Laziness 05 - Early Retirement

Thus far we have discussed some of the frustrations, causes and symptoms of laziness and have discussed only the typical stereotypes of laziness; those dorito munching television addicts. However I would like to suggest the idea that it is not always the outwardly lazy who suffer from the temptation and sin of laziness. I would like to propose the idea that even the most diligent and successful people can be motivated by laziness.

Why do I say this? It seems to be a trend in society that the ultimate badge of success, the ultimate goal to be attained is that of early retirement. Reaching this goal means to be able to escape the grip of work; to be released to a life of lazy mornings, round upon round of golf, and endless scrap booking. A man does not easily attain this badge of 'honour' (inverted commas intended), it can only be attained through hard work, long hours and the great investment of time.

However this working man appears to have committed one major sin, and most likely a plethora of other sins as a result. Most seriously he has turned leisure into an idol, he has made the idol of 'doing nothing' his God, and he has it worshipped not through laziness itself, but strangely through relentless hard work and long hours. Put simply... his motivation for work is fuelled by his want not to work. Not only has he disobeyed God's first commandment, which forbids man to worship any other God but the true God, Yahweh.... he has abandoned his creation mandate which is to work, produce, cultivate and multiply. He has taken to work furiously and foolishly in order to abdicate responsibility and productivity in the future.

Furthermore, because of this great sin other sins have likely flowed as a result. Instead of working steadily and finding balance in his life, he has most likely sacrificed the relationships with his wife and children, and most probably his involvement in the church and fellowshipping with other Christians.

I will leave the rest for a later post.