Laziness: The Latest Plague in England

In a sobering commentary for The Telegraph, journalist Philip Johnston lamented on the trend he sees in Britain—working-age adults choosing to live on welfare rather than working. The number of British citizens who choose not to work is at an all-time high. Ninety percent of farm laborers are immigrants, and still there are not enough workers to keep fruit from rotting in British fields. Net migration in 2022 was about 1 million, many of whom were brought in to fill vacant UK jobs—jobs that many unemployed people could take but chose not to. Efforts to recruit UK citizens to work on farms or in the service industry, or even in certain trades, have more or less failed. Yet, foreign workers are pouring in and willing to work.

Bible prophecy warns that at the end of the age, the citizens of many of the Israelite-descended nations will descend “lower and lower,” while foreigners will rise “higher and higher” (Deuteronomy 28:43). God also warned, “You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them” (v. 39). Britain is not alone, and the peoples of many prosperous modern nations will feel the impact of this prophecy, as more and more otherwise capable men and women grow content to live on the public dole instead of doing their part.

Many who live in the most blessed nations of the earth find that a society filled with ease and plenty is too often also an environment where laziness can abound. In contrast, the Apostle Paul admonished first-century Christians tempted to laziness and unwilling to work, “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). In the future, the biblical principle will be a powerful motivator against laziness—a trait God condemns throughout the Bible. To learn more, read our commentary “Fools, Sluggards, and Liars.”