{"id":28231,"date":"2022-02-17T10:34:05","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T18:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=28231"},"modified":"2022-02-17T10:34:05","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T18:34:05","slug":"protestant-work-ethic-2-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/protestant-work-ethic-2-0\/","title":{"rendered":"Protestant Work Ethic 2.0"},"content":{"rendered":"

First published in 1904-5, Max Weber\u2019s The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism<\/em> is a modern classic that seeks to address several important issues. First, weber set out to examine the development of the family business in Europe between the 17th<\/sup> century and the 19th<\/sup> century[1]<\/a>. Family businesses are usually small enterprises which, in most countries, are responsible for employing the largest percentage of the population. Therefore, this is an important study, especially for low-income countries and least developed nations where unemployment rates are very high and often result in significant social problems such as poverty, stress, and substance abuse. Second, Weber wanted to understand the elements of continuity between 19th<\/sup> century family business capitalism and contemporary large-scale business, technology, and big government[2]<\/a>. But, perhaps, Weber\u2019s most significant motivation was to identify the role of values in determining social action[3]<\/a>, or the connection between \u201creligious radicalism and economic progress[4]<\/a>.\u201d Specifically, Weber sought to investigate how puritanism, methodism, and other forms of ascetic Protestantism might have resulted in the behaviour we have described [tendency of protestants, like Jews, for economic rationalism, advancement, and leadership through frugality, diligence, punctuality and honesty][5]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to Weber one crucial element of the protestant work ethic is the calling of every individual, clergy and laity alike, to serve God. He notes that \u201cIt [calling] and it alone is the will of God, and hence every legitimate calling has exactly the same worth in the sight of God[6]<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Presumably, this understanding is what has resulted in the popular concept of the priesthood of all believers among many evangelicals. In fact, the Lausanne Congress even adopted a version of this thinking as her slogan, \u201cThe Whole Church Taking the Whole Gospel to the Whole World[7]<\/a>.\u201d Bebbington also agrees with Weber\u2019s idea of calling and points out that as far back as the 1700s and 1900s British Evangelicals, including several of the laity, were actively propagating their faith and not leaving this important task to the clergy alone[8]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, reviving this ethic within my context in South Africa would have significant implications for the advancement of the gospel; because as several scholars have noted, this would do away with the sacred-secular divide and mobilize the vast majority of followers of Jesus for mission as they function daily in their frontlines, regardless of what economic sector they represent[9]<\/a>. The whole Church of South Africa embracing her calling could also catalyze a discipleship-making-movement and improve social morality, business efficiency, and overall quality of life. Reviving the Protestant Ethic in South Africa would also help provide a Christian response to the rise of Islamic banking and adoption of Islamic principles in food production and distribution across the country (Halaal). Several products in the market are registered with the Islamic Council for South Africa. When followers of Jesus purchase these products, they naively support the propagation of the Islamic faith. Apparently, the decline of the protestant ethic opened the door for this sad situation.<\/p>\n

Given the remarkable theological insight this generation enjoys, I think the principles need to be expanded today to include all that the theology of work encompasses. God demonstrates that He is a worker when He created the world. He clearly models initiative, problem-solving, organization, planning, diligence, efficiency, innovation, job-satisfaction, value-addition and other marketplace values in the creation narrative.[10]<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0In view of the above, God models good work ethics, thereby endorsing the Protestant ethic. It is remarkable that several individuals applying the Protestant ethic, and enjoying positive results, have little or no relationship with the God who created the principles. Naturally, the ultimate benefit would be a large-scale rediscovery of the God behind the principles.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, as remarkable as The Protestant Work Ethic<\/em> is, it also raises a few concerns. For example, Clark observes that Weber misinterprets Wesley by taking one of his statements out of context. In this instance, Wesley exhorts Christians to \u201cgain all they can, save all they can … [and thereby] grow rich,\u201d then \u201cgive all they can, so that they grow in grace and lay up treasure in heaven[11]<\/a>.\u201d Weber considered this to be purely a work ethic leading to riches, while Wesley meant it to be a description of a work ethic as well as<\/em> a warning that riches could also lead to \u201cpride, and anger and the love of the world[12]<\/a>\u201d. Regardless of its minor flaws, The Protestant Work Ethic remains a remarkable classic with several lessons for this and future generations of leaders.<\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a> Weber, Max and Talcott Parsons. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/em>. (Kettering, OH: Angelico Press, 2014), 8.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Weber and Parsons. The Protestant Ethic, 9.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid, 10.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid, 15.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid, 35.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Ibid, 60.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> https:\/\/lausanne.org\/content\/twg-three-wholes<\/a><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Bebbington, D. W. Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s<\/em>. (London: Routledge, 1989), 10.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Greene, Mark. The Great Divide<\/em>. (London: LICC, 2010), 3.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Genesis 1 and 2<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Weber, Max and Talcott Parsons. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/em>. (Kettering, OH: Angelico Press, 2014), 116.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Clark, Jason Paul. Evangelism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship (Portland, OR: George Fox University, 2018), 83.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First published in 1904-5, Max Weber\u2019s The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism is a modern classic that seeks to address several important issues. First, weber set out to examine the development of the family business in Europe between the 17th century and the 19th century[1]. Family businesses are usually small enterprises which, in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[467,814,11],"class_list":["post-28231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-clark","tag-protestant-work-ethic","tag-weber","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28232,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28231\/revisions\/28232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}