A Good Excuse?

Proverbs 22:13 

The slothful man saith, “There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.”

The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion out there! If I go outside, I might be killed!” (NIV)

The chances of seeing a lion outside my house or anywhere in the vicinity, is extremely unlikely. I live in rural England, close to the border with Wales, where the largest creatures around are usually cows, which are not known to be carnivorous. There are occasional reports in the media that large cats of African origin have been seen, although this often appears to be an excuse made by farmers when they cannot locate all of their stock. But this proverb is not about lions, it is about laziness and the excuses human beings make to justify bad attitudes.

I wonder what would have happened if Jesus had been lazy? I guess that His ministry on earth would have been seriously curtailed. Fewer miracles, fewer people brought into the Kingdom, and demoralized disciples perhaps? And that is exactly what happens when modern day disciples are lazy. If more people in each church decided to get involved in the various ministry areas, spreading the load might just ensure that the word is spread more effectively.

If you want to know what Jesus thought about lazy people turn to Matthew 25:14-30 and read the parable of the talents. The key verse is the master’s response when he found one servant had buried what he had been given in the ground. Jesus told it like this:

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:24-30 NIV)