Aesop’s fable of an animal race with an unexpected winner illustrates the virtue of methodical diligence on the part of the tortoise and warns of the dangers of the hare’s overconfidence leading him to sleep on the job. In Part One we defined sloth, the sin of laziness, and explored how we might define work. In this second part, we explore the difference between sloth and rest, examine how technology might make us lazy, and end with a look at technological diligence.
The modern workaholic world does not like rest:
- We will not rest until we succeed
- You need to give 110%
- No rest for the weary
There seems to be no room for anything besides our work. The corporate world expects us to work long and hard for our pay. Ironically, often such work is in service to a master who derives a monetary benefit from our labor, providing the master a life of leisure. The worker also deserves rest, for rest has a purpose.
The Purpose of Rest
Scripture tells us to work, but it also tells us to rest. God sets the rhythm of work and rest in the creation story, laboring for six days and resting on the seventh. But surely an omnipotent God did not need physical relief from heavy exertion, so then it seems that rest serves a broader goal. Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer went so far as to identify the seventh day of Sabbath as “the meaning and goal of the week and its toil.” (Life Together, p 68)
God recognized our creaturely need for rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation, ordaining a cycle of work and rest in the Sabbath day and in the year of Jubilee. Taking a breather, stopping for a break, taking a vacation -- these are all legitimate forms of self-care that do not constitute sloth. Resting after labor provides the opportunity to look back and take satisfaction from our work. Rest is necessary for rejuvenation, for re-creation of ourselves to restore health and energy. This kind of rest may take the form of sleeping or relaxing repose.
Another kind of rest does not appear to be rest at all at first glance. Our leisure time can also take the form of play or self-improvement, whether by active exercise or intellectual pursuits. This kind of rest can appear to be hard work, but it still serves a restorative purpose.
Rest is also necessary in order to worship. “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) Worship may look like rest to the outside observer, but it is also active dialog with God. We might be in prayer, or quietly reading and meditating on his word. These are all appropriate forms of rest that are not sinful sloth.
Since all these forms of rest are warranted and even ordained by our creator, then lack of activity, by itself, cannot be the sin of sloth. Sloth is not equivalent to rest. Rest is always balanced with work. When we avoid legitimate work our rest becomes illegitimate. Taking a permanent break is no longer rest -- it is sloth. Consider two examples: winning the lottery and taking retirement.
Any “get rich quick” scheme is a shortcut that should signal laziness. On the day that I passed my doctoral defense after several grueling years of hard work and research, on a whim I bought a lottery ticket for the first (and last) time in my life. That evening I watched the numbers pop up on little ping-pong balls that dropped into the slots. When two of my numbers matched in the first three drops, my heart raced a bit -- I only needed three numbers to win a little prize and five numbers would make me rich! Yet no more matched. My disappointment lasted only a moment and then the impulse to go buy another ticket hit me strongly. I was so close; the next ticket would surely be a winner. Thus, I learned how easily one can be drawn into gambling. Looking back, I am glad that I did not strike it rich. My hard work towards the Ph.D. would have become meaningless without the motivation to put it to use. I had pursued the degree in the first place because I felt called to teach, and I returned that fall to Calvin University to teach in the engineering program. That lottery ticket would have quickly subverted God’s will for me. Gambling has the allure of the shortcut to life’s rewards without the prerequisite work.
Is retirement a form of sloth? Perhaps. Like the lumberjack that uses the labor savings of the chainsaw to simply take naps most of the day, retirement that is purely self-indulgent slumber strays into sloth. Retirement might seem like the excuse to take a permanent break. However, retirement can also enable self-directed creativity, giving of one’s gifts and talents to noble causes, and spending quality time with friends and family. This is good and admirable work -- unpaid -- but work nonetheless.
Does Technology Make Us Lazy?
Isn’t it interesting that only humans can be lazy? Even when machines or animals are idle, we do not consider them lazy. Though machines are not capable of laziness, they might be enablers.
To be clear, technology can aid legitimate rest. A playlist of favorite music quickly calms nerves. A fan or sound machine provides white noise to help us sleep uninterrupted. A brainteaser puzzle app improves our deductive skills in a playful manner. A riverboat lets us cruise through vistas filled with natural beauty and river towns with cultural charm. Another example is modern wearables. My wife and I both have an Apple watch that helps remind us to exercise, to take mindful deep breaths, and to stand up after sitting too long. The watch does not lull us into sloth nor does it overtake our lives, it simply is a tool to help us improve our physical health. Oh, and it also tells time.
Almost all of us in the modern world have access to a wide array of labor-saving technology. Like the lumberjack with the chainsaw, we are given the freedom to choose how to invest those savings.
Like the napping lumberjack turning to leisure with his labor-savings, it is not legitimate rest when we abdicate our responsibilities as stewards of creation. Labor savings need not eliminate labor -- it can redirect it to higher purposes. Technology is a tool that can amplify and augment our work as stewards, image-bearers, and disciples.
Seeking Technological Diligence
While technology might encourage the vice of sloth, we can also find ways that it can encourage the virtue of diligence. One way to brainstorm about how that might happen is to tackle some of the reasons one might fall into laziness.
We let fear become an excuse to avoid duty: “The sluggard says, ‘There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!’” (Proverbs 22:13) There is not likely a lion outside our door, but we might fall into sloth because we simply don’t know where to start on a big project and we fear failing. Technology can help us overcome fear. A quick search of the web can yield some ideas or even a step-by-step breakdown of similar projects. We can easily use tech to instant message informally with colleagues or friends to get ideas and encouragement. For example, on an afternoon when I was working on this blog, my son did a quick FaceTime chat with me to discuss the wiring of a replacement closet light pull chain switch. He did not fear starting the project because he knew he could Google for help or video chat with his father.
We might fall into sloth because we lack motivation for the task. Perhaps the task seems like drudgery or because the boss is making us do it. Technology can help us here as well. First, menial tasks can often be automated through tech. Designing that automation and seeing it work can add a burst of creative motivation and will often result in higher efficiency overall for the business. Second, our interconnected world provides opportunities to escape mind-numbing, degrading jobs. The gig economy provides more options, giving you more control over what work you choose to do.
Ironically, labor-saving technology winds up creating more labor. For example, we buy smartphones to organize our lives, only to spend more time updating and configuring the apps. Technology thus gives the appearance of staying busy, but this is an illusion, not real work that honors God. Our busy lives do not always seem fulfilling, because we are spending more time serving the machine and serving the bureaucracy than serving God and neighbor.
Careful discernment is important while developing technology so that we design for diligence, not busyness. The vast majority of the engineers I know are like Emily from Part 1. They work hard and are proud of their work. While you might not often be guilty of the sin of sloth, I hope this exploration of one of the deadly sins and its connection to technology has spurred some creative thoughts about how you might use or even develop technology that enhances diligence, thereby enhancing human dignity and glorifying God.
“We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” (Hebrews 6:12)
