{"id":33502,"date":"2023-10-19T14:51:46","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T21:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=33502"},"modified":"2023-10-19T14:51:46","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T21:51:46","slug":"things-that-make-you-go-hmmm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/things-that-make-you-go-hmmm\/","title":{"rendered":"Things That Make You Go. . . Hmmm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe are interested rather in something entirely different: the influence of those psychological sanctions which, originating in religious belief and the practice of religion, gave a direction to practical conduct and held the individual to it. Now these sanctions were to a large extent derived from the peculiarities of the religious ideas behind them.\u201d [1]\u00a0 Weber seems to be highlighting attitudes or practices represented by the religious, framing them as peculiarities of religious ideas, that affected culture as it pertains to capitalism and consumerism.\u00a0 As I engaged in the challenging read of German sociologist Max Weber\u2019s <\/span>The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,<\/span><\/i> I gleaned some insights into the concept of the \u201cProtestant Work Ethic\u201d.\u00a0 Some of the key insights developed within Weber\u2019s protestant work ethic include:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Religious Influence on Economic Behavior:<\/b> Weber argues that certain Protestant religious beliefs played a significant role in shaping economic behavior. [2]<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Calling and Asceticism: <\/b>According to Weber, Calvinist beliefs led individuals to view their work as a “calling” or a divine duty. This sense of calling drove them to work diligently and accumulate wealth, not for hedonistic or self-indulgent purposes, but as a sign of God’s favor. [3]<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Asceticism:<\/b> Calvinism also emphasized ascetic values, including self-discipline, frugality, and restraint. These values influenced how individuals lived and worked, encouraging thrift and investment rather than conspicuous consumption. [4]<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Rationalization of Life:<\/b> Weber argued that Protestantism played a role in the rationalization of economic and social life. It encouraged systematic and rational approaches to work, which were conducive to the development of modern capitalism. [5]<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Capital Accumulation and Economic Growth:<\/b> The Protestant Work Ethic, as described by Weber, led to the accumulation of capital (savings and investments) that could be used for further economic development. Over time, this contributed to the growth of modern capitalism.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Weber suggests that religious beliefs and values could have profound and lasting effects on economic systems and the way people approach work and wealth. However, it’s important to note that Weber’s thesis has been and still is the subject of debate and criticism.\u00a0 Dr. Clark in his work, <\/span>Evangelicalism and Capitalism, <\/span><\/i>notes that Weber\u2019s main emphasis is upon the role of religious ideas as they generate an attitude of ascetic discipline, creating a set of economic attitudes that may have aided the rise of capitalism. [6]<\/span><\/p>\n

    The actions Weber described as \u201creligious peculiarities\u201d will look peculiar, I believe in some respects, because Jesus lived in the world but not of it.\u00a0 Our actions as Christians, Christ followers, will look peculiar and may look extreme and somewhat ascetic.\u00a0 Not conforming to the world\u2019s patterns and living fully into who God created us to be will look peculiar, especially if, as a follower, I value community and interdependence, but the world values self-reliance and individualism. . . or the world values the acquisition of wealth and pursuit of personal enjoyment, but as followers we value living with less to be able to give more or sticking with church commitments when some other event or activity looks more entertaining or appealing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    In my research of young adults who have abandoned their faith (some abandoning \u201cthe bride\u201d too), there is a desire for authenticity and vulnerability.\u00a0 Also evident in story and story is the overall dissatisfaction with the camouflaged or chameleon Christian that they have observed in the pew, who \u201cin their view\u201d looks more like the world than a radical apprentice of Jesus.\u00a0 As I listen to their narratives, I pause and ponder, \u201cHow might I live more fully into the love of Jesus (maybe looking more peculiar)?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Missionary Jim Elliott, martyred on the mission field, once wrote, \u2018He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.\u2019 [7] While to some that may look like peculiar, ascetic, religious behavior, to others, it looks like following Jesus\u2019 model of love that lays down everything for a friend.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 words,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u201cIf the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    the\u00a0<\/span><\/i>world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    but I chose you out of the world,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>therefore the world hates you.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    John 15:18-19<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    Is it possible that as followers of Jesus, the \u201cappetites\u201d we have are out of sync, unveiling underlying motivations for how we love and engage in community and worship? What cultural shifts have taken place if Weber thought that the role of religious ideas generated an attitude of ascetic discipline, and now Gen Z sees a major disconnect in the practice and application of religious ideas?\u00a0 \u201cThings that make me go. . . . hmmmm?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    [1]\u00a0 Weber, Max. <\/span>The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/span><\/i>. (London: Routledge, 2001). 55.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [2] Ibid, 124.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [3] Ibid, 106.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [4] Ibid, 30.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [5] Ibid, 235.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [6] Clark, Jason. <\/span>Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship,<\/span><\/i> 2018. 78.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [7]\u00a0 Elliot, Elisabeth. <\/span>The Journals of Jim Elliot,<\/span><\/i> (Grand Rapids, MI:\u00a0 Revell, 1978)<\/span>. <\/span><\/i>82.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cWe are interested rather in something entirely different: the influence of those psychological sanctions which, originating in religious belief and the practice of religion, gave a direction to practical conduct and held the individual to it. Now these sanctions were to a large extent derived from the peculiarities of the religious ideas behind them.\u201d [1]\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":168,"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":[2310],"tags":[2489,467,11],"class_list":["post-33502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-dlgp02","tag-clark","tag-weber","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33502","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\/168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33502"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33503,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33502\/revisions\/33503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}