Scripture does not single out special condemnation for the seven deadly sins of anger, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride, and sloth. But these seven sins capture our attention because they span a wide range of common attitudes and passions that are the source so much wickedness and suffering. These seven sins also stand in contrast to the world’s view of what should be condemned and what should be celebrated. Many writers, entertainers, and thinkers have praised these seven sins as honorable and worth pursuing. For example, a famous monologue in the 1987 movie “Wall Street” has the line, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good." From Tom Robbins, an American novelist, “Of the seven deadly sins, lust is definitely the pick of the litter.” From Euripides, an ancient Greek playwright, “I feel no shame in loving myself above all.” From Dave Mustaine, lead guitarist of the band Metallica, “The Bible and several other self-help or enlightenment books cite the Seven Deadly Sins. … That pretty much covers everything that we do, that is sinful ... or fun for that matter.”
The list of ‘deadly sins’ has changed over the centuries, but perhaps none of these sins is more different from its original description than the sin of sloth, formerly acedia. We generally think of sloth as laziness, procrastination, and avoiding anything strenuous. But Dante, the 14th century Italian poet, wrote that acedia is the "failure to love God with all one's heart, all one's mind and all one's soul." Acedia is a spiritual indifference that has been called the noonday devil, and is a combination of weariness, sadness, a lack of purpose, and joylessness. Mishka, a reggae musician from Bermuda, has said that “acedia is sorrow so complete that the flesh prevails completely over the spirit. You don’t just turn your back on the world, you turn your back on God. You don’t care, and you don’t care that you don’t care.“ Acedia is often masked with everyday busyness, various distractions, and religious hypocrisy, hiding a spiritual emptiness.
When we look to God’s Word, we find spiritual indifference repeatedly and strongly condemned. Lukewarm faith was severely judged at Laodicea but went largely unnoticed in this first-century church due to their wealth, prosperity, and self-sufficiency. (Revelation 3) When Jesus visited Martha and Mary, He rebuked Martha for being “anxious and troubled about many things” and busying herself with serving the crowd instead of spending time with Jesus as Mary did. (Luke 10) Jesus repeatedly pronounced woes on the Jewish religious leaders who excelled in legalism, self-righteousness, and religious hypocrisy while “neglecting the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.” (Matthew 23) We are warned that on judgment day, many people who prophesized, cast out demons, and did many other mighty works will be shocked and stunned that Jesus “never knew them” as they are denied heaven and sent to hell. Religious busyness deceives many into believing they are Jesus’ disciples while their hearts remain indifferent to His call to bear fruit. (Matthew 7).
God’s blessings and happiness are reserved for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. (Matthew 5) Thirst and hunger are natural, recurring impulses for the necessities of life, ranging from waiting an extra 15 minutes for lunch to a deadly famine. Jesus is using the imagery of genuine, desperate thirst and needy, suffering hunger. The paradox is that God’s blessings both satisfies those who strongly desire righteousness and increases the desire for more grace, holiness, and hatred of sin. Jesus is the Bread of Life and the Living Water; the basics for satisfying our most basic and our greatest spiritual desires. If our hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness is not what is used to be or should be, we might be caught in the sin of acedia. If so, we’re not alone. May we repent and confess our spiritual indifference.