“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. As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” (2 Thessalonians 3:11b-13)
In these closing words of 2 Thessalonians, Paul rebuked idleness. Apparently some of the saints had ceased working because they thought that the Lord’s return was imminent. These idlers had become a nuisance as they drained the resources of the church and had become busybodies and gossips, self-appointed authorities who were more concerned about telling their brethren how to live than with spreading the good news to the lost or even their own spiritual growth. Paul warned the saints to live lives of hard work and righteousness and not to tolerate idlers. Rather, because such busybodies spread lies and gossip and provided a poor witness to the love of Christ, they must be disciplined.
Churches these days are filled with too many idlers, busybodies, and gossips who seem to be uninterested or unwilling to spread the news of the love of God in Christ Jesus. This is despite the fact that the Lord has called us to peace and that such peace begins in the family of God. He has called every Christian as a disciple to promote the Kingdom of God through stewardship of their time, talent, and material and financial resources. Those who prefer to use those resources primarily on the self are today’s equivalent of Paul’s idlers. The people on the world are wandering in fear, chaos and confusion without Christ because these idlers have failed to carry out their calling which is, regardless of their talents and physical condition, to spread the good news of faith in Jesus Christ not merely with words but with deeds of charity and kindness.