Jason Riley begins his editorial on the dwindling American work ethic with a joke from comedian Chris Rock. “If you’re in any neighborhood in America at 12:15 in the afternoon on a Wednesday and you see women with sweatpants on, coming out the gym, pushing babies, riding bikes, chances are, you’re in a nice neighborhood.” However, if “you see men in sweatpants smoking cigarettes, hanging with their boys, lifting weights in the yard, riding children’s bicycles as their actual transportation, then you are in danger.”

He used it to focus on the latest job numbers that demonstrate that the American work ethic has gone out of style. “According to the Department of Labor, 1 in 3 men were neither working nor looking for a job in April.”

In previous commentaries, I have quoted Nicholas Eberstadt and his statistics, many of which are found in his book, Men Without Work. It is worth mentioning again that these men are not only NOT working, but they aren’t even looking for work. And if you dig into the numbers, you realize that male joblessness doesn’t stem from an inability to find employment. There are many jobs available in our economy. It results from a complete unwillingness of able-bodied men to search for work.

Jason Riley reminds us that we have a “social safety net full of generous government benefits that allow men who won’t work to subsist.” Many have learned to game the system and have become a significant source of income. But political or economic reform is only part of the solution.

Five years ago, I wrote a booklet onA Biblical Point of View on Work to encourage pastors and church leaders to start talking about this issue biblically. They need to preach and teach about a Christian work ethic.