We’re doing a Wednesday night bible study on the classical “vices and virtues,” and it’s my turn this week. I’m teaching on sloth. The timing is appropriate because yesterday, Amy and I realized that we’ve become used to using the “I’m a teacher - I’m busy” excuse. Granted, we needed a year to get used to our new post-college lifestyle, with all its demands and stressors. We built that into the church planting plan - no church stuff for a year, so we can get used to the transition. But perhaps it was a bad way to adjust to bivocational ministry. Now that we’re about ready to get started, we find that we’ve become accustomed to having all our time to ourselves. No time for serving others, meeting new people, developing relationships. These things cannot wait any longer (not that we should have been avoiding them before, though).
Sloth, for me, is not the temptation to do nothing. I am always doing something; the question is one of value. Am I spending my time on something that’s worth doing? Am I doing it well? Am I taking adequate time for the business of life and for relaxation? This is personal question; it would not work to judge someone else on these questions (except in a relationship of trust, when you know each others’ habits and heart).
UPDATE: I think it went well. After a good discussion, we came to the conclusion that it takes a deep relationship for accountability in time management to work. We need to ask others to hold us up to our standards, even though everyone’s standards for time usage are different, and we can’t really judge others by our own. The best way to influence others in this regard is by example, as Paul did in the Corinthian letters. He didn’t tell them they had to be like him, but he set the example they needed.
