On a quiet, disentangled life
Aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.
— The Apostle Paul, 1 Thessalonians 4.11-12
Biblical Christianity, properly lived out, has always been counter-cultural, whether in the by-gone days of Christendom or in the nominally-Christian American culture in which many of us grew up. The difference between Christianity lived and the life epitomized, encouraged, and admired by our culture, however, has never been greater than it is today. While Scripture clearly does not call us to a life of isolated quietism, it also does not permit us to get dragged (or drag ourselves) into the swap that describes most of our culture and the ways in which we interact with it.
We would do well to reflect on what a disentangled life characterized by quiet, intentional labor would look life and how we can live that out in the midst of the bitter clamor and true laziness that describe so much of our culture.