Proverbs 19:15-16
Laziness brings on a deep sleep,
and the idle person will go hungry.
The one who obeys commandments guards his life;
the one who despises his ways will die.
While the Bible is clear about the fact that the church and those who call themselves Christians are supposed to be compassionate and serving one another, there is another aspect of this that is also clear. That is that we aren’t supposed to be lazy. We’ve talked about laziness before in previous Proverbious posts, but more in terms of working.
However, there is something we should be clear about, as it pertains to the body of Christ – none of us are supposed to be lazy. We all have a role to play. We all have something we should be doing. In fact, our place in the body of Christ should do nothing less than empower us and encourage us to want to serve more and do more. We’re not just filling a task or a role, we are helping/hoping to lead people to an entirely different eternity. We shouldn’t look at what we do as an obligation, instead we should look at it as a privilege.
“The Christian stands, not under the dictatorship of a legalistic ‘you ought,’ but in the magnetic field of Christian Freedom, under the empowering of the ‘You may.'” Helmut Thielicke
We get to serve. We are blessed because we get to do what we have been gifted to do. It is not an ought to. It is not an obligation. It is a gift to us to get to serve, to get to play our role.
Paul gives a couple of warnings to the Thessalonians about laziness:
1 Thessalonians 5:14:
“Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy.”
And in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10
“But we command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who lives an undisciplined life and not according to the tradition they received from us. 7 For you know yourselves how you must imitate us, because we did not behave without discipline among you, 8 and we did not eat anyone’s food without paying. Instead, in toil and drudgery we worked night and day in order not to burden any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give ourselves as an example for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this command: “If anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat.”
So, take the warning. And idle person will go hungry. Laziness brings on a deep sleep. If you’re not willing to work, you shouldn’t get to eat. If you’re not willing to serve the body as you are supposed to, why should you partake in the rewards that come from the body? Being disciplined, as in the way we live – not punishment, is how a follower of God is.
