Wasting Time!

Wasting time is usually not a planned event. It just happens. Good intentions are set aside and an "I don’t care" spirit overrides better designs. The effect of parental example drove industry, productivity and Christian time management deep into the core my person, the place where values are formed and from which life patterns flow. In church the preacher reminded us, sometimes excessively, of 2 Corinthians 5:10, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." I think that if my pastor were preaching in today’s computer-driven culture, he would convince us we all are wearing a monitor linked to God’s master hard drive. God would be reviewing wasted time data and employing corrective measures.

Maybe the idea of a heavenly super computer isn’t too far-fetched! Is it possible that Baby Boomers, the generation that benefitted most directly from their parents’ hard work and unselfish generosity, have grown slack? It is easy to conclude, "It’s time for me! I have worked for more than 40 years, paid for my house, put the children through college, saved and now I am going to enjoy myself!" Even Christian publications allow the spirit of self-entitlement to thrive uncontested. (I wonder, is it because Christian ministries know who is most likely to contribute and are too smart to offend their financial support base?) Sloth comes from the root thought, "I don’t care!" Indolence creeps in slowly, sluggishly, sleepily. Minutes slowly become hours, hours turn into an evening, and after a few evenings one is disqualified, too late to present the application, to write a resume, or to do the simple good deed which could comfort, heal and instill hope.

Israel slipped into "I don’t care." Sloth overtook industry. An evening of ease became eight years of Godlessness under Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, a brutal Baal-worshiping pagan (Judges 3:8). It took that long before anyone suggested, "This is intolerable! Let’s call out to our God for deliverance."

Once the slippery slope of the spirit of "I don’t care enough to . . ." seeps into the place where values form, one discovers, there is no ladder to climb out. We need help. Israel called out after 18 wasted years. "The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years." (Judges 3:14) Children born in year one were making college applications without knowing a day of freedom! Judges 9 records, "Because he had 900 iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the LORD for help." Think of it, it took 20 meandering, useless, "I don’t care enough to . . ." years before an Israeli began seeking for a way out of the deadly malaise of waste.

It happens! Waste is not planned, it creeps in under the cover of entitlement thinking, and selfish interests left unchallenged. My upbringing was severe by today’s standards, wasting time was a major sin. Most recreation was suspect. Amusements were chosen carefully. Accountability was a reality and we were frequently reminded of the judgment seat of Christ. The pendulum appears to have swung to correct a few excesses, but may have gone too far!