2 Thessalonians 3

To wrap up his second letter to the church in Thessalonica, Paul warns the believers to exclude and stay away from gays. Nope. How about fornicators? Nope. Maybe dishonest liars? Nope again. He warns them to avoid lazy people. Really? Lazy people are the biggest threat to the faith of the Thessalonian church at that time?

Hmmm. This isn't how we treat lazy people in the church today. Americans have such a high tolerance for laziness I think we'd have to really dig deep to figure out a good working definition for lazy in the first place. Well, Paul clearly indicates people who don't work enough to support themselves. But in our society, with our welfare economy and government entitlements, it's so hard to discern who's down on their luck, in a rough spot, or just lazy. We are commanded to help the poor, but avoid the lazy so that we make them feel ashamed of themselves. That's so challenging I think to how we live.

So how can we love and support and be generous to the poor and needy while also treating the lazy in a way that forces them to work in order to eat? Let me say it clearly, I am in no way saying that all or even most poor people are lazy. Our American Dream "anyone can make it" society often causes people who are poor to be viewed as just not working hard enough. I don't think that's the case at all. Having worked in an inner-city school with most families on public assistance it's easy to see how generations of poor are being raised without the same privileges my own kids receive. So how do we draw the line and still obey what Paul is commanding us to do? How can the church make a difference in the world by caring for the needy without propping up the lazy?

I think the best way is to start in our own homes addressing our own laziness. It's so easy to confuse business with productivity. Just because I'm busy doesn't mean I'm not lazy. I may have a completely full schedule that still doesn't support my own financial needs or help me fulfill my obligation to generously help the poor. How can be more productive without just cramming more into my schedule?

I also think it's healthy to confront our own entitlement mentalities. How much do we have that we feel like the world or the government or our city or our church owes us? When we begin to realize how little of what we have we actually need it's easier to begin to see areas of fat or fluff that probably on some levels contribute to laziness.

I'm not really sure what all of this can mean today. But it does really cause me to pause to think that Paul's closing paragraphs of his letter to a whole city of believers is about drawing a hard line against laziness.