One of the worst ways to describe someone is, lazy.
There’s an equally dangerous extreme to address where someone is so devoted to working that it consumes all their time and everything else is relegated to just working. That’s something not always addressed or obvious because there’s a sort of understanding of the value and purpose of work. The kind of understanding that says that to earn you’ve got to work. That’s a fair understanding, but open to abuse. The kind of abuse that has someone’s identity totally tied to the work they do. To the point that they are only referred to by what they do and any threat to that is a threat to life itself. This is something I’m fairly familiar with. I’ve experienced one or two seasons of being in between work. When I experienced it at a time early in marriage, I was depressed. The sense in which I was responsible for the young family and to “be the man” and then no longer having work sent me spiralling to question my purpose and function in life. And this was as someone who claimed to have a relationship with Jesus. I did have such a relationship, but that season helped me to see how I needed to adjust my attitude to find my sense of self in Christ, not the activity I do.
Yet, we still have that word – lazy. As piercing and derogatory terms go, being referred to as lazy is probably only surpassed by being called a fool. For some, there’s a stage in the transition from childhood to adulthood where that accusation is made. Unless you’re brought up in an ultra-disciplined set-up like an army barrack, some in that transition can be accused of laziness. So capable and yet so seemingly unwilling to put in the effort to do a range of things from tidying up the bedroom to applying themselves to schoolwork. When you’re referred to as lazy it’s a jab that is not just making an observation, it’s dismissing the individual in a searing way.
The accusation can lead to a commitment to prove the accusers wrong in a display of industrious approaches to life. Or it can reinforce the behaviour that led to the accusation. Sometimes the thought of those accused is to shrug the shoulders and say, well if that’s what you think I’m not too bothered to change your thinking.
It’s sad because it’s either a cycle of defiance or a cycle of defeat. The former is based on antipathy and the latter is based on apathy. They’re not the best foundations to appreciate the value of work.
Jesus was aware of work. He could not be accused of laziness at all. Even when He left His time as a carpenter it was to enter a series of work that clearly taxed Him to the degree that He’d take opportunities to sleep in boats and to get away from the maddening crowds. From that perspective, He also invited those who were burdened to find rest in Him. He recognised burdens, how those in society were belaboured with expectations under challenging circumstances. His invitation to rest in Him and find rest in Him was an invitation that returns those who responded to a sense of right relationship with God and work.
Later, still, not long before His arrest, Jesus would then inform those who followed Him as to how they could find the right dynamic of production and the proper purpose of work. That purpose was in abiding in Him. One of the best things a dear friend did for me was to challenge me to investigate what it means to abide in Christ. My friend was not content with surface level of what it means to abide. He challenged me to really see what it was to allow the life of Christ to influence me and for me to find my life in Christ. Learning from Him, trusting in Him, resting in Him … and then working from that basis. Even as God called His people to observe a day of rest that was a declaration of understanding that what works isn’t about what we work but what He works in and through us and works around us as we appreciate Him at work.
Appreciating Him at work means we don’t have to place our dependence on our efforts. It also reminds us that whatever we can do is only possible because of His work in us. That’s something we can rest on. That’s something we can work from. That helps us not to be overwhelmed by work. That also helps us to avoid the issue of being lazy.
For His Name’s Sake
C. L. J. Dryden
Shalom
Life With CD 