Work ethic flags — In affluent America, concept no longer preached from pulpit

"Industry" may be Utah's state motto, but sermons on hard work aren't being taught over Protestant pulpits in the Beehive State, and the nation's affluence may be to blame.

The precedence placed on the Protestant work ethic has significantly diminished in the last 50 years or so, said Pastor Michael Imperiale of the First Presbyterian Church in Salt Lake City. Because Americans are afforded more opportunities from the nation's economic success, the concept of hard work seems to have become a thing of the past, he said.

While it's still recognized as a virtue that helped kick-start the Industrial Revolution, Pastor Brian Hare-Diggs of the First United Methodist Church in Salt Lake City said he has never taught specifically on the Protestant work ethic as American Protestants today focus more on adhering to doctrines to please God. Their early-American counterparts, however, "needed that work ethic to make (them) right with God." Because life is physically less demanding and wealth is more common, people concentrate more on spiritual labors instead of physical ones, he said.

Not to be confused with the oft-debated faith versus good works comparison, the work ethic has never been taught as a requirement for salvation, Pastor Imperiale said. Also known as the Puritan work ethic, the maxim was historically prevalent in early 17th century England as a way for church members to glorify God. "It was taught as a means of fulfilling one's life in light of God's grace," Pastor Imperiale said. Reverends preached that "God has given you an amazing world, a good mind, a healthy body; use it."

Brigham Young University professor Matt Holland said the Puritans brought a twofold spiritual view with them when they left Europe and came to America. They believed in fulfilling a general call of diligently trying to keep the commandments and also focused on fulfilling a more specific God-given call by earnestly laboring in a particular occupation.

"They had a work to do in the world — a specific work in the world," Holland said, which God would help them discover by giving them "the gifts and the inclinations to pursue that calling."