3 Debilitating conditions in the Church; Discouragement, Deception, and Disobedience.
2 Thessalonians 3
Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, 2 and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.
3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. 4 And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you.
5 Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.
6 But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which [a]he received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread [b]free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, 9 not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.
10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now those who are such we command and [c]exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.
13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. 14 And if anyone does not obey our word in this [d]epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 Yet do not count him as an enemy, but [e]admonish him as a brother.
16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.
17 The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every [f]epistle; so I write.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Of all the conditions that can destroy a church, I think this is the worst. A church can be discouraged, but our Lord has built into the church an ongoing system where we encourage each other, and the Spirit of God encourages our hearts. And as long as the believer remains faithful, they can come out of discouragement.
A church can get caught up in a deception, a false teaching. And though this can be worse than discouragement for the health of the church, if its members are faithful to the study of the Word and prayer, the cloud of lies can be lifted. These two conditions can be more passive problems. They can be what happens to the church. The church’s members may not be actively going down a wrong path, someone may be leading them into discouragement and deception.
But disobedience, the third condition, is another matter. It is a condition in the church where members are actively choosing to disobey the Word of God. This is not something that is happening to them, they are making a choice.
That’s why Paul, and Jesus before him, put systems in the church to address disobedience. It is to be confronted. But the problem in our churches today is that we have undermined these systems.
To put it bluntly, we have chosen not to obey the Word when it comes to confronting sin in the church. How have we done that? First, we have redefined what sin is. We have churches today who redefine sexual immorality. The Bible describes sexual immorality as any intimate relationship between people outside of the Bible’s definition of marriage. So, all of these things would be sin; sex before marriage, homosexuality, bisexuality, incest, pedophilia, and adultery. But we have redefined that sin. As far as most churches, in practice, are concerned the only sexual immorality that they should confront is limited to incest, and pedophilia. Anything else, as long as it’s consensual, and you love each other, it’s okay.
And the second way that we’ve undermined these systems of discipline in the church is by having a “don’t ask, don’t tell” philosophy.
I recently heard about a man in a church here in Wichita who was given the privilege of baptizing his daughter. That’s a recent trend in churches to let parents baptize their children; nothing wrong with that. What was wrong with it had to do with the man. That man had joined that church with his new wife. His new wife was his former babysitter for his two daughters; one of whom he would baptize.
He met this babysitter while still married to his first wife. He began an affair, which led to a divorce. He then married the babysitter, walked into a local church with her as his new wife, and joined. He would get visitation with his daughters on the weekends and would take them to his new church. One of the daughters made a profession of faith. And, as was the church’s custom, the parent was allowed to baptize her.
Meanwhile the ex-wife hears about it afterward, and asks the justified question, “What kind of church lets an unrepentant adulterer baptize anybody?”
How did that happen? It happened because when they came for membership, nobody asks any questions. Nobody expects repentance.
So, we can have a church full of the disobedient, sucking the power out of the assembly. It is the most dangerous condition in terms of the work of the church.
prayer
III. Disobedience (3:1-15)
Last time;
So, first, what was going on in the church of Thessalonica?
A. What’s the problem in Thessalonica?
Clues in the passage
6 But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which [a]he received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread [b]free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, 9 not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies.
So, Paul has to address this problem. The prep work; approach them humbly, positively, in view of their relationship to God
A. Approach them humbly
Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified,
B. positively; Approach them with a positive message first
Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, 2 and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. 4 And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you. 5 Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.
C. Approach them based on their relationship to God
3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. 4 And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you. 5 Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.
D. Seven parts to dealing with disobedience
1. Confront them
That’s what Paul has been doing by this letter. He says,
10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now those who are such we command and [c]exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.
2. Withdraw from them
6 But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which [a]he received from us.
That’s as far as we got last time.
3. Set an example
Paul, Silas and Timothy were examples of how a person is supposed to work and pull their own weight if they are able.
7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you;
We didn’t live off of your provision. So how did they live and provide for themselves? We know that Paul was a leatherworker, and sometimes he worked so he could pay the bills. We also know that other churches would send offerings to them to provide for their needs while they took the gospel to new frontiers.
You say, well isn’t that kind of hypocritical? He didn’t take money from the Thessalonians, but he took money from other churches. Isn’t that like a religious ponzi scheme? No. First, it was not demanded that people give. Second, Thessalonica was an area where the gospel had never been preached, so of course he’s not going to take money from unconverted people, or new converts, because it could be a reason to cast doubt on their message.
But what he is saying here is that they didn’t live off of the charity of the Thessalonian believers.
8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread [b]free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you,
Again, we worked to provide for ourselves.
9 not because we do not have authority,
Could they have rightfully asked the Christians in Thessalonica to support them financially in their work? Yes, they had that right. They had that authority. Paul made reference to that in another of his church letters.
1 Corinthians 9: Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2 If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are the [a]seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3 My defense to those who examine me is this: 4 Do we have no [b]right to eat and drink? 5 Do we have no right to take along [c]a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? 7 Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?
8 Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about? 10 Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. 11 If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? 12 If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more?
He is saying that he, and his missionary team, have the right to receive wages for the work that they are doing, but they choose not to receive them from new believers, for fear that it will negatively affect the new believer’s opinion of them, and the gospel.
Nevertheless, we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.
But the point is that Paul, Silas, and Timothy were examples to the believers in Thessalonica concerning their work ethic. And that is the 3rd step in dealing with disobedience. If you are going to confront someone, you’d better take a long look at your own life first. And be prepared to talk to the person about how you manage to be obedient.
If, for example, you are talking to someone about gossip, and encouraging them not to gossip; look at your own conversations first, and think of what you do to avoid participating in gossip, so you can share that.
So, the first step in to confront, the second to withdraw, the third to be an example and the fourth.
4. Discipline
What does discipline mean? We often associate the word with negative punishment. “That boy needs a whoopin.” “He needs the board of education applied to the seat of knowledge.”
But the word discipline comes from the same word that we get disciple. It’s not just negative, it’s positive. I’m reading a book about discipling people. The title of the book is “Guardrails.” Guardrails are those barriers that are placed on the side of the road to prevent a driver from driving off the road into some life-threatening hazard. They are put up on the sides of bridges, and embankments. Sometimes they are there to separate from oncoming traffic.
That’s what discipling, and discipline are. It is the placing of guardrails to prevent or warn a person away from sin. Look at what Paul said.
10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies.
The guardrail here, the discipline, is the rule; if you refuse to work, remember, no one is going to feed you. Now that may seem cruel. But the rule is designed to prevent them from continually falling into the sin of laziness. And they may have to bump into that guardrail a few times before they get the message. But it won’t take doing without to many meals before their belly tells them, “I gotta get a job.”
And discipline in the church should be designed the same way; to keep a person from sin. We could elaborate. But, for example, some sins may mean that someone needs to keep a daily check with the person, to keep encouraging them. Sometimes discipline may mean letting a person fail. Not bailing them out. Letting them suffer the consequences of their actions. Again, every situation calls for a special blend of grace, planning and discipline. It means, to the best of our ability, creating consequences for a person’s actions. It’s not easy, in the climate of our country, it can be impossible-they’ll just go to another church.
First, confront, second, withdraw, third, be an example, fourth, discipline, fifth seek harmony
5. Seek harmony
12 Now those who are such we command and [c]exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. 13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.
He’s talking to both parties, the disobedient, and the rest—comment on vs 13
The point for all parties is to arrive at harmony. It shouldn’t be the norm of the church to be constantly dealing with these problems. We will always have sin in our lives to some degree. The goal is to reach harmony. Obviously, there are times that we all will have to confront and guide someone. But we want to get to the point where everyone who is able to care for themselves, does. That is the place of harmony because no one feels overburdened and resentful because someone else is taking advantage. I think it is telling here that he says,
13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.
This is spoken to the obedient.
It would seem that some of the church members in Thessalonica were getting tired of carrying the load for these freeloaders. And they may have been tempted to say, “Hey, why do I keep breaking my back to work and to be good, and do the right thing, and carry my own weight? I keep pulling the wagon. Well maybe I ought to quit pulling the wagon and jump in while someone else pulls. I could become a freeloader.”
But that is not the path to harmony. That is the path to resentment and more sin, so Paul addresses both parties.
When you confront disobedience you are seeking harmony. You’re not trying to set up a system of overlords in the church who walk around with their discipline sticks correcting every minor infraction anyone commits. You are trying to get to where everyone manages their own relationship with God, with encouragement and help when wanted and needed. The church isn’t supposed to be a reform school.
When discipline happens in the church, it is supposed to have a harmonious end in mind. We will never all be perfect. But we can get to harmony.
First, confront, second, withdraw, third, be an example, fourth, discipline, fifth seek harmony, sixth shame them.
6. Shame them
This is why I said these are “parts” not “steps.”
14 And if anyone does not obey our word in this [d]epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed.
Now here we have a more specific definition of “withdraw.” There are three interesting phrases here; note that person, do not keep company with him, and that he may be ashamed.
“note that person” The Greek word here is the same one that was used in the Greek Septuagint when God put a mark on Cain, so all humanity would know of his sin of murder.
It is used again in Romans 16:17
17 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.
They are officially put on everyone’s mental list to avoid. Now he also says to not keep company with them. There are other verses that help clarify this as well.
The word means to mix with, or associate with.
Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
The Jews wouldn’t enter Gentile houses. They didn’t develop deep relationships with Gentiles. That doesn’t mean they didn’t see them, or even talk with them. But think about how they dealt with the Samaritans. When travelling across Israel, rather than go the short way through Samaria, they would travel around the city, just to avoid interaction with Samaritans.
I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.
But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
Keep company—prolonged intimate acceptance
The last words that we look at here are, “that he be ashamed.” The words actually mean “to look inward.” You want your actions toward them to cause them to look inside themselves and reconsider their actions.
There is commentary in a Jewish writing about this kind of discipline toward a fellow Jew who is being disobedient to the law, and the subsequent shunning.
``in matters of heaven (of God or religion), if a man does not return privately, (Nymylkm), they "put him to shame" publicly; and publish his sin, and reproach him to his face, and despise and set him at nought until he returns to do well.''
Now, put all together, this paints what we would call a rather harsh picture of how the Church is to deal with the disobedient.
But let me make a couple of comments. We first must remember that these are instructions given under certain conditions. First, we are talking about church members specifically, and professing Christians generally here.
condition
10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother,
condition
Second, if done correctly, most of the church will not know that any church discipline has occurred. There are instances of church discipline in this church that you don’t know about. Why don’t you know? Because it remains a private matter as long as the person corrects the behavior or repents and is working on the behavior.
condition
Third, before you get to “not keeping company” with them, you first must go to them, individually, with one or two others, and then to take them before the church. And remember that in all of that, you are examining yourself as well.
And there is, I believe, a 4th condition. Paul only talks about church discipline in some serious matters. That doesn’t mean we don’t address “small” sins- they usually are dealt with within friendships. When does Paul call for church discipline?
To the Corinthian church he called for church discipline because a man was having an affair with his stepmother. Serious
In this passage, Paul calls for discipline against those who not only were daily choosing not to work, and mooching off of other church members, but they had been told. Now, they were actively disobeying the Word, and Paul’s direct instruction.
Paul encourages church discipline for those who stubbornly continue in sin.
5th condition
And church discipline occurs only when it is a specific violation of the commands of the Word. It is not a personality issue, or a difference of opinion. Let me read you this quote from Bible.org.
You don’t discipline someone for areas on which the Bible has no clear commandments. Drinking alcoholic beverages is not grounds for discipline; drunkenness is. Watching movies is not grounds for discipline; watching pornographic movies is. Scripture contains many lists of sins (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 4:25-5:6; 1 Tim. 1:9-10; 2 Tim. 3:2-5; etc.). We may summarize these as:
My comment: The short list for which sins should especially be dealt with; Flagrant sins, public sins, false doctrine, sins that involve others, and sins that strike at the unity and effectiveness of the church.
So, we are to shame a person. That means our actions are to be designed to drive them to introspection. To look inside and make a change.
First, confront, second, withdraw, third, be an example, fourth, discipline, fifth seek harmony, sixth shame them, seventh, love them
7.Love them
15 Yet do not count him as an enemy, but [e]admonish him as a brother.
Don’t count them as an enemy. Who is an enemy? An enemy is someone who is attacking you. They are trying to inflict harm on you. To treat them as an enemy is to be hostile toward them. It’s tempting to treat people as enemies, especially if we are wounded by the sin in some way. We don’t want to forgive. Good riddance. Paul dealt with the same problem in Corinth. Remember the man who was having an affair with his stepmother? Paul told the church to follow through with church discipline. Paul told them in 1 Corinthians 5
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord [c]Jesus.
What did that mean? Well, along with not keeping company with the person, it meant that the church prayed, and agreed together, to ask God to discipline the individual. You see, every believer is under the protection of God. I think God surrounds believers with His angels to protect them from Satan and harm. And it is only when God allows, that harm can come to a believer.
When does God allow that? When He has a purpose, to help a believer grow. When He is disciplining a believer. And here, when the church delivers a person to Satan, they are asking God to remove His protection from a believer, in order to bring them to repentance from some sin.
But they are not asking it because the person is their enemy, but because they are a brother or sister in Christ. You know that the path they have chosen only leads to dishonoring God, pain and a distant relationship with God and other believers. You don’t want that for them. You have exhausted your words on them. They don’t seem to care that the church has shunned them. All that’s left is to turn them over to Satan. It’s out of your hands.
And the temptation here is to have a hostile attitude toward them. We might say, “Good riddance,” or we might gleefully say, “God’s going to get him now.” But that’s not a Christian attitude. Paul had to correct the church in Corinth. The man had apparently repented, but they were holding him at arms-length.
2 Corinthians 2:5-8
5 But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent—not to be too severe. 6 This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, 7 so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.
The last step is to love. That’s what the church is; a loving, forgiving, encouraging, exhorting, God-fearing, Christ-honoring body. Not that we are perfect, but we are striving together. And when someone falls into disobedience, like the lost sheep who strays from the fold, we leave and go searching for them, we love them. When we find them, we bind their wounds, yes, we correct the behavior, we address the behavior, we do things to help them stop the wandering. But we bring them home.
Three debilitating conditions in the church; discouragement, deception and disobedience. All three are capable of destroying a church, but, with God’s grace, and our careful obedience and love, they can be overcome.
This is how Paul concludes this letter.
A. V. Paul’s Benediction (3:16–18)
16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all. 17 The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every [f]epistle; so I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
How fitting a closing to this letter. With all the problems that can come to a church, there are few assurances in this world. We don’t know what circumstances we will face as a church, or as Christians.
One church in China faces persecution. A church in America may face false doctrine. A church in Central America may disobedience.
But we can all pray the same prayer for each other;
may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.
May God and His peace always be with you.
The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every [f]epistle; so I write.
Paul says, “I am personally greeting you.” I can’t speak for other believers, but I am with you, I desire God’s best for you.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
We pray that Christ’s undeserved favor would overshadow your life.