"We Were Not Idle"
- Dr. Todd R. Wright
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Paul sees idleness as a threat: He cautions the Thessalonians to keep away from those believers who are living in idleness.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
November 16, 2025
Dr. Todd R. Wright
Ninety years ago, in 1935, Bertrand Russell wrote an essay, “In Praise of Idleness”. In it he argues against the glorification of work and for a four-hour workday. (Can you imagine?)
He believed less work would mean more time for leisure, creativity, and reflection.
Writing at a time when the US unemployment rate was 20%[2], he also hoped the shorter work hours would mean employers would be moved to hire more people.
Paul, it seems, would have objected strongly! He does not praise idleness!
In fact, he is intent on correcting what he hears is going on in Thessalonica.
What does Paul have against idleness?
After a busy week, sitting down with a good book, or watching a show on Netflix, or going for a walk among the leaves, in short, being idle, sounds pretty good to me.
The Creation account commends taking a Sabbath rest – what could be called holy idleness.
And self-care experts are always telling us to stop and smell the roses!
But, in this situation, Paul sees idleness as a threat:
He cautions the Thessalonians to keep away from those believers who are living in idleness.
He reminds them of the example he set when he was with them.
And he warns that those not willing to work should be cut off from the communal table.
Strong stuff! So I ask again, what does Paul have against idleness?
Do you remember the description of the Christian community that was born after Pentecost?
The book of Acts says,
“All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the Temple, they broke bread from house to house … praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.”[3]
Paul is trying to build something similar in Thessalonica – a community of believers that act like a family, sharing everything – their joys and burdens, their gifts and needs – everything!
When it works, everyone contributes and everyone is fed, body and soul.
It creates a community that is so spiritually vibrant and so generous and so joy-filled that the neighbors can’t help but take notice!
But like a snake in the garden of Eden, idleness threatens everything.
First, because it means that not everyone is pulling their weight.
And those who do work feel like the slackers are taking advantage of them.
Maybe that produces resentfulness. I’m sure it produces exhaustion.
Either way, it threatens the harmony of the congregation.
Second, the Greek word used here implies something more than idleness.
Jennifer Wyant explains, “Outside of the New Testament, this [adverb] means ‘disorderly or irresponsibly’ and is often found within the context of battle imagery, of men not being ready at their post or ready for the fight ahead because of their disorder.”[4]
So Paul is concerned about members of the Thessalonian church who, because they are not doing the necessary work, feel free to wonder around interfering in everyone else’s work.
The word he uses is … busybody!
These meddlers, gum up the works, keeping the people who are actually working from getting the job done, by spreading rumors, or offering unsolicited advice, or making trouble.
Instead of being cogs in a smooth-running machine, they are like a loose part that breaks away, rattles around, and eventually causes everything to grind to a halt.
Their interference means the Thessalonian’s ministries suffer: those in prison don’t get visited, the lonely are abandoned, those new to the faith don’t get taught, and the hungry aren’t fed.
Paul can’t allow their actions to sabotage the work of the church.
And that leads to the final problem – the disorder and disruption they cause threatens the reputation of the ministry throughout the city, and beyond.
Scholars say, “Anyone traveling or shipping goods between the Black Sea to the east and the Adriatic Sea to the west probably passed through Thessalonica, which in the first century was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia.”[5]
In his first letter to them, Paul praises the Thessalonian believers as beacons of joyful faithfulness despite persecution, noticed by people across Macedonia and in Achaia. And then he gushes that their faith in God has become known in every place![6]
You’ve heard the expression, good news travels fast; but bad news travels faster! Well, these idlers threaten to undercut the good name of Christ and make them a cautionary tale – a congregation torn apart by the laziness of a few; a mockery of the idea that in Christ we become a new/better people!
So Paul writes this stern letter trying to fix the problem – actually, equipping the Thessalonians to address the problem themselves:
He reminds them of what he modeled – leaders lead by example.
He had every right, as an Apostle, a founder, a teacher to be treated as an honored guest.
Instead, as the Message puts it, “We showed you how to pull your own weight. We didn’t
sit on our hands, expecting others to take care of us. We worked our fingers to the bone, up half the night, moonlighting so that you wouldn’t be burdened ... We wanted to provide an example of diligence, hoping it would prove contagious.”
He also suggests tough love: no work, no bread!
And he encourages the Thessalonians to not grow weary in doing what is right.
So what would that look like?
In the sixth century, St. Benedict, “hoping to alleviate some of the inevitable tensions among Christians sharing a common life that involved cooking, eating, working, living and praying together, created his Rule” writes Elizabeth Barrington Forney. “In it he acknowledges differences in ability and accommodates every person’s skill. [But] all are to work as they are able.”[7]
Forney continues, “Life in community requires that everyone be enabled and encouraged to work. Leaving someone out of the work life of the community can be demeaning. Just ask the stroke victims, or senior citizens, [or the very young] in your congregation if they do not wish there was more they could do to feel part of the life of the church.”
I think of Bill Ellis. Over the years he served the congregation as a youth advisor and elder, on committees and as an usher. Toward the end he got around using an electric scooter. He could have begged off the work. He had certainly earned a break, a bit of idleness. Nope! He would zip up the central aisle, execute a three-point turn, and head back up the aisle with the offering plate.
I’m convinced his witness would have delighted Paul! And he would have pointed to Bill as an example to those few slackers in the Thessalonian congregation.
So do not be idle when it comes to working for the gospel. Do not grow weary in doing good. And do not leave work you can do to others. Pitch in and do what you can so that the whole ministry might be filled with health and harmony! Amen
[1] “Idle Hands” by Will Barnet
[3] See Acts 2:44-47
[4] From her reflections on the text for workingpreacher.org, 11/13/22
[6] See 1 Thessalonians 1:6-8
[7] Here and following, from Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 4, pages 305-307
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