Today’s passage: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12
Helpful thoughts:
- If a Christian is unwilling to work and yet expects the church (Or other Christians) to take care of him, the church is neither obligated to help, nor are they actually helping in giving financial aid.
- What is helpful/spiritual/righteous is to rebuke that person and help them or encourage them to find a job.
- It is not helpful and therefore not spiritual/not righteous to continue to aid them in their idleness (Sin).
- Paul, Silas and Timothy took zero donations from the church in Thessalonica in order to emphasize and set an example for the need to work hard to provide for your own self and household.
- Proverbs 26:16 – The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.
- The lazy avoid busyness and instead become busybodies, thinking themselves wiser than everyone else and telling everyone how things ought to be done…
Questions to consider:
- Is everyone who is requesting assistance unwilling to work? Why would it be wise to ask questions before we exclude someone from our help?
- Who are the people who are being lazy in this passage? Are they professing believers or unbelievers? How might we handle a situation differently when considering the needs/requests of unbelievers?
- Why is it wrong to think that anyone sits around doing “nothing”? If people aren’t busy doing something right, what are they doing? How can that encourage you to work hard today? To spend your “down time” wisely today? To think on the right things today (Philippians 4:8-9)? To choose your words wisely today (James 1:19)?