by Gary Lee
2 Thessalonians 3 “11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 13 As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.”
Back in the beginning of Creation (Genesis 1 – 3), God instituted work for man as a way to serve and reflect Him. We who are His creation have been made in His image and likeness that we may relate to Him and enjoy Him. When God created the Garden of Eden, He did everything necessary in order to sustain life that we may enjoy serving under His rule. However, since Genesis 3, we no longer relate to work as a form of service to God or others. Rather, we either idolise work or idle at work.
The first is when we start to love our jobs too much and seek to have identity through it. It is when we start to overwork and idolise our work. The second is when we hate our job because it is thankless, frustrating and pointless because we cannot see how it fits in with God’s work in our lives. We begin to underwork and be apathetic about our work.
As a Church, we can be reminding each other to guard against both idolatry and idleness at work.
When Paul is writing to this young Thessalonian Church that he planted, he recognises that there are some within the Church who are not obedient to God’s law. Namely, there is a certain mistaken belief that because Jesus is returning soon, there is no such need to invest in the here and now. They can just hang around and be idle, whilst waiting for Jesus’s return. That is sometimes the temptation for us, that we become so heavenly-focused that we lose earthly value; We become so engrossed in minding the affairs of others or investing so much time in anticipating and worrying for the future coming of Jesus that we fail to lead a quiet life that does not interfere with others.
How can we as a Church not only remind each other to guard against idolatry and idleness, but also be a good example of being good workers for the Lord?
In verse 11 of 2 Thessalonians 3, Paul is noticing that some people in the Church are being busybodies rather than being busy at work. These people are becoming a nuisance by prying into people’s lives and interfering. Paul’s command is simple and practical. He tells the young Thessalonian Christians to settle down at work and earn their living since there is no knowing when the Lord will return. It is no use figuring out continuously what the future is when we fail to settle down to what we need to do today and now.
We also learn in verse 13 that workers in the Church besides being called not to be idle, ought to also be seeing ways in which to serve and encourage those who are struggling at work. This is especially true, as Christians who may perhaps tire of doing good and find it hard to be distinct at work because doing what is right can be hard work. When the environment in Thessaloniki could be one of idleness, we could so easily be discouraged. Like the Thessalonian Christians, we can be loving by reminding each other that we have all turned from idols to serve the living God and awaiting for His son from heaven (1 Thessalonians 1:9).
Therefore, as a Church, we are to keep reminding each other of our status as Christians, waiting for the Lord Jesus’ return, striving in obedience to Him and being a good witness to the world.
Are we being idle as we wait in the arena of work? Or are we waiting in active service and living for mission? As Christians at work, we are a corporate witness to the world and we can harm our own witness by willfully ignoring God’s Word to settle down and earn our living. Each and every one of our work circumstances are different and challenging in its own right. But if we seek to wait well for our Lord Jesus to return, we ought to let our lives be shaped by God’s Word. For some, it could be that our lives be put to use by God through good witness at work, such as serving others. For some, it is to be growing in godliness and dependence on God through difficult circumstances at work facing tough colleagues and bosses. For others, it is to be accountable to the Church so that we do not tire in doing good and keep persevering.
1 Thessalonians 4 “9 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.”
In Paul’s earlier letter to the Thessalonian Church, he shared how the Church can be more loving through living quietly, not being a busy body but to be busy at work. The most loving thing for the Church to do is to demonstrate these attributes in order to be a good witness to the world. As a loving community, we want to be urging our young adult workers to be loving more and more (vs 10) by demonstrating a God-centered perspective at work through service and witness.
How can we as a Church help young adults in the area of work?
It is to keep reminding each other of our status before God, how we are redeemed from serving idols and not be busy bodies but busy at work whilst waiting for the Lord Jesus’s return. As workers demonstrate this loving distinctiveness, we become an effective witness to the world as a loving Church community.
When the Church loves, the world takes notice.