one28 PodcastAdmonish the Idle
1 Thessalonians 5:14
2007.08.12
one28 Sunday worship
It really is exciting for me to be back in one28 this morning. It seems like the summer has been crazy and though I’ve been preaching in all the places I’ve been, this is by far my favorite place to preach.
As I was thinking about what to preach this morning I was thinking about things like how many people I knew were going to be out of town, including but not limited to the Berlin team, and how it was a small group Sunday so I’d have a little less time to speak, and how next Sunday we have no one28 at all due to our staff retreat.
So I really didn’t want to jump back into Ecclesiastes or do anything that might turn into a series. And that got me thinking that maybe what would be best would be something that my own soul could use, perhaps a reminder or an encouragement 2/3rds of the way through the summer. As I was doing some reading–both in my Bible and on some blogs–and it seemed like a particular issue was in a showcase with bright spotlights shining down on it. It is the issue/subject of idleness.
Idleness is always a threat–and it seems especially in the summer, with our late, lazy summer mornings, and our hot, lazy summer afternoons, and our late, lazy summer evenings. It is easy to be lethargic, lazy, and idle. I know that is true for me in my attitude and even in my spiritual life and disciplines. I anticipate that enough of you are like me and that some reminders about idleness might be a good kick in the pants for us.
Most of the time we are pretty nonchalant, hands in our pockets (literally) about idleness. It’s one of those things that we know is wrong and we feel guilty about it afterward, but ironically we’re too apathetic to change anything in the middle of our idleness fits. Then I read this quote:
We are to weep with those who weep, laugh with those who laugh, encourage the downcast, rebuke the arrogant and powerful, comfort the afflicted, and (here is where satire can come in) afflict the comfortable. (Doug Wilson, emphasis added)
And I was like, “afflict the comforted, that’s good stuff. We should totally think through the benefits of afflicting the comfortable.” Then I read this verse:
1 Thessalonians 5:14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
And I was like, “admonish the idle, that’s good stuff. We should totally do a mini-study on idleness from this verse.” So that’s exactly what we’re going to do before some small group discussion. I hope that for those to whom this message applies that God will use it to light a fire under your/our seat and goad you/me into getting off the dime.
Paul is nearing the end of his letter to the Thessalonian believers in chapter five and in verse 14 he addresses three various groups of problem people in the church. Paul identifies the idle, the timid, and the weak and each group needs different treatment.
And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
We’re obviously going to focus on the first group, but our duty to the other two types is no less necessary or valuable. I was struck right away that Paul doesn’t say, “admonish those who are idle” or “those who are being idle,” but he simply calls them “the idle.” The idle rate as their own category, just like the fainthearted and the weak. The idle are a whole group. Idleness is such a characteristic of their lives that it defines them. That’s not a good way to be known.
The MEANING of Idleness
The Greek word in verse 14 is a form of ἀτάκτος. The word (in some form) is used four times in 1 and 2 Thessalonians (and these are the only occurrences in all the NT). It has the idea of being undisciplined, perhaps disorderly, and definitely lethargic and lazy. The ESV suitably translates it, “idle.”
One dictionary defines it as “to refuse to be engaged in the efforts of work, to do nothing, to be lazy” (Louw & Nida).
When the word was used in military contexts it referred to those who were negligent in their duties, undisciplined in their behaviors, or even disorderly in their conduct. Ultimately they might even go AWOL and abandon their duty altogether. In a social context the word was used to describe sons who didn’t work to meet the financial needs of their aging or sick parents.
The idle are loafers. They are lazy. They don’t fulfill their responsibilities. They don’t work or follow through.
Being “idle” does not always mean that you are doing absolutely nothing at all, but that you are doing the bare minimum to get by. Sort of like when an engine is idle–it is still on and parts are moving, but it is just enough to maintain and there isn’t enough energy to move ahead.
Perhaps we might also say that you can be idle not just when the energy is minimal but when it is misdirected. We see some of the idle in 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 7, and 11. In those verses they are busybodies, meddling in things they shouldn’t and not busy doing the things they should. Apparently they expected everyone else to do all the work and take care of them, though they were expending energy.
The church is full of people like this, who expect everyone else to do all the spiritual work.
Some CAUSES of Idleness
Why are people idle? I’m sure there are numerous reasons and de-motivations for why people are idle, but here a a few.
1. Lack of responsibility.
When you don’t have anything to do or any responsibilities it is easy to be idle. And if you aren’t mature, you won’t look for it either.
2. Wrong thinking.
Some people are idle because they think that someone else will do it (whatever “it” is) or that doing it doesn’t really matter. It seems that one of the reasons some of the Thessalonians were giving for their idleness was theological. They were excusing their lack of work because of the imminence of Christ’s return.
3. Tiredness.
Another reason some people are idle is because they don’t have the energy to work. Of course, much of the time they are tired because they weren’t disciplined to go to bed on time.
4. Plain old selfishness.
The sin of selfishness is a part of every other cause of idleness. People who idle through life are doing–or in this case, not doing–what they want when they want.
Our RESPONSE to Idleness
Our response to idleness should be to “admonish.” At its core, when you admonish someone you put something in someone’s mind or refresh their memory. In Scripture, admonishing always has the idea of giving counsel about avoiding or ceasing an improper course of action. It includes warning and advice to correct behavior in light of coming consequences.
MacArthur says,
How are we to deal with it? Very simple, admonish them. There’s no formula, there’s no program, there’s no system. Individual sheep go to these sheep that are hanging on the fringes and not doing their duty, not using their gifts, not ministering, not on board, not supportive, not with the program, not going the way everybody is going…and just coming alongside.
It is coming along side of someone and. “I see your indifference, and if you keep going down that road all you’re going to get is God’s discipline.”
I observed four things about admonishing the idle in 1 Thessalonians 5:14.
1. Admonishing the idle is a command.
Admonish the idle is an imperative. It is nonnegotiable. It is not open to discussion or modification.
2. Admonishing the idle is a high-priority.
The apostle begins verse 14 with an intense appeal, And we urge you, or “we exhort you” to be about this work. This is an authoritative request.
Admonishing the idle is also the first group Paul is concerned with.
3. Admonishing the idle is a mutual responsibility.
Paul addresses this command to you, brothers. This responsibility is not restricted to leaders in the church, but for all the members of the body. It is sheep-to-sheep work.
4. Admonishing the idle requires patience.
The last command in verse 14 is an umbrella over the first three commands: be patient with all. Being “patient with all” is almost unbelievably necessary when dealing with the idle. When interacting with and admonishing the idle, impatience is a killer.
Patience includes tenderness as from a father to his son (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12). It requires the long-view as from a mother (1 Thessalonians 2:7). Admonishing the idle isn’t about judgmentalism or criticism from a superior attitude. Though we shouldn’t make best friends with idlers, neither are we to treat them as enemies, but warn them as brothers (2 Thessalonians 3:11-15).
Conclusion
Of course, some of you are hard workers and don’t need to be admonished because of idleness. But even those who aren’t idle should “excel still more” (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:1, 10).
But to those who are idle, let us admonish them and affectionately afflict their comfortability. As we read from Doug Wilson earlier,
We are to weep with those who weep, laugh with those who laugh, encourage the downcast, rebuke the arrogant and powerful, comfort the afflicted, and (here is where satire can come in) afflict the comfortable.
That’s perhaps one of the reasons why Solomon’s call the the sluggard in Proverbs 6 is so stinging (”Consider the ant!”).
Too many young people are loafish at home, lethargic at church, and lazy in their personal/spiritual lives. They are truly the American Idle. The way that one28 is going to be the greatest force is not when we have more games or fun but when we all start stimulating one another to get to good work for the glory of God.
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