It’s Labour Day. This is the day we honor workers and work in our culture. Most countries do this on May 1^st. In Canada and the United States, however, we do it on the first Monday of September. Wikipedia has more here.

For the media this is a time to reflect on the subject of work. Some media include thoughts on the impact of faith on work such as this article on the Work Ethic by Mary A. Jacobs a freelancer writing in the Dallas Morning News: Is the work ethic worn out? Churches let up on praise of labor's virtues.

Jacobs finds this subject not too popular in church circles. Minister are uncomfortable talking about it because of the negative views concerning the Protestant Work Ethic and how it has served to enrich 'the few' at the expense of 'the many'.

Once such view is espoused by Eugene McCarraher, a Humanities Professor at Villanova University, who is a lead contributor to Christianity Today’s Christian Vision Project. As a part of that project McCarraher published an article in CT’s Books & Culture entitled The False Gospel of Work. Jacobs quotes from this article.

“Dr. McCarraher wants the church to put to rest once and for all the notion that hard work is good and godly. "The Work Ethic, together with its minions 'productivity' and 'efficiency,' sponsors a massive assault on the integrity and dignity of the human person," he wrote.

He claims that modern management has replaced the value of creativity in pre-industrial artisans and craftsmen with "the assembly line, the speed-up, the office cubicle, the mandated smile, and overtime."

At the heart of the debate is the question, "Who benefits when a person works hard?" And how you answer that probably points to your opinion on the work ethic.”

I think it is true that Church professionals, following the lead of Christian socialists such as McCarraher, view capitalism and especially business in a negative light. David Miller, Executive Director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture and author of the upcoming book, God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement, states in an interview at The High Calling of Our Daily Work.

“The Church generally shies from the topic, and our divinity schools and seminaries are no better. Fewer than 10 percent of regular churchgoers, surveys say, can remember the last time their pastor preached on the topic of work. When he or she did preach on work, inevitably the tone was critical—if not hostile—and painted all business people as greedy and uncaring. Seldom do pastors honor the work world as a place for parishioners to live out their high calling. Whether you’re a secretary or a CEO, people in the pews seldom hear from the pulpit that God has a plan that includes your work, and that your faith can help inform how you approach your work.”

I think the main reason Church ministers don’t mention work is simply because they live in an entirely different world than most of their congregations. For them the only important work is that which builds the Kingdom of God which is by their definition religious work such as evangelism.

So, although this is the day that our society honors work, very likely you did not hear a sermon or message this past Sunday on work. If this past weekend we had celebrated Father’s Day or Mother’s day you would be pondering the importance of such a role as exhorted by your pastor, but despite the fact there are far more workers in congregations than fathers or mothers, you probably did not hear a peep about work. Too bad!