It’s Labor Day, and I’m doing what I love most – laboring.
I labor on Labor Day, like every other day except, Sunday and a few holidays, because I love what I do, and I believe in what I do with all my heart. Pastoring a country church, serving as senior counsel for the Foundation for Moral Law, teaching online for the Oak Brook College of Law as well as for the Institute of Lutheran Theology and Chafer Theological Seminary, serving on various boards as well as writing and lecturing – please don’t tell my employers this, but if they couldn’t pay me I’d probably do the work for free. Nevertheless, the laborer is worthy of his hire (I Timothy 5:18, Luke 10:7).
But I’m also like the colleague Austin Prochko describes in the Texas Public Policy Foundation, who said, “I always make sure to work a bit on Labor Day just to spite the commies.”
What, you ask, do “commies” have to do with Labor Day?
Most Americans, if they think about the meaning of Labor Day at all, see it as a day to rest from labor out of respect for the dignity of labor, perhaps unwittingly celebrating the Puritan work ethic that made us the prosperous nation we were. It has been hijacked by those who see it as a way to avoid work, reflecting that we’ve rejected that work ethic and are becoming a third-world nation.
I’m not just talking about holding a job and putting in hours. I’m talking about taking pride in one’s work, ensuring every job is done well. We all experience the disappointment of receiving products made by workers who prioritize only a paycheck and manufacturers who compromise quality to maximize profits. I could talk endlessly about the USPS worker who refuses to close mailbox doors despite repeated requests, the FedEx worker who left an antique clock in a box leaning against a farm gate miles from our home, the Amazon Prime driver who left a large box in our gravel driveway, and his employer who refused to retrieve it and take it to the rightful recipient.
Long after the heyday of Puritanism, the Puritan work ethic survived. Every honorable work – whether practicing medicine, farming, running a business, working on an assembly line, preaching in a pulpit, and, yes, even practicing law – was a ministry to God. Therefore, “whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24).
And so we celebrate Labor Day. The day became a federal holiday in 1894, partly to respect honest labor, but also because of pressure from the international labor movement. Over 100 nations celebrate May Day or International Workers' Day on May 1. In many of these nations, the celebrations are less about the dignity of labor and instead about the power of the international workers’ movement, fueled by socialists and Communists. Think of Red Square in Moscow, with propaganda posters of workers holding hammers and sickles, but primarily showcasing Soviet military power.
Partly to distance America from these radical movements, President Grover Cleveland chose September for Labor Day, thus creating a more neutral, less politically charged national holiday for workers. Even so, the American left still exploits Labor Day observances with the “us vs. them” mentality that pits workers against their employers in anti-Biblical Marxist fashion. Fortunately or unfortunately, most Americans are too saturated with beer and hot dogs to notice.
This Labor Day, let us contemplate the Biblical meaning and purpose of work, the dignity of honest labor that uplifts the worker while serving the employer and the customer. As employees, let us resolve to put that into practice in our own work, making every task a job well done as unto the Lord. As employers, let us resolve to foster the working climate that enables our workers to do their jobs well, and to remember that the worker is worthy of his hire. As the old hymn says, “Work, for the Night Is Coming.”
And feel free to rest and have some fun this Labor Day and future Labor Days. But also do a bit of work “just to spite the commies.”
Colonel Eidsmoe serves as Professor of Constitutional Law for the Oak Brook College of Law & Government Policy (obcl.edu), as Senior Counsel for the Foundation for Moral Law (morallaw.org), and as Pastor of Woodland Presbyterian Church of Notasulga, Ala., (woodlandpca.org). He may be contacted for speaking engagements at [email protected].
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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