What if you have a child who is well-mannered, makes straight A’s at school, and is successfully involved in all sorts of extracurricular activities, but one day, that child comes home and begins cursing like sailor and curses at you in the process? I wonder, how would you respond? Would you think to yourself that since he is successful in many things, generally well-mannered, and a fantastic student, there is nothing to worry about? Would you reason that this is just one problematic thing, and he will probably grow out of it? You almost assuredly would not respond that way. Most would immediately drop everything to respond because of a right desire to put a stop to that kind of seriously disrespectful behavior.
Imagine another scene with the same child who possesses all of the same wonderful characteristics. However, instead of cursing like a sailor, you have trouble getting him out of the bed in the morning. He consistently sleeps in, even into the afternoon if you even fight the battle to make him get up. You have trouble getting him to go to bed as well. Whenever you give him a job, he is easily distracted, has difficulty getting started, and rarely adequately finishes a work task. How would you respond? Would you think to yourself that it’s no big deal? After all, look at how he is excelling in so many things. Would you laugh about it thinking that that’s just the way kids and teens are? Surely, he will grow out of it.
Now, this is certainly no defense of cursing one’s parents, but the Bible spends more time addressing the rebellion of laziness. Cursing your parents is rebellion but so is laziness. The testimony of the Bible from beginning to end says that laziness is wicked. But we don’t often look at it that way. Why is that? Why don’t we think laziness is a big deal? Why has laziness become a respectable sin among Christians?
Laziness as a Worldview
For many, laziness is a lifestyle—a worldview. We teach ourselves to think that everyone should want nothing to do if they can make it happen. We romanticize laziness. Our lives reflect a song from the 80’s, “…everybody’s working for the weekend…” We tend to think that if we didn’t have all this work to do (meaningless secular work), then we could be really vibrant Christians. We could spend all of our time reading the Bible, and then we could be powerful and bold believers. This way of thinking is laziness as a worldview. We have come to believe that the reason we work is so that we can rest. Work in this way of thinking is a necessary evil, and that is too often the story we tell ourselves. But thinking in this way turns God’s work and rest rhythm completely on its head. Biblically, we do not work so that we can rest; we rest so that we can work. When we do not get this foundational reality right, we draw wrong conclusions about both work and rest.
Reorienting Rest and Work
When God created the world, he called his creation “good,” and after he created human beings in his image, he declared it was “very good” (Gen 1:31). At the end of Genesis 1, God asserts the unique purpose and mission of his image bearers: they are to take dominion (rule the world under God’s authority). From the very beginning, we were meant to look at the world and see purposeful work. His image bearers were to be committed to human flourishing under the glory of God. When God finished his creative work, he rested (Gen 2:1-3). Why did God rest? God was not weary. God’s rest was a celebration of God’s work; he was delighting in the goodness of his creative work. God is still at work in a fallen world through the church. God commands us to rest on the Lord’s Day so that we can celebrate his work in the world and our work in his kingdom that brings him glory. We celebrate and rest in the work of God in Christ and commit our lives to gospel rest on the Lord’s Day so that we can rightly do gospel work. We must get the order right—rest to work.
Prior to the fall into sin, God put a garden in his created kingdom of Eden for man to work in order to provide for image bearers and to promote communal good (Gen 2:8-15). Biblically, work is not a necessary evil; it is the good gift of a sovereign God. To think that work is a necessary evil is rebellion against God’s design. Both work and rest are vital. The one truly committed to faithful work will be disciplined about rest so that he or she will be able to work effectively. Work is uniquely tethered to purposeful living and is externally focused. Work is about doing something to make your family, your community, and your world better. Work is a commitment to human flourishing (whether the work is for pay or voluntary). The lazy image bearer is living in rebellion to his or her Creator.
The Folly of Laziness
With this perspective in mind, it is no wonder that when we get to the wisdom book of Proverbs, a significant portion of the book is focused on work. Specifically, in Proverbs 6:6-11 alone, we find four characteristics of a lazy person.
- The Lazy Person Has Difficulty Starting Work
In Proverbs 6:6-7, sluggards are told to consider the ant. The ant has no chief, no master, no one prodding, and yet works diligently (this is an illustration from observation). Is that true of you? Is it true of your children? Do you have an internal God-centered motivation for getting things done or do you need external motivation? Here is one easy test. When your alarm clock goes off in the morning, do you get up or do you hit the snooze button? Once? Twice? Five times? Those five to fifteen minutes do nothing to help you for the day. So why do you do it? Could it be that you are reinforcing a habit of laziness with every press of the snooze button? When given a job, do you dwell on obstacles and allow them to keep you from getting started? Parents, what good could possible come from training your children that sleeping in as long as they can every day is a good thing?
- The Lazy Person is Self-Centered and Short-Sighted
Proverbs 6:8, observing the work of the ant, affirms the priority of consistent work with a view toward the future and others. What is the opposite of the ant? Waiting until there is an urgent need before you begin work. You know you struggle with laziness if you’re a student and you wait until the night before a paper is due to begin writing. You may write a great paper, but you are still lazy. The same is true for the employee or stay-at-home mom. The lazy person is always held captive to the tyranny of the urgent. When you live like that you become miserable and a miserable person to be around. Cramming all of your work into a few hours is not a path to joy. Some people are so busy because they are too lazy to organize and prioritize their lives. Parents often model this kind of work misery to their children by complaining and grousing about their work and then ironically wonder why their child has a poor work ethic.
- The Lazy Person Always has an Excuse for Not Working Hard
In Proverbs 6:9-10, we see the sluggard making excuses: “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest.” Have you ever noticed that no one considers themselves a lazy person? As a seminary professor, I have never had a student turn in a late paper and state the reason was because they were lazy. We tell ourselves a story to excuse our laziness. After all, we were just a little late, and we just had a little problem. No one admits to laziness. Why? Because we create a narrative about why we failed to be diligent. Proverbs 22:13 says “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!’” which was an outlandish excuse (much like, “The dog ate my homework.”). Why does it say “sluggard” instead of “coward”? Because laziness and cowardice are complementary traits. They go together. The lazy person is self-centered and so there is no motivation for courage—only cowardly excuses.
- The Lazy Person Is Always Unsatisfied and Discontent
In Proverbs 6:11, we see that poverty overtakes the lazy person and sneaks up on them to do them harm. Have you ever met anyone who says that they are choosing to not work hard because their goal is to live in poverty? No. But when you live based on a worldview that is directly counter to what God has said you are harming yourself even if you do not see it: “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing” (Prov 13:4). Do you see the irony of this? Laziness is seen as a pursuit of satisfaction and contentment, but it will only lead to dissatisfaction and discontentment. Why? Because laziness is rooted in self-centeredness, and therefore, it is childishly short-sighted. If you feed self-centeredness and cultivate short-sightedness, there is no pathway to contentment.
For the believer there is no such thing as secular work. Every task is to be sacred for the one who is united by faith to Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit. Housework, building, teaching, and preaching all have the same responsibility to be done for human flourishing to the glory of God. The apex of the original dominion mandate is the work of the church in fulfilling the Great Commission (Matt 28:16-20). Therefore, all work for the Christian is tethered to pointing others to Christ. The Christian ought to be the hardest, most diligent worker. The Bible calls laziness wicked. To be wise we must call laziness wicked as well. To do so we must reframe our thinking about work in light of the gospel. Laziness is not only rebellion against the Creator; it is also rebellion against the Redeemer.
May we “work heartily, as for the Lord, not for men” (Col 2:23) and “redeem the time” (Eph 5:16, Col 4:5), teaching our children to do the same. Start simple, do not hit the snooze button in the morning and thank God for the gift of work—then get to work.
Image courtesy of René Gademann
[…] Our Respectable Sin—Laziness Now, this is certainly no defense of cursing one’s parents, but the Bible spends more time addressing the rebellion of laziness. Cursing your parents is rebellion but so is laziness. The testimony of the Bible from beginning to end says that laziness is wicked. But we don’t often look at it that way. Why is that? Why don’t we think laziness is a big deal? Why has laziness become a respectable sin among Christians? […]
I’ve always tried to find a biblical definition of laziness. It seems there is affine line between immaturity and laziness. It’s kind of like the avoidance of responsibility is immaturity or irresponsibility and the avoidance of work is laziness but they share the same root. As I matured and took on more responsibility (willingly) I found myself working harder because I had purpose. People were depending on me.
Say what you want about Mark Driscoll but one my favorite statements he ever made was that men are like trucks. They drive straighter with a heavy load. I think it’s true. Thanks for the theological insight into laziness. It is very helpful in understanding our weaknesses and out root desires. Is there a biblical definition of laziness that can be summed up in one sentence?
Not to argue with the ultimate theme of your post. But as a clinical psychologist, i want to mention that many of the behaviors described in your post are characteristic of Attention-Deficit Disorder. Especially when someone suffers from the Inattentive subtype, which lacks the hyperactivity/impulsivity which is often associated with the disorder, it OFTEN goes understood as laziness. If someone with generally strong character and ability to work hard in some areas consistently struggles with starting tasks, focusing to continue, procrastinating even after experiencing negative consequences for doing so, difficulty finishing tasks even if most of the work is done…. I highly recommend ADHD Inattentive type is considered.
Again, I agree with the theme of your post and don’t mean to say laziness isn’t a real issue (for people with and without ADHD). But precisely because so many of these behaviors can be signs of laziness, they often are missed as important symptoms of a true medical problem, by those struggling as well as those interacting with or parenting them. (One book for adults diagnosed with ADHD is titled, “you mean I’m not lazy, crazy, or stupid?”).
Just food for thought…
(Anyone with questions can feel free to email me about this)
Respectfully,
Emily Wynsma, MA
Justin, Thanks for the comment. As for a biblical definition, here is my suggestion:
LAZINESS: To be slow to take any action, suggesting a lack of discipline or initiative, a foolish focus on self and desires of the moment rather than God and his plan.
Emily, Thanks for interacting.
I was addressing laziness as a general topic in the way the biblical book of Proverbs does. To address a topic in a general way means not qualifying the discussion based on various situations that do not fit the generalization. If we had to qualify in countless ways everything that we say then it would be difficult ever to talk about anything with real clarity. For instance, if I were going to talk about the necessity to consistently read your Bible I would not qualify that with, of course, some of you have disorders or reading problems that come from a variety of physical problems because that qualification is reasonably assumed. In the same way, speaking of laziness and its characteristics, it is reasonably assumed that there is a qualification for those with medical problems. I understand that you’re saying that in this particular instance one thing is often mistaken for the other but I think that is true with many things and do not feel the need to qualify every statement when speaking about a topic you a general way.
Blessings,
This was a tough one to read…thanks for calling sin, sin.
Hi David,
Thanks for your response!
I absolutely agree. My reasons for commenting in this specific instance were: because evidence has shown ADHD is particularly susceptible to being missed or misdiagnosed- differently from something like a reading disorder;
as well as because the specific examples of laziness you gave in your post are straight out of diagnostic criteria for ADHD (http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/diagnosis.html). The frequent sleep references you made even offer support to this, as a lesser known symptom of ADHD is often difficulty having restful sleep- leading to individuals who still feeling tired upon waking.
In any case, my intention was not to quibble. I simply have worked with many (many) families where, following proper testing and diagnosis, treatment of ADHD supported amazing improvements in problematic behaviors which had long been attributed to laziness. And since you make your argument to parents, I feel the distinction is important.
With behaviors such as chronic whining, blaming others, refusal to take responsibility, willful dropping of responsibilities onto others’ shoulders, casually resting while watching others work, etc., you’ll hear me make no such argument. But reports of distractedness, difficulty starting tasks, procrastination, and forgetting deadlines would have me immediately concerned for one’s executive functioning before considering their character.
[…] Our Respectable Sin – Laziness (David Prince) – Hard-hitting words here! “We have come to believe that the reason we work is so that we can rest. Work in this way of thinking is a necessary evil, and that is too often the story we tell ourselves. But thinking in this way turns God’s work and rest rhythm completely on its head. Biblically, we do not work so that we can rest; we rest so that we can work.” […]
Larry, Thanks!
Emily, I am someone whose besetting sin is laziness and by God’s grace He continues His work of sanctification in me. I found this post to be extremely helpful – contrasting resting to work vs. working to rest is a simple BIBLICAL truth that encouraged me as I had not considered it in exactly those terms. I also appreciate David’s boldness in calling laziness out as sin – it truly is a sin too easily accepted/respected even in Christian circles.
Had I been a child of the 90’s or later, I likely would have been diagnosed with ADHD. Please consider whether or not ADHD is simply the world’s attempt to escape responsibility for the sin of laziness. Again, speaking from experience, I would have welcomed a “medical” excuse for my sin. However, taking the medical justification keeps me from the gospel of having to admit laziness is sinful, wicked and outright rebellion against God. BUT GOD willingly suffered for my sin of laziness on the cross and has freely forgiven me for it as I repent and trust in Him alone.
All of us need to shape our thinking by the Bible and not by what the world has to offer us as justification for our sinfulness and rebellion – an ongoing spiritual battle for us all.
Dr. Prince,
Great article. We appreciated it so much that we re-posted it on our Family Ministry Facebook page. On our page, we try to focus on gospel centered articles with a filter of “not just behavior modification, but gospel transformation.”
With that said, one of our members had an interesting comment that I would be interested to hear your response:
“I see a lot of law here, and a prescription of behavior modification. Is there gospel here? If there is, I don’t see it.”
I honestly do not understand the critique. The last paragraph of the article is printed below. The entirety of the discussion is about what it means to apply the wisdom of God, which only comes by being united to faith in Christ who is our wisdom, and living out the implications of the gospel of Christ. It seems to me that we have some people who in the name of gospel-centered want to completely ignore the consequential imperatives of Scripture.
The last paragraph:
“For the believer there is no such thing as secular work. Every task is to be sacred for the one who is united by faith to Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit. Housework, building, teaching, and preaching all have the same responsibility to be done for human flourishing to the glory of God. The apex of the original dominion mandate is the work of the church in fulfilling the Great Commission (Matt 28:16-20). Therefore, all work for the Christian is tethered to pointing others to Christ. The Christian ought to be the hardest, most diligent worker. The Bible calls laziness wicked. To be wise we must call laziness wicked as well. To do so we must reframe our thinking about work in light of the gospel. Laziness is not only rebellion against the Creator; it is also rebellion against the Redeemer.
May we “work heartily, as for the Lord, not for men” (Col 2:23) and “redeem the time” (Eph 5:16, Col 4:5), teaching our children to do the same. Start simple, do not hit the snooze button in the morning and thank God for the gift of work—then get to work.”
We must not run from one error into the arms of another. Legalism is a problem but antinomianism is equally heinous. The proper relationship between the gospel indicative and imperative is not to pit one against the other. Rather, it is to understand that their relationship is irreversible. The imperative rests on the foundational indicative and is consequential.
In his book By Faith, Not by Sight: Paul and the Order of Salvation, Richard Gaffin explains, “If it needs saying, Paul’s gospel, as gospel, stands or falls with the irreversibility …. But this irreversible relationship is an inseparable relationship. Paul, we may also generalize, never writes in the indicative without having the imperative in view, at least implicitly.” Faithful proclamation of the gospel indicative includes proclamation of the consequential imperatives. In Paul: An Outline of His Theology, Herman Ridderbos rightly asserted, “Indicative and imperative are both the object of faith, on the one hand in its receptivity, on the other in its activity. For this reason the connection between the two is so close and indissoluble.”
Gaffin also warns in the same volume, however, of the consequences of sermons that ignore either the indicative or imperative. “On balance, the imperative without the indicative leads into a soteriological legalism, to using the imperative either to achieve or secure one’s salvation; it makes Paul a moralist,” Gaffin wrote. “On the other hand, the indicative without the imperative tends to an antinomianism; it leaves us with Paul the mystic.”
We must reject simplistic abstract moralizing of the biblical text, but we must also approach the text knowing that faithfully preaching the gospel indicative requires proclamation of the consequential ethical imperatives.
The ethical imperatives of Scripture presented as a way of salvation are a corruption of the biblical witness. But, the person who has trusted in the gospel of Jesus Christ for salvation necessarily looks to biblical imperatives as the gracious guidance of their Savior and King.
Jesus did not simply come to usher in the salvation of isolated individuals, but to establish his Messianic Kingdom. In his person, the Kingdom of God was “already” at hand and yet it was “not yet” consummated. The redemptive historical reality of the already but not yet of the Kingdom of Christ means that he has already fully accomplished the salvation of his people, but his people in this fallen world have not yet completely learned how to conduct their lives “in step with the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:14).
The gospel indicative makes genuine obedience to the ethical imperatives possible and ultimately inevitable (Rom. 8:29, Eph. 2:10). The one who is “in Christ” has been delivered from the vain attempt to obey the imperatives as a means of justification and now hears them as the guidance and direction of a perfectly loving Father (Gal. 4:6).
Delivered from the courtroom of God’s justice, the one who is “in Christ” now is adopted and takes his place in the household of God (Rom. 8:15, Gal. 4:5, Eph. 1:5, 2:19, 1 Tim. 3:15). For the believer, obedience is now a matter of becoming who you already are in Christ. A person who avoids the ethical commands of Scripture is embracing a truncated gospel.
That was me in #11. I do not “want to completely ignore the consequential imperatives of Scripture”. Having just finished a 14 hour workday, I’m probably as befuddled by that comment as you are about mine. Anyway, rereading the article I do see a few indicatives that I missed in my first reading, so I’ll take the blame for that, but it’s still (my opinion) relatively light on indicatives and heavy on imperatives. And those last couple of sentences still look like “yes, you’re in Christ, so go modify your behavior already, and while you’re at it modify your children’s behavior as well”.
Is there a way to not hit the snooze button, and thank God for the gift of work, and get to work, all without honoring God? Sure there is. What would that look like? I think that would make an interesting and helpful part 2 article. I know many people who don’t believe in any sort of God, much less in Christ, who take great pride in working hard and working well. What would they take away from this article? I suppose it’s fair to say that you’re writing primarily with believers in mind, but it read as if the assumption was that only believers would read the article, and that those believers who do read it would already have a firm grasp of the indicatives and only need a little reminder of them, but would have almost no concept of what the law says about laziness and so would need lots of convincing of those particular imperatives. I know you can’t say everything about every subject in any single article. I just thought the balance was way off in this one. I didn’t know who Richard Gaffin was before reading your comment but his warning about imbalance pretyy accurately reflects my thoughts when I originally read the article.
So, that is what I was getting at. Is there more that we can and should say to some unbeliever who is already working hard, and therefore walks away from this article seeing no need of Christ? If one is in Christ but not working hard is there more that we can say to him besides reminding him of what the law says, so stop hitting the snooze button already? Or what of the poor believing soul who is already working as hard as she can but remains convinced that she really should be doing even more, and walks away grieving and maybe even wondering if she’s even in Christ because of it? I’ve been all three of these people at one time or another, and I think there is more that we can say in all of those cases, and that is the article that I would like to read.
Thanks for the interaction Wes. By the way, if you are not included in the “some people” then it doesn’t apply to you. I was answering a generic abstract question and there definitely are some people who want to completely ignore the imperatives of Scripture. I can introduce you to some. Why is that befuddling?
There is always more that could be said than is said in any one sermon, article, or talk. It’s not of matter of counting the imperatives and indicatives but rather is it clear that the imperative commands are always consequential to the foundational gospel indicative. This is the pattern of Scripture.
If that’s the article you would like to read get busy and write it. I would love to read it.