Quiet Quitting Christianity

If you spend any time on the internet, you’ve probably heard about “quiet quitters.” This is a relatively new term describing a very old practice. Quiet quitters do the bare minimum on their job. Just enough to get by, but not an ounce of effort more than that. These employees are mentally and emotionally disengaged.

So what does this have to do with you and me and our relationship with Christ? Everything!

Most of us know at least one person who made a profession of faith as a child and was committed to living out their faith. But over the years the draw of the world caused them to give the bare minimum to their relationship with Jesus. Now they’re living with one foot in the world and their loved ones are wondering what happened.

Or what about the person who was hurt by other Christians, either individually or by a toxic church environment? They’ve disconnected themselves from the body of Christ. Content with listening to sermons on podcasts or television, they hold other Christians at arm’s length, lest they be hurt again.

Then there’s the busy, successful, over-committed Christian who has said yes to a dozen different ministries. How does this person meet the definition of a quiet quitter? They’re spread so thin that their heart isn’t in any of those ministries. They’re doing the minimum in each because they don’t have time to deeply commit to any one thing—much like the circus trick of spinning ten plates on poles simultaneously. The spinner races from plate to plate desperately trying to keep them all going at once, but never truly committed to any one plate because he’s too fatigued.

Finally, there’s the Christian who attends church every week and has a quiet time in God’s Word daily, because that’s what “good Christians” are supposed to do. But they’re going through the motions out of obligation instead of unreserved devotion.

Did you see yourself—even a little—in any of these examples? Sometimes it’s due to a temporary season, a recent hurt, or the lure of temptation. But temporary seasons can turn into lifelong habits that keep us trapped.

Does the Bible Address Quiet Quitting?

So what does the Bible say about quiet quitting? Of course, the term is not used in Scripture, but the concept is there. Consider these references from the ESV translation:

• Deuteronomy 6:5 – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
• Psalm 37:5 – “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.”
• Proverbs 16:3 – “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”
• Proverbs 18:1 – “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.”
• 2 Timothy 2:15 – “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
• Galatians 6:9 – “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
• Philippians 3:13 – “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.”
• Revelation 2:3-4 – “I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”

Will you and I commit to kicking out even the possibility of quiet quitting in our walk with Christ? It won’t be easy, especially if those temporary seasons have already morphed into long-term habits. But if we ask for help from the Holy Spirit and from brothers and sisters in Christ, God is faithful to draw us to back to our first love: Him!