Busybodies

For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat. We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies.

2 Thessalonians 3:10-11

Notice that it is not, if any cannot work, but if any will not work. People who cannot work because there is no work, also need our help. Paul is not talking about such conditions. But there are always a few who could work, but are deliberately keeping away from it because they have found it is easier to beg, or to rip off someone with a clever story.

A man came by not long ago and asked one of our elders for money. The elder gave him a small amount, and watched him as he went to the next church down the line, and then headed for the next one. This particular elder did not think that was right. He confronted the man, saying, Look, I gave you money in good faith because I thought you needed it, but here you are now going to the next church, and you probably plan to go right on down the line. He told him that was an action that was not acceptable.

The reason the apostle says to take this drastic action — to let them starve if they are not really willing to work — is because he wanted to prevent something worse. He says people who will not work become busybodies, i.e. meddlers, people who concern themselves with other people's affairs. Such people try to get involved with things they have no business getting involved with, and go around generally stirring up trouble. Those who will not work, if they are not busy, become busybodies! This is the point Paul is making.

What is it about working that the apostle (and the Lord himself) sees as so valuable, that he would take all this time to deal with it? Work is divinely intended to give us a sense of self-worth. When you are working, you feel like you are accomplishing something. When you are laid off and unable to work, you feel out of sorts and unable to function as you were intended. It is psychologically upsetting to be without work. This is a testimony to the fact that God made us to work. Work, therefore, is not a curse. It is a very valuable thing because it gives us a sense of meaning for our lives.

As a young man in the '30s, living in the heart of the Great Depression, I knew of thousands of men like myself who were out of work. There was no work to be found anywhere. The government came up with a solution that, as I look back upon it, was a marvelous help. They created, under Franklin D.Roosevelt, the Civilian Conservation Corps. Camps, rather like military camps, were built for young people, mostly young men, where they were fed and clothed but were also given regular work to do. It was simple work. They built reservoirs and dams around the country and helped the farmers with their crops. They were paid a minimum amount of money, but I can testify, having seen it in the case of several of my friends, that they were saved from a sense of worthlessness by the work they were given.

Grant me discernment, Lord, to know when to help someone and when to encourage them to work, knowing that in the end this will help them the most.