And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us. For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” [2 Thessalonians 3.6-10]
Apparently, there were those in the Church in Thessalonica who were a bit lazy.
This is very interesting because the Church is also told to take care of those who are in need.
What Paul is making clear here is that "need" has to be evaluated for its cause! And, when "need" is determined to be the result of nothing more than laziness, the Church is to "stay away" from that lazy person.
As much as people like to be "hands off" when giving today saying "I give to God and His Church - what happens after that is not my business," that is simply wrong. According to Paul, it is very much our business whether or not a person is just being lazy or genuinely in need for reasons beyond their control.
Okay, that's a game changer. So, our "help" for the lazy is to stay away from them.
Father, it is very clear here in Paul's letter to the Thessalonian Church that we have responsibility toward those who are lazy to help them see the error of their ways. Help us to do that with mercy and grace.
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