2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 Work + Life: Balance: Work Like a Christian
Labor Day
We are in the midst of a sermon series about Work/Life Balance, and this is Labor Day weekend, so it seems like today is a good day to talk about work. Specifically, how we should view work as Christians.
When God made the first human beings, one of the very first things He did was charge them with work. We call it the creation mandate, and it’s found in Genesis 1:28. God tells Adam and Eve to subdue the earth and rule over it. Then He puts them in the Garden of Eden and tells them to “work it and take care of it.” (Gen. 2:15) From the first, God had a plan for men and women to be active in the world, improving life and serving others.
And this work was good and meaningful. But after the Fall, after Adam and Eve disobeyed God in Genesis 3, one of the consequences was that work became difficult. The ground became cursed, weeds and thorns appeared, work became painful toil and sweat of the brow.
It’s important to see, though, that the concept of work doesn’t become bad. God’s purpose for us to be productive and creative is not changed. It’s just that because of sin, work is now challenging and frustrating. Sin is the reason work feels like a drudgery and an obligation.
But none of this changes the fact that God has always intended for us to work and takes an interest in how we do our jobs.
So, I don’t want to take too much time this morning, but I want to touch on how our Christianity should impact the way we approach our jobs. And to do that, I want to look at 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13. This is one of the Bible’s longest passages on work, and it is going to provide us with four Biblical reasons Christians should work faithfully at their jobs:
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. 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. 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."
11We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. 13And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.
Ok, a quick list of four reasons Christians should work faithfully at their jobs.
Whatever You Do
First, God wants us to work because by working we honor God. When we work hard we glorify God. Verse 6:
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.
Sometimes Christians have drawn a distinction between work done for God and work done to feed our families. Sometimes, we are made to feel that our 9 to 5 job is something to be tolerated, while the things God really cares about are what we do for the church, our time spent in prayer, or whatever. Too many Christians, unfortunately, believe that they can only serve God when they are doing something “spiritual”, and so they separate their lives between the secular (what happens during the week) and the sacred (what happens on Sunday).
Apparently, something similar was happening in Thessalonica and it led some people to just plain not work at all. If work wasn’t spiritually important, they figured, then they’d just not do it.
But that is definitely not a Biblical point of view. Paul says, bluntly, that is not the teaching they’ve received from him.
That’s why this verse begins with the phrase: “In the name of Jesus Christ.” Our work, and our effort in our work, reflects on the name of Jesus.
All work is important and meaningful to Jesus. Even routine work can become very acceptable if you are concerned to do it as working for the Lord; every product that you turn out or every pull of the handle that you are responsible for, if it is done as unto the Lord; is something He has asked you to do. That is the Christian philosophy of work.
Eating Without Paying
Second: by working, we provide for our own needs. When we work we are able to pay our own way. Skip ahead to verse 10:
10For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
I want you to notice that this verse uses the word “will” as opposed to the word “can.”
The Bible realizes that there are some people who—for perfectly legitimate reasons—cannot work. Maybe they are too young, or too old, or disabled, or for some other reason unable to contribute to their own keep. Paul is certainly not advocating turning those people out on their ear. Telling your toddler to get a job or expecting those who have been seriously injured to pull their own weight flies in the face of Christian charity and loving your neighbor as yourself.
But the Bible’s concern here is with those who CAN work, but WILL not. They are the ones who need to get busy.
There is a strong theme of personal accountability in the Bible. A person should pay his or her own way. A person should earn his or her keep. That’s how the world works: if you can work, you should.
But, apparently, there were idlers among the Thessalonians who sat on their hands all day, but when dinner was served in the evening, managed to always be first in line. Paul says: “No more.” Verses 12-13:
Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.
Working to pay your own way is right. It is the Lord Jesus Christ’s command that we provide for our own needs.
The Devil’s Playground
Reason #3 that God wants us to work: by working we keep ourselves from sin. When we are busy, we keep ourselves out of trouble. Verse 11:
11We hear that some among you are idle. they are not busy; they are busybodies.
The Bible uses a play on words to make a point here—those who are idle are not busy, they are busybodies. That is, these people who don’t work end up hanging around and getting into other people’s business. They make nuisances of themselves. They engage in gossip. If they’d find something to do—if they’d get busy—then they’d be much less of a bother.
Now, this isn’t a hard and fast rule. Just because you have a job, that doesn’t mean you’re going to be free of sin. And, if you are not working, that doesn’t mean you’re automatically going to give in to temptation. But the old saying rings true: idle hands are the devil’s playground. It’s when we have nothing else to do that we often find ourselves getting in the most trouble.
I went to the internet to see if I could back this up statistically. I googled the words “unemployment” and “crime”. It came back with links to dozens of studies, most showing that when the unemployment rate is up, so is the crime rate. In fact, one study I saw asserted that if the unemployment rate went up by just 1%, some 500,000 more felonies per year would be committed.
But, of course, statistics are subject to all kinds of interpretations. We really don’t need a chart to tell us that if we don’t have something to do, that’s when our minds tend to wander, or we start to gossip, or we start hanging around in places we shouldn’t be. The fact is, if you’re busy shoveling slop out of the barn, then you don’t have time to vandalize the school. If you’re busy taking care of the kids, then you have a hard time getting to the bar.
God wants us to work so that we keep ourselves from sin. Being busy prevents us from being busybodies.
Win the Respect of Others
Finally, reason #4 that God wants us to work: by working we build bridges to the gospel. God wants us to work as a way of winning the respect of those outside of the church.
This is something which comes not from the passage in 2 Thessalonians but from an earlier passage in 1 Thessalonians. Written to the same group of people, 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 says:
11Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
It’s simple, Paul says, those outside of the church are watching those inside the church to see how they conduct themselves. In many cases, those outside of the church are working right alongside those in the church. And so, if those who call themselves Christians are slacking, if they’re shirking work, if they’re cutting corners, that doesn’t reflect well on the Savior they say they represent.
But if they work hard, if they give it their best every single day, if they resolve to serve God by the way they do their jobs, then bridges are built for the gospel so that people can cross over and be saved.
People are watching us to see what it means to believe in Jesus. There is a very close connection between the way we do our work and the attitude that unbelievers will have toward the gospel that makes us tick
God wants us to work because by working hard we build bridges for the gospel. We demonstrate by our actions what it means to believe in Jesus Christ.
And so, there is a sense in which we should see our jobs as mission fields. When we go to work, whatever that work might be, and we work not for men but the Lord, we glorify our Savior and point others toward Him.
