Sometimes, people object to engaging in one activity or another because they say it is a waste of time. When people say such, usually those who disagree will (obviously) say that it isn't a waste of time. That problem tends to make fruitless most arguments from something being a waste of time. Supposing that indeed it is wrong to waste time, how do we go about deciding what is a waste of time? Is there an objective way to tell what is a waste of time and what isn't? Are there things that are universally a waste of time? I guess the answer must be somewhat relative, e.g., one's job may dictate what is and isn't a waste of time for that particular individual, but are there any universal guidelines or objective ways to tell what is a waste of time?

I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with this thread, but I'll be able to watch any discussion!

I hope responding isn't a waste of my time!
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

Well, I'll stick my neck out and say sin is a waste of time.

Pearl casting seems to fit the criteria of wasting time, no?

If we cannot glorify God in the act, it is a true waste of time (1 Cor. 10:31).

I don't think one can lay down very many rules by considering actions in and of themselves. One person's career is another person's hobby is another person's occasional diversion is another person's waste of time. The question needs to be considered holistically. Is your lifestyle one of undue waste? Do you fail to fulfill your responsibilities to God and neighbor? Do you live for entertainment? Do you devote some of your time to works of compassion and mercy?

We may periodically examine our lifestyles, but I think little good comes of focusing on any single non-sinful action w/o considering the whole. Furthermore, Christians are not workaholics. We do not have anything against appropriate leisure and recreation. Trying to eliminate those things leads to nothing but frustration, burnout, and heart attacks.

Originally Posted by Ask Mr. Religion

Pearl casting seems to fit the criteria of wasting time, no?

I would completely agree except for the fact that the Good News is to be proclaimed to every creature and therefore it will be cast before swine each and every LORD's Day (somewhere & in some way). It would not be the best use of your time to continue casting pearls in a one-on-one setting but even then seed is to sown (even if the birds come and pluck it up). If they won't listen kick the dust off your feet! So, it isn't a waste of time. Rather, a call to discernment.
It is like the Proverb (26:4-5),

Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes

Miss Marple said,
sin is a waste of time

Yes and no! It isn't something we should invest our time in but even our sin points us to our need for a Savior.
Which makes me think of my Brother Paul in Romans 7,

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.*Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.*So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.*For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.*For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.*Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.*For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,*but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.*Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?*Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

It is for this very reason, Romans 8:28 remains my response!

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose

Originally Posted by CharlieJ

I don't think one can lay down very many rules by considering actions in and of themselves. One person's career is another person's hobby is another person's occasional diversion is another person's waste of time. The question needs to be considered holistically. Is your lifestyle one of undue waste? Do you fail to fulfill your responsibilities to God and neighbor? Do you live for entertainment? Do you devote some of your time to works of compassion and mercy?

We may periodically examine our lifestyles, but I think little good comes of focusing on any single non-sinful action w/o considering the whole. Furthermore, Christians are not workaholics. We do not have anything against appropriate leisure and recreation. Trying to eliminate those things leads to nothing but frustration, burnout, and heart attacks.

Except!!!
We all fail to fulfill our responsibilities to God and neighbor!
At least I do! And, more than I'd like to admit.

I think the fact that we "feel" we are wasting time COULD be a pleasant indicator of the Holy Spirit working in us to make us all the more aware that our time to share the Good News its limited, thereby making us all the more aware of our falling short of His Glory & wiser with our time!!!

Originally Posted by irresistible_grace

I think the fact that we "feel" we are wasting time is a pleasant indicator of the Holy Spirit working in us . . .

I have to disagree with this. It COULD be an indicator of the Spirit. It could also be an indicator of unhealthy guilt over something that is not wrong. When I spend a whole day just making sure my kids are fed, and it takes me three hours to juggle their naps, and a loud noise wakes them up, and supper doesn't get made, I feel like I've wasted a whole lot of time.

Likewise, since I have to focus on everyone else all day long (and night, too, since my kids wake up every night), I like to have a few minutes to myself to breathe, read, watch a few minutes of a program on Netflix, etc. If you saw the state of my house, you would say I was wasting time. But I'm not. I'm just trying to recharge. Unhealthy guilt would make me work until I burned out at the ripe age of 30.

Originally Posted by Kim G

Originally Posted by irresistible_grace

I think the fact that we "feel" we are wasting time [COULD] be a pleasant indicator of the Holy Spirit working in us . . .

I have to disagree with this. It COULD be an indicator of the Spirit. It could also be an indicator of unhealthy guilt over something that is not wrong. When I spend a whole day just making sure my kids are fed, and it takes me three hours to juggle their naps, and a loud noise wakes them up, and supper doesn't get made, I feel like I've wasted a whole lot of time.

Likewise, since I have to focus on everyone else all day long (and night, too, since my kids wake up every night), I like to have a few minutes to myself to breathe, read, watch a few minutes of a program on Netflix, etc. If you saw the state of my house, you would say I was wasting time. But I'm not. I'm just trying to recharge. Unhealthy guilt would make me work until I burned out at the ripe age of 30.

I could have written it word for word EXCEPT I won't be 30 for another week!
(I found your post helpful)

Originally Posted by irresistible_grace

Originally Posted by Kim G

It COULD be an indicator of the Spirit. It could also be an indicator of unhealthy guilt over something that is not wrong. When I spend a whole day just making sure my kids are fed, and it takes me three hours to juggle their naps, and a loud noise wakes them up, and supper doesn't get made, I feel like I've wasted a whole lot of time.

Likewise, since I have to focus on everyone else all day long (and night, too, since my kids wake up every night), I like to have a few minutes to myself to breathe, read, watch a few minutes of a program on Netflix, etc. If you saw the state of my house, you would say I was wasting time. But I'm not. I'm just trying to recharge. Unhealthy guilt would make me work until I burned out at the ripe age of 30.

I could have written it word for word EXCEPT I won't be 30 for another week!
(I found your post helpful)

I'm glad you found it helpful. I suppose I was being a bit picky, but I grew up in a Christian movement that used guilt and manipulation, rather than love and obedience, as the basis for good works. My former pastor from that movement once preached that guilt is a good thing because if we feel badly enough about something we did, we won't do it anymore. (Ha! I wish that were true.) It wasn't until I became Reformed that I realized that guilt should point us to Christ's life and death on our behalf.

Fascinating responses. It would seem then, that if sin is the only universal waste of time (which is what occurs if one is not doing all to God's glory), that it is redundant to say that some activity is a waste of time that none should take part of, and only if one knew another well enough, would the "waste of time" argument actually be possible.

If a joystick and little guys jumping up and down at the push of a button are involved, I consider it a waste of time

Yes, those and other recreations are usually the first to come under scrutiny by that sort of argument.