The Rubbery Bones of the Lazy, June 11, 2025.

Introduction.

In just a minute, I will have a thought experiment for you.

Like all cultures, our culture generalizes, but we've been trained to generalize about poverty in an exculpatory way.

In other words, our default assumptions about poverty routinely tend to exclude the factors

created by the poor themselves. We tend to think of them as primarily unfortunate instead of

primarily, say, irresponsible. Now, of course, there are other circumstances that bring in poverty.

The oppression of the rich can do it. James 5.4.

The judgments of God can do it. Amos 4.6. No one should ever argue that the solitary cause

of poverty in every time and in every place is the laziness or irresponsibility of the poor.

This is not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. But in many cases, according to Scripture,

personal irresponsibility

is the culprit. So here's the thought experiment. Suppose you were talking to someone about

their neighbors down the road, folks who were living from hand to mouth, and that person said,

their problem is that they are just lazy through and through. They could really make something

of that place if they just got up and did it. But all her brothers are fit for

is stealing watermelons out of my truck patch. If your internal flinch is to start to say,

well, it isn't always so simple, then I believe you are very much out of step with the

Book of Proverbs. And our Proverbs exhibit the same outlook. Proverbual wisdom is not at all shy

about saying it could be raining porridge and Henry would have forgot his

his bowl. Or Billy was like Ludlam's dog who had to lean his head against the wall to bark.

If we look at the wisdom contained in Proverbs, we are going to learn a great deal. But we will find

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