For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; (8) nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, (9) not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. (10) For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.  (11) For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies.  (12) Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.

The second letter to the Thessalonians was written by the apostle Paul. They lived in a Greek world and in that ancient culture work was considered demeaning. They believed the soul/mind was good and the body/matter was evil – so most of the work of that day was done by slaves.  There were also those who embraced Christianity but  believed the end days were near and accordingly, why work?  So Paul – in both letters to the Thessalonians – is now addressing this for the third time with harsh words; he commanded that those who would not work, neither should they eat their neighbors food. (Paul is not considering Christians who can’t work, but those who won’t.).  Paul forbids the indulgence of indolence.

Paul is teaching that holy living means honest and useful labor – he wished to be an example by his own labor and makes sure that the Christians in Thessalonia know he had a right to be supported as a minister and an apostle but because of the apparent growing problem of those who did nothing his example was of greater impact than just words. The Bible is full of admonition against idleness and the intrinsic value of work. Not using the  gift of work – using our God given abilities – can be spiritually deadly,  Adams job before the fall (in Genesis) was to cultivate and keep the garden he was placed in. Man was given dominion over all the earth so work wasn’t initiated by the fall, it was just cursed – made painful – by sin. “God designed man to be a gardener but the fall made him a farmer.”

As Christians we are to give dignity to work. This biblical viewpoint is always our guiding star. We are to work for the glory of God and to serve others. Work is a creation mandate.