The Seven Deadly Sins of Highly Effective People: Lust

In the traditional formulation of the seven deadly sins, lust is at the top of the list. It is, according to tradition, the least severe of all of the deadly sins. However, it is also a great place to start if you want to talk about the temptations that are faced by highly effective people.

In the traditional sense, lust is not solely about sex, though sex is certainly part of the picture. Instead, Dante characterized lust as any form of "excessive love for others" that detracts from the love of God. Ultimately, it reflects an addiction to approval and affection from others. This makes sense to me. Our starvation for affirmation and attention is not limited to sex any more than the alcoholic's habits are limited to beer. Lust, therefore, occurs when we pursue the affections of people rather than directing our own affections toward God.

The addiction to approval lies at the heart of why it is so tempting to make the achievement of success a religion. The attention that comes from making it "big" in the business world is pretty heady stuff, second only to the sports or media celebrity. People start telling you how great you are. They start offering to pay you lots of money. Suddenly, you are someone in demand. And people won't stop talking about you.

Or will they?

Here is the sad truth: Successful people will not be successful forever. Their empires will crumble. Someone else will come along and build a better business. A younger guy will eventually move in to take your office. You will eventually lose a case. Or a patient. Or a supplier. Or a client. The next lawsuit could ruin you. Everything always hangs on a thread.

Worse yet, you will spend the rest of your days of "effectiveness" looking over your shoulder, wondering when your craving for attention and approval will no longer be satisfied. When will the end come? Who is after me now? What are my competitors up to? Will the next lawsuit undo me? An addiction to success quickly leads to paranoia and fear which (in my experience) usually comes out in anger. I've deposed a lot of people who think of themselves as wildly successful (and want me to know about it). They tend to be angry and hostile folks. But it often becomes clear very quickly that the anger is only masking a fear that they will somehow "lose" in the success game.

For Christians who are (or aspire to be) "effective people", then, Challenge #1 is to tune out the addictive, alluring attention that comes from their admirers, and instead to hear the soft voice of God, gently telling him that they are of immeasurable value, not mater how "effective" they are.

Related Tags: seven habits of highly effective people, seven deadly sins, lust