“And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us. For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good. Take note of those who refuse to obey what we say in this letter. Stay away from them so they will be ashamed. Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would a brother or sister.”
2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 NLT
This passage is a passage that should be studied more in western culture. Paul breaks down the idea that work is only to accomplish a task and instead shows it to be the natural state of a godly human being. He posits that we are to stay productive in life and that constantly fretting about persecution and divisions leads to an ungodly life. We should be accepting that the spiritually mature are those who are always doing something for the kingdom. While taking time to understand a situation is important, it is overvalued compared to the task of daily living for Christ. Paul’s claim that people who don’t work should be starved and shamed shows how strongly he views this subject. Words are their own type of work. Elsewhere he writes how they can set a forest on fire as a simple spark. Keeping the hands busy keeps the tongue in check. This is a subject that ought to be taken quite seriously. This is especially true when social commentary has become this generations highest form of occupation and the next generations number one occupational pursuit.
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