THE SOUL
OF THE SLUGGARD
(Disguised
Temptations)
(Proverbs 10:4-5; II Thessalonians 3:7-12)
Delivered 09/01/2002
Many years ago there was a comic strip entitled "Mutt and
Jeff." One day Jeff was sleeping in the shade of an old oak
tree. Mutt came up and woke him. "Jeff, why don't you get up?"
Jeff asked lazily. "Why?"
Mutt chided, So you can get a job." Jeff sighed, "Why?"
Mutt said, "So you can make some money." Jeff asked, "Why?"
Mutt added, "So you can save it." Jeff, still lazy, asked,
"Why?"
Mutt was getting impatient. "So you can get rich." Jeff again
asked, "Why?"
Mutt said, "So you can retire someday." Jeff asked, "Why?"
Mutt now had him. "So you can just lay around and do nothing."
Jeff perked up. "Why Mutt, that is what I'm doing now. Why go
to all the trouble?"
We joke about such sloth, but it can be a serious problem.
It's a serious problem because temptations to sloth don't go
around wearing signs that read: "Hey, look at me. I've evil!"
or "Better watch out;, I'm a terrible sin!" In fact, those
things that do have obvious labels are easy to avoid. Few of us
become drug dealers or pornography pushers. Instead, the
temptations that ensnare us are usually disguised. They look
very normal. They blend in with our everyday activities. They
seem to be perfectly harmless; but they're not!
Let's consider 5 common temptations that cause many of our
problems:
I. FIRST, THERE'S APATHY.
We say, "I never noticed" or, "It's no big deal." Now,
apathy
doesn't look threatening at all. It's just indifferent and
unconcerned. Yet, it causes much pain. Edmund Burke said, "All
that's necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do
nothing." Martin Luther King Jr. said, We will have to repent
in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions
of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good
people."
As Christians, we can't neglect others human beings, because we
are all one body. It's a characteristic of the body that it
cares for itself. You can never say, "My finger hurts, but I
feel good everywhere else." That's not normal! When one member
hurts we hurt allover. When one member of the body of Christ
hurts, the others should hurt. That's normal. If one hurts and
the rest of us can just go right on about our business, some
sort of alienation has taken place.
John said, "Little children, let us not love with word or with
tongue, but in deed and truth" (I John 3:18).
II. SECOND, THERE IS INERTIA.
We say, "I don't have time" or, "It's too much trouble."
Now,
again, inertia doesn't seem dangerous. It's just indolent and
lazy; yet it causes destruction.
Successful people do not stop working once they've reached their
goals. Instead, they set new goals. These people know the law
of inertia. They know it's easier for an object to stay in
motion once it's moving . . . and to remain still once it has
stopped. Everything worthwhile requires effort.
Genius is never discovered unless it is applied. Work is the
priceless ingredient of genius. Every study of genius indicates
that the so-called genius works much harder than the average
person. And, the men of genius agree. Michelangelo said, "If
people knew how hard I work to achieve my creations, they
wouldn't seem so wonderful after all." Paderewski said, "Before
I was a genius I was a drudge."
Solomon said, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all
your might . . ." (Ecc. 9:10a).
III. THIRD, THERE IS EVASION.
We say, "I'm not qualified," or "Let George do it." Now,
evasion doesn't attack anyone or actively damage anything. It
just avoids involvement and let's things happen. Unfortunately,
few good things just happen by themselves. Without human
effort, gardens grow up in weeds and highways deteriorate.
Henry Ward Beecher said, "When God wanted sponges and oysters,
He made them, and put one on a rock, and the other in the mud.
But, when He made man, He didn't make him to be a sponge or an
oyster. He made him with feet and hands, and head and heart,
and gave him a place to use them. He said, "Go to work!" Work
is not intended to be a curse on mankind, it is a blessing.
Carl Sandburg said, "It is all right to retire as long as it
doesn't interfere with your work."
Paul said, "Each of us will give an account of himself to God"
Rom. 14:12).
IV. FOURTH, THERE IS PROCRASTINATION.
We say, "Wait just a minute"; or, "I'll do it later." Now,
procrastination is especially tricky because it tries to have it
both ways. It never actually refuses to do its duty. Instead,
it has good intentions. It says, "Yes, of course; but not right
now."
Unfortunately, good intentions don't accomplish anything. A
wise mans said, "The smallest deed is better than the greatest
intention."
Soren Kierkegaard tells a story of geese that were flying to the
safety of a warm climate. They rested in a farmer's yard to eat
their fill of corn. Most of the geese took off promptly to stay
ahead of the freezing winds, but one gander stayed behind to eat
more corn. His intended one-day layover extended to a week, and
then to two weeks. It was only when he felt the cold raindrops
on the top of his feathers that he decided it was time to move
on.
He ran as fast as he could with his waddling feet and wobbly
body. He beat his wings for all he was worth, but he couldn't
get off the ground. He was too fat to fly.
Paul said, "Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness
to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to
your means" (II Cor. 8:11).
V. FINALLY, THERE IS IRRESPONSIBILITY.
We say, "Don't blame me"; or "It's not my problem."
Irresponsibility passes the buck. It points fingers. It
ignores its obligations. It's not responsible.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "When I go into my garden with a spade
and dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health that I
discover that I have been defrauding myself all this time in
letting others do for me what I should have done with my own
hands.."
We were created to be independent and autonomous. The person
who accepts responsibility stands out from all others in an
office, in a factory, or in any walk in life; and he's the one
who gets ahead. If you don't take responsibility for your
talents you will fail no matter how much ability you may have.
But, if you take responsibility in both the little things and
the big things, success will come to you.
A wise king was unhappy because his people were careless and
irresponsible. One day the king dug a hole in the road in front
of his palace. He put a bag of gold in the hole and then
covered it with a large stone. On the bag he had written: the
one who finds this bag may keep it."
He watched from the palace window as the people went by day
after day. They walked around the stone, but no one moved it.
A company of soldiers marching by even broke formation instead
of moving the stone. Several weeks later, the king invited his
subjects to meet him at the stone. He suddenly moved the stone
and poured the shining gold out of the bag. Then he said, "You
have been upset about this stone in the middle of the road and
have wondered who placed it in your way. I did it; but I also
left this treasure for the one who moved it."
Life rewards those who accept responsibility. James said,
"Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do
it sins" (James 4:17).
Charles Davis said, "I used to visit a little general store in
the country. The owner had a clerk named Jake who I always
thought was the laziest man ever created. Then I notice that
Jake was nowhere around. 'Where's Jake?' I ask