Most of us have very little patience for laziness. Who among us does not tire of seeing perfectly healthy people live day to day on disability payments they don’t really deserve simply because they’re not willing to get up and go to work each day? Maybe you have talked to (or overheard) those who freely discuss their ability to “beat the system” and “get a check.” You kind of just want to grab them by the nap of their neck and shake them don’t you?
There are two ways we typically express our dissatisfaction with such laziness. One way is we lash out in frustration and speak down to such people. We’re angry and we don’t care who knows it. After all, anybody who is unashamed to willingly live off of someone else should be willing to accept the criticism that comes with it.
The other way we typically respond is with mockery. We belittle those who are unwilling to get up out of bed everyday and go to work. We assume that the human spirit still maintains enough pride that any belittlement, criticism, or mockery will motivate a person to quit being so lazy. But in the midst of it all we underestimate just how much shame some are willing to endure just to skim through life with a free ride.
Maybe part of the problem that persists laziness in our society is in how we address it. Its obvious that anger and mockery have been relatively ineffective in the past (other than to make us feel better). Is there another way, a better way to deal with it?
On Wednesday nights for the past few weeks at Phillips Street we have been studying some verses from Proverbs that discuss the way that Solomon addressed laziness with his own son. Among those a couple in particular stand out:
Proverbs 20:4 – “The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.”
Proverbs 20:13 – “Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.”
It seems that Solomon sought to reason with his son as to why a life of hard work was the honorable approach to life. Keep in mind what type of environment any of Solomon’s children would have grown up in. This son would have been used to a life of privilege and ease. A natural result of this type of rearing could very well have been a life of laziness. After all, when a person already has everything they need what motivation might they have to be a productive member of society. But Solomon didn’t want his son to be a deadbeat who wasted away his inheritance through life only to have nothing to show for it.
The biggest problem we face today isn’t our present laziness as a society. Our biggest problem is our perpetuating of laziness. Generations are rearing generations who will in turn rear additional generations who know absolutely nothing about hard work. All they have ever known has been a free ride. They are not fortunate enough to have parents or grandparents who can personally teach them what hard work is all about. They are enabled to live lives of laziness because of their own ignorance and it’s not only destroying our nation but it is sending souls to hell.
In these two verses and many others Solomon’s approach to dealing with laziness wasn’t as much to belittle or angrily criticize but to educate. Solomon wanted his son to reason out the benefits versus the consequences of either lifestyle and make the educated decision that the greatest life a person can have is a life of diligence and hard work. And it still is!
-Andy Brewer
Great Post Andy – but I don’t remember giving you permission to use my picture!