Lazy, Useless Christians

2 Peter 1:8
For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I am writing this entry because I see a great shortcoming in the teaching and preaching in many contemporary evangelical churches. From my reading and experience, the vast majority of what is presented as Bible teaching misses Peter’s emphasis in this passage entirely. The title of this entry – “Lazy, Useless Christians” – is not so much an assessment of the level of commitment among believers as it is an indictment of the pastors and teachers for failing to equip the saints.

To see how I’ve come to that evaluation, look closely at 2 Peter 1:8. You must not miss the underlying reality that Peter is addressing. “Be neither barren nor unfruitful.” Notice that Peter makes this statement in the negative. He does that in order to emphasize a timeless and fundamental problem with Christians. That problem is that Christians of Peter’s day just as well as professing Christians today tend to become barren and fruitless.

Before I examine Peter’s solution to the problem, I need to point out some interesting subtleties of the word Peter uses for “barren.” The Greek word translated “barren” is ἀργός / argos which literally translated means “lazy, shunning the labour which one ought to perform (Strong; Thayer).” According to the lexicographer Thayer, this is a contraction of the word aergon made up of the word for “work,” ergon, with a negative particle prefix, thus it means literally “no work.” In common usage, the word was used to describe a field that was fallow, untilled, and unplanted. When used to refer to people it was referring to their being idle and hence lazy.

Peter’s point is that the way to avoid being useless and fruitless is to have “these things” in abundance in one’s life. What I described in my January 1, 2009, entry details the things Peter refers to in verse 8 (What It Means To Be Deliberately Christian).

Peter makes this statement in the negative because he realized that the negative of being barren and unfruitful is the norm for Christians. Knowing this, Peter establishes this condition as the barometer of vitality and effectiveness in having incorporated the qualities of effective faith he had listed earlier.

So as a teacher, I must impress on you, my reader, the inescapable necessity that you constantly evaluate your diligence in service for the Lord and His work and your fruitfulness in that work. If the Holy Spirit leads you to find any deficiency in your service, the first place you must direct your attention is to insure that you are growing daily in the seven qualities to be added to the faith you profess – your moral virtue, knowledge of Christ, temperance, endurance, piety, brotherly kindness, and godly love.

In conclusion, let me ask you the question I ask myself, does your life and work reflect a full level of Christian service and a measurable spiritual harvest?