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July 25, 2010 |
| Second Thessalonians – Closing Remarks | ||
This chapter begins the closing remarks for Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians. In them he addresses two points, his desire for prayer and a warning against idleness and those who are idle.
His desire for prayer falls into two areas, the advancement of the gospel and protection from evil men.
1Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. 2And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.
Paul requests the Thessalonians pray that Paul's team be able to spread the message rapidly. Doubtlessly Paul has recognized that the lies about the gospel are spreading faster than the gospel message. Therefore when his team travels to a new location they find that the Jews in each place already know as much as they want to hear and are prepared to resist. Paul also requests the Thessalonians pray that Paul's team be able to find people who will honor the gospel message.
Having requested prayer supporting their work, Paul now requests prayer for his team. These requests contain an interesting parallel to the Lord's Prayer which mentions the work first "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done", and follows with "Deliver us from evil".1
Paul also makes an interesting statement here about wickedness and the wicked by saying "for not everyone has faith". "Note the source of human wickedness: it is not simply a matter of upbringing and poor life choices. It flows from lack of faith. Believers must accept the reality that not all men possess faith and so not all will accept Christ." Delivered, not converted
3But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
This is an important statement and one that we see echoed elsewhere. "God's faithfulness toward us inspires trust. Trust in God's faithfulness gives us stability because we know that He will be true to His Word. We have His support in any situation we face."2 Here are a few other references to God's faithfulness.
4We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. 5May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.
"The word "confidence" shows Paul had complete trust in and reliance upon God's ability to work in their lives. Paul in the previous verse lauded the faithfulness of God; now he demonstrates his trust in God's faithfulness in working in the lives of the Thessalonians.
"Note that Paul does not say, ‘I have confidence in you Thessalonians.' He has confidence in what God will do through the Thessalonians. Paul did not put his confidence in people. If we do, we will be terribly disillusioned."3
Paul also prays that they are lead to have love like God and patience like Jesus. One meaning of patience is "to persevere calmly when faced with difficulties". Jesus' life showed that kind of patience and the Thessalonians needed that kind of patience, with their difficulties. We also, in the difficulties we face, need that kind of patience.
6In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
Paul now returns to a point he made in his first letter to the Thessalonians. It seems that some people had found a way to live without working. Perhaps this was possible through the generosity of some of the wealthy people. And some of these idle people were part of the church. In the first letter, Paul said that every Christian should endeavor to work and be productive. But it seems that not everyone in Thessalonica got the message, because Paul brings it up again in this letter.
7For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
Paul supports his point in the same way he did in his first letter. Paul and his team had lived with and worked with the Thessalonians. Paul's team took employment in Thessalonica to earn money and thus not be a burden on the Thessalonians. Between their preaching and their employment Paul's team was never idle.
9We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
As apostles, Paul's team had the right to support from the Thessalonians. But they never took advantage of that right. Instead they lived as ordinary people so that they could show the Christian life by example and demonstrate their teachings in action. Words are valuable and written words, like this letter, can last for thousands of years. But a demonstration of how the words can be applied to real lives is much more valuable. "God expects Christians to view themselves as examples or types to the Christian life. We are to set the pace for others. We are to walk the talk."4
The emphasis here is on the phrase "will not". "The issue is their obstinate attitude toward the subject of working for food. Laziness goes against many biblical principles. The question here is not [one of] refusing to give aid to those who cannot help themselves. He is not talking about people who cannot find a job or people who do not have the physical ability to work. The problem is exclusively living off the graciousness of other people."5
11We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.
Translations coming from the Greek indicate that the problem is not just that some of the brothers are living off others. But with the free time they have due to not working, they have begun to meddle in the lives of others and are causing trouble in the church.
(Linguistic wonk warning)
The literal Greek (from Young's Literal Translation) says
11for we hear of certain walking among you disorderly, nothing working, but over working,
Translators are choosing to understand the words "over working" as meaning overseeing the work of others, which could be meddling, from which the word ‘busybodies' comes. The translation from Aramaic is less clear this way.
11For we hear that there are some among you who walk wickedly and do not labor at all, but are worthless;
Working from the Aramaic, the impression given is that these idle people not only do not have employment and so live off others, but they do nothing – at all, including not helping in the church's activities. Whichever the case may be the adage holds, idle hands are the devil's tools.
12Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.
The wording "settle down" is primarily an NIV creation. The Greek and Aramaic literal translations agree that the words are best translated as "work quietly" and most other translations read that way or else as "with quietness they work".
Where he commands in other places in the text, here he both commands and urges, which is more personal. His desire is for the idle ones to see the trouble they are causing and change their ways.
13And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.
Following immediately after Paul's instructions to the idle, this verse is aimed at those who are not idle, but may have been affected by the idle ones. The purpose seems to be to encourage them to continue to do what is right no matter if they see the idle being rewarded, busybodies getting in the way, or any other discouragements.
But in the coming verses Paul tells them how to deal with people who are not doing what they should.
14If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. (verse 6)
Paul specifies three actions believers should take to deal with brothers in the faith that are doing wrong.
The idea is to get the person to reform himself. Some people do not know they are doing wrong and only need instruction. Others know they are doing wrong and quickly learn their behavior won't be acceptable. Still others will need persistent strong pressure.
15Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
To make sure the Thessalonians do not misunderstand him, Paul makes it clear the believer is still a brother and should be treated with Christian love and forgiveness. The goal should be to reform and not to seek retribution for things that were done.
This process of warning and separating from disorderly believers appears in other books of the Bible and in other problem areas. Therefore the modern church sees this as an approach to dealing with all issues regarding disorderly believers.
This chapter jumps around a little bit so let's go over it again, quickly.
Paul begins by asking for prayer that his mission of spreading the gospel may be successful and that the wicked will be unable to interfere.
He then reassures the Thessalonians that the Lord will strengthen and protect them. And he prays that they will grow in love and perseverance.
Then Paul spends some time addressing believers within the church that will not work and instead live off of others. He says that they are neither living by his words or by his example. This problem is significant enough that he isn't content to only appeal to their intellect. He prescribes a process for dealing with the problem that requires shunning and shaming them. But he makes a point of saying they should be treated as believers.
Paul and his team waived their rights as apostles so that they could be examples. Are you willing to waive your rights for others?
1 Paraphrased from NIV Standard Lesson Commentary, Christian Commitment in Today's World, Unit 1, Lesson 8
2 http://versebyversecommentary.com/1999/11/10/2-thessalonians-33/
3 http://versebyversecommentary.com/1999/11/11/2-thessalonians-34/
4 http://versebyversecommentary.com/1999/11/17/2-thessalonians-39/
5 http://versebyversecommentary.com/1999/11/18/2-thessalonians-310/
6 http://versebyversecommentary.com/1999/11/22/2-thessalonians-314/