Killing the Noonday Demon
From time to time, folks will ask me, "What's essential to plant a church?"
That's easy — "Faith! With faith, each day is a grand adventure with Jesus; without it, your days turn into a living hell."
Because doubt whispers:
Will we get fully funded?
Will people commit?
Will we make it, or will it all crash and burn?
The result of doubt is worry, worry, worry.
The more I answer that church planting question, the more convinced I become of this general principle — Faith in Jesus transforms how we experience life.
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20 (emphasis added)
Faith is essential for all our lives — if we're planting a church, working in the marketplace, chasing kids, or stewarding singleness. Yet an enemy desires to sabotage our faith, and the enemy is not doubt.
Faith's Enemy
We assume doubt is faith's enemy. And be assured doubt is always present, as John Calvin once observed, "Faith is always tinged with doubt."
While doubt for sure opposes faith, sloth historically holds the title as the vice that seeks to attack, corrupt, and undo our faith.
Perhaps, a slow-moving, ugly-yet-adorable creature just popped into your mind. Or better yet, my favorite scene from Zootopia, where all the government workers are sloths.
(Apologies to any government workers reading this; I pray God's grace upon you to not take yourself too seriously).
We caricature sloth as a man or woman languishing in laziness, but there's much more under the hood of this vice.
Of course, laziness is part of sloth, but an attitude drives our inaction. If we ignore sloth's attitude, then we can deceive ourselves — specifically, in a busyness culture.
We think I'm not slothful because all day, every day, I'm making money, earning degrees, building friendships, conquering fitness, and crushing rest with some Netflix.
Yet, you can be busy with sloth’s knife to your throat because of sloth's attitude of despair. Sloth slows down the soul with melancholy because it wonders if all this effort is worth it.
Sloth's despair attacks faith's core attitude that God is trustworthy and that we can depend — and even expect — Him to be good to us (Hebrews 11:6).
Busyness Culture and The Noonday Demon
While the weariness of our fast-paced society is new, souls have been restless since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit.
Evagrius Ponticus, a 4th Century desert father, named sloth the noonday demon, saying it attacked his fellow monks between ten and two. And his observations sound a lot like what we call FOMO (fear of missing out).
Evagrius described sloth's attack as follows:
Monks get bored with their work, questioning if it matters.
They get fidgety looking out the window, unable to focus.
They become displeased with their present moment and place.
They become increasingly lonely, even if surrounded by people.
They long for different places and different experiences.
The listlessness of sloth is a silent killer. Unlike the overt attacks of other vices — like lust, anger, or gluttony — sloth wears us down where we were once passionate and driven.
This is particularly dangerous when it comes to ministry.
Our once bright love for people wanes after being hurt one too many times.
Our joy over introducing people to Jesus diminishes after watching another person leave the faith.
Our energy level to sacrificially serve decreases after another volunteer quits, and you find yourself looking again for a replacement.
The monotony, setbacks, busyness, and obscure nature of ministry become the bait for a noonday demon attack — where we whisper to ourselves in quiet despair, "Is all this really worth my blood, sweat, and tears?"
Killing the Noonday Demon
What do you do if you find yourself despairing and questioning the significance of your work and calling?
First, recognize you're under attack.
Sloth doesn't attack you head-on, but it stabs you in the back like a ninja assassin. The despair you feel has a name. Call it what it is and bring it out of the shadows.
Signs your under attack:
You despair and question the point of your work.
You procrastinate by doing non-essential tasks.
You daydream about bigger and better opportunities somewhere else.
You stop caring about the people you serve.
Second, fight back!
Since sloth attacks the attitude of faith (trusting God is good and for us), anything we can do to strengthen our gratitude helps strengthen our faith.
Keep a daily gratitude journal.
Practice a weekly sabbath.
Pray Psalms of thanksgiving.
Talk to trustworthy friends about your despair, and listen when they speak into it.
Celebrate with others when they experience God's goodness, especially if you feel down.
Gratitude refocuses us on God's goodness displayed toward us in Christ. And over time, gratitude can slay sloth's despair, reminding us that our work is worth the effort.
What's Essential for Life?
With faith in Jesus, you can view each day as an adventure with God.
Faith opens your eyes to your Father, who is omnibenevolent (James 1:17).
Faith helps you see Jesus clearly as the one who laid down his life for you because He loves you more than you can comprehend (Ephesians 5:2).
Faith reveals the invisible, unstoppable work of the Spirit, who helps, encourages, counsels, convicts, and cocoons you in your identity as God's child (John 14:26).
Faith empowers you to trust that all your work — yes, even your monotonous ministry — is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).
By this faith, let's kill that noonday demon.
Rusty McKie is the founding and lead pastor of Sojourn Community Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is a husband and father of three. He is the creator of the Pause to Reset Newsletter and writes regularly at rustymckie.com.
