The Snare of Slothfulness

Perhaps the title of this article seems a bit silly because I used the literary device known as "alliteration". But the humor portion of today's lesson will be kept to a minimum (although laughter often helps the medicine go down a little easier). I've devoted considerable time to studying the book of Hebrews, although in no way do I consider myself to be an expert on the subject. Very few of us who are familiar with the book of Hebrews have been able to read the 6th (or 10th) chapter of Hebrews without a sense of forboding. Some have attempted to ease the conscience by saying that the warnings of apostasy are merely hypothetical and have no real import. Others become overly fearful, and dread that they have committed irretrievable apostasy. Today, we're going to look at a passage in chapter 6, and hopefully take a balanced look. It has been said that the bible is intended to "comfort the afflicted & afflict the comforted". So with that in mind, let me bring the proverbial comfort before I bring the affliction. Before going any further, here is the passage in question:

Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. 9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. 10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: 12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (KJV)

I told you we would start with the comfort, so let's do that first. Notice verse 9 in particular. The writer of Hebrews states that he does not believe that anyone reading his words have actually gone past the point of no return (having fallen away- there is actually no "if" in the Greek rendering of verse 6). For practical purposes and for modern application, we could state it this way- if we are concerned about our eternal soul and have a desire to repent, we can be relatively certain that we have not gone past a place of repentance. The phrase "today if you will hear His voice" is key in the book of Hebrews. If you can still hear the Lord's voice of chastening and encouragement, and feel the desire to change, then it is not too late for you! The book of Hebrews is considered a "word of exhortation" (see Heb 13:22)- somewhat of a sermon in written form. It is intended to inspire, encourage, chasten, warn like any given sermon. The idea is not that God is writing people off, but rather encouraging and pleading with them to continue on the walk of faith on the narrow Way. We can draw great strength from the great cloud of witnesses, including all of the heroes of the faith in chapter 11 (with flaws and all!) who "by faith" continued on their journey with God.

Now for the affliction part of the message (yes, you knew it was coming!). It is often difficult to understand the occasion of any given letter without realizing some of the "back-story" of the recipients. Unfortunately, many commentators have taken on the mammoth task of exegeting (interpreting) this passage without being honest about the back-story of the recipients. Sadly, many commentators take the approach that the recipients of the book of Hebrews were not Christians at all, but rather those on the fringes, perhaps contemplating salvation, putting their proverbial feet in the water...but yet to take the true plunge. But an honest evaluation of the text, demands that we know something of their history. Their history can be found in chapter 10- let's look at it shall we?:

Heb 10:32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; 33 Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. 34 For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance (KJV)

Several things are worthy of consideration. First notice that they had already "endured a great fight of afflictions". Some of their afflictions are then delineated in greater detail. They were made a public spectacle because of their faith, and they also stood shoulder-to-shoulder with those who named the name of Christ and were being persecuted. Verse 34 is perhaps the most revealing because we see that they had even had their property confiscated because of their refusal to recant on their profession of faith. To say that this group of Messianic Jews were not really saved or that their faith was counterfeit is to do them a great disservice. I doubt that many of today's Christians would be willing to stand fast under similar hardships. Most of us know nothing in the way of persecution, much less the plundering of our property. Now we are ready to go back to chapter 6, since we have learned that they are not just pretenders, but a group of people who had already endured one wave of persecution.

Now chapter 6 issues a rather strange warning to this group of believers. He warns them against the dangers of slothfulness. Now for a group of believers who knew what it was to be persecuted, and knew what it was to have their property confiscated, you would think that slothfulness would be one of the least of their worries. I think this misconception stems from the fact that many of us have come to view the term "slothfulness" simply in terms of idleness or inactivity. Let's bring back chapter 6 just to bring a perspective to this discussion:

Heb 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. (KJV)

Right before the writer of Hebrews warns them about the snare of slothfulness, he commends them on the fact that they have (past tense) ministered to the saints and are (present tense) ministering to the saints. So if this is the case, then perhaps we should revisit our concept of the term "slothfulness". It is unfortunate, that some have translated this word as "lazy". This brings about a mental image of lying around, being idle, completely inactive. Certainly the bible has much to say about the vice of laziness and improper use of idle time, but I think something deeper is going on here in Hebrews 6. The Greek word translated as "slothful" in the KJV is "nothros". It is used twice in the NT, both times in the book of Hebrews. It is defined as "slow, sluggish, indolent, dull, languid". The idea here is not that the people in Hebrews 6 were just laying around in bed all day, but rather that they were losing their spiritual momentum. Remember in chapter 5, that the same word is used and translated as "dull" (of hearing). The picture painted here is of a group of people losing their momentum. They are still continuing the activities of ministry, but without the passion that once burned in their hearts.

Neutrality is not an option in the Kingdom of God. We like the notion that there is a safe "middle-of-the-road" position, but scripture tells us time and time again that this is not the case. We are told we are either for Him or against Him. We must be hot or cold, but never lukewarm. We are either slaves to righteousness or slaves to sin. We are either in the kingdom of darkness or the Kingdom of Light. It is possible for us to continue all of the duties of "ministry" and yet never engage our hearts. The book of Revelation shows this personified in the church at Ephesus. They were continuing all of the activities of ministry and vehemently standing for the right things, but they had "left their first love". As with most attacks of the enemy, they are much effective if they are subtle. Slothfulness is no different. It creeps in undetected, and we don't observe its toxic effects because, on the surface, everything is ok- the work of the ministry is still going strong, and perhaps we haven't missed a step in our financial giving or our church attendance (things we often look at as the indicators of spiritual health/growth). The writer of Hebrews would later warn them (chapter 10) not to forsake the assembling of themselves together, but chapter 6 reveals that they were currently involved in some type of "ministry" (service to the saints).

Perhaps you are among the slothful today. I realize it's not an appealing concept, but one of the first ways to right your course is to admit that you're going in the wrong direction. The good news is that if you are reading this, and you have a desire to repent of the slothfulness in your life, there is still hope! The practical application that was valid for the first century Messianic Jews is just as good for us living in the 21st century. He says the antithesis of slothfulness is to be "followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises". You and I are not special cases in terms of temptation to be slothful. But we can also look at the great examples of faith (men like Abraham, Joshua, Noah, etc.) and draw great strength by following their examples. Were they perfect? No, Scripture is careful to record even the flaws of these great men and women in the "hall of faith" (Hebrews chapter 11). But they ever continued on with a burning passion to one day see "a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God". Ask God to forgive you of the sin of slothfulness and rekindle the flame of passion for His Kingdom. And in the meantime, take Paul's admonition to Timothy seriously and "stir up the gift of God" that lies within you (some translations render "fan into flame").

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God bless you as you study His Word!

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