Paper Tigers

In preparing for a recent Bible study, I was reading Proverbs 22:16, "The sluggard says, 'There's a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!'"

At first, I trusted the man: "What do I know about Old Testament animal control?"

Then I laughed at the man: “Oh, that’s ridiculous”

But then I was annoyed at the man: “Get over your dumb excuses and get out there!”

Then I realized I was the man: “I can’t share the Gospel with people-- they’ll reject me. I can’t lovingly address sin in someone’s life-- they’ll get mad at me. I can’t openly share my convictions about abortion-- someone will confront me.”

I didn't want him to be me, and at first, I prided myself on the fact that he didn't look anything like me. I'm in school. I'm a mom. I'm involved in stuff. But if we constantly look for ways that the Bible does not apply to us, we may just find that when people look at us, they see that the Bible is not reflected in us. 

And, dear ones, the enemy wants nothing more than for lazy Christians to look weak before paper tigers.

While there may be some degree of truth to our fears (there probably was a lion somewhere in the Ancient Near East-- just probably not within 100 miles), we often use it to justify ourselves. John Piper has an excellent thought on this passage. He explains that the sluggard's statement suggests that he either believed what he was saying (which would make him irrational and paranoid) or made it up (which would make him a liar). Either way, Piper suggests, disordered love makes him (and us) crazy and lazy. My love for self-preservation, and dis-love toward the rewards of Christian courage, have made me delusional, dishonest, and downright lazy.

Unfortunately, Solomon doesn’t offer a solution in the following verses, but the Scriptures do not leave us without answers. If we are to get up off the sofa and drop our excuses, it will be because we catch a glimpse of something more delightful, more beautiful than falling asleep with Cheetos on our chest.

No matter our justifications, real or imagined, perhaps we need look no farther than Matthew's Parable of the Talents (chapter 25). To the servant who was afraid and reaped no increase on his talents, the Master is fierce: "You wicked and slothful servant [ . . . ] take the talent from him." But to the one who set about the work of the kingdom, his Master is generous: "You have been faithful [ . . . ] Enter into the joy of your master." And, while not part of the same pericope, the verse that follows this passage is the clincher (and the example we need): "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne" (v.31). 

Seated, resting. Jesus knows the time for action and the time for rest. May the Holy Spirit give us discernment to know the difference between godly restraint and fearful laziness.