Version 1
Word Count: 155
Recently, Pastor Andy Stanley used 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 to chastise Christians and to apologize to non-Christians for believers’ inappropriate behavior. Paul told his readers to “aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands…that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.” Taking Paul’s admonition totally out of context, Stanley condemns Christians for not minding their own business by leaving unbelievers alone. God’s “rules” or laws, Stanley said, are for family members, not for unbelievers.
Many Thessalonian Christians had become so focused on Christ’s return that they quit their jobs to wait for it. These people quickly became burdens on society and hurt their testimonies. Paul wasn’t saying Christians should never assert that God’s “rules” apply to unbelievers, for His moral laws are absolute and applicable to all. He was telling his readers to work hard and live responsibly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 2:
Word Count: 249
Recently, Pastor Andy Stanley used 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 to chastise Christians and to apologize to non-Christians for believers’ inappropriate behavior. Stanley said in part, “I want to say something…to those of you who are not Christians….I really want to apologize. If one of us — Christians — has attempted to impose one of our Christian rules on you, I’m sorry. You know, anyone who’s said ‘but the Bible says, or Jesus said, or God’ [and] they’ve just tried to impose one of our Christian rules on you — I just want you to know, I am so sorry. How you choose to live your life is none of our business.”
Stanley then quoted 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, where Paul told his readers to “aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands…that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.” Taking Paul’s admonition totally out of context, Stanley condemns Christians for not minding their own business by leaving unbelievers alone. God’s “rules” or laws, Stanley said, are for family members, not for unbelievers.
Many Thessalonian Christians had become so focused on Christ’s return that they quit their jobs to wait for it. These people quickly became burdens on society and hurt their testimonies. Paul wasn’t saying Christians should never assert that God’s “rules” apply to unbelievers, for His moral laws are absolute and applicable to all. He was telling his readers to work hard and live responsibly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 3:
Word Count: 347
Recently, Pastor Andy Stanley used 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 to chastise Christians and to apologize to non-Christians for believers’ inappropriate behavior. Stanley said in part, “I want to say something…to those of you who are not Christians….I really want to apologize. If one of us — Christians — has attempted to impose one of our Christian rules on you, I’m sorry. You know, anyone who’s said ‘but the Bible says, or Jesus said, or God’ [and] they’ve just tried to impose one of our Christian rules on you — I just want you to know, I am so sorry. How you choose to live your life is none of our business.”
Stanley then quoted 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, where Paul instructed his readers to “aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands…that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.” Taking Paul’s admonition totally out of context, Stanley condemns Christians for not minding their own business by leaving unbelievers alone. God’s “rules” or laws, Stanley said, are for family members, not for unbelievers.
What did Paul actually mean? The Thessalonian Christians had become so focused on Christ’s return that they quit their jobs to wait for it. These people quickly became burdens on society and hurt their testimonies. Paul wasn’t saying Christians should never assert that God’s “rules” apply to unbelievers, for His moral laws are absolute and applicable to all. He was telling his readers to work hard and live responsibly.
Bible scholar Warren Wiersbe explains that the apostle was admonishing his readers to “earn their own wages and not become freeloaders depending on the support of unbelievers.”1 People without work are idle and tend to meddle in other peoples’ affairs,2 so the term “busybodies,” which Paul uses in 2 Thessalonians 3:11, is quite fitting.
No, it wasn’t that the Thessalonian Christians were dictating to the unbelievers in their midst how to live, but that they themselves were living irresponsibly and thereby misrepresenting Christ, the church, and Christianity itself. That was the real problem.
top image credit at Wikimedia Commons
Notes:
1Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Vol. 2: Ephesians-Revelation, (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1989), 177.
2Warren Wiersbe, 178.
Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved.