A Rude Awakening from Big C
The summer before my senior year of college, I worked at a Christian camp in Southeast Texas. We worked long days, usually starting around 7:00am and working till 10 or 11 at night. We only had a few days off all summer. It was hard work, but it was good work and the Lord used those days to work in me and in so many of our campers.
One of my favorite memories from that summer is how one of the other counselors would often wake us up in the morning. Big C, a good friend of mine from college, would turn on the lights earlier than we wanted him to and start walking through the cabin shaking our bunks and saying, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a bandit!”
It was an amazing way to be woken up. I found out he was quoting from Proverbs, and now these verses are burned into my mind forever (6:10-11). Big C was helping us remember that we had to get out of bed on time if we wanted to prosper that summer.
Work is Good, But Fallen Like Everything Else
Today we’re completing our four-week tour through Proverbs by considering the topic of work, or it’s opposite, laziness. Before we look at the Proverbs, let me set the stage by reminding us of a few things from Genesis 1-3.
After God made Adam and Eve, he told them to have dominion over the earth (1:26) and he put them in the Garden of Eden “to work it and keep it” (2:15). This was before sin came into the world, meaning that work was part of God’s original design for the earth, not a consequence of sin.
God created us to cultivate what he created. God, the worker, ordained that his image bearers work. The good life of the Garden meant working the Garden. God made us to work.
Then in Genesis 3, Satan and sin come in and spoil everything in God’s good world, including work. Sin makes everything harder, including work.
Work is good but fallen like everything else. We experience the goodness of work when we feel the satisfaction of a finished project or a job well done, and it’s fallenness in how long it often takes to do simple things or in our lack of competence or the feelings of uselessness that we feel.
Another way we experience the fallenness of work is our preference to not work, or our bent toward laziness. Because of sin, we all, in one way or another, struggle with laziness.
In Proverbs 6, we’re sent to ant school to learn about work (vv. 6-11). The way we’re taught about work is by considering it’s opposite: laziness, as Solomon introduces us to the “sluggard.” This morning, we’re going to consider the sluggard’s character, the sluggard’s consequences, and the sluggard’s call. The main point of these proverbs and this sermon is that the life of the sluggard is not the life God designed for us because God made us to work.
The Sluggard’s Character
First, let’s consider the sluggard’s character. “Sluggard” isn’t a word we use a lot. The dictionary says a sluggard is “a habitually lazy person.” The sluggard is someone whose lifestyle is defined by doing the bare minimum to get by and always looking for ways to avoid work.
Solomon brings us to ant school in Proverbs 6 to draw a contrast between the ant and the sluggard (v. 6). Solomon is a master teacher and he’s not afraid to use sarcasm and irony. Do you see the contrast he’s drawing? He’s comparing a grown man to an ant and saying that the ant works harder than the man, even though the ant is smaller than the man’s fingernail.
The man is told to bend down and learn from the lowly ant. Solomon wants the sluggard to learn two things from the ant. First, he wants them to learn that the ant succeeds on their own, “without having any chief, officer, or ruler” (v. 7). The ant is a self-starter and doesn’t have to be told what to do. They know what to do and they do it.
The second thing Solomon wants the sluggard to learn from the ant is that the ant knows how to plan ahead, “preparing her bread in summer and gathering her food in harvest” (v. 8). The cycles of life are coded into the ant’s instincts. She understands that God created a world of cause and effect, so if she doesn’t work during the summer she won’t eat during the winter.
The Sluggard Won’t Begin, Finish, or Face Things
What else does Proverbs tell us about the sluggard? Old Testament scholar Derek Kidner says that the sluggard won’t begin things, finish things, or face things.[1] Let’s take those one at a time.
The sluggard will not begin things. In verse 9, Solomon asks the sluggard, “How long will you lie there…When will arise from your sleep?” In verse 10, he doesn’t give a definite “yes” or “no” answer. He doesn’t refuse to move but says he needs “a little” more sleep. These kind of questions are too definite for the sluggard. He doesn’t want to be pinned down, he doesn’t want to commit. He can’t begin anything because he can’t commit.
Next the sluggard will not finish things. The sluggard is the master of the unfinished project. They have big ideas and grand designs but don’t carry them to completion. Proverbs 12:27, “Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.” The sluggard goes and kills his game but, for whatever reason, he doesn’t roast it. He enjoys the thrill of pulling the trigger but doesn’t want to expend the energy to go get his game, take it home, clean it, and prepare it to eat. He doesn’t finish what he started.
He won’t even finish eating! The sluggard would prefer to be hungry than to eat: “The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth” (26:15). Suzy will tell you that I often prefer not to eat or to eat something terribly unhealthy than to expend effort to cook something. Hunger is preferable to cooking for me. The sluggard would rather be hungry than eat.
And next the sluggard will not face things. 6:10 is a summary of the sluggard’s response to the questions of verse 9. Do you see what he’s doing? He’s rationalizing, saying, “I’m not lazy, I’m just tired and need to sleep while I have opportunity to do so.” The sluggard loves sleep more than work: “As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed” (26:14). There’s movement, but no progress.
The sluggard won’t face the truth and they’ll make all kinds of excuses, like the one in 26:13, “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!’” And then they start believing their excuses: “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!’” (22:13) They convince themselves of things that aren’t true.
This is really scary because the sluggard is unable to be corrected by anyone: “The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly” (26:16). The sluggard won’t face the truth of their laziness. And they often won’t face the truth because they think they’re a hard worker when actually they aren’t.
How Do I Know if I’m a Sluggard?
You may be hearing this and be thinking, “Thank goodness I’m not a sluggard,” because the picture of laziness we usually have in our heads is the guy living in his parents basement laying on the couch eating potato chips. But we all struggle with laziness and often don’t see it because we measure ourselves against people who we know are lazy.
Here are five questions to ask yourself as you look for laziness in your life:[2]
Do you want your needs to be met without having to work for them? “The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing” (20:4). Do you choose not to work and then wonder why you struggle to have what you need? Do you take initiative to provide for yourself and your family or do you depend on others to meet your needs?
Do you prioritize what you want to do over what needs to be done? On Saturday mornings, I prefer to sit and drink coffee and read books, but most Saturdays I need to be working in my yard or around the house or engaging my kids. Laziness isn’t always inactivity. Often it’s doing good things instead of needful things.
Do you struggle with being sidetracked by diversions? The U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that in 2023, men and women averaged just over 3.5 hours a day in work or work-related activities, while averaging just over 5 hours per day on leisure and sports.[3]
People say that Americans are the most overworked people in the world, but I’m not so sure. Just because we’re sitting at our desk or in our office doesn’t mean we’re working. It seems likely that most Americans are addicted to leisure, not work. “Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense” (12:11)
Do you struggle with procrastination? Do you make big plans but fail to follow through? “In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty” (14:23). Laziness often looks like more talking than doing. Do you finish projects assigned to you? Laziness can be the inability to finish tasks in a timely manner, not mere inactivity.
Do you take ownership of your work? Do you find yourself regularly asking others to help you with your work or to do your work for you? Do you find yourself saying, “I don’t know how to do that” a lot instead of learning how to do things? Do you struggle with apathy or ambivalence at work, not caring about outcomes or how your work affects others? Do you do your work hastily? “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty” (21:5).
We all struggle with these things to some degree. If you have learning differences or struggle with executive functioning skills, these things may be more of a struggle for you, and that’s okay. We’re all wired differently. The idea isn’t to be a master of work, but to do our best with whatever capacity the Lord has given us.
The Sluggard’s Consequences
Now that we’ve considered the character of the sluggard, let’s consider the consequences of being a sluggard. Derek Kidner again says it better than I can. He says that, as a result of laziness, the sluggard is restless, helpless, and useless. Let’s take these one at a time.
First, the sluggard is restless. Solomon is clear on this point. He says, “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied” (13:4). And, “The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back” (21:25-26).
The sluggard is consumed with unsatisfied desires. They want but don’t have. Why? “Because his hands refuse to labor.” It’s not because they can’t work, but because they won’t work.
There is an epidemic of entitlement in our culture today. We want everything but aren’t willing to do anything. We want to start at the top of the ladder rather than the bottom. We want a job that we love but are unwilling to do jobs we don’t love while we wait and pray for a job we love. We crave and get nothing because we’ve short-circuited the way God designed the world to work. The proverbs are principles, not promises, meaning that, ordinarily, fulfilled longings come on the other side of diligence.
Second, the sluggard is helpless. “The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway” (15:19). The sluggard gets tangled up in the thorns of their indecision and procrastination, making them feel overwhelmed and helpless. Solomon contrasts the sluggard with the “upright” in this verse, showing us that there’s an element of dishonesty in laziness. The sluggard tries to sidestep the facts and doesn’t take ownership of their life. But Solomon says that the path of responsibility, not the path of victimhood, is actually the easiest path forward, calling it a “level highway.”
And third, the sluggard is useless. They destroy things around them: “Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys” (18:9). And they frustrate those who employ them: “Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him” (10:26). Laziness leads to destruction and frustration, especially to those closest to us.
All this means that, as Hubbard puts it, “laziness is a breach of love.” [4] What does laziness have to do with love? When we refuse to carry our own weight at home or work or church, we make everyone else’s job harder. Everyone already has enough weight to carry, so when we don’t carry our weight we make everyone else’s load heavier. Laziness hurts those we love.
A Word to the Students, Unemployed, and Retired
You may say, “John, I don’t have a job, I’m a student, or I’m looking for a job, or I’m retired. How does all this apply to me?”
First of all, if you’re a student, you do have a job, it’s called school. Are you diligent in the work of school, or do you do just enough to get by? Consider how you spend your time outside of school. A part-time job could become one of the best parts of your education as you learn intangible things like showing up on time and working with people unlike you and grit. Or maybe you could give more time to work at the church. There’s always something to do around here! Finishing your school work as quickly as possible so you can play video games may not be the best way to prepare for a lifetime of work.
Second, if you’re unemployed, these things apply to you as you look for a job. Finding a job can be hard and arduous and mundane work, so apply yourself to it. I strongly recommend getting a job doing anything while you look for the job you want. It’ll be good for your soul and most employers prefer to hire people who’re already working somewhere.
And third, if you’re retired, you don’t have to work anymore – go ahead and take the rest of your life off! All joking aside, we all get to a point when we can’t or shouldn’t work anymore. When that time comes, if you’re able to retire, that’s okay. But remember that the American idea of retirement isn’t in the Bible. God made us for his glory, making us to cultivate his world for as long as we have breath. He made us to serve rather than consume. So don’t spend the last decade or two of your life in front of the TV. Look for ways to use your time and gifts and resources to bless your kids, grandkids, neighbors, church, and the nations. God can use your work in retirement for his glory!
The Sluggard’s Call
We’ve seen the character and consequences of the sluggard. Now, finally, let’s consider the sluggard’s call. In 2 Thessalonians 3, Paul “commands” the idle to work and earn a living, saying that if anyone is unwilling to work, he shouldn’t eat (vv. 10, 12). He tells the church to warn them (v. 15) and to keep their distance from them (v. 6). Why?
Because laziness isn’t a personality defect. It’s a sin. Those who can work but won’t work are living in sin. So the call to the sluggard is, “Turn from your laziness and turn to Christ.”
In Proverbs 24, Solomon says he passes by “the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense” (v. 30). “Sluggard” is parallel to “man lacking sense,” meaning that the sluggard’s problem isn’t his back but his brain. He has the ability but not the will to work.
God made us to work for six days and rest for one. This is his order, his design. Trying to work as little as possible so that we can rest or play as much as possible is denying the goodness of God’s design. The sluggard has a spiritual problem, not just a work-ethic problem.
This means that laziness doesn’t just make life difficult for you and the people around you. It means that laziness will send you to hell. If laziness is sin, then followers of Jesus will be battling it like every other sin. Those not battling it may be on the path to destruction and not even know it. “Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys” (18:9).
The Spiritual Sluggard
Some listen to this and think, “This is all good stuff, and I’m so glad so and so is here to hear this, but I’m not lazy so this isn’t for me.” First of all, go back to the five questions I gave you and regularly consider where laziness may be in your life. Second, if you’re a hard worker, then you may need to remember the sabbath, to remember that God wants you to work and rest.
But third, let me urge those who take pride in their work ethic to consider whether you’re applying the same level of diligence to knowing Jesus as you do to your work? Are you working hard in all areas except the one that matters most? Are you a spiritual sluggard?
Jesus says, “Strive to enter through the narrow door” (Lk. 13:24). Are you striving after Jesus? Are you applying the same level of attention to his word, his church, and his worship as you do to your work?
One of the other problems Jesus warns us against is making work our identity. He says, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mk. 8:36) I was watching a documentary on the late basketball player Kobe Bryant this week. After playing for twenty years in the NBA and winning five championships and two Olympic gold medals, a friend of his said in the documentary that after retirement he was never satisfied. How is that possible?
Kobe worked harder and played with more tenacity and achieved more than almost every other person to play the game, and yet he was never satisfied. Why? Because he was working for himself, not the Lord.
If you have an amazing work ethic but neglect spiritual work, you’ll spend eternity with the pain of regret, wondering how you could’ve been so naïve as to miscalculate what was truly important. So whether you’re physically or spiritually lazy, your call is to repent.
Rest in Jesus’ Work
Our laziness shows us our need to rest in the work of Christ. He worked so we can rest. He worked so we don’t have to be addicted to our work, so that we can find our identity in him.
One day, we’ll all be laid low, unable to work, and the only way we’ll be able to endure those months or years is if we’re resting in Jesus’ work. Those who’re resting in his work find the power they need to be set free from both laziness and workaholism, because work isn’t about them anymore. It’s about the Lord, so they want to work, but work isn’t their identity.
Ironically, resting in Jesus is the fuel that will drive a God-honoring work ethic. Resting in Jesus’s work is summarized in the second verse of the hymn we’re about to sing (“Rock of Ages”):
Not the labors of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
These for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone:
In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling.
Resting in Jesus is the only sure way to kill laziness.
[1]Derek Kidner, Proverbs: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, vol. 15 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1964), 42-3.
[2]Many of these thoughts are from Daniel L. Akin and Jonathan Akin, Exalting Jesus in Proverbs, Christ-Centered Exposition (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2017), 272-3.
[3]Average hours per day spent in selected activities by sex and day
[4]David A. Hubbard, Proverbs, The Preacher’s Commentary, vol. 15 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1989), 101.