Page 6 - January 2026 - Truth & Tidings

hile a core of practical people Deflecting and Excusing: The
continues to value the footings Sluggard in Proverbs
Wundergirding a strong society,
current trends seem to be undermining God knows the legitimate limitations
these pillars. Justice is compromised as and real reasons possibly preventing peo-
crime rates rise. The biblical family unit, ple from being able to work, but if there is
consisting of one man and one woman one thing you learn from the Proverbs it’s
with distinct roles and responsibilities, that the sluggard is an expert at excuses.
has become passé, and we wonder why This man sees all the barriers to work but
entire generations become unstable and not the responsibility to push through
hopeless. Cheating and lying are excused those hindrances. Knowing he must plow
in the name of success and personal happi- now to set up his farm for success, he says,
ness, while the link is seldom made to the “It’s too cold,” and he looks for handouts
emptiness that immorality brings. Trying at harvest time (Pro 20:4). Others go about
to construct a stable life on foundations their business, while he justifies laziness
that are being destroyed leads many com- through creative stories that keep him
mon-sense thinkers to the exasperation the from leaving the house (22:13; 26:13). The
excuses seem plausible to him but silly
psalmist expressed, “If the foundations be and irresponsible to everyone else.
destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
He’s blind to the connection between
(Psa 11:3 KJV). daily work habits and the inevitable
Although these issues have been around consequences. Just a little sleep, a little
since humanity fell into sin, it seems we slumber – just a little ends up costing a
are increasingly being called to build in an lot. He doesn’t see that his thorn-filled
era where these fallacies are promoted in field is a result of his own slack cultivation
the name of progress and personal liberty. practices (24:30-34). Longing for the nice
Diligent, hard work is another of these things that the diligent earn, he would
societal foundations, and the justification gladly take them if they were given to him;
of laziness is one more jackhammer, chip- however, he refuses to put in the work
ping away at the base. (21:25-26). Between excuses, procrastina-
While hardship in labour became tion and whining, he sets himself up for
expected after the Fall (Gen 3:19), work failure and becomes an unreliable irritant
was always a wholesome part of God’s in the workplace (10:26).
purpose for man (Gen 2:15) and a build- Can a Christian slide on this slope?
ing block of personal and social stability. Perhaps a brother or sister abuses their
To many, the Bible’s view on laziness is employer’s HR policy by taking a mental
judgmental and offensive; however, the health day just because staying home is
proverbial nail must be hit directly on the easier. Do believers pass up a job offer and
head. Laziness is not just unhealthy and remain unemployed indefinitely because
unhelpful; it is un-Christian. Let’s consider the line of work doesn’t align with their
the Bible’s counter-cultural condemnation “core values”? Do we complain about peo-
of laziness in secular work, specifically ple who have earned homeownership and
identifying and addressing this sinful financial stability, while we sleep through
attitude. our alarms and blame the economy for our

6 TRUTH kTidings January 2026