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\u2019s deism. But even earlier, the well-known Bible commentator, Matthew Henry, is given credit because of his comment on Joshua 5:13-15 that \u2018God will help those who help themselves\u2019.[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n 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\u2019s help on my own hard work and effort?\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n 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 \u2018what can I do for God?\u2019 And it is a natural and appropriate posture and paradigm. After all, grace is amazing, and activism is a healthy response to it.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n But then he adds that our primary life question shifts as we mature in Christ from \u2018what can I do for God\u2019 to that of \u2018what can God do for me?\u2019[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n 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\u2019ve sat with these questions and pondered my own experience of the Gospel, I wonder if Keating\u2019s question progression has more merit than I initially thought.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n [1]<\/sup><\/a>Weber, Max.\u00a0The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/em>. Translated by Talcott Parsons. New York: Routledge, 2001, Loc. 262-4.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/soil.png\")
<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\n