The Thessalonian Christian had been foolish enough to give heed
to false teaching concerning the second coming. As a result some of
them were acting in a way contrary to the will of God. Their basic
problem was a lack of certain authority. They had been pagans all
their lives, and they had probably believed all kinds of superstition,
and so now as Christians they had to learn to accept the authority of
the Apostles, and this was not easy. Paul’s fist letter apparently
failed to solve the problem, and some of them had refused to get back
to work, even after they had heard his advice and commands. In this
second letter he has to use stronger language, and speak with as
great an authority as anywhere in the New Testament.
Paul knows that if Christians are not submissive to the Word of
God they will be at the mercy of every source of advice. These people
were basing their attitudes and actions on mere rumor that was
baseless, and not on the wisdom of God as revealed through the
Apostle Paul. Their concepts of the end were about as well founded
as those of the poet who confessed: “Absolute knowledge I have none,
but my aunt’s washer woman’s sister’s son heard a policeman on his
beat, say to a laborer on the street, that he had a letter just last week,
written in the finest Greek, from a Chinese coolie in Timbuctoo, who
got it straight from a circus clown, that a man in the Klondyke heard
the news, from a gang of South American Jews, about somebody in
Borneo, who heard a man who claimed to know of a swell society
female fake, whose mother-in-law will undertake to prove that her
7th husband’s sister’s niece, had stated in a printed piece, that she
has a son who has a friend, who knows when the world will end.”
It was on the basis of authority as remote as this that some of
them began to be idle and to wait for the Lord without working.
This disturbed Paul greatly, and he was determined that Satan
would not bring shame upon the name of Christ and His church by
this subtle means. His first strategy we have already considered. He
has destroyed the false theological foundation of those who are idle.
He has made it clear that the Day of the Lord is yet future, and that
Christians will know when it is near, and so until then they are to
work and carry on a normal and honorable pattern of life. They are
to live just as if they were sure the Lord would not come in their
lifetime. In other words, Paul has said they were not to use the
second coming as any excuse for laziness or idleness, for until we see
the signs we have no idea when the end will be. Now he goes on to
some specific and practical methods to be used by the faithful in
bringing those who are out of step back into harmony with what is
good Christian living.
It is a sensitive situation, and Paul approaches it diplomatically
and with all the kindness of his Christ-like heart. In the first verses
of this third chapter he strengthens their relationship and makes it
clear that they are one in Christ. They are seeking the same end,
which is the glory of Christ and the extension of His kingdom. In
verse 1 he calls them brethren, and he asks for their prayers. Paul
reveals his confidence in them and covets their prayers. He
acknowledges that they are God’s children, and so their prayers will
be a benefit to his ministry. Paul’s greatness was in his dependence
upon God, and in his recognition that the prayers of the common
Christian were of value and power in getting the Gospel to speed on
its way to success. R. A. Torrey sent out 5 thousand letters in 1901
asking for prayer as he took his world tour of evangelism. When he
reached Australia there were ten thousand praying, and 40 thousand
were praying in England everyday. He said, “Who could not preach
under such conditions, and is it any wonder that the marvelous
results followed that did follow.” I cannot doubt that the success of
Billy Graham is also due to the thousands who pray for him
constantly.
Paul knew this was the source of much of his success, and he
wanted these Christians to share in it. Paul was wise as a serpent
and harmless as a dove. He was going to lay down some rigid
commands, but he made it clear that it was in love. So often
Christians do the right thing in the wrong way. They let evil increase
and stir up friction and hard feelings. The difference is that of being
Spirit-led or self-motivated. The Spirit-led man has a person
centered approach to problems. His concern is for persons and what
is best for them. The law centered approach says to get the problem
solved, and let the devil take those who will not cooperate. Paul’s
method wins the sinner back into fellowship.
In verse 2 Paul points out that he and his companions are also
suffering persecution, and they are seeking for deliverance. We are
all in the same boat going up stream against the current, and so let’s
stick together. In verse 3 he goes from his problems to theirs, and he
assures them that the Lord is faithful in spite of the opposition of
faithless men, and he will strengthen and guard them. Here again we
see the pessimism-optimism combination: Look at the world and you
see faithless men and opposition, but look to God and see a faithful
guide who will bring us through.
In verse 4 Paul stresses his confidence that they will not listen to
every voice, but will accept his authority and abide by his commands,
as being from the Lord. He is going to give them a command that
may not be easy to follow, and so he prepares them to say yes to it by
expressing his confidence in their loyalty to his authority. No where
do we see more clearly how apostolic authority was in the early church.
If Paul could not get the loyalty to his commands, there
would be no way for the truth to triumph over the heresies of that
day. Apostolic authority was the foundation of the early church. We
can see why it was necessary for Christ to appoint men as
authoritative voices through which he could speak.
In verse 5, just before he gets to the basic problem, he prays
that the Lord will direct their hearts into the love of God and the
patience of Christ. Paul is praying that these two virtues would
characterize them, for these are essential to facing an conquering
their problems. Verse 6 brings us to the place where we see Paul
taking the role of standing in Christ’s stead and commanding the
body of Christ with absolute authority. Paul was not even a member
of this church, and so we wonder how he can command and not just
suggest. He could do so because an Apostle stands in the same
relationship to the church as does the Word of God. Paul is still
commanding every local church, for obedience to him is obedience to
the Word of God. No church is independent of the authority of the
Apostles. Though dead they still speak through the Word, and that
is why we have the Bible, so that they might continue to speak, for
their voice is the voice of Christ to His body.
Paul’s command is in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. There
is no question as to the source of Paul’s authority. Paul commands
them to withdraw from fellowship those believers who live
disorderly, and not in harmony with the Christian values that he
taught when he was with them. Here is a biblical form of segregation
based on conduct. A Christian who is living disorderly, or in
idleness, is not to be encouraged by being allowed to remain in good
standing in the church fellowship. If a Christian will not conform to
the authority of the apostolic teaching, he must lose the benefits that
go with obedience to it, which is Christian fellowship. Paul does not
just suggest this as one possible way of dealing with a lazy Christian.
He commands it in the name of Christ. He says to withdraw and not
associate with such a person, or show any approval.
Such discipline is not as effective today because a person can
now go to another church and not even suffer for his folly. In Paul’s
day if you were out of the church, you were out, for there was only
one church. Nevertheless, the local church still must heed the
command of Paul and withdraw fellowship from the disorderly and
idle Christian.
In verse 7 Paul calls their attention to the fact that Christians
are to be as he and his companions were when they were with them.
You are to imitate us, said Paul, for we were exemplifying the Christ-like
life. We were not disorderly or idle in trying to shirk our duty.
Paul learned to work hard, for laziness was a Gentile vice. The Jews
glorified work, and Paul, even as a man of high position in Judaism,
had his own trade. The Jews said, “He who does not teach his son a
trade, teaches him to steal.” Paul sensed that this view was lacking in
these Christians when he was with them, and so he went out of his
way to be an example.
In verse 8 he says they didn’t even eat anywhere without paying
for it, but they worked night and day to earn their own living so as
not to burden the people, and to be a good example. In verse 9 he
says it was not because they did not have the power and right to
expect to be supported, but because they wanted to set this good
example. Paul did not hesitate to wave his rights if he could be more
useful for the advancement of Christian learning. In verse 10 he
reminds them that even when he was with them he had laid down the
command that if any would not work, they should not eat.
It is good to remember this passage when you hear Billy
Graham, or some other creature, preaching on safe driving, housing
or labor. Some are critical and say the church is to stick to the
Gospel, but here we have the very highest authority for preaching
and teaching on any area of life. Paul had plenty to say about a
Christian’s responsibility to work. No Christian can say it is my own
business how I make a living, and so it is no concern of the church. If
it is not in harmony with Christian teaching, it is the concern of the
church. If a Christian takes advantage of the state poverty program
and refuses to work when he could, just because he can get
something for nothing, he is out of God’s will, and he should be out
of fellowship with the rest of the body.
Work is part of the Christian life, and to shirk it is a sin. When
people are incapable of working, no one was more for charity than
Paul. He traveled all over the known world to get a collection for the
needy saints of Judea. But when a person does not work because
they will not, then Paul says they are to be disciplined. It is as
serious as any other sin, and Christians are not to be charitable to
the idle and lazy. Today, of course, the church does not have the
control as it did then. A lazy Christian can get food from the
government, and so the church cannot prevent them from eating.
The ideal would be for the government also to require some work for
their free handouts. If a person is not willing, but chooses to be idle,
he is undeserving of support. If he is willing, then even if there is no
work, he is worthy of support. Hesiod the Greek wrote, “Both gods
and men are angry with a man who lives in idleness, for in nature he
is like the stingless drones who waste the labor of the bees, eating
without working.”
In verse 11 Paul says that he has heard of Christians who are
doing nothing but are mere busybodies. Their only business being to
pry into what is none of their business. They were probably trying to
persuade others to stop working too, and just wait for the second
coming. They were becoming a stumbling block to others. In verse
12 Paul commands the guilty ones to cease this folly and get back to
work. The Lord will not come until you see the signs fulfilled, and so
meanwhile you must live and honorable life by making it count as a
witness for Christ. In verse 13 he encourages the faithful not to give
up, but to persist in doing right and living well regardless of the
foolishness of some. In verse 14 he says that if any still persist in folly
after reading his letter, then they are to have nothing to do with them
that they might be ashamed and repent. In verse 15 he makes it clear
that the bottom line is love, for we are to always treat a fellow
Christian as a brother and not as a enemy.
