Sloth, Not the Animal Kind

My goal in this article is to make you aware of what sloth is and help you examine your life in light of it. The next article will bring the antidote to this deadly way of life called sloth.

When God received me into his kingdom through his enabling faith, he blessed me with his grace: his favor, and his enabling power to do what I am not able to do in my own strength. He helped me understand that I had one new life to live and give. I, on my side, determined to make my life count, to focus on what matters. That took some time. Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, a deep yearning within, and desire to give my life to the things that matter to God, I settled on the pursuit of God’s kingdom and his righteousness.

But the tyranny of the urgent has its ways and its powers. The bearish claws of the affairs of this world create deep ruts in the soul. The “jaws” of sloth grip the heart until death slowly makes life leak out of us. Sloth, Jeff Cook says, “is indifference toward our souls” and the things that matter to God. Sloth is apathy (lack of passion) toward God, his kingdom, and his life. Sloth is laziness toward and neglect of the eternal in favor of the trivial.

Jesus was deeply concerned during his life on earth with sloth. He spoke of it in many of his parables. I mention only three here: the parables of the talents, the banquet, and the sheep and goats. This is a good stopping point. Take time and read those parables: Matthew 25:14-30; Matthew 22:1-14; Matthew 25:31-46.

A talent (an amount worth 20 years of work—half of our working lives) represents the life that God gives us and expects us to invest in knowing Him, and in readying the world for his coming. A slave’s freedom could be bought for a talent. Jesus would make us understand that a talent is the freedom we have to invest in what matters to God. One of the slaves took his life and did nothing with it. His apathy, his sloth, his indifference to his soul, earned him these awful sounding words: “Throw the worthless slave outside, into the darkness.”

Sloth, in Jesus’ eyes, is our failure to maximize our pursuit of God’s kingdom and embedding his righteousness deep into our souls. Apathetic inactivity, and purposeless waiting displeases God. As we wait for his return, we take the life given to us (grace, mercy, joy, love, hope, and faith) and wisely multiply it in God’s kingdom.

The king in the second parable invited many to his son’s wedding banquet. He was stood up. Then the streets were combed and the needy were invited. One deigned come without the proper attire for the wedding celebration. His sloth was evident in his laziness to dress for the wonderful event. The king condemns him with these awful words: “tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness.” He lacked the passion for life (the banquet) that the king has! Sloth is indifference to the life of God, with God, and for God!

The third parable, the one about sheep and goats, describes those who, at the judgment, gave a cup of water, fed the poor, visited the prisoner, and helped the widow, in his name. They represent those who are passionate about the life of the kingdom. The ones “who are cursed, and must depart from him” are the slothful, the ones our Lord did not know. They see brothers and sisters of king Jesus, but like the Priest and the Levi, go on their merry way, the broad way, which leads to destruction.

The servants that invested their lives, the banquet guests who came dressed to celebrate life with God, and the lovers of the poor and the needy, are passionate people who have rejected sloth as a way of life. They have said no to the minimum and yes to the maximum they can do for, with, and in God. They are willing to be maimed for God rather than enter unblemished into insignificance. They have said yes to a passion to love and walk with God and to love and serve others. The others were shown the door.

I for one do not wish to hear the awful words. Not from my Lord. Sloth buries the life our beautiful and good God wants us to invest in his world. He is coming back to renew it, recreate it, to make it habitable for himself eternally. May he find us passionate about Him, his kingdom, and about “putting this world to rights” in his name! Those who walk with the Master would not want it any different!

Fighting Against Envy

Envy is a vice, a sin, a wrong attitude, thought, and action. The Bible warns against it often. If you want to do more research on envy go to http://net.bible.org/home.php.

The word envy comes from Latin invidere. En comes from “in” meaning against, and VY in envy comes from “videre” meaning to see. So to look at another person’s life, possessions, talents, achievements, gifts, and blessings causing an attitude of against because of them is what envy is about. It is also about turning inward by asking the pitiful “Why not me?” No one wants to live like this since there isn’t even a smidgen of pleasure in this sin. We want to be rid of it.

How then, shall we live free of envy, or at the least live toward an envy-free life? How do we disregard the mirror on the wall in which we desperately want to hear that we are the fairest of them all? If envy has to do with looking against others and pitying ourselves in the process, what practices offer us a fighting chance with this sin that besets us? Peter commands us to get rid of envy (1 Peter 2:1). After all envy was part of the human sentiments that committed the first murder and put Jesus on the cross (see Matt. 27:18; Mark 15:10; John 11:47)

We get rid of envy when we understand and live up to our Identity in Christ. One of the main features of the Christ event (incarnation, life, passion, resurrection, and return) is that we who are in Christ enjoy a new identity. We are new creatures who put away old things and who relish the stamp of Christ on our lives.

How does our Christian help to rid us of envy? Here’s my take. Our perception of personal worth in comparison with other people is a huge factor in envy. The envious focus on the third car garage where our neighbor’s boat is stored. They focus on the talents, on the degrees, on the year-end bonuses, and on the awards their colleagues gets. They ask why not me? Why do they have more worth than I do? It’s a short step to from here to feeling ill will against others. Possessions, affluence, blessing, and talents become the measure of a person’s worth. This is typical in the society we live in. Envy, because of this understanding of self-worth, always crouches at the door ready to incriminate.

What if our identity is not in our work, roles, achievements, or talents? The Christian is cloaked with Christ. The fruit of the Spirit marks his life, not envy or other passions of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-24). Christ in him shapes his identity. If the inner life is not formed in the likeness of Christ, his worth will be determined by his material possessions. In the end these go to the hay and stubble bin.

When the Christian steps out of her identity in Christ to wear another that is based on having and doing, she is trapped in envy’s matrix. When the Christian falsely believes that what she does is less valuable than others, envy is near. When she believes the house next door is better decorated or the kid across the street is smarter and better mannered than hers she is on the slippery slope of envy. This is a dead end. Christ bestows his worth on our families, our activities, and ourselves. This grace enables us to rest in him.

In an amazing tour de force, Paul, following in the footstep of His Master and Ours, equalizes the playing field when he put marginalized people on par with the privileged of society: husbands, fathers, and masters. For example, in Ephesians 5:21-6:9, Paul addresses wives and husbands, children and parents, slaves and masters in a context of mutual submission. The fact that wives, children, and slaves are dignified with an address from Paul and honored for their identity in Christ, radically frees these marginalized people of his day. Worth for Paul is not based on race, gender, or status. There is room for work and achievement but only as a result of the worth that unifies our identity as Christ followers.

The Jew and the Gentile inherit sonship and oneness in Christ. Men and women benefit from following the equal opportunity Leader we obey. The haves and the have-nots are equally needy of love and grace for deliverance. We come to believe that when we abide in Christ, our identities develop from our union with Christ. This unity leads us to prefer others and to love them sacrificially. In this equality of worth in Christ there is freedom from envy. Envy is easy when doing replaces being as the foundation of our identity in Christ.

We also get rid of envy when we practice Contentment. Paul believed that contentment is an attitude worth developing. How to be content? Can Paul tell us? Paul knew times of plenty and times of scarcity. His spiritual economics rested on a reality that is beyond the material. His secret of contentment was a deep appreciation of past faithfulness of God and present experience of grace (Please take the time to deepen your understanding of contentment by meditating on these passages: Hebrews 13:5; 2 Corinthians 12:10; 1 Timothy 6:6,8; Philippians 4:11).

In practicing contentment we intentionally look beyond our mundane existence. We peer into the spiritual reality of the sufficiency of Christ that pervades our life. This practice of peering is best done in times of solitude, self-examination, and fasting. Each of these disciplines contributes a unique vantage point from which we can study our entanglement with envy. Then we can proceed to confession, repentance, reconciliation, and shalom secure in our identity in Christ. Those who walk with the Master are learning that when they experience bounty or scarcity they rejoice in Christ. At times they opt for scarcity of food and friends even when there is plenty of them around in order to appreciate, withdraw, and savor the worth that the grace of Christ bestows on our identity. Envy. Be gone! In Christ I stand content.

The Holy Scripture cries out to us, brothers, saying: Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and one who humbles himself shall be exalted (Luke 14:11; 18:14). In saying this, it teaches us that all exaltation is a kind of pride, against which the prophet shows himself to be on his guard when he says: Lord, my heart is not exalted nor my eyes lifted up; nor have I walked in great things, nor in wonders above me (Ps 131:1). And why? If I did not think humbly, but exalted my soul; then like a child that is weaned from its mother–so you would treat my soul (Ps 131-2).

Therefore, brothers, if we wish to arrive at the highest point of humility, and speedily reach the heavenly exaltation to which we can only ascend by the humility of this present life, we must by our ever-ascending actions erect a ladder like the one which Jacob beheld in his dream, by which the angels appeared to him descending and ascending. This descent and ascent signifies nothing else than that we descent by exaltation and ascend by humility. And the ladder thus erected in our life in the world, which, if the heart is humbled, is lifted up by the Lord of heaven.

Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up. Let’s face the reality. We don’t descend naturally. We tend to desire to ascend to God’s position. That’s of course a dead end (pun intended). To the position of others? Ah, there’s the rub. You accomplished this, I accomplished that. And my that is better than your this.

Only those who come to the end of themselves pursue humility. It dawns on them one day that the Holy Spirit is winning; he has them pinned down, and the power to self-exaltation dies on the heap of pride. There is growth in humility. Once the Holy Spirit intensifies the squeezing of pride from us, we come along and participate in the process. But we must do it indirectly. To seek humility directly is a non-sequitur.

In confession, in solitude, in silence, in fasting, in service, in worship, and by other means of grace, we come to the end of our exalted, ascending selves. By these means of grace, we discover that humility surreptitiously edges it way into our soul, driving away pride out one inch at a time.

Descending is a non-stop activity of the Holy Spirit who is always at work in us, who are apprentices in living Christ in this world.

Prayer: Lord, who am I that you are mindful of me? That you take note of me? You made me. I did not make myself. You knitted me together. I am not self-knitted. I honor you. I seek your mercy when humility lacks in me. Amen. Christ, have mercy.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Matthew 28:19)

The Bible is full of wild stories that encourage us to live differently.  One word, however, stands as a clarion call to God’s work of transformation in the world.  The word is “Go.”  It may take some adjustment on our part to realize this, but nothing of God’s Kingdom happens unless someone is willing to Go.

Sometimes GOING will require a 30-second e-mail to encourage a friend, a five-minutes walk across the street to help a neighbor, or the willingness to give up a quiet evening with your spouse in exchange for inviting some friends over who don’t know Christ.  Other times, GOING may require a week-long commitment, a large chuck of money, or even a lifelong commitment to leave your city or country to serve God.

Whatever the case, the word GO will cost you something.  It will require that you creatively look for the opportunities that God provides you to leave what’s natural and self-serving in order to extend his love to others.  From The Tangible Kingdom Primer

Where may God want to send you today?  What would it cost you to GO?  What adjustments may need to be made?  Is it possible to follow Jesus without GOING?

Why Not Me?

Envy made it to the big league of seven sins along with pride, gluttony, anger, sloth, lust, and greed. Its opposite is contentment, the subject of next month’s article. The three words that give envy its impetus are “why not me”.

Is there anyone who doesn’t envy something or someone? I agree with many who croon that envy is the only sin that brings no pleasure at all. As a matter of fact envy is a feeling that is described as sadness, unhappiness, and discontent. What’s fun about that? The other six brothers and sisters of envy afford some pleasure. Envy is the black sheep of the sin family.

So why do we envy? This is worth pondering since inspired men commanded us to get rid of it (1 Peter 2:1; Galatians 5:21).

Envy is born in us when we feel that others have more status, abilities, possessions, gifts, and talents than we do. We feel we deserve what others have. That feeling takes center stage in our thoughts and gives birth to these awful words: “why not me.” Or in the case of a national or corporate envy, why not us?

Nations envy other nations. Israel had a king: God. For reasons I can’t discern they felt a human king is better than a God king! Was Yahweh too demanding on their sinful nature as a people? Did they feel they could get away with more grumbling and posturing with a human king than with the God king? The why not us attitude rooted and sprang up like a weed “we want a king to rule over us like the other nations.”

God laments this request from his people: “They (the people that I rescued from slavery) have rejected me as their king.” And what did their envy of other kingdoms get them? Heavy taxation, wars and more wars, betrayal and intrigue in the palace, children put in front of war chariots, a divided kingdom, another day older and deeper in sin, weaker in morale and morals, subject to attacks, revenge, slavery, and loss of homeland for hundreds of years on end. Their human kings put lusts ahead of the good of the people. And what is the end result of the why not us debacle that crept up on Israel? Exile. A vagabond people! And all the human miseries attached thereunto!

If history is not written from a revisionist posture, I wonder how many wars would be attributed to malicious, nefarious, necrophilia-loving envy.

National envy is likely preceded by personal envy. Here again, the Scripture masterfully gives us the reason hatred and murder came into the world: Envy produced by the why not me attitude. Envy first reared its ugly head in the midst of paradise. Envy when indulged becomes Exile, a sad alienation from others and God.

Cain championed envy in the next generation. He was lackadaisical about his sacrifice to God. His brother, Abel, was dead serious about worshiping God (pun unintended). God called Cain on his envy. It crept up on him. He nursed it. He formed it into a weapon dripping with hate and manipulation, destruction and death as he slew his own flesh and blood. The earth cried out. God stepped in. Another vagabond generation! More exile. We’re still paying for the original why not me? Why does God accept my brother and not me? It never occurred to Envious Cain to emulate the good-hearted Abel.

Today’s advertisement world runs on envy. This industry buys and sells envy. Nothing is sold in America, and now around the world, that is not envy-wrapped. This is not to say that what is advertised is not needful. But why does it need the cloak of envy? From personal care products, to cars, to gum and beer, and you name it, the advertising industry has hit on a cash cow by capitalizing on envy. “What your computer takes 3 seconds to download 10 megabytes? Mine does it in 2.” The three-second guy rushes to the store faster than speedy Gonzales outsmarting his nemesis, Sylvester the cat. “Quick, tell me where the closest Best Buy is, please!”

What about you and me? A friend takes me on a spin in his brand new Lexus. Bells and whistles I’ve never heard of don the dashboard. Silently, envy’s germ gets planted in my heart: Why him and not me? Maybe I should revise my budget and cut out the money I give to the poor. With a little luck in my business I can afford a Lexus too.

The pastor five miles away has to build again. Last year we dropped another 15% percent in attendance at our church. God is good to him but what about me? The next big church conference oughta do it.

A relative retires and now takes several vacations every year. Cuba in the winter, Cancun in the spring, Florence, Italy, in the summer, and a Caribbean cruise is slotted for the fall. Not fair. Why not me?

Never mind the hard work it took these relatives and friends to enjoy the benefits of their labor. What about me?

Those who walk with the Master put away envy. The Holy Spirit is an envy killer. Trust his guidance.

How, in your own life, have you been envious of other people? Can we live free of envy? How are you overcoming the sin that causes so much sadness in us? Next month, we’ll see how.

“Many of us do not even know much about the office anyway.  We are not always taught that this way of praying is part of our heritage as faithful people. The liturgies and forms and practices have long since been dropped from the ways that we are taught.

Our lives are already very busy from morning until night-too hectic, it seems, to stop two or three times each day and read the prayers from a book or to say them from memory. We live in a world in which we are encouraged to multitask, and to read books on tape (which is something that actually cannot be done, if you think about it).  We eat fast food, expect overnight delivery, and sign up for instant messaging.  We get too little sleep, have too many commitments and too much on our plate most days and weeks.

So we look for books that can help us pray our way to powerful Christian living in ten minutes a day, and we wonder why we are often left feeling somehow devoid of God’s presence in our lives.

“Can you not stay with me for one hour?”  asks Jesus of the ones who said they loved him.
“Can you not move a little more quickly?” we seem to be saying in return.

If it is beginning to sound to you like I am trying to sell you something, it is only because I am.  And if you have begun to feel that I am preaching to the choir, remember that I am in the choir myself and have been in it long enough to know that this is the best way to get us to sing.

For centuries, the payer of the office was at the center of the life of those who would serve the God that we say we want to serve.  The people of Yahweh, our mothers and fathers, and the people of the early church and the people of the church across the years since–the desert monastics, the ones who kept the church alive through the Dark Ages, the ones ho wrestled it through the Reformation, regardless of which side they were on-kept such traditions of prayer alive.  They preserved the prayer, they observed the prayer, and they have now handed those traditions of prayer to us in our time.

It may well be time for us to pick up the mantle, shoulder the burden, take up the song, or whatever metaphor you want to choose.  It may be time for us to learn to pray the hours, to do the Work of God-with devotion, with art, with discipline, and with care.

It is reasonable to wonder about the efficacy of such prayer, especially when it is unfamiliar to us.  And so much has been written and said about dead liturgy and dry, rote prayers that we are right to enter into such prayer with care and with discernment.  And we are certainly wise to consider the time and effort that it will take to say such prayer.”

Verses 1-8 say this about humility:

THe Holy Scripture cries out to us, brothers, saying: Everyone who exalts himself shall be exalted (Luke 4:11; 18:14). In saying this, it teaches us that all exaltation is a kind of pride, against which the prophet shows himself to be on his guard when he says: Lord. my heart is not exalted nor my eyes lifted up; not have I walked in great things, nor in wonders above me (Ps 131:1). And why? If I did not think humbly, but exalted my soul; then like a child that is weaned from its mother–so you would treat my soul.

Therefore, brothers, if we wish to arrive at the highest point of humility, and speedily reach that heavenly exaltation to which we can only ascend by the humility of this present life, we must by our ever-ascending actions erect a ladder like the one which Jacob beheld in his dream, by which the angels appeared to him descending and ascending. This descent and ascent signifies nothing else than that we descent by exaltation and ascend by humility. And the ladder thus erected is our life in the world, which, if the heart is humbled, is lifted up by the Lord to heaven.

Pretty biblical if you ask me. This is a good starting point when speaking about such issues as concern our postures in life and in relationships.

Self-exaltation, or “look-at-me-ism” is standard around us. I used to hear this from a minister friend: “if you don’t toot your own horn, no one else is going to.” That was not good advice. Benedict like Christ, his master, believes that the Christian way is the humble way. shunning big, glitzy, noticeable things is the self-ascending way. It earns us the reward which God promised: hay and stubble.

Pharisaic self-righteousness is good for no one. Its pleasures are deceptive, its benefits fleeting. Humility, is sought, must be sought, IMHO, indirectly. As many virtues in the Christian life, such as hope in adversity, faith, and love of our enemies, humility is acquired as a grace or gift from God. It comes to us when we engage in the means of grace: Solitude, silence, service, fasting, Scripture memory, etc… Soon these means of grace do their work in us transforming our desire for self-exaltation into humble submission, the clay that Christ uses to God-exaltation of us.

Lord, have mercy and enable us by your grace to be able to do what you were able to do if you were in our place. The humble way is the way of life. Holy Spirit, thanks for making my egotism your killing field. I pray your work will be complete in me.

Let us do as the prophet says: I said, I will take heed to my ways that I not sin with my tongue: I have placed a watch over my mouth; I became dumb, and was silent, and held my peace even from good things (Ps 39:1-3) Here the prophet shows that if we ought to refrain even from good words for the sake of silence, how much more ought we to abstain from evil words, on account of the punishment due to sin! Thserefore, on account of the importance of silence let permission to speak be seldom granted ever to perfect disciples, even when their conversation is good and holy and tending to edification, because it is written: In much speaking you shall not avoid sin (Prov 10:19); and elsewhere Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Prov 18:21).e

For it is appropriate for the master to speak and to teach; but the disciples is to be silent and listen. And therefore, if anything is to be asked of a superior, let it be done with all humility and deferential reverence, lest more be said than is proper. But as for buffoonery or silly words, such as move to laughter, we utterly condemn them in every place, nor do we allow the disciple to open his mouth in such discourse.

Benedictine monasticism works when all abide by certain virtues. Benedictine virtues for monastic living include: Silence, obedience, and humility. These do not come naturally to human beings. They obviously were important also in Benedict’s day. Ecclesiastes mentions silence as having its course at times.

I am given to words, and my opinions. This creates the need to keep silent even when having something good to say. Since noise is ever present in our lives, learning to switch off the noise that clutters our minds is crucial. Silence, not saying anything, not demanding anything, not asking anything is a good counterbalance to the noisy life.

I can’t remember who said this: Pray silently. Use words if you must (I’m thinking it’s C.S Lewis). Nor do I remember where this comes from: Silence is golden or “you don’t have to say everything that comes to your mind” Probably my mother). Jesus was silent on occasion; even when he was right and even when defending himself might have saved his life!

Disciples are learners, apprentices, students. They are tasked with observing the master and learn of him. I apprenticed as a wood carver and for 6 months I stood and watched and said very little. Lots of silent thinking. We have bought into learning by experience and doing and give little credence to silence as a teaching sphere. Much learning happens in silence. Silence frees the mind from formulating words to justify ourselves, to show off, to blame, and to accuse.

Do you value silence? I wish you would.

Prayer: Lord, hear my prayer. It comes from my heart. I have no words.

Verses 14-19  of the Rule of Benedict state similar to the previous verses focus on obedience:

But this very obedience will be acceptable to God and sweet to others only if what is commanded is done, not fearfully, tardily, nor lukewarmly, not with murmuring, nor with an answer showing unwillingness: for the obedience which is given to superiors is given to God, since God Himself has said: he one who hears you hears me (Luke 10:16). And this obedience ought to be given with a good will, because God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor 9:7)

For if the disciple obeys with ill will, murmuring not only with his lips but also in his heart,  even though he fulfill the command he will not be acceptable to God. For God sees the heart of the murmurer. And for such action he will gain no reward; rather he will incur the punishment due to murmurers, unless he amends and makes satisfaction.

Wow! Ouch! I knew it all along. Knowing and doing or not doing are different matters. Don’t complain in serving the Lord. Jesus also never did. Paul said in Philippians 2:14 that our actions, obedience and everything we set our minds on doing should be done without grumbling (other translations have murmuring, complaining).

When obedience is done unwillingly or halfheartedly the blessings of surrender are missing, humility is replaced with selfish desires, and we reject the blessings God and others want to bestow on us by giving some direction to our lives.

Prayer: Lord, have mercy on us and help us to replace murmuring with praise and gratitude. We confess it is thinking less highly of you when we have leaders we refuse to listen to. It is thinking too little of your gifts to us.

Here is an encouraging story I recently received from a good friend of mine. She is the mother of four whose husband works for Sprint.  Their family is part of a missional community wrestling to discover what it looks like in tangible ways to be a representation of God’s Kingdom on earth now.

“Over four years ago our small group from church decided that it would be great to go and serve together. We set up a date to bring a meal to the Ronald McDonald House, and since then have come back every month to help out.  ( provides a temporary home for families with children who are critically ill or seriously injured) Through the years we have become friends with several families who call Ronald McDonald House their home away from home. One of my favorite stories to share about RMH is the night my 5 year old son, Cooper, was playing with a little boy who has cancer and was undergoing chemo. They were laughing and pretending to jump like frogs when the little boy began to cough and wanted his mother to hold him. Cooper then reached up and began to rub his back to calm him. He was learning what it meant to “be Jesus” someone in pain.. The mother looked at me with tears in her eyes and my heart broke for this family.

Another image that sticks in my mind is Dave going around the room loving each and every one of the families who are there.  You can see the pain and confused look in the parent’s eyes as they struggle to make sense of suffering their child is enduring.  But Dave sits with each one of them. He doesn’t say much, but he listens a lot. With great compassion, he enters into their pain. As he listen’s he writes down their name and prayer request. Sometimes he prays for them then and there but usually he brings the request to the next time our small group gathers and there we will remember and pray for the families together.    As I continue to look around the room at RMH I’m encouraged as I see my family and friends “being Jesus” to these families who are going through circumstances too horrible for my mind to fully understand.  I pray that somehow the small acts of love being performed by our small community of friends will somehow make a difference.   What a blessing Ronald McDonald House is to us all.”

What strikes you about this story?

How do you imagine experiences like going to Ronald McDonald House will shape and form young kids like Cooper?