Professionalism's Dangers and Amateurs' Love

Our world is driven by consumerism. At the extreme end, there are hoarders. This is a serious mental problem that wastes resources, destroys property, and rails against all that is good. It brings no joy or satisfaction to the hoarder. At the other end, there are minimalists living stealth camping in their cars so that they can be free of 9-to-5 jobs but also of neighbors and have no roots. Both extremes are defined by possessions. Both spend an inordinate amount of time working at either collecting or scheming. If those are the extremes, there are bound to be a few people in the happy middle, balanced, but I suspect most of us live far closer to the hoarders than to the stealth campers. The marketing gurus have had their way with us. Our baser desires tend toward pleasure and excess. Our basements, garages, and closets are stuffed. That is a problem.

As bad as that is, it is worse than just collecting things, gadgets and shoes and tools. Consumerism also destroys our minds and bodies. Instead of playing softball, we sit on the couch and watch baseball. We don’t create or engage in sport, we consume it. It is bad for us, and almost without exception, it also is bad for the players. Football players and boxers are the most obvious losers, but even if the sport doesn’t ruin your body and send you to the grave 30 years early, the rocket to fame and money almost always ruins a person. The odds of surviving professional sports both physically and spiritually are only slightly better than the odds of surviving a winning lottery ticket. We sacrifice them for our amusement.

This is related to another threat to freedom and Christianity. It is not technically consumerism but feeds off of it: rule by professionals. This is sometimes called an epistocracy or a technocracy or sometimes rule by experts. Democracy is not meant to be rule by the ignorant, wherein wicked men deceive stupid men, but that exaggerated fear would actually be a better form of government than rule by condescending professionals who think they know best.

This is because wicked men are eventually exposed. The stupid wise up. But in rule by professionals, the professionals are answerable only to themselves. They are not above lying since those they rule are so stupid and they imagine themselves to be so magnanimous.

I suspect this is rather obvious, but we should also resist leaving theology and church government to the professionals. Every Christian is to prepare to give a defense for the hope that is in him. Every father and mother is to teach the catechism to his children. Every member of our congregation is to listen attentively and judge the sermon’s content according to the Scriptures. These are not optional duties.

Here is another thing: we must beware of those who consider themselves “professionals.” There is a 2022 study from Cornell University entitled “The Professionalism Paradox: Professionalism Increases Vulnerability to Conflicts of Interest.” (Here is a link to a summary of the study with a link to the actual study in it). In the study, the researchers asked high level managers about whether or not they would accept gifts from people who were trying to persuade them and if they thought that if they did it would influence them or not. The author of the study reports that “the greater the managers’ sense of professionalism, the more likely they were to report that they would accept gifts from people with questionable or ambiguous agendas, and less likely to be influenced by the specific gifts in the scenarios.” He concludes by saying that “a high sense of professionalism . . . may lead to greater acceptance of conflicts and potentially more bias.” This fits perfectly with what we know about pride. It leadeth to destruction. The problem psychologically and spiritually with professionalism is self-satisfaction and over confidence.

If we think of this as a social or political problem, we can see that consumerism makes us too weak to rule ourselves. We don’t have time for it. The experts buy us off with bread and circuses. The lives of gladiators is a small price to pay to keep us pacified and stupid. Theologically, sin begets sin. Obsession with material things corrupts the soul and threatens to destroy faith. Virtue cannot grow in this environment because it takes us away from our duties and vocations. Again: these things are not optional.

But it is not just that we don’t create sport or take our citizenship seriously enough. We also don’t create art. Instead, we consume art. We don’t tell stories around the hearth, we load up Netflix. We don’t make music, we listen to what we have purchased and we probably listen alone on headphones, cut off from the world. The only place most of us amateurs sing is in Church, and maybe alone in the shower or in the car. We don’t sing to each other. We don’t make music together. We leave that to professionals.

Thank God that we do sing in Church! That is no small thing and some people don’t even do that, but we could sing more, and more often. It is not true of every pub in Ireland, but there is one in almost every village where at least one weeknight every week locals show up with instruments and voices and simply have at it. I am told, though, that it used to be every pub in every village and many nights a week. So they are losing it also. Nonetheless, when it happens, it is glorious.

It is very good for us to do things we aren’t good at, to get out of our comfort zones, to try new things and to work at them. It is humbling. That is good for our souls. It stimulates the neurons which is good for our cognitive health. And it builds comradery and appreciation for others. That is good for friendship and peacemaking. It is also good for us to fulfill our vocations - to engage in the government of our nation and the church, to hold teachers accountable, to try our hand at what is in front of us even if we lack credentials and formal degrees or there are people who could do it better.

Everyone should sing. The Bible commands it: “Sing unto the Lord a new song” has no caveats or limitations. It is issued to the entire human race. So this isn’t optional. I think everyone should actually work at singing. We should strive toward it, work at it. We should take lessons if we can afford it. That is what professionals are for! So also we should study theology, come to Bible class, ask questions. That is what pastors are for - not to do the work for us but to help us fulfill our Christian duty. It is a similar reality for most professions.

Besides singing and theology, there are other things we can and should do in this world for our good and the good of others. There are some great maker movements in America, in most every city and town. Some of us can grow a few carrots without being farmers. Others can start dart leagues or host homemade slingshot contests. Still others can raise chickens and bake cakes and tell stories. Whatever it is, let us engage the world, away from screens, with people, in creation. Let’s make. Let’s create art, sport, and community. Let’s evangelize, catechize, and praise. Let’s not leave any of it solely to the professionals, after all the meaning of the word “amateur” is someone who acts out of love and not for money.