Mountainview International Church

Slothfulness vs Diligence

Slothfulness is one of those tricky things to talk about because not many of us would consider ourselves slothful or lazy. To be honest with you, I don’t think that before a couple of weeks ago I had ever even used the word “sloth”. I had an idea of what it was, and maybe you have the same ideas in your head:

The first thing that came to mind was the animal that is called sloth:
The sloth is the worlds slowest animal.

The sloth is such a masterpiece of immobility tiny green plants grow on its coarse hair. The sloth’s immobility is its safeguard against enemies. Seen motionless, high amongst the dense foliage it resembles a mass of dead leaves. Even when killed, a sloth continues to cling to his branch with his curved claws. No one, perhaps not even the sloth knows whether he is dead or alive!!

But upon closer examination I began to realize not only why God speaks so harshly about it, but also why it is classified as one of the 7 deadly sins and also (gulp) that I was very much guilty of it!!!! I wouldn’t call myself completely slothful, but I am not exactly a picture of diligence either!!! The reason I showed The Tortoise and the Hare today, is because the hare so closely resembles my life. This is not one of my finer qualities, and to be honest it often drives my poor husband crazy.

Slothfulness is a lack of appropriate enthusiasm and action for the things we should be, or the things we should do. Sloth is among the easiest of the sins to commit because it requires little or no effort on our part to commit it. We often think of sin as “things we do wrong” - our active sins. But there are less obvious ways of sinning. When we fail to do something we are called to do we commit the sin of omission – meaning we omit to do what we are called to do which can be just as big of sin as the commission sins.

I believe that there are two forms of sloth and that they described in the Bible.

Physical Slothfulness and Spiritual Slothfulness.

The physical form of slothfulness is made evident in many forms: laziness, making excuses to avoid work, taking shortcuts that alter the quality of your workmanship, and procrastination are a few. The Bible has much to say about physical slothfulness.
Here are a couple of my favorite on the subject.

• The hand of the diligent will rule, but the slothful will be put to forced labor. Prov 12:24 (AMP)

• The diligent find freedom in their work; the lazy are oppressed by work. Prov 12:24 (MSG)

• The sluggard craves and gets nothing but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. Prov 13:4

The spiritual form of slothfulness is not always as easily recognized because it is disguised in many forms. For example, we may “play it safe” like the man Jesus described in the parable of the talents where he buried his talent because of his fear of failure. The master was not at all pleased with him. He does not want us to bury our talents and waste our time.

Sometimes it may be that we pull back from doing what God wants because it is out of our “comfort zone”. Often we may be an expert on excuses. Proverbs has some amusing descriptions of the slothful person. Prov 22:13 The slothful man says “there is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets!!!” Now that sounds pretty amusing, but to be honest I have heard and even come up with a few that could top that! I have met people who quit going to church because someone in the church offended them YEARS ago!!! I always wonder if they ever had a bad work experience!!! It would seem outrageous to hear of someone who quit working for the rest of their life because they were offended by someone at their job, yet there are many who in effect give up on God because of a misunderstanding or tough times!!!

Next we have lack of zeal & enthusiasm. We all get worked up and excited about something (game score, stock market, economy, dog digging in the garden) but the question is, what are we excited about when it comes to faith?

Then there is procrastination. I am the queen of procrastination!!! The bad thing about procrastination for me is that when I know that I should be doing something but am not, it weighs on me and I cannot fully enjoy or concentrate on what I am doing!!!

Have you ever had one of those days where you got absolutely nothing done but felt exhausted? And then contrast that to the days when you got tons done and were also exhausted - a good exhaustion. God made it that way from the very beginning – to find fulfillment and satisfaction in the work of our hands and heart. My grandpa a very wise man and in his 90’s and still a healthy hard worker always says “never put off till tomorrow what should be done today”!!!

Busyness. Interestingly, we have the most time efficiency gadgets ever (automatic washer, dishwasher, email, cell phone etc.), yet we are still the busiest people ever. Busyness is not the opposite of sloth or laziness as some would like to believe!!! Often our business is an excuse for being slothful. Ouch!!! God calls us to be good stewards of our time, which means that we need to prioritize our life so that the things we are busy at are things that make a difference for eternity. We can get caught up in the trap of doing so much (all good things) that when it comes time for the most important things in life we are too worn out to give them our best. Here’s a ditty that may demonstrate our lives at times: “Veggie Tale Busy Song”

One person told me that in his prioritizing in order to have energy and zeal for what God has called him to do, that he tries not to schedule anything on Saturday night so he will be well rested for giving God his best on Sunday morning!!!

A really good verse that warns against spiritual slothfulness comes from Heb 6:11-12

But we desire for each of you to show the same diligence and sincerity in realizing and enjoying the full assurance and development of your hope until the end; in order that you may not grow disinterested and become [spiritual] sluggards, but rather, imitators, behaving as do those who through faith and by practice of patient endurance and waiting are [now] inheriting the promises. Heb 6:11-12

Having said that, I think it would be safe to say that sloth is the desire for ease, even at the expense of doing the known will of God. The slothful person is unwilling to do what God wants because of the effort it takes to do it. Sloth becomes a sin when it slows down and even brings to a halt God’s will for our lives.

So what is at the root of Slothfulness?

The word “Sloth” is described in the Greek as a-kedia which literally means “lack of care.” Sloth is indifference and lack of enthusiasm or zeal toward life whether spiritual or physical. If indifference is at the heart of sloth, then sloth is the enemy of love which makes it the enemy of the best thing there is: the heart of God!!! Wow, when you put it like that it kinda hurts!!! But if you really think about it, the more we love someone or something, the more we take pride and find joy in what we do and who we do it for. Think about the things you do. Why do you do them? Who are you doing them for? How do you feel while doing them? Relating that to our spiritual lives, did Jesus not say “that if you love him you will not only keep his commandments, but you will not think of them as grievous at all”!!!

The Dangers of Slothfulness:

1) It prevents us from being loving. Jesus said that the two greatest commands are love God with all heart soul and mind and then love neighbor. They go hand in hand. In refusing to accept God’s love with the commitments that it brings, the slothful one also forfeits love for others and his commitment to them. Many marriages fail because we have grown up with the idea that love is a feeling. Love is not just a feeling. Love is an art that requires discipline and hard work.

2) It affects our parenting. How many of us have been guilty of doing the job ourselves because it is easier than taking the time & patience to teach our children to do something well? Or how many of us sit on the couch and bark out idle threats that our kids know we have no intention of following thru with because we are too tired to get up and put action to our words!!! I know I have been guilty!!! Parents, it is our duty to teach our children the self-discipline of finishing every project they start with physical and mental excellence. This requires training, follow up, and reinforcement but reaps a lifetime of benefits for both you and them.

3) It prevents us from becoming committed Christians. We are not saved by works, but we are saved to work. Work is not the curse. In the Bible we see that before sin God created man to find fulfillment and satisfaction in a job well done. It is still his plan for us. When we fail to find satisfaction in what we do, it could be that we are not laboring for what is really important and we do not have sight of the big picture.

4) It prevents us from becoming diligent. Diligence in labor whether spiritual or physical is a must for success. Bible says, Don’t be weary in well doing….reap if faint not.

5) It prevents us from becoming joyful. James Stalker said; Joy is not only an occasional privilege but a constant duty – Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!!! Joy comes from serving others!!!

So, what is the cure for slothfulness?

To find the cure we must look at the opposite of sloth which is the virtue of diligence which we have already touched on a bit. Diligence comes from Latin word “diligere” which means “to love.” It would stand to reason that if the cause is lack of love then the cure would be to love!!! The cure involves commitment to fruitful action. When is the last time you listened to a sermon and took it to heart by going home and rearranging your life to accommodate your newfound information? I know I am guilty!!! The key to developing diligence is to remember: Col 3:23 “And whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. For you serve the Lord Christ!!!”

Slothfulness vs Diligence has a lot to do with the way we spend our time and our attitude in the process. It has been said that you can learn a lot about a person by observing how they spend their money. I would propose the same about time. If we could only study the moments of our day through God’s eyes we might all be startled and humbled at the amount of time we waste. When we truly develop a passion for him, I believe it will change our attitude toward every task – and toward everyone we serve. I would encourage you to go home and evaluate your use of time. It may be that you will need to do a little prioritizing and organizing (perhaps a little less Facebook and a little more of the Good Book) Jesus even said, “Where your treasure is your heart will also be”. I believe time is among our greatest treasures so we could translate that ‘your heart is where you spend your time.’ Slothfulness produces a legacy of despair, but productivity brings a very pleasing reward both now and in the future!!!

When you stand before the Lord someday bearing the fruit of your life, what will he say? I pray that in your case and mine that when we leave this earth we will be able to say as Paul did “I have fought the fight and kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of life that the Lord himself has prepared for me.” And may we enter heaven’s gates and hear the coveted words of the Father “Well done thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord!!”

May our challenge and prayer this week by God’s grace and power be to shake off the spirit of slothfulness and put our whole beings to the wisdom of Solomon when he said, “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” with excellence and diligence!!! Let’s ask God to help us make wise use of the time and talents that he has given us and to forgive us for letting love die when it demands action in order to live.