The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside!" or, "I will be murdered in the streets!" (Proverbs 22:13 NIV)
This statement immediately raises an important question for some of us: "What is a 'sluggard'?" Fortunately, dictionary.com provides a quick answer:
sluggard (n.): a person who is habitually inactive or lazy
From this, we can infer at least two things: 1) Lazy people use extraordinary excuses to justify their laziness. 2) Justifiable fear can cause otherwise active people to become inactive.
I have seen this played out in a great number of ways. I have seen perfectly healthy men justify not looking for work. I have seen women justify not leaving their abusive husband or boyfriend. I have seen addicts justify their habits. In this article, I'd like to focus on this passage as it pertains to doing the work of God. The following is an Aesop's fable entitled "The Son and the Painted Lion".
There was a timid old man who was afraid of his only son's passion for hunting, for the son was full of courage. In a dream he saw that his son would be killed by a lion. Dreading that the dream would come true, the father built a dwelling for his son of great magnificence, set in a high place where he could keep his eye on him. In order to distract and please him, he had commissioned for his chamber paintings of every kind of animal, and among these was a lion. But looking at all these did not distract the young man from his boredom.
One day, he approached the painting and cursed the lion in it:
'You damned beast, it's because of you and my father's lying dream that I am cooped up here in this prison for women. What can I do to you?'
And, as he said this, he struck his fist against the wall to blind the lion. But a splinter got lodged under his fingernail and he could not get it out. This became greatly inflamed, brought on a fever and swelled up to an enormous size. The fever raged so fiercely that the young man died of it.
The lion, even though it was only a painted one, had indeed killed the young man, just as his father had foreseen.
I am a member of a team of young people that ministers to people on the streets of Hollywood late at night. The people we encounter mostly include prostitutes and pimps, club goers, drug addicts and dealers, alcoholics, and homosexuals and transgenders looking for partners. The sidewalks, as you can see, are littered with people breaking the law. It is not uncommon to see people arrested or see the private security guards clear out the local donut shop. There are guns, drugs, diseases, knives, and needles. The roads aren't much better. I estimate that there is an average of two accidents per night in our tiny little stretch of road during our three-to-four-hour ministry time, mostly involving intoxicated drivers.
Despite all this, our team comes out every week seeking to save lives. Our time with people on the streets is limited and their life, as broken as it is, is all they know so we are often met with disappointment. Fortunately, by God's grace and power, we have had several successes over the years. We have helped addicts go clean, prostitutes, dealers and pimps get respectable jobs, and homeless people find homes. Even if we had had only one success story, we would consider our ministry to be a success.
Those of us who walk these streets are well aware of the lions that surround us. They are very present and real. The psalmist describes our posture perfectly when he states, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." (Psalm 23:4 NIV)
Not everyone sees things the way that we do though. Many people -including the parents, other relatives and friends of our team members- think we are crazy. They believe that we are unnecessarily risking our safety. On a brighter note, some do believe that we are doing a good work, but they would much rather support us from a distance instead of putting their own selves at risk. I often hear, "I wish I could join you guys, but..."
The Aesop fable re-told above speaks in regards to parents who foolishly try to protect their children from harm while exposing them to some unforeseen danger elsewhere. I do not know exactly what "unforeseen danger" would apply if some parent were to try to pull their college-age child out of our team, but I do know at least three sets of parents who are terrified of their child being on the streets with us doing the work of God. They are not lazy parents and they don't want their kids to be lazy either. They are sincerely concerned for their child.
The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!" (Proverbs 26:13 NIV)
but Jesus says,
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26 NIV)
and
"The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." (John 12:25 NIV)
Wow, Jesus makes some rather bold statements! Parents are one thing, but what about you personally? If you have been called to some ministry but haven't approached it yet, what's holding you back? What are you afraid of?
