Second Thessalonians 3: is the key: “And you, brothers, do not lose heart doing good!” (literal translation). The faithful Christians were discouraged by the conduct of the careless saints who refused to work. “If they don’t have to work, why should we?” was their argument, and Paul nipped it in the bud.
Sin in the life of a believer always affects the rest of the church. As members of His body, we belong to each other and we affect each other. The bad example of a few saints can destroy the devotion, and hinder the service, of the rest of the church.
Paul named the sins of this group. To begin with, they were “disorderly,” or out of order, out of rank. They were disobeying orders, and this brought confusion and division to the assembly. Further, they were “busybodies,” not busy workers. The Greek word for “busybody” literally means “to be working around”; that is, busy but “fooling around” and not accomplishing anything. First Timothy 5: suggests that busybodies meddle in matters that do not belong to them.
Almost every culture has its saying about idleness. The Romans said, “By doing nothing, men learn to do evil.” Isaac Watts wrote: “For Satan finds some mischief still, for idle hands to do.” The Jewish rabbis taught, “He who does not teach his son a trade, teaches him to be a thief.”
Instead of noisily running around, these people should “with quietness … work, and eat their own bread.” Their false views about the return of Christ had worked them into a pitch of excitement. “Your overemotional attitude is wrong,” warned Paul. “Settle down and get to work.” Work is a great antidote to unbalanced speculation and unthinking activity.
But suppose these saints did not obey God’s Word and go to work? What then should the church do? Paul had already taken the first step when he exhorted them in his first letter (1 Thess. 5:14) and warned them that they were wrong. But they had still persisted in their unruly behavior. He now warned them again in his second letter, and then added a further step: if these believers did not obey, the members of the church should personally discipline them.
The subject of church discipline is not discussed much these days. In many churches, once a person is baptized and becomes a member, he is pretty much left to himself. If he commits some gross public sin, he will probably be dealt with by the pastor or the board; but the total church family will not begin to minister to him or exercise discipline over him.
What is church discipline? For one thing, it is not the pastor and official board acting like evangelical policemen to trap a sinning saint and kick him out of the church. No doubt there are churches that have such dictatorial leaders, but this is not what Paul had in mind. Church discipline is to the church member what family discipline is to a child: it is an exercise of, and evidence of, correcting love. When a parent disciplines his child, he is not a judge punishing a criminal; he is a loving father seeking to make his child a better person.
There are various levels of church discipline that must be distinguished.
Personal differences between Christians (Matt. 18:15–18; Phil. 4:1–3). If a brother or sister sins against me (either deliberately or unknowingly), I should go to that person privately and seek to get the matter settled. Only if the person refuses to settle the matter should I bring anyone else in, and the problem must not go to the church family until every other means has been exhausted.
In my pastoral ministry, I have seen many problems of this type. The big mistake Christians make when another believer wrongs them is in telling the pastor or other members, and not going to the person directly. Another mistake is in trying to win an argument instead of trying to win the sinning brother.
Doctrinal error. Determine first of all why the person is teaching wrong doctrine. Perhaps it is because of ignorance and lack of Bible knowledge. In that case, patiently teach him the truth (2 Tim. 2:23–26). If he persists, rebuke him (Titus 1:10–14). Paul had to do this to Peter (Gal. 2:11ff.). If the error continues, avoid him (Rom. 16:17–18), and then separate yourself from him (2 Tim. 2:18ff.; 2 John 9ff.).
A believer overtaken by sin (Gal. 6:1–3). Even the great apostle Peter denied the Lord. And David yielded to lust and committed adultery. When a Christian is caught in known sin, the spiritual members of the church must seek to restore him with gentleness and love. The word restore here means “to set a broken bone”—and that takes tenderness and patience. Too often the church quickly passes judgment on a believer who has sinned, and the damage done causes problems for years to come.
A repeating troublemaker (Titus 3:10). The word heretic does not refer to doctrinal error, but to a proud attitude of one who gets people to “take sides” in the church. The Greek word means “to make a choice.” This leads to divisions and cliques in the local church (see Gal. 5: where heresies ought to be translated “sects, parties”). There is hardly a church that does not have its parties for or against anything—the pastor, the building program, even the color of the kitchen walls. Usually these “heretics” are people who like to be important; they want a following. Often they have deep emotional problems that Satan can use to create spiritual problems in the church. Perhaps they are frustrated at home or on the job, or perhaps they have, in the past, been hurt by some pastor or church.
These “factious people” should be given two official warnings. If they repeat their sin of dividing the church, they should be given a third warning and rejected. “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned” (Titus 3:10–11, niv).
It is my conviction that such people should not hold office in the church. It is also my conviction that, if they leave the church “in a huff,” they should be restored to fellowship only twice. The third time—they are out!
Open immorality (1 Cor. 5). The church must mourn over the sinner (the same word is used for mourning over the dead) and seek to bring him to repentance. If he refuses, the church collectively should dismiss him (1 Cor. 5:13, where the Greek word means “expel”). If he repents, he must be forgiven and restored to fellowship in the church (2 Cor. 2:6–11).
In the case of the “lazy saints,” Paul told the believers to exhort them, warn them, and if they did not repent, withdraw intimate fellowship from them. This probably meant that these believers were not permitted to share in the Lord’s Supper, and that the church members would not invite them to their homes. Second Thessalonians 3: does not apply to every case of discipline. It applies only to the matter of saints not working for a living.
“Have no company” literally means “do not get mixed up with”; the same word is used in 1 Corinthians 5:9. There is a difference between acquaintanceship, friendship, and fellowship; for fellowship means “to have in common.” For obedient saints to treat disobedient Christians with the same friendship they show to other dedicated saints is to give approval to their sins.
However, Paul (knowing the tendency of human nature to go to extremes) cautioned them not to treat the offenders like enemies. “They are still your brothers in Christ,” he added. Lot was out of fellowship with God and Abraham because he lived in Sodom, yet Abraham rescued Lot from the enemy because Lot was his brother (Gen. 14, and note especially v. 14). It requires much patience, love, and grace to help an erring brother; and this is why Paul added a final motive for earning a living.