Church Idleness

Do you ever feel sluggish, run down? Most people do and this is normal, but it not healthy if it happens in the church body. Like physical ailments, disorder in the church, if left unattended, will only increase causing greater and greater sickness and pain within the membership.

It is evident that the church in Thessalonica had an idleness problem. Because of their wrong response to the imminent return of the Lord, the problem of idleness touched on briefly in 1 Thessalonians, seems to have grown worse. There were those in the church who had evidently stopped working and were running about in excited idleness from house to house in anticipation of the Lord's return at any moment. This wrong response to prophetic truth not only led to idleness and the lack of ability to support oneself and family, but it had resulted in some becoming busybodies. It appears they also expected the church to support them. It is entirely possible that it was this group that had been spreading some or perhaps all of the false teaching discussed in chapter 2 of this epistle. Further, they were probably guilty of spreading rumors or gossip about others in the church and using as their defense, the Lord's soon return. Do you or have you known of those in the church today who are like this? They might be few, but they are among us.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, Paul had warned these busybodies to stop such idleness and get back to quietly working with their own hands. He later urged the believers there to admonish the unruly or undisciplined. In view of this chapter, it is clear that either they had not heeded Paul's admonishment or they had not listened to the admonishments from the church body. We must be aware that admonishment is necessary in the Lord's church today if we are going to keep harmony and oneness among the faithful.

What happened within the church at Thessalonica is a sad illustration of either wrong interpretation or wrong application of biblical truth. The New Testament does teach the imminent, any-moment possibility of the return of the Savior for His church; it is imminent, but no one knows when He will return. It could be today, but it might not be, as has been the case for hundreds of years. The principle is that we are to live as though it will be today while working and continuing on in life as though it won’t be for years to come. We must hold both truths in proper balance. As seen previously, the coming of the Lord, with all that it means to believers, is to be a strong motivation to godliness and obedience to the directives of God’s Word through the power of the Holy Spirit. Misinterpretations and misapplications of the truths of God's Word can cause endless trouble. Any teaching that encourages us to disobey another divine teaching is not Bible teaching.

So, what does the Bible teach about manual (mental) labor? For one thing, labor was a part of man's life before sin entered the scene. God gave Adam the job of dressing and guarding the Garden (Gen. 2:15). Although sin turned labor into almost hopeless toil (Gen. 3:17-19), it must never be thought that the necessity for work is a result of sin. Man needs work for the fulfillment of his own person. God created him to work. Have you noticed that God called people who were busy at work? Moses was caring for sheep (Ex. 3). Joshus was Moses' servant before he became Moses' successor (Ex. 33:11). Gideon was threshing wheat when God called him (Jud. 6:11ff), and David was caring for his father's sheep (1 Sam. 16:11ff). Our Lord called four fishermen to serve as His disciples and He Himself had worked as a carpenter. Paul was a tent maker (Acts 18:1-3) and used his trade to support his own ministry.

The circumstances of life (sickness, loss of a job, economic conditions) sometimes keep people from working, so the question was not one of inability, but unwillingness. (See 2 Thes. 3:10) What is your condition today? Are you willing or unwilling to labor for the Master? What if someone was writing an epistle about the your church family. What would they say about your work ethics for the cause of Christ? Something to think about!