DO IT!

Diligence. That word came to mind when I saw this iron sculpture of spear-fishing in a park near the Columbia River in Washington. In days of long-ago, those who didn’t fish, didn’t eat. Fish was an important part of their diets! Actually, the apostle Paul said that, too: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). There’s both truth and common misinterpretation in that quote.

First, the “way off” stuff. Paul was writing a church that could hardly wait for Jesus to come back and start the new world order.  Some were so sure He was coming soon that they had quit their jobs or suspended their businesses to just “wait.”  They’d become “busybodies” with not enough Christ-worthy things to occupy their time and energy. They’d become a burden to the church, which felt it needed to support them—at least to feed them. 
Their inactivity was depleting the church resources, to no good. So Paul wrote, “Keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us” (2 Thess. 3:6). In other words, quit mooching.

He held himself, Silas and Timothy as examples. Even though they were traveling evangelists, when they landed somewhere for a while, they paid for their own food. They found what work they could—Paul likely in tent manufacturing.  They didn’t want to burden the church community with their support. More important, Paul said, “We 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. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat’” (vv. 9-10).

My husband helps deliver donated potatoes to ministries that help the needy. They come from a generous grower about 40 miles away who donates multiple 50-pound sacks of spuds. When my husband pulls his loaded truck up to a ministry office, he’s very thankful when they send out people to help unload. It’s a big job for somebody who’s in his mid-seventies. In some cases, the unloading crew is people who are being helped by that ministry, like a shelter for homeless men. They may not be able to hold a for-wage job yet, but they are working as helpers for the shelter. The shelter’s ultimate goal is to move them out as responsible community members who can support themselves. Work has dignity and purpose.

I find the last chapter of 2 Thessalonians instructional, yet disturbing.  It’s very sad that Paul had to deal with lazy Christians. But it’s a reminder that every day should count for God.  Or, as Jesus expressed it in the Parable of the Ten Minas, don’t slough off in using the abilities God has given you.  “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13 KJV).