Making the Effort

Sloth - Our Denominational Sin? (the seventh and final in a series of articles on each of the seven deadly sins* to be published on each Friday until Labour Day), by Geoff Ryan

Sloth is the desire for ease, even at the expense of doing the known will of God. Whatever we do in life requires effort. Everything we do is to be a means of salvation. The slothful person is unwilling to do what God wants because of the effort it takes to do it. Sloth becomes a sin when it slows down and even brings to a halt the energy we must expend in using the means to salvation. (Pocket Catholic Catechism)

Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel. (Isaiah 43:22)

Working for thee, working for thee,
Earnestly, constantly, faithfully
Working for thee.
(Albert Orsborn, The Song Book of the Salvation Army, Song Number 484).

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nyone who considers themselves a writer has to admit to some degree of egotistical narcissism. The underlying assumption when writing anything - whether daily blogging on the internet, writing novels for a living or contributing mildly inflammatory essays to monthly publications - is that the writer has something important enough to say that other people will want to read it. The urge to write includes a degree of self-absorption. That understood, the problem in writing a column on the seven deadly sins is that each new sin is not only researched and examined - but also, inevitably, personalized. On the one hand this is an enlightening experiencing. On the other hand, it is quite depressing. Having so far discovered varying degrees of Gluttony, Envy and Anger in myself, I still have four more sins to go. Which brings me to Sloth.

Is Sloth, then, just another word for laziness? The Oxford University Press has been issuing a Seven Deadly Sins series in which they invite well-known writers and thinkers to tackle a sin. As might be expected, known believers are not included in the pantheon of contributors, so the sins tend to be deconstructed in a more celebratory than critical manner. It seems to me that the various writers tackle their appointed sins with an ironic relish that confuses self-justification with open-mindedness. Wendy Wasserstein, a Pulitzer-prize winning author, was asked to write on Sloth. In her opinion, “Sloth means you’ve stopped trying, and if most of your life is about making effort, with Sloth all hopes are gone.” She concludes that “when you practice Sloth, all the “shoulds” are gone from your life.” The trick is to avoid passion at all cost. Sloths often lead lives full of activity, according to Wasserstein. “But in fact, they are so busy being active and competitive that they have lost their passion as well. Their Sloth, then, leads them to a lack of imagination or even anger.”

Except I’ve learned that being lazy and being slothful are not the same thing. Sloth is actually a little more complex than that. It is primarily a spiritual sin and quite different from simple physical fatigue and even depression. The Greek word for sloth is acedia which means “not caring” or “apathy”. When Pope Gregory compiled his list of seven deadly sins in the sixth century, he combined acedia - the listlessness that afflicted monks around the middle of the day (apparently still with us as you will know if you have ever been the speaker at a seminar held following lunch) and tristitia, or sadness. So, with no disrespect to Wasserstein or the Oxford University Press, but having non-believers give perspective on anything theological is somewhat like asking a tribesman from Papua New Guinea to become an ice cream salesman.

According to Don Schwager, an internet theologian: “Sloth is a kind of spiritual laziness or boredom in regard to the things of God. It is a lack of spirit in opposing the heavy pull and pressure of earthly things and rising to the level of the divine. It is indifference towards spiritual responsibilities and a listlessness in doing good. It almost always brings with it a large does of self-pity. It drives out joy of the human heart.” A spiritually slothful person may be quite active in other things, even decidedly non-lazy - a workaholic at work, a mindless TV watcher or video player at home, a conscientious and hard-working sinner, even. But the things of God - the church, the faith, the spirit - these are neglected. Sloth is primarily a sin of omission, therefore.

So here I am guilty again, it seems. In my defence, however, I plead that I may be simply exhibiting individually the denominational sins of my church. Not that this absolves me of responsibility, but collective guilt helps to ease the pain somewhat. I am plea-bargaining under a “product of my culture (sub-culture)” clause.

The Salvation Army has always prized “doers”. As a people of God we are activists, not contemplatives. Historically we have affirmed performers - promoting composers, preachers and public relations people through the ranks (all performers, and all “doers”). As a church we are not overburdened with thinkers in spite of our present infatuation with academic achievement. We have produced no world-class theologians. Traditionally we have taken pride in getting on with things, in our “Christianity with its sleeves rolled up.” We are the people of “soup, soap and salvation” who intellectually believe in a salvation by grace, but practically live a salvation by works. In the not too distant past, one of our territorial slogans simply said - “Do something!”

There is an old joke told about a new arrival in Heaven getting the introductory tour by Peter. Approaching one group of people who arguing over various Bible passages, Peter informs him “These are the Baptists”. Another group not far away are loudly singing songs and ecstatically jumping around, praising God. “Pentecostals”, says Peter. Coming to a large circular wall, Peter tells the newcomer to walk quietly and whisper. “Orthodox Christians”, he whispers, “they like to think they’re the only ones in here”. One by one the two cover all of the groups in Heaven. “But where is The Salvation Army?”, the man asks, a little puzzled. “Oh them - they’re down serving coffee and donuts at the fire”, Peter tells him.

Always doing, working…but at what? From my study here it seems that the crux of the sin of sloth is not so much in the presence or absence of activity - of work and doing - but in the object of the activity. Conversely, it is in the neglected and ignored object on one’s non-activity and lack of effort, that the problem lies.

And so, while our Roman Catholic Brethren may proudly identify themselves as the
”Church of Mary”, we in the Army have to admit to being the “Church of Martha” (I know, I know - different Marys). The incident from Jesus’ life found in Luke 10:38-42, has never sat well with me. It is Jesus at his enigmatic best, apparently condoning Mary’s laziness, while chiding Martha’s busyness. Martha was “getting on with things”, after all, while Mary seems to be a classic case of being “too heavenly-minded to be of any earthly good.” This wasn’t what Jesus was saying, of course. His point was priorities, and of the dangers of neglecting vital things in favour of non-essentials. I have always silently stuck up for Martha, because deep down I guess I was sticking up for myself.

Like many, if not most, of my generation, I was discipled into The Salvation Army more than anything else. No blame on my parents here, they tried their best on this one, but who listens to their parents in such matters? I was a willing and zealous student (zeal, by the way, being the opposing virtue to sloth) of my culture. As an officer’s kid, moving cities (and countries) every two years, my identity was rooted in my family and the Army - everything else kept changing.

I grew to love the Army and immersed myself in its traditions and folklore. The deeper I went into this, the more I was embraced by a system and sub-culture constructed to affirm and award busy, activist achievers. Our system of summer camps, a universal church method for shaping young minds, in the Army’s case was devoted to performance banding, rather than Bible study; singers, musicians, athletes and other doers were affirmed. As a junior soldier, I was never called on why I couldn’t come up with a half public decent prayer or a testimony that wasn’t tinged with humour or ironic flippancy for the benefit of my mates. Instead, I was asked why I wasn’t wearing my uniform or why I obviously hadn’t practiced the band selection for Sunday. I quickly learned to live up to the right expectations. By the time I was hit my late teens, I running a drop-in centre for other (less fortunate) teenagers - we did all sorts of things together. By age 21, I running drop-in centre for adults, trolling the late-night streets for comatose drunks and frightened prostitutes. I was as busy about the Lord’s work as any Martha I knew. I was a paradigmatic Salvationist of my generation. These defined expectations continued through Training College with a predictable Pavlovian response from myself. Then came Russia - nine years of trail-blazing at a blistering pace. Working through the night at least twice a month, rising at 4:30am everyday to get at things, adherents and soldiers “made” by the dozens, corps and cities opened at almost the same rate…I could go on.

What ended up getting done is actually quite incredible. Who I have become - a different story, maybe. I’ve been about as busy as one can get, but at the same time guilty of sloth, I think. Well, as a Russian saying goes” “As the officer - so the Army.”

So is busyness the antidote to sloth? No. It is the antidote to laziness. But that is not my sin, not our sin. Diligence is needed. Application is required. Diligence and application is required. To the right things, however…to the necessary things.

“Martha, Martha, you worry and are troubled about many things, whereas only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the better part…”

Co-Founder and Co-Editor of theRubicon and Co-Ordinator of the 614 Network (http://www.614network.com/), Geoff and his wife Sandra minister to Regent Park, a social housing project in Downtown Toronto.

*First published in Horizons July/August 2005

2 Comments to Making the Effort

1. Geoff - I love the way you write honestly, although it makes me miss face-to-face conversations. Thank you. Rochelle
Rochelle McAlister on September 3rd, 2006

2. Geoff. I think that you might find my site (jofj.org) interesting. I tell the story of the Journey of Jesus from a chronological and geographical perspective. DAB
dab on September 28th, 2006

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