For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
1 Thessalonians 3:11-12
There is a lot of debate amongst scholars regarding the “idleness” and busybody behavior of the Church in Thessalonica. Some believe that members of the church were not working because they were a part of the Greek system of benefactors and brought that lifestyle of dependency upon a wealthier supporter into the church.* Others believe that members of the church stopped working because they believed that Jesus had or was about to return, so they had no motivation to work.* Other scholars believe that certain members of the church did not work because they, like the Greeks, decided that manual labor was beneath them, choosing “spiritual work” above manual labor.*
Whatever the case, Paul did not approve.* Their actions were distracting from the spread of the Gospel, and they were meddling in the affairs of others unnecessarily.* Paul provides an interesting alternative for these members of the church who acted as busybodies: do work quietly, make one’s own living.
We live in a culture that encourages us to “have a voice,” “make a statement,” and believes that everyone should share their opinion in the public forum. While I would not generally argue against these sentiments, we can all fall into the error of always saying something even where there’s nothing to say. We can be busy saying and doing things but never accomplishing anything eternal. We can get tied up in get-rich-quick efforts and try to find the easy road.
There is a way that is quiet. It involves hard work. It involves doing the simple things right. It includes spreading the Gospel in a way that our work is part of our message to the world around us.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to slow down and find silence. Perhaps today God wants you to simply work to make a living. Maybe today God wants you to abandon the busyness and embrace the simplicity of working for God and sharing His Gospel.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
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*Holmes, M. (1998). 1 and 2 Thessalonians (pp. 273–274). Zondervan Publishing House.
Shogren, G. S. (2012). 1 & 2 Thessalonians (pp. 327–329). Zondervan.
Green, G. L. (2002). The letters to the Thessalonians (pp. 350–353). W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.
Kim, S., & Bruce, F. F. (2023). 1 & 2 Thessalonians (D. B. Capes, Ed.; Second Edition, Vol. 45, pp. 666–669). Zondervan Academic.
Morris, L. (1984). 1 and 2 Thessalonians: An introduction and commentary (Vol. 13, pp. 143–144). InterVarsity Press.
Beale, G. K. (2003). 1–2 Thessalonians (pp. 255–257). InterVarsity Press.
Weima, J. A. D. (2014). Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: 1–2 Thessalonians (R. W. Yarbrough & R. H. Stein, Eds.; pp. 616–621). Baker Academic.