Tough love. There are times in scripture you can read it and
feel inspired. You can feel stronger or get a better understanding of this life
God intends us to live. Other times, it’s straight tough love. 1 Thessalonians
3:6-15 is tough love.
This is how this section starts out in verse 6 in The
Message version, “Our orders – backed up by the Master, Jesus – are to refuse
to have anything to do with those among you who are lazy and refuse to work the
way we taught you. Don’t permit them to freeload on the rest.”
Not exactly the touchy feel good scripture in this section.
Paul rightfully so calls out three types of people through this entire
scripture, the lazy, gossipers and the disobedient. Paul brings this up because
the church was full of these type of people. He told people and I think this
applies to us today, we are called to work hard, not gossip and not be
disobedient. This is meant for people in the Church. I will say this again that
way it doesn’t get misconstrued. This is meant for people in the Church.
The church had issues and still does. No church is perfect.
Paul tells us everyone in the church needs to be working hard to make his or
her keep. Nobody should be mooching off others in the church. Along with this
people focused on talking about other people behind their backs instead of
handling things face to face. Last, when people are being blatantly
disobedient, back off from them.
Not only with these commands, he gives us the way to handle
these situations. We identify the problem, warn them of the problem and if
necessary they need to be removed from certain situations for a period of time,
but this needs to be done in a loving way. This is a struggle in the church as
nobody wants to be labeled as someone judging other people, but in healthy
churches this needs to be done. Situations can’t be swept under the rug, they
need to be handled accordingly.
This is not necessarily a loving feeling but it is
important.
*Self reflection time* (For those inside the church)
Do you classify yourself or has their been times you have
been lazy, gossiped or disobedient to those in the church or in church
relationships?
If so, it’s time to fix those situations, identify the
issues, deal with them and do this in a loving way.
Sometimes tough love leads to great things, don’t be afraid
to live this out.
Have a great day.
