Slackers and Lighthouses

Prov 18:9 says, “Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.” Inactivity is equal to destruction. Inactivity is the evil twin brother of destruction. The problem, though, is that inactivity is hardly ever recognized as a sin because it is a sin of omission and there is no obvious evil act committed. Not working hard, according to Proverbs 18:9 is equal to sabotage and destructive behavior.

Many slackers spend all their time talking about how wicked the destroyers are. But, slackers are equal (twin brothers) to those destroyers. It is much easier to stand there or sit there and curse the darkness. It’s hard to actually build a lighthouse. Because building a lighthouse takes time, building a lighthouse takes commitment, building a lighthouse takes money, building a lighthouse takes dedication, building a lighthouse takes planning, building a lighthouse takes labor, building a lighthouse takes teamwork, building a lighthouse takes sweat, building a lighthouse takes frustration, building a lighthouse takes risk, building a lighthouse takes responsibility, building a lighthouse takes self-sacrifice. He who fails to build a lighthouse is equal to him who promotes the darkness.

Ecclesiastes 10:18 says, “If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks.” America’s walls are sagging and leaking. We can sit there and curse the sagging and the leaking. We can sit there and complain about the sagging and the leaking. We can sit there and protest about the sagging and the leaking. BUT – the rafters are sagging and the house is leaking because of our laziness, because of our complacency, because of our passivity, because of our inactivity. Prov 1:32 – “For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them” This verse is just like the verse I started with (Prov. 18:0) about the twin brothers. The complacency of fools destroys them. Complacency brings destruction.“Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.” Doing nothing destroys just as much as doing something destructive.