Hebrews 6:1-3, 9, 11-12 (NIV) Therefore let us
move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to
maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to
death, and of faith in God,
2 instruction about cleansing rites,
the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
3 And God permitting, we will do so. 9 Even
though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in
your case—the things that have to do with salvation. 11 We want
each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope
for may be fully realized. 12 We
do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and
patience inherit what has been promised.
Laziness covers a much broader area of life than we
may realize. There is personal laziness, which is represented by doing as
little as possible or by idleness. This is a kind of laziness that most of us
were warned against as we were growing up, that we would not want something for
nothing or would shy away from the responsibility of earning our daily bread. Another
kind of laziness that has been given less attention over the years is one we
might call social laziness, not caring about the rest of the world as long as
our little world is safe. It is neglecting our responsibility to the community,
the society, the world of which we are a part. This is the kind of laziness
Jesus spoke to in the parable of the Good Samaritan. A certain man came to
Jesus wanting Jesus to draw some line of limitation as to whom he was
responsible. The man did not get the answer he was looking for as Jesus threw
the door wide open and in effect said our neighbor is anyone who is in trouble.
Still another kind of laziness is one that is the
key for understanding and dealing with laziness in every area of our life. It
could be called spiritual laziness. This is the kind of laziness to which the
writer of Hebrews refers when he says we
do not want you to become lazy. Literally, the word lazy here means “not to
push.” We are not to stop pushing in our efforts to grow and develop in the
Christian faith. Have we stopped pushing?
Spiritual laziness is not new. The early church called
laziness a deadly sin. Life has a way of kicking dirt on us, dust naturally
builds up in the home with no effort at all. Work piles up on us. And life has
a way of kicking dirt on our spiritual lives as well. I am convinced that once
we become spiritually lazy it is not too long before we become socially and
personally lazy if we do not “push back” the dirt.
We push back by looking for examples of Christians
who are growing, discovering anew God’s love and will for their life, who are
still excited about sharing in the adventure of the Christian faith. We are to
be imitators of those who believe and are patient. The implication of this
passage is that God always provides us with examples to raise us up, to
re-kindle hope in our life and to challenge us to grow spiritually.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope March 9,
1975
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell (Broyles)
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