Sunday mornings and evenings, hoping just for a little nap in between. Calvinism does not have a monopoly on the Protestant work ethic. They may have started that way in an attempt to prove themselves elect and blessed, but the rest of us freely coopted the ethic in, what I see as, an attempt to prove that we are worthy to be daughters and sons of God.<\/p>\n The Protestant work ethic has shaped the economic drive in Western culture, for sure. Weber\u2019s arguments about the fertile psychological fields that made room for capitalism make sense and we can trace what is happening now to those early Reformers. Maybe we can even trace our current drive to work ourselves into an early grave to them as well. Maybe in their need to leave everything Catholic behind, they lost a sense of rhythm and withdrawal that comes with rite and ritual. I don\u2019t know. But what is our excuse now? After 500 years of work, earn, save, repeat, have we learned anything about Sabbath? After 500 years (ish) of more money, more money, have we learned anything about simplicity and poverty as disciplines? If we haven\u2019t, I believe we cannot open the eyes of our culture to the fullness of Christ.<\/p>\n