Sloth
“Sloth” is the name typically given to one of the seven deadly sins. The name immediately conjures in our mind the image of the very slow moving animal, the sloth. This name seems to suggest that this sin is all about being lazy. If we want to escape God’s judgment, then, we had better be hard workers.
However, such a conception of the sin of “sloth” is not entirely accurate. The term that St. Thomas Aquinas used for this sin was actually “sadness” (tristitia).[1]St. Thomas Aquinas. The Summa Theologica, Volume II. Translated by Father Laurence Shapcote. Great Books of the Western World, Volume 18. (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1990), page 176. Elsewhere, he uses the term acedia, which could be translated as “apathy.” Aquinas defines this sin as “a sluggishness of the mind which neglects to begin good,” or “a sorrow for spiritual good.”[2]Aquinas, page 563.
Thus, the sin of “sloth” is not really about physical laziness per se. Rather, it is a mental or spiritual sin. It is a spiritual melancholy or apathy that expresses a lack of fervor for doing the good that God asks of us. Unlike the other six deadly sins, sloth is a sin of omission, rather than a sin of commission. It consists in being distracted from desiring God and seeking to do His will.
This, obviously, is incompatible with genuine love for God, since, if we truly love God, we will have a fervent desire to do His will. Thus, sloth, or acedia, is a deadly sin.
Now, it is certainly the case that the sin of sloth can often manifest itself in physical laziness. Thus, being lazy can be sinful. The book of Proverbs warns against the foolishness of being lazy (Prov 10:4, 12:27, 26:15) and endorses the wisdom of hard work (14:23). The New Testament, as well, calls Christians to work hard (Acts 20:35; Col 3:23; 1 Cor 4:12; 2 Cor 6:5, 11:23; 1 Thess 2:9; Rev 2:2). However, it is important to note that the hard work commended by the New Testament is not hard physical or economic work for its own sake; it is working hard for the advancement of the Gospel and the building of God’s Kingdom.
While laziness can often be sinful, Christianity does not necessarily commend hard work for its own sake. In fact, ceaselessly working hard can sometimes itself be an expression of sin. Like sloth, hard work can also distract us from desiring God and from seeking to do the work that God wants us to do. We can often work hard and diligently out of impure, sinful motives, such as greed. Even when we think we are working for the sake of God and His Church, ceaseless hard work can be an expression of spiritual pride and lack of true reliance on God.
Sabbath
It is quite significant that one of the Ten Commandments God gave His people was to stop working an entire day out of every week. God commanded the Israelites to observe a weekly Sabbath to the LORD, during which they were to do no work. The LORD’s day, the day of the week devoted to God, was not a day of hard work, but a day of rest.
The Torah provides two distinct rationales for the day of Sabbath rest. In Exodus, the explanation given is, “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (20:11). In Deuteronomy, the explanation given is “so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day” (5:14-15).
On the one hand, Sabbath is grounded in the nature of God and the nature of His created order. On the other hand, Sabbath is grounded in the nature of human beings as being in need of regular rest, and the concern of social justice that servants be treated well. For both reasons, the Israelites were to take the Sabbath very seriously, and there were severe penalties for breaking the Sabbath (Numb 15). While Christians are not required to strictly keep Sabbath according to the letter of the Law, Sabbath is obviously a very important principle that we are still required to follow.
The Romans criticized Jews as being “lazy” for only working six days a week. Sabbath, however, is not about “laziness.” It is about expressing trust in and devotion to God. When we ceaselessly work, it can express a lack of trust that God is in control and will take care of us. It can also express a spiritually prideful attitude that it is “up to us” and that we can accomplish everything through our own efforts. When we regularly take Sabbath rest, however, we show our trust in God and place everything in His hands. We take time for prayer and worship, allowing us to refocus on God, instead of being distracted from Him by our work. The world may consider such spiritual practices as “useless” distractions from doing “real” good work, but Christians know that these spiritual practices lie at the heart of what all true ethics is actually about.
This, then, is the difference between sloth and Sabbath. Sloth turns us away from God and the good work that He wants us to do. Sabbath turns us to God, refreshes us, and reorients our work so that it truly becomes the good work that God wants us to do.