The End of the Protestant Work Ethic

How many days a week do you wake up and think to yourself, “I don’t want to go to work today.” If this happens occasionally, it’s not a problem. We all get tired and need some extra rest from time to time.

But if this happens frequently, or even every day, then there is a big problem. God does not intend for us to spend the majority of our hours laboring in unhappiness. God intends for us to find a calling that, to paraphrase Frederic Beuchner, brings together something we love to do and something the world needs.

One of the biggest issues I struggle with is my ingrained sense of the Protestant Work Ethic. Like many in our society, I feel lazy and irresponsible if I don’t put in at least an 8-hour work day and a 5-day work week. In fact, if I take more than one day off a week, I have trouble enjoying myself because I feel like I should be working.

The frustrating part is that this compulsion to work hard is not related to productivity or fulfilling a sense of purpose. I feel more accomplished if I spend five hours in an afternoon doing random “busy work” around the office than if I spend three hours in a coffee shop writing a complete sermon. 

The Protestant Work Ethic has conditioned us to believe that virtue consists of showing up at a designated work place and punching a clock for at least 40 hours a week (and significantly more in some occupations). What is actually accomplished with those hours is almost irrelevant for many workers, who do their work only because they need the paycheck.

It is a plantation mentality, and it means that the majority of “bread winners” in our culture are failing to make a connection between the work that occupies their time and their discipleship in Jesus Christ. Even for pastors, whose job is considered their calling, logging hours can become more important than actually fulfilling the purpose of the ministry.

In the 21st century, one of the “new wineskins” we are called to develop is a more robust sense of Christian vocation that encompasses all of life, and does not measure faithfulness simply by how many hours we work. Currently, many people compartmentalize faith and work, largely because we have come to believe that work for the sake of work is virtuous. In addition, we are fooled into believing that such idolatry is the only way to support ourselves and our families.

The Protestant Work Ethic made sense during the early part of our nation’s history, when everyone had to work that hard for a community to survive. But in the 21st century, with amazing new technologies developing, our challenge is no longer providing the basic necessities of life for everyone. The same work ethic that at one time kept us alive has now become a means of enslavement.

What will bring us freedom?