14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, 1 Thessalonians 5:14a
In the 21st century we live an easy life. If we’re wealthy enough, we could lay by the pool all day and do it all over again the next day. Or we could stay in bed 24/7 since we don’t have to earn a living anymore. But we all know that would not be useful for any of us and we would get restless. You see it all the time with celebrities. They have a lot of idle time on their hands so they go shoplifting or something stupid like that just for attention. They could buy whatever they stole but they like the thrill of doing something so risque and unlawful. And that’s a mile example from that crowd.
Twenty-five years ago I had a conversation with a co-worker about Donald Trump. It basically ended by the other person saying that The Donald makes money which keeps him busy and out of trouble.
Freddie Mercury, late songwriter and front man for the band Queen, when asked what he did with his time since he had enough money. “I write songs. It’s what I do.”
This evening someone on social media said, “Don’t waste all your time with all the nonsense going on right now. Go build something.”
If it’s true for the world, it’s certainly true for the church world we live in. Just as important as it was to pray for the pastorate in your church body, so it’s equally important to avoid idleness within the church. What do I mean by that? When you’re idle, your mind wanders and begins to see what could be better. Then you begin verbalizing what could be better. You are now officially part of the problem. It’s easy to criticize and bellyache about this program or this service, but getting in there to make it better is altogether different.
Likewise, in your personal life, it’s not good to be idle either. As that online social media guy said, “Go build something.” That obviously can have many interpretations but the idea is that building something worthwhile takes time. It could be writing a book or interviewing someone you admire or building a website or memorizing scripture or 10,000 other things. You’re building something in those scenarios. You’re setting tangible goals and chipping away at them. It’s not necessary to be building something 24/7 but being able to go back to something when you have some free time keeps mind mind occupied and you out of trouble.
Go build something.