Work Hard & Pray Even Harder
Thursday, June 22, 2023
"Nations are great as they are prosperous as they are industrious as they are just." – Henry Ford
Henry Ford hit the nail on the head in today’s quote because he focused on two of the things that made America great. One is the so-called Protestant work ethic, a phrase that wasn’t actually coined until 1905 by author Max Weber. In his very influential book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber focused on three distinct and very positive societal attributes: diligence, discipline, and frugality.
One of the primary tenets of the Protestant work ethic is that every person – whether they are a professional or a common laborer – has an equally noble vocation or calling. Ford believed that if everyone did his part by being dedicated to their work, society as a whole would benefit.
Ford also mentioned the importance of a “just” nation, one where everyone was treated equally and rewarded for their hard work in direct proportion to the amount of effort they put into it. That belief may be why he instituted a 40-hour work week and offered his employees a chance to earn as much as $5 per day… a very good wage for that time. Half of their pay ($2.50) was guaranteed, and the other half was in the form of a bonus. To be eligible, workers were supposed to avoid social ills such as gambling and drinking. Recent immigrants were also required to learn English and to attend classes to become "Americanized."
Ronald Reagan took Ford’s philosophy a step further when he famously pronounced that “America will cease to be great when it ceases to be good,” a rough paraphrase of what Alexis de Tocqueville was alleged to have said when he visited the United States for the first time in the 1830s. In Democracy in America, the French diplomat connected America’s financial and military strength to its equally strong sense of morality.
Sadly, America has experienced a severe moral decline over the past 60 years and – if Ford, Reagan, and de Tocqueville are right – our superpower status will soon follow. Let’s pray for a nationwide spiritual revival… a Third Great Awakening, if you will… before our country has passed the point of no return.
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His inheritance!” Psalm 33:12 (BSB)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
