The Curse of the Sluggard

And the joy of good ol' fashioned elbow grease

“The way of the sluggard is as a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.” (Proverbs 15:19)

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In His wisdom, God has ordained that a strange and fitting irony harass the sluggard throughout the course of his life. This “curse,” we may call it (for so it is), is not mean-spirited nor is it intended for his destruction, but it does nevertheless cling to him like a burr under the collar and cause about as much annoyance as one might expect such a thing to do. This irony, plainly stated, consists in this: that all the sluggard’s attempts to secure ease and comfort for himself, in the end, only ever produce the opposite effect. Like Wile E. Coyote’s futile pursuit of the Road Runner, the sluggard’s pursuit of ease and simplicity only results in compounding frustration. Sleep and slumber lead to poverty and destruction (Prov. 6:11), folding of the hands to misery and death (Eccl. 4:5). No matter what the sluggard does, he cannot escape his fate. His way is as a hedge of thorns, while the upright walk on an open highway (Prov. 15:19). 

This, of course, is not at all what the sluggard thinks he is doing. His excuses appear eminently reasonable to his own mind. But it’s worth remembering that the final analysis will not be conducted on the basis of vague and airy notions concerning the number of lions there may or may not have been in the street (Prov. 26:13). Rather, judgment will take place upon the objective and naked reality of a life and its fruits — or lack thereof. Thus, at the end of it all, the sluggard will have nothing to hide behind and nothing to point to as a justification for his avoidance of responsibility. He will have had a hard life and a miserable one, and the unpleasant irony tainting it all will be that he failed to receive the things he’d hoped for. 

To sum it up in a word, sloth promises much, but delivers little, and even what it seems to yield will be taken away in the end. 

The problem of “sluggardliness,” or sloth, as it used to be called, is a problem that plagues our culture today like mold on an old piece of toast. Anyone who spends even a bit of time out in the workforce will tell you that both the quality of work and the capacity for work — skills as well as character — is declining rapidly among eligible working-class people. This is because, as we have seen, the sluggard cannot look beyond the horizon of his immediate desires. He willingly sacrifices the future in order to secure an easy present. Our culture, whether we realize it or not, does the very same thing. Worse still, we enshrine such vices as the sacred right of every individual and then look around with bewilderment when we are drowned under a torrent of incompetence and excuse-making. 

I’m not sure what we expected, but the adage holds true: we reap what we sow (Gal. 6:7).

It isn’t all doom and gloom, however. When God casts Egypt into darkness, Goshen shines with an uncanny luster (Ex. 10:23), and the same is true of the present moment. Because Christians understand something of the true nature of work — that is, because we are (hopefully) labouring for the glory of God and the good of our neighbours — we have a unique opportunity, as Paul said, to “shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15). We can swing hammers, educate our children, build bridges, and weld machinery, knowing that in the Lord our labour “is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58). Our sweat counts for more than a paycheque.

Such an understanding of work is not only massively more productive than contemporary views, it also stands out like gold among silt. It is beautiful, attractive, compelling, and dignifying because it aligns with God’s intended purpose for Adam and his descendants (Gen. 1–2). Thus, if we want to see our culture won for Christ, if we would see it adorned with the beauty of righteousness and smelling with the sweet savour of faith to God, let’s begin today by doing our work well. 

So in whatever it is that God has called you to do today, aim high, work hard, and do all to the glory of Christ.