Are you guilty of “Quiet Quitting” 

in your spiritual life?

 

Is anyone familiar with the term “quiet quitting”?

It seems to be a term that is coming up quite frequently of late in conversation, news articles and social media. In fact, the hashtag #Quietquitting has racked up an astronomical number of views. Over 17 million views according to one source.

It is basically the practice of doing the minimum amount of work required for one’s job. It is mentally and emotionally checking out from your job, putting in little effort and enthusiasm, not agreeing to do extra tasks you feel are not in your job description. It is essentially doing the bare minimum needed to keep your job.

The term doesn’t refer to actually quitting your job, but you reduce your productivity and the amount of work you perform, without notifying your employer, slowly decreasing the things you don’t think you should do, or feel are above and beyond what you think the job deserves and requires.

Quiet quitters don’t take their job too seriously, they take time out often, are less motivated, dissatisfied and expect more pay for any extra work done and don’t believe in overtime!

Quiet quitting is often taken on by those dissatisfied in the workplace because of burnout or disengagement or simply deprioritizing work in favour of other things in life.

It is quite simply pure, unadulterated, LAZINESS! Selfish, slothful, laziness!’

Don’t get me wrong. I wholeheartedly believe that we need to balance our work life and our personal life and not become workaholics, money driven, no rest, no breaks type workers.

But in the last couple of years, there seems to be an abundance of lackadaisical people in the workplace, addicted to pleasure and only pleasing themselves, customer service has gone out the window and general politeness along with it. It’s a sad and sorry state of affairs to see so many people, young and old, with a poor work ethic and a desire to withdraw socially into self-centred activities and disengagement.  

So why am I talking about this on a blog that focuses on growth in your Christian walk and relationship with Christ?

I have become increasingly aware that many Christians are ‘quiet quitting’ their spiritual life.

What do I mean by that? I believe that many Christians are content to do the bare minimum when it comes to their Christian walk.

They are content to attend a Sunday morning service, once a week, read a nice 3-minute devotional, some quaint inspirational quotes based on Scripture, a Psalm for the day if they have time up their sleeve and carry on, knowing they have a place in Heaven, but with no desire to further the gospel in their part of the world or build their relationship and knowledge of the Lord.

They lack enthusiasm to read their Bibles with more than a cursory glance. They have no desire to dig deeper into the Word of God, studying and meditating on the truths and promises found there. There is no passion for the lost, no passion for a deeper, more meaningful relationship with the Lord, no inclination for service in God’s work and no longing to spend time with God’s people, fellowshipping and encouraging each other.

Now I know that there are many who are passionate in their Christian walk and have a fervency about them, and I am so glad that we are blessed to be one of that number or know many who are.

But it is sad to see that in general, as we look around our churches and listen in on the conversations held after the service, there is an apathy towards spiritual matters.

Bible illiteracy is at an all time high. People just don’t read their Bibles. And as a result, they don’t know their Bibles.  Or they focus on only the ‘likeable’, more popular passages.

In the book of Timothy, we read many instructions from Paul to Timothy. One of these is found in verse 13.

1 Timothy 4:13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

In this verse, Paul encourages Timothy to read. And I don’t think he was thinking of news articles and social media posts. In addition to what we read, and we do need to be informed, we need to make sure we are reading our Bibles and not only reading but studying.

We should desire to become students of the Word. I recently taught a Bible study lesson on a particular verse in 2 Timothy.

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

I unpacked it, word for word, and we looked into exactly what was meant by study here in this context. It was interesting to learn that the word ‘study’ here in this verse (used 11 times in the Bible), translates in the Greek as Spoudazo. Which has the meaning of endeavour, do diligence, be diligent, give diligence, labour. To exert oneself. To make effort. To strive. Be earnest. To hasten.

Maybe in a future post, I will be able to share more of what God taught me, but needless to say, I was more convinced than ever of the need to be in the Word of God. Soaking and saturating my soul with it, meditating on it, studying it, digging into it. Observing, interpreting and applying it.

We need to rid ourselves of the ‘quiet quitting’ mindset. In our workplaces, in our home lives, but ESPECIALLY in our spiritual lives.

We can’t live fruitful, abundant, blessed lives if we quit on God!

There are many verses in the Bible that exhort us to give our all to Christ and be fervent and passionate about our Christian walk.

Luke 10:27 KJV - And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

Jeremiah 29:13 KJV - And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Notice the phrase “all your heart”? That doesn’t sound like quiet quitting, does it? It sounds like passion. It sounds like fervency. It sounds like someone who puts in great effort. It sounds like someone with some enthusiasm.  

Have a look at this passage in Romans. If this isn’t a passage that goes totally against quiet quitting, then I don’t know what is!

Romans 12:9-16 - 9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; 11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; 12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; 13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. 14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. 15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. 16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

A love without pretence. Kind. Not lazy in business – well there’s a pretty direct command against quiet quitting right there! Passionate. A servant. Patient. Hospitable. Turning the other cheek. Rejoicing together. Being likeminded. Humble.

It just goes on and on. The Bible encourages us to be good workers. There are countless verses to mention here, but I will draw your attention to a very familiar one.

2 Thessalonians 3:10-11, 13 - 10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. ... 13 But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.

The Bible is pretty clear that if you don’t work, you shouldn’t eat! Ouch. And yet another blow to the quiet quitters.

But back to our spiritual lives and where our passions should lie.

Psalm 119 is one of the best Psalms in the Bible in regard to the Word of God and its importance in our lives. Over and over, you find verses that sing the praises of God’s Word and a love for the words of Scripture.

Psalm 119:97 O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

I want to sing along with the Psalmist this beautiful verse. I long to grow a desire in my heart and soul that craves the Word of God and that wants nothing more than to meditate on it day and night.

I don’t want to be satisfied with a surface Christianity, a watered-down version of faith-based living, a lazy reader of the Word, with a neglect for study, a skim reader of only popular passages.

NO! I want to live an abundant Christian life. And that means I have to get serious about living for him. I have to get serious about serving him. I have to get serious about studying his Word. Pouring over every letter. Squeezing every last drop out of what I read and applying it to my life, letting God purify me and make me more like him.

If you have lost your zeal and passion for Christ and his Word, if you’ve lost the desire to feed on his Word daily and fellowship with other believers or share the gospel with a lost world, then maybe your wood is wet!

Maybe you need to throw some more wood on the fire, stoke up the coals, turn up the heat and burn brightly for Christ.

John Wesley once said, “Set yourself on fire, and men will come to watch you burn”.

Don’t quiet quit on God. Don’t let your passion for his Word die down. Don’t let your joy of fellowship decrease. Don’t be content to only feed on what others teach you about what the Word of God says. Look into it for yourself. Read it. Study it. Share it.

Don’t mentally and spiritually check out on God. Don’t let your enthusiasm for him waver. Don’t be content with putting the bare minimum amount of effort into your relationship with God. Yes, you can be secure in the knowledge that you will spend eternity in Heaven but don’t let that make you feel free to be apathetic towards the commands in Scripture.  

Don’t be a ‘meh’ Christian. Shrugging the shoulders, indifferent to God and others, neglecting the reading of God’s Word, going with the flow of passive, illiterate, half-hearted Christians.

A quiet quitter Christian is a lukewarm Christian, and we know how God feels about that!

Revelation 3:15-16 KJV - I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Don’t be a quiet quitter!

Resolve to follow Christ with all your heart. Not some. But all!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Seek him with all your heart

Love him with all your heart

Praise him with all your heart

Follow him with all your heart

Serve him with all your heart

And live out his will with all your heart

And do it with fervency! And with passion! And zeal!

With ALL YOUR HEART!

 

Colossians 3:23

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily,

as to the Lord, and not unto men;