The Sin of Sloth & the Protestant Work Ethic

State of the Church 2025

Gen. 1:26-28

Introduction

“The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute” (Prov. 12:24). To the extent that Bible-believing Christians have lost authority in the West, one clear reason is because of our sin of sloth. 

Cotton Mather once said, Christian religion begat prosperity, and the daughter devoured the mother. And Deuteronomy warned of the same tendency: “And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth” (Dt. 8:17). Pride says ‘what my hand has gotten, my hand can get again’. Presumption says, what my hand has gotten, I don’t need to get again. And finally, Sloth says, what my hand has gotten, I just can’t get again.

Sloth is not merely laziness. It is a kind of despair about work, a kind of retreating cowardice and resentment of the blessing of work. Repentance means that we need a recovery of the Protestant Work ethic, but we cannot have the Protestant Work ethic apart from Protestant grace. A Protestant Work ethic apart from Protestant grace is a recipe for burn out, but Protestant grace is fuel that never runs dry. And Protestant grace is rooted in the doctrines of Creation & Redemption.   

The Text: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion…” (Gen. 1:26-28)

Summary of the Text

God made men and women in his own image for dominion (Gen. 1:26), and that image and dominion means the work of fruitfulness and rule over creation (Gen. 1:27-28). We were made for dominion, and dominion means work. And what we see here is that this work is a blessing(Gen. 1:28). Sin has made our work harder and more difficult (Gen. 3:16-19), but we were made for work, and we were made for the rewards of good work (Gen. 2:11-12). This is central to being made in God’s image; God worked in creation, so we work. 

We know that work is still our central task because it was repeated to Noah after the flood (Gen. 9:1), and because Jesus is the fulfillment of Psalm 8: What is man (Heb. 1-2)? Man is the creature God created for dominion – for good, rewarding work, and Christ has restored that blessing to us as the new Adam who accomplished the Great Work of our Redemption. We are saved by grace through faith, but this salvation means that God is at work in us restoring us to work (Eph. 2:8-10, Phil. 1:6, 2:13, Tit. 2:14). In this way, it is perfectly biblical to say that work is the meaning of life, and sloth is rebellion against our creation and redemption. 

The Destruction of Sloth

The way of the sluggard is difficult: “The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain” (Prov. 15:19, 20:4). The way of the sluggard destroys: “He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster [lit. great destroyer]” (Prov. 18:9). “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger” (Prov. 19:15, cf. 19:24, 21:25). The way of the sluggard is cowardly and full of excuses: “The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets” (Prov. 22:13, cf. 26:13). “The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason” (Prov. 26:16).

Jesus roundly condemned the wickedness of the slothful servant in His parable (Matt. 25:26). And the apostles warned against it as well, “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord” (Rom. 12:11). “That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb. 6:12).

Deceptions of Sloth

Part of the deception of sloth, perhaps especially in the modern world, is that technology allows us the illusion of work. You can drive around, be on your computer, on the phone, and manage a very busy schedule, but “busy” is not the same thing as fruitful. A farmer who studies seeds and soils and fails to actually plant may have been busy but was ultimately slothful. This is like the guy who is constantly making plans for work but never actually executing them. Diligence and industry are not just a matter of staying awake or going to work; they are matters of intelligent work, good work, the right work at the right time. 

The Latin word for sloth is “acedia,” which can refer to a kind of spiritual despair in the face of God’s goodness. Faith sees God’s world as teeming with opportunity, fruit, gold, and possibilities. But acedia is blind to the goodness and increasingly despairs in seeing anything as worth the effort. Dorothy Sayers said sloth “believes in nothing.” Rushdoony said, “Sloth means no love for God and no holy joy… acedia empties the world of God’s presence and replaces it with oneself.” Here we see how a culture that congratulates itself for all its great accomplishments can end up so melancholy. Self-obsessions are the path of sloth and depression. But if this world is God’s gift, how can you be lazy and sad?

Sloth is fundamentally a form of treachery to the Lord Jesus. “For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:20). And when you are exhausted at the end of a long day, remember the lesson of the unprofitable servant: “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Lk. 17:10). Christ bought us with His precious blood, a price we can never repay.

Applications

Work as unto Christ: “Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free” (Eph. 6:6-8). Don’t say, “I deserve/we deserve…” All is grace.

The seeds of sloth begin in the heart when obedience and righteousness seem like heavy burdens and inspire disgust or resentment. Why do I have to work so hard? Why do I have to work so much? Why does no one appreciate how hard I’m working? “The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth” (Prov. 26:15). The great irony is that work is food, work is blessing.

Some men are lazy by sitting on the couch all day, but other men are lazy by filling their days with worthless things (meetings, video games, social media). In general, you should be aiming to do hard things. You should be thinking about how to get a little more done. Why? Because it is for Your King. While men can become obsessed with fitness, the glory of men is their strength and often doing something physical is good practice for the rest of life. Beware of lots of “guys nights out.” Of course there’s a place for friendship, but focus more on shoulder to shoulder working at some project.

Women are warned in Scripture about being chatty Cathys: “And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully” (1 Tim. 5:13-14). This is why our general approach to women’s ministry is highly homebased and decentralized, aimed at serving and meeting needs (meals, showers, etc.). Some women’s ministries are busybody conventions. Of course there’s a place for friendship, but focus more on shoulder to shoulder working at some project.

Let each one bear his own burden (Gal. 6:5): you are an industrious lot in general – a lot of you are extraordinarily productive and fruitful, which means that there will be temptations to coast or to draft on the diligence of others (“drafting” is leveraging the vibe of someone else’s success). But Western Civilization is in shambles; we have work to do before we die. We are getting the world ready for the King. We don’t have time to coast. Don’t draft spiritually either. 

Finally, remember the Sabbath. Sabbath makes really good sense when you’ve been working hard for six days. But if a day of rest seems a little legalistic, that may be a sign that you haven’t been working hard enough. And in the New Covenant, our Sabbath is on the first day of the week: we begin with grace and the grace is so good, we hit the ground running every Monday. 

Photo by Tekton on Unsplash