Are You A Lazybones? Series

Lazy people avoid responsibility to intentionally care about others. Do you want some more examples? There are hungry people in this community. Lazy people don’t care about them. Lazy people won’t pay attention to them.

There are new people moving into this area all the time. Lazy people won’t make the effort to help them feel welcome; won’t take the time to get to know them; won’t make the attempt to help them get acclimated to the community; won’t invite them to church.

There are homeless folks in this community. Lazy people won’t look for ways to care.

There are people in this community, in your very own neighborhood, perhaps right next door…who don’t know Jesus Christ. They don’t know the graciousness of a loving, Christian community. They have not heard the gospel of love nor have they ever witnessed that gospel in action. The lazy person doesn’t care. The lazy person will avoid the responsibility to witness and model the Christian life.

A lazy person is timid, hesitant, and sluggish in his or her spiritual growth. Spiritual laziness kicks in when the road to spiritual formation becomes difficult or demanding. Spiritual laziness refuses to push on through the dry seasons. Everyone, at one time or another, has periods when he or she just doesn’t seem to connect with God. Everyone has periods when his or her prayers don’t seem to rise any higher than the ceiling. Everyone has times in his or her life when faith makes no sense. Everyone has times when the Bible doesn’t seem to hold any meaning.

The lazy person gives up. The lazy person won’t do the hard work. The lazy person doesn’t care enough about his or her spiritual growth to keep on pushing, keep on seeking, keep on praying anyway. The lazy person is one who refuses to seek help…from a trusted friend, from a pastor, from devotional readings and spiritual exercises, through worship and Christian education.

The result of the spiritually lazy person is that he or she becomes listless and unable to catch a glimpse of the sun through the storm clouds. He or she is unable to trust God in all things. He or she is prevented from growing in faith and grace.

Sloth, laziness is one of the traditional seven deadly sins. It separates us from our own potential, from the love of those around us, and most importantly from the grace and love of God which is poured out for all of us.

This is Lent. It is a good time to confess our sin of laziness. It is a good time to put that sin behind us. It is a good time to commit ourselves to a life lived to the fullest, each minute, each hour, each day.