Preaching Stewardship Sermons

Though speaking about stewardship and finances is a very distasteful thing in our contemporary American culture, the faithful pastor will crucify his desire for human approval and seek to shepherd the flock that God has entrusted to him in these areas. This really is an absolute necessity. Scripture does not shrink back from addressing stewardship and giving. And, if the pastor wants to preach the whole counsel of God, he must not shrink back either. With that said, there are certain principles that a pastor must keep in mind when preaching on stewardship and giving. Principles directing the preaching of a stewardship sermon are as follows: 1) Christ compelling truths 2) Heavenly realities 3) Encouraging the faithful 4) Warning the unfaithful 5) Comforting the needy 6) Exhorting the rich. 

Christ Compelling Truths

So, to begin, we will look at the importance of stewardship sermons being saturated with Christ compelling truths. Anytime a pastor is seeking to compel a congregation to put off greed, the love of money, and the love of possessions in order to put on faithful stewardship and generosity, they need to do so with Christ compelling truths. This is what Paul does in 2 Corinthians 8-9. Paul, in seeking to stir up the Christians in Corinth to give desirously, readily, and cheerfully, said, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). Then, at the end of Paul’s section of giving generously, he says, “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift” (2 Cor. 9:15). As can be seen, Paul is centering his message on giving with compelling truths regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Realities

The second principle regarding preaching stewardship sermons is the importance of keening in on heavenly realities. This is seen throughout the Bible. When Jesus was speaking to his disciples regarding money and possessions, he told them not to lay up treasure on earth because of the temporal nature of it, but rather to lay up treasure in heaven that will never perish (Mt. 6:19-21). He also shows them the incredible lure that money places on the heart when he says, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Mt. 6:24-25). So, as you can see, Christ is keening in on invisible heavenly realities (eternal rewards and the danger of loving money) as he addresses these topics. 

He does this again with the parable of the rich fool. In it, a rich man accumulated more and more crops and then built bigger and bigger barns so that he could live in comfort and ease throughout his earthly life. In the parable, God says to the rich man, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be” (Lk. 12:20)? Thus, this rich man is a fool. He has stored up for comfort and ease in his earthly life but has neglected eternal life. Therefore, regarding eternal things, he has only stored up wrath for himself. So, as you can see, in speaking about wealth, money, comfort, ease, etc., Jesus is consistently lifting his hearer’s eyes to invisible heavenly realities. A good pastor will seek to do the same in his stewardship sermons.

Encouraging the Faithful

The third principle regarding the preaching of stewardship sermons is the necessity to encourage the faithful. A pastor must not assume that everybody within the congregation is falling into the snare of the love of money. Some people within the congregation are being faithful. They are giving generously to the mission of the local church and to the mission to take the gospel to every nation. They are storing up treasure in heaven. They are seeking to use their wealth to alleviate the suffering of the poor and needy. Therefore, a pastor must seek to encourage them and, as Paul always told the Thessalonians, to continue to do so more and more.

Warning the Unfaithful

The fourth principle regarding the preaching of stewardship sermons is the importance of warning the unfaithful. Just as a pastor must not assume that everybody within the congregation is falling into the snare of the love of money, he also must not assume that everybody within the congregation is free from the snare of the love of money. The Scripture makes it blatantly clear that the love of money is a very real danger for those who profess Christ. Paul informs Timothy of this when he says, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Tim. 6:9-10). The danger of riches and the love of money is very clear here. And, directly after this, Paul writes to Timothy saying, “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things” (1 Timothy 6:11). 

Also, Jesus, within the parable of the sower, really conveys the same thought. Regarding the seed sown amongst thorns, Jesus says, “And the others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Mark 4:18-19). There are other passages of Scripture that address this, but this is enough to show the pastor that he must warn the unfaithful. There is a real danger that professed believers will fall in love with money, fall into temptation, be plunged into ruin and destruction, and then wander away from the faith. The paradigm example of this is Judas!

Comforting the Needy

The fifth principle regarding the preaching of a stewardship sermon is the importance of comforting the needy. The pastor must keep in mind that there are those in the congregation that are needy. They simply to not have much to give. Rather, they spend a bulk of their life with very little and, at times, rely on the generosity of others to make ends meet. These Christians must be comforted during stewardship sermons. So, the pastor must inform them that God looks at the heart of the individual, not the external quantity of money they give. That which is great in the eyes of God is a heart that gives in faith, not the zeros behind a number. Take the widow in the gospel of Mark for example. Many rich people are placing very large sums of money into the offering box, but then this poor widow comes and places in two copper coins. Jesus, upon seeing this, says to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on” (Mark 12:41-44). So, in the eyes of God this widow gave more than all the rich people that were placing large sums of money into the offering box. This is how God judges our stewardship. Therefore, the pastor ought to comfort the needy in his congregation with this type of understanding.

Exhorting the Rich

The sixth principle of preaching a stewardship sermon is the necessity of exhorting the rich. Though not everybody in the congregation is rich, there does happen to be some rich people in most congregations. The faithful pastor will exhort the rich believers within the congregation to leverage their riches to the glory and honor of God. The faithful pastor, with Paul, will always be telling the rich, “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life” (1 Tim. 6:17-19). A faithful pastor will exhort the rich in his congregation in a similar way. 

Conclusion

So, these are six principles for preaching stewardship sermons. The pastor needs to saturate his stewardship sermons with Christ compelling truths, heavenly realities, encouragement to the faithful,  warnings to the unfaithful, comfort to the needy, and exhortations to the rich. Maintaining these six principles will help the pastor to preach a God glorifying, Christ exalting, and biblically centered sermon that will hopefully lead to Spirit empowered obedience in the people of God.

Exhortations for Christian Upperclassmen

With move in day approaching and another long school year in front of us, it is important to be thinking about the ways you intend on serving Christ at the beginning of the semester. This is what every Christian ought to generally be thinking through, but it is particularly helpful for college students to think through as they prepare to get back on campus where there are literally thousands of people that they will be rubbing shoulders with. With that said, I want to challenge Christian upperclassmen in the following ways:

Be committed to helping your campus ministry engage students the first 6-8 weeks of school.

The first 6-8 weeks of the fall semester are incredibly important in the life of a college ministry. It is non-stop grueling work that is filled with both encouragement and discouragement. We meet tons of people, we get many contacts, we establish many meetings, we get rejected a ton, and we see some students interested in hearing about Christ, studying the Bible, discipleship, attending church, etc. Therefore, college ministries need a ton of help, and college students that are a part of the ministry are the most helpful! Therefore, deny yourself, pick up your cross, and dedicate the first weeks of the semester to laboring alongside of the campus ministry that you are a part of.

• Help with move in day.
• Help with certain campus events dedicated to promoting the ministry.
• Help with contacting and meeting up with certain new people.
• Help give rides to church.
• Reach out to the new people that attend church to make them feel comfortable.

Be committed to befriending incoming freshmen for the sake of winning them to Christ and the local church.

As an upperclassman, you will inevitably have influence on freshmen students. Freshmen will come in and they will be looking for friends to hang out with and they will be looking for leaders to follow. Therefore, leverage your influence on particular freshmen in order to win them to Christ and also to the local church. Therefore, deny yourself, pick up your cross, and dedicate the first weeks of the semester to befriending freshmen in order to establish a relationship where relational evangelism and discipleship will flourish.

• Ask a freshmen to make a cookout run with you.
• Ask them if you can show them your favorite coffee shop
• Ask them if they want to go running or work out with you.
• Just intentionally become friends with freshmen.

Be committed to evangelizing people of campus. . . .especially freshmen.

College is one of the most fruitful fields of harvest for evangelistic endeavors. Students are open to exploring many different things, including Christianity. Therefore, deny yourself, pick up your cross, look at the many lost people walking on campus, and intentionally dedicate time to evangelizing people on your college campus.

• Think about how you could do this before or after class.
• Think about how you could do this at the gym
• Think about how you could do this in intramurals.
• Think about how you could do this in your dorm, suite, or apartment.
• Think about how you could do this in the quad.
• Think about how you could do this in the cafeteria or student union.

Be committed to establishing a discipleship relationship with a friend that you met last year from the ministry.

Christ commanded his followers to make disciples. This is something that college students are not exempt from. Rather, if you are a college student that is in Christ, Christ commands you to make disciples. Therefore, deny yourself, pick up your cross, and establish a discipleship relationship with another Christian (particularly one that goes to the same local church as you).

• Ask them if they want to meet weekly or biweekly in order to pray and read the Bible with you.
• Ask them if they would want to meet up to pray and read a good Christian book with you.
• Ask them if they would want to meet up weekly in order to pray and go over the sermon from the previous Sunday.

Be committed to inviting people to the campus ministry’s annual fall retreat.

The annual fall retreat is a big deal in the college ministry because it presents an opportunity at the beginning of the semester for students to spend a weekend together doing many things like hiking, recreation, eating, riding in a car, and, most importantly, listening to teachings from the Bible that are gospel focused. Most students, after going on the fall retreat, end up faithfully attending church and the campus specific Bible studies. Therefore, deny yourself, take up your cross, and invite some of the people that you meet to go on the annual fall retreat with you.

• Ask them if they would want to attend this. If they express any interest, then continue to follow up with them.
• If the financial aspect is keeping them from going, then be willing to, if you are able, pay for them to go. 

And, after these first weeks on campus, reevaluate how you intend on glorifying God by making much of Christ throughout the rest of the school year!

The Signs of a Sluggard

Shining a Light on This Deceptive Sin

I taught some college students earlier this summer about the sin of sluggishness. I did this by going through the book of Proverbs and pointing out certain signs of a sluggard so that we, as Christians, can better determine whether we have fallen pray to the sin of laziness.

In this teaching, I separated the signs of a sluggard into two categories. The signs of a secular sluggard and the signs of a spiritual sluggard. The reason I did this is because it is possible to be a secular sluggard without being a spiritual sluggard. For example, when I was an infant in Christ, I was plowing through Scripture, evangelizing, going to Bible studies, and reading books. However, my theology and my faith had not matured to the point where I saw the importance of glorifying God in my "secular activities" like school work, baseball, weed eating ditches, etc. So, I was diligently doing the overt spiritual things, but I was a sluggard in common, everyday activities. 

Also, it is possible to be a sluggard in spiritual things but to be diligent in secular things. There are many people who are driven, work hard, and are highly successful in the common, everyday activities like schooling, vocation, working out, keeping up the yard, etc. However, these same people are sluggards in regards to overtly spiritual things like serving in the church, reading the Bible, discipling somebody, prayer, putting sin to death, pursuing righteousness, etc. 

So, with this blog I will attempt to do the same thing I did with the college students earlier this summer. I am going to point out the signs of both the secular sluggard and the spiritual sluggard seeking to bring this deceptive sin to light so that we can repent of it, put it to death, and pursue diligent labor for the Lord in the whole of life. This will lead us to adorn the gospel of Jesus Christ in the midst of a twisted and idle generation.

Signs of a Secular Sluggard

First, a secular sluggard has trouble starting his work.

They look at very important tasks and consistently put them off for the sake of their own comfort and leisure. So, they know that they ought to get started on a specific task. Other people are aware that they ought to get started. Yet, it is much more pleasing to them personally to rest, watch television, listen to music, play video games, etc. This is exactly what’s being communicated in Proverbs 24:30-34.

I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. 

This sluggard knows that he ought to get out and take care of his vineyard, uprooting the weeds, and rebuilding the broken-down walls, but the sluggard is more concerned about sleep. He doesn’t want to get up and go to work because present rest seems far more pleasing to him.

And you also have Proverbs 21:25:

The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. 

So, the sluggard has desires just like everyone else, yet he refuses to labor to get to the point where he can satisfy his desires! 

At this point, It is important to note that the sluggard is also the person that has a really important task to do (let’s say write a paper). Yet, because they do not want to put forth the hard work of writing the paper, they assuage their consciences by becoming busybodies doing menial task that are not nearly as significant (checking email, washing dishes, cleaning the car, etc.). 

So, the sluggard is not necessarily just resting while he puts off work. The sluggard could also be busy doing other things while he puts off the main thing because the main thing is the most difficult thing! I see this type of laziness all too often in my own life. Since I am so task oriented, I am always consistently doing something. However, my sluggishness is evident in the fact that I am not always doing the task that I ought to be doing! 

Alright, so that’s the first sign of a sluggard. He has a hard time starting the work that he knows he ought to be starting!

Secondly, since the sluggard has trouble starting work, he is prone to makes excuses so that he doesn’t have to start work.

This is what the Proverbs are communicating when they say:

The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!" Proverbs 22:13 

The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!" Proverbs 26:13 

So this sluggard is saying that he will not go outside to work because there is a lion in the streets that will kill him. First off, you don’t really come across a lion in a city street! The street was a place of commerce, people, markets, city life, etc. The sluggard knows this, however, because he refuses to start work, he makes excuses to justify his laziness. Charles Bridges said:

 The sluggard always has his excuses ready to shift off any work that requires exertion. 

This makes me think about the father that gets off work and his family is waiting for him at home. When he gets home, he plops down on the chair to watch television rather than spending time with his wife and children because, “he is too tired from a long day of work.” And that’s really just an excuse he uses to keep him from doing what is most important (spending quality time investing in his wife and children). So, you may be a sluggard if you find yourself consistently making excuses about something that you know you ought to do.

Thirdly, when the sluggard actually starts to work, he has a hard time doing his work well.

Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him. Proverbs 10:26

You see, vinegar to the teeth is a very unpleasant thing, and smoke in the eyes makes the eyes aggravated and agitated. So the proverb is teaching that those who hire a sluggard will be disappointed, agitated, and provoked. The reason for this is because a sluggard does not work hard. He simply seeks to get through the day without causing himself to much strain, weariness, or anything along those lines. 

Also, a boss can never rest when a sluggard is at work. He is always concerned. He is always worried that the sluggard won’t be doing what he is supposed to be doing, or that he won’t be doing something as well as he ought to be doing it! So, you may be a sluggard if you are at work but are never doing what you ought to be doing, or are not doing something to the caliber you ought to be doing it!

Fourthly, though the sluggard may start a task, he rarely ever finishes it.

This is why the Proverbs say:

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth. Proverbs 19:24

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth. Proverbs 26:15

So, the idea behind these Proverbs is that the sluggard leaves things incomplete. He places his hand in a dish to get something to eat but will not finish by bringing his hand back to his mouth to enjoy it (that is a pretty pathetic sight isn’t)?! 

A sluggard simply does not persevere. He starts things without the work ethic and drive to finish them! He has ideas, dreams, cravings, and desires that he sets about to do, but he never finishes them! So, practically, you may be sluggard if you find yourself always beginning tasks but never finishing them.

Fifthly, the sluggard craves sleep to the detriment of what is important.

The proverb says:

How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. Proverbs 6:9-11

The sluggard is consistently seen as one who sleeps when he ought to be doing something else! So, you may be a sluggard if you find yourself putting off important things for the sake of sleep, rest, and comfort.

Lastly, the sluggard always wants to reap what he did not sow!

The writer of Proverbs writes:

The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing. Proverbs 20:4

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. Proverbs 13:4

So, the sluggard will not plow in the winter because it is too cold for him. However, he is eager to go out and reap during harvest time expecting to find something. The sluggard craves what the diligent have, however, they have nothing because they are not diligent themselves!

So, the sluggard wants a good grade on their paper or final, but they don’t put forth the effort to receive it! They want a raise at work, but they are not willing work hard enough to get the boss’s attention. They want scholarships in order to go college, but they are not willing to write and submit hard papers in order to get them. The sluggard wants to save money, but they are too lazy to maintain a budget. The sluggard simply does not like working and will not work, yet they consistently crave and desire the hard workers harvest! So, you may be a sluggard if you are always desiring to reap what you did not sow.

These are the signs of a worldly sluggard. Now, we are going to look at the signs of a spiritual sluggard. I will use the same signs but direct them towards spiritual ends!

Signs of a Spiritual Sluggard

First, the spiritual sluggard has a hard time starting his spiritual work.

Let’s go back to Proverbs 24:30-34:

I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. Proverbs 24:30-34

So, the sluggard put off working in the vineyard, uprooting weeds, and fixing the stone wall because he wanted to sleep and rest a little longer. Just think about this spiritually. You have set out on a journey of following Christ. He has redeemed you. He has saved you. He has given you peace with God. And as your Lord, he also gives you commands. 

I mean, Christ knows that your mind has been trained up by the world so he wants you to get in the Scriptures and prayer so that your mind can be renewed. Christ knows that Satan is roaming around seeking someone to devour so he tells you to put on the whole armor of God. He also knows that you have sin in your life that will destroy you, so he tells you to put sin to death by the power of the Spirit of God! And he knows that your days are short and that your eternity will be benefitted from good fruitful labor here, so Christ commands you to, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.”

Yet, you know that this sounds like work. You know that to do these things is going to take a lot of striving and effort. You know that to take some of these commands seriously would mean that you would have to give up on some of the comforts of this life. If you really sought to put that particular sin to death, you might need to end that relationship you are in that is so ungodly. And you know that if you really wanted to have a renewed mind then you would have to consistently read the Scripture! 

This is difficult, tasking stuff. So, you say that you will do it some other time, all the while, you let your vineyard remain messed up, sprouting with weeds, with a broken-down wall.

Thus, you may be a spiritual sluggard if you know you ought to be about the Lord’s work, but you are spending these early years of your life putting it off because it would infringe on the comforts, ease, and dreams you have now. And you may be a sluggard if you know the good you ought to do, serve more in the church, evangelize, etc., but you do not do it because you want to enjoy the particular season of life you are in (teenage years, college years, first years married, retirement, etc.). 

This is the downfall of so many young people. Not just college students. . . .young people in general. They let themselves get destroyed spiritually while they are young because they are enslaved to the comforts of this world to such an extent that they neglect the things of God.

Secondly, since the spiritual sluggard has a hard time starting his spiritual work, he makes excuses so that he doesn’t have to.

So, think back to the Proverbs of the Sluggard saying he is not going outside because he will be devoured by a lion! Remember, he was simply making excuses. This is seen in the spiritual sluggard as well. 

For example, the spiritual sluggard knows that he ought to go to church on Sunday morning so that he can be around brothers and sisters in Christ and also listen to the word taught and preached. However, they tell themselves and others that they had a rough night studying, went to bed late, and have a lot of work to do on Monday.

Or, they know that they ought to be fellowshipping with other believers, but they keep making excuses saying that Christians are hypocrites! 

I see this in my own life regarding family worship. Kahlie and I used to consistently do family worship (where we pray for one another, read the Bible, and then discuss it). Now, we don’t do it nearly as often. I will say it is because our schedules conflict, but that is really just an excuse. Rather, I have simply just been a spiritual sluggard in this area of life.

So, the spiritual sluggard shrinks from every work that requires effort and faith by making excuses that don’t hold their weight!

Thirdly, when the spiritual sluggard starts his work, he has a hard time doing it well.

Remember Proverbs 10:26:

Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him. Proverbs 10:26

This was talking about the sluggard that doesn’t do his work well, therefore, he is a nuisance to his boss. And think about this spiritually. The spiritual sluggard is one who always has a desire to start something that would be beneficial for his soul, but since it is so incredibly difficult, they begin to half do it.

Think about prayer. You get zealous to pray because you know that it is so important. Then, as you pray in the mornings for about 6 days straight, you begin to simply go through the motions because true, genuine prayer is very difficult.

Also, the spiritual sluggard may simply do something because he knows that it is commanded of him. And, as he does it, he doesn’t bother doing it to the glory of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Rather, he simply just does it knowing that it is his duty without regard for the quality of the work. So, the spiritual sluggard has a tendency to do the right thing in a halfhearted way that ultimately doesn’t glorify God, benefit neighbor, or benefit himself.

Regarding this, Charles Bridges makes a comment equating the displeasure of an earthy master towards a worldly sluggard to the displeasure of our heavenly master towards a spiritual sluggard saying: 

Does then the sluggard disappoint and provoke his earthly master? See that we be not such sluggards to our heavenly Master.

And that is tough isn’t it? If earthly masters are so disappointed at the sluggard, why would we be a sluggard to our heavenly master?! So, you may be a spiritual sluggard if you are doing things you ought to be doing, but you have no concern for doing them well.

Fourthly, though the spiritual sluggard may start something beneficial, he has a hard time finishing it.

This is in reference to the proverbs talking about how the sluggard places his hand in a dish but doesn’t even bring it back out! It’s like the sluggard is so lazy that he can’t persevere in accomplishing something that would actually be beneficial for him. And think about this spiritually.

This is the person that begins every religious duty as a burdensome task, and since it is burdensome, they do not persevere in doing it. Sure, they make all these resolutions and then set out to do them. Yet they quit in the midst of them because they are focusing on ease rather than the health of their soul. 

So, they make an asserted effort to read their Bible more, study theology, begin discipling somebody, evangelize more, consistently attend church, but then they realize how much time and exertion all this will take so they quit doing it all. Thus, you may be a spiritual sluggard if you have a hard time finishing your spiritual labor.

Fifthly, the spiritual sluggard craves sleep to the detriment of what is most important.

This comes from the Proverbs talking about how the sluggard sleeps and slumbers while he ought to be laboring which leads people to ask him, “How long, O Sluggard, will you sleep." So sleep often begin to take precedence in the spiritual sluggard’s life. 

Now, I spend half of my time telling college students they don’t get enough sleep while I spend the other half of my time telling them they sleep too much. So, let me put it like this. . . .sleep is a means to an end. It is there to help us rest so that we can zealously labor for the Lord the next day. 

However, a lot of people make sleeping an end in itself, therefore, they have a hard time getting out of bed to set about doing the Lord’s work. This is the spiritual sluggard. So, you may be a spiritual sluggard if you crave sleep as an end in itself to the detriment of labor for the Lord.

Lastly, the spiritual sluggard always wants to reap what he did not sow.

Remember the two proverbs that read:

The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing. Proverbs 20:4

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. Proverbs 13:4

Well, let’s apply this spiritually. The spiritual sluggard knows that the pursuit of Christ in godliness, holiness, righteousness, and heavenly rewards is incredibly difficult. And since they don’t want to put forth that effort, they choose not to do it. 

However, when they are five years into their walk with Christ and they run across a younger person that has more knowledge and zeal than they do, they want to be like them. They begin to wonder why they aren’t as holy or as fruitful as that younger individual. All the while, they simply didn’t put forth the work that the younger person did!

So, the spiritual sluggard craves for more knowledge of the Bible, but they don’t do anything to attain it. The spiritual sluggard craves to be rid of certain sins, but they don’t do anything to quit grieving the Spirit of God. Regarding this, Charles Bridges said:

The sluggard desires the gain of diligence, without the diligence that gains. He would be wise without study, and rich without labor. His religion is the same heartless character. He desires to overcome his bad habits, to enjoy the happiness of God’s people. So far well. Desires are a part of religion. There can be no attainment without them. Yet the sluggard hath nothing, because it is desire without effort! 

He would fain go to heaven, if a morning dream would carry him there. He would gladly be a Christian, if it cost him no trouble.

So, you may be a spiritual sluggard if you always find yourself desiring the spiritual gifts or holiness of other people all the while you never do anything to mature in those areas yourself.

Conclusion

These are the signs of both the worldly sluggard and the spiritual sluggard. To think through these passages will not only help us to repent of this sin, but it will also help us to pursue righteousness.

As I was preparing to publish this, I had a friend of mine proof it. While he gave me feed back on grammar (which I always need because I am from a dirt road in Alabama and really only cared about how far I could hit a baseball for the first 20 years of my life), he also counseled me to place more of the gospel in here.

This blog (originally a teaching) was intended to do heart work. It was to probe the heart in order to bring the sin of sluggishness to light. However, in the midst of this, being made aware of this sin, we must understand that, as Christians, we have a glorious Savior who has brought about forgiveness of sins. . . .even the sin of laziness.

Seriously, Christ, in speaking to a bunch of religious leaders about the Sabbath day, said, "My Father is working until now, and I am working" (John 5:17). Thus, Jesus worked on the Sabbath in order to reverse the devastating effects of the curse and to forgive people of their sins. 

Also, Jesus set out to accomplish the work of our salvation by His substitutionary death on the cross. And, unlike a sluggard, he carried out this work all the way to completion. Thus, he was able to cry out, "It is finished," knowing that He accomplished the work he set out to do, dying as a ransom for poor sluggards like you and me.

So, if you are a Christian and you have seen the sin of sluggishness rear its head in your life time and time again, do not be in despair. You have a Savior who died as a sufficient substitute for sluggards like you and me. And take hope! Christ bore our sin of sluggishness on that tree so that we might be forgiven of the sin of sluggishness, be given the powerful Spirit of Almighty God, so that we, as blood bought and Spirit empowered Christians, can put sluggishness to death in order to live out a life devoted to diligent labor for Christ's name sake.