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   Bible Classes (10:00 am)

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   Bible Classes (7:35 pm)

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Charlottesville, VA 22901
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Self-Control in an Age of Softness

by Tim Nichols

The vast majority of our ancestors had work to do and, for many, their lives depended upon their doing it.  The need to survive goaded them from their beds in the morning into the fields, forests, farms, and factories.  They knew that destitution would not be far behind their dereliction.  Failure to complete certain tasks would almost certainly have resulted in serious danger for their families.

Necessity fathered invention, hard work, carefulness, and the desire to reach for things beyond their immediate grasp.  The healthy dose of "have to" that was administered to previous generations did them no harm and much good.  We read the story of "The Little Red Hen" and come away with a feeling that the hen's friends would have benefited from a slightly uncomfortable feeling of hunger to nudge them to action.  Many of our ancestors benefited from such a nudge. It is my theory that necessity may have pushed them hard enough to give them enough momentum to also excel in areas beyond those essential to life.

I am typing these words on a word-processor.  Only a few years ago I was amazed to see an electric typewriter.  Prior to that I was impressed with the work of a simple manual typewriter.  But why are all the improvements in technology not producing better people?  And why are better people not producing more and better quality work?  The great Christian literature of previous generations was produced by the very slow processes available to them.  The 40 volumes of the Millennial Harbinger were produced by manually placing each letter in place before cranking the paper through the printing press.  And the man who did this also wrote and edited the material that he printed, and found the time to run a large and profitable farm, and a college, and be involved in important political affairs of his day, and to regularly receive guests, and to guide a large family, and to travel far and wide to preach the gospel of Christ.  Maybe hard times help create great men?  We can at least see that great men are not hindered by hard times.

We are living in "soft" times and they are growing softer with each passing generation.  We can work if we want to or we can choose to rely upon welfare.  We can accomplish enough to "get by" with relative ease.  But, in our time, it takes a special brand of self-control to rise above the crowd and accomplish great things.  The technology that is at our fingertips can occupy our time without advancing our cause or it can be harnessed for good.  Our sense of "have to", in this age of plenty, needs to grow out of our knowledge that life does not end in the grave and therefore  "does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses" (Luke 12:15).  Our hunger and thirst ought to be for righteousness (Matthew 5:6).  This perspective gives us an urgent need to get out of bed in the morning even if we feel assured of having food on our tables, fine clothing to wear, comfortable homes in which to live, and all the other amenities that our soft world has to offer.   There is work to be done in the kingdom of God.  We have more leisure time on our hands than ever before.  Our greatest obstacle is also our greatest opportunity.  Let us resolve to harness this beast and to teach our children how to ride. 

Other Articles by Tim Nichols
What Can be Known Can be Shown
This Stuff Doesn't Belong Under the Table
The Prudent Pause