1 Thessalonians– Chapter Four XIII

by Ed Urzi

“…make it your ambition to live quietly and peacefully, and to mind your own affairs and work with your hands, just as we directed you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders [exhibiting good character, personal integrity, and moral courage worthy of the respect of the outside world], and be dependent on no one and in need of nothing [be self-supporting]” (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 AMP).

As we seek to honor God with our resources, we can look to Him to provide for our needs and enable us to serve as a conduit of His blessings to others. This is especially true in light of what we read in 2 Corinthians 9:8: “…God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause” (GNT). To borrow a quote from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, this will enable others to “…see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

However, this passage brings another message from Jesus to mind…

“Whoever is faithful with little is also faithful with much, and the one who is dishonest with little is also dishonest with much. If you haven’t been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? If you haven’t been faithful with someone else’s property, who will give you your own?” (Luke 16:10-12 CEB).

These passages remind us that those who profess to follow Christ have been entrusted with a responsibility. Part of that responsibility involves living in a way that others cannot legitimately define as lazy, belligerent, or meddlesome. For example, the qualities of industriousness and personal responsibility reflect well upon the individual and the God that he or she claims to serve. In addition, a quiet, hard-working person is someone who elicits respect from others, even if they are unwilling to admit it.

The second portion of this verse carries another important implication…

“We gather from this passage, and from 2 Thessalonians 3:11, that some of the believers in this church believed that the Second Coming of Christ was very near, and in their zeal, abandoned their jobs. Paul gets into the social implications of the gospel when he tells them to look after their families and continue their secular work. According to verse 12 it would be wrong and harmful to their testimonies to depend upon the church to feed their families. Furthermore this might cause actual poverty and economic recession. These verses are then significant for the Christian work ethic.” (1)

We’ll consider this possibility at greater length when we reach the book of 2 Thessalonians.

(1) Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2478). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.