Playing hookie: Don't do it in church

II Thessalonians 3

Introduction: Lyman Spitzer put the universe in focus. Christopher Tyner, in the July 7 Investor’s Business Daily, gives us a glance at the life of this Princeton University astronomer who was the driving force behind the Hubble Space Telescope. Spitzer, believe it or not, proposed the idea of a space telescope in 1946, a full 12 years before NASA even came into being!
Though his idea ignited skepticism and rejection, he persisted with discipline and diligence. The $2.1 billion space telescope, aloft now for ten years orbiting hundreds of miles above Earth , sent back pictures in early ’96 that astounded the world. Through its lens, pointed at a small patch of dark sky just above the Big Dipper, came the sight of 1500 galaxies spinning alongside each other at the edge of the universe. One scientist called this sensational discovery the astronomical equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Lyman Spitzer was a man of incredible discipline and diligence. His friends said of him, “He had a sense of obligation and responsibility and a sense of wanting to do what is right for the long range of the scientific enterprise, independent of what was good for Lyman Spitzer. He was a consummate politician, but unlike the ordinary political politician, he is someone who spoke only accurately and only the truth. He never engaged in hyperbole.”
We are incredibly richer today because of the discipline of a single astrophysicist who went diligently about his business, focused on his goal, taking small steps every day toward the realization of his dream.
We are not surprised to come to the next-to-last segment of Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians and find him writing about the value and fruit of a disciplined life -- in Christ. What Paul writes holds no secrets. As we look at this text this morning, we will not find something new and startling; none of us will leave here marveling that we had never seen this important truth before. For those of us who want to know Christ better and walk more closely with Him, we won’t find any 1-2-3 step process to follow and imitate.
But, as is always the case when we consider the Scriptures, we need to interact with his challenges and consider again why it is important to be disciplined in this matter of following Christ. All of us can leave here more committed to improving our walk with the Savior because of what we see here – if we want to!
Our text is 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15. “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you;
not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example. For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.
For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
Our text unfolds around 4 commands that Paul gives to his friends under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
The first we see at both the beginning and the end of our passage. In verse 6 and in verses 14-15, Paul commands the Thessalonians to withdraw from unruly brothers.
The second imperative is found in verses 10-12, and that instruction is to the unruly brothers – “Work in a quiet fashion and eat your own bread.”
The third mandate covers verses 7-9 and consists of “Follow our example!”
The final order is verse 13: “Don’t grow weary of doing good!”
Out of these four injunctions we can draw some lessons that will improve the quality of our lives as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s consider each one as the text develops and draw our own applications for today.
First, there is the bookend command to withdraw from unruly brothers. To stress his point, Paul starts and finishes this segment with the same emphatic point. In the NASV, we read “to keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life…” and “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him…”
The concept of ‘withdraw’ here is the image of “furling a sail.” As a sail is coiled up or curled up, so the Thessalonian believers are to retreat within themselves, away from the offenders, so the unruly sense a gap opening between themselves and the others.
The term ‘unruly’ conveys the image of “playing hooky”. We all understand how students who skip school, who cut classes, define the term ‘unruly’. They are a picture of a lack of personal discipline. They skip out on their assigned responsibilities, their expected behavior. ‘Unruly’ in a military context describes an army in disarray, men out of rank. When Santa Ana’s troops were outflanked by General Winfield Scott at the Battle of Cerro Gordo in the Mexican War, their flight in retreat was a perfect picture of ‘unruly’ – disarray to the max, headlong, pell-mell retreat back toward Mexico City.
There were some believers in the Thessalonian church who were known for their ‘playing hooky’ in the Christian life. It is clear from the original text that Paul knew specifically who these individuals were. The ‘some among you’ of verse 11 gives the impression that Paul knows the names of these playing hooky but has chosen to not give their names. He had addressed this problem in I Thessalonians; it hadn’t been corrected; and now he returns more sternly to the issue. Perhaps some of the brethren, feeling like they had missed the coming of the Lord, (chapter 2), had lost their sense of purpose and had given up on their commitment to keep on keeping on. Whatever the basic reason, there were some in this church (a great church, but not a perfect church), there were some in this church who had lost their vision, had lost their focus, and their lives reflected that fact in the undisciplined way they went about life day to day.
Because these specific individuals had not responded with repentance after his first letter, Paul commands a form of church discipline that requires some separation. Paul does not have in mind an absolute break (we see in verse 15 a place for ‘admonishment’ which implies contact and communication), but he does mean a withdrawal from intimate fellowship.
This withdrawal of close fellowship would be a shaming condition that ought to lead to repentance on the part of those known as unruly.
Though there is much more to understand here, one lesson we can draw is this: “The church is a fellowship of accountability.” When we place our membership here, or if we come regularly and call this our home church, we open ourselves up to each other in ways that are unique in this world. The blessings of intimacy and the joys of sharing the deep things of our lives carry the corresponding elements of accountability and admonishment. Lest that cause anyone of us fear, be reminded that the church is God’s agent for reaching a lost world. It is also His means of growing us into the image of His Son. The momentary hurt or embarrassment of rebuke by a loving brother is completely offset by the eternal reward and glory of becoming more faithful as followers of the Savior.
If we choose to be unruly, undisciplined, to ‘play hooky’ in the church, the church has the responsibility to withdraw, to withhold the deeper forms of intimacy and fellowship.
The second command is based in verses 10-12 and is addressed to the unruly. “Work in quiet fashion and eat your own bread.” Paul wants those who “are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies” (vs. 11) to get to work and provide for themselves. Their laziness must cease; their mooching off of others must stop. Paul uses a play on words here that means “busybodies instead of busy”. Their lack of work and idleness was one problem; it had led to another – that of meddling in the affairs of others. Swindoll says that “busybodies flit from house to house taking little nectared drops of gossip with them, leaving behind their own residue of irritating pollen.”
It is in this context that the issue of ‘unruly brothers’ really finds definition. Those “playing hooky” in their Christian lives evidence laziness, sponging off of others, and gossiping. Without work to do, with lots of free time on their hands, without a vision for their calling in Christ, hardened to Paul’s admonition in the first letter, these brothers have slipped into a pattern of living that was unworthy of the Savior’s sacrifice on their behalf.
Friends, as I think of this second command of Paul’s, I cannot think of a single individual in our church family who ought to hear this precise ultimatum. Perhaps some of us know some spongers and moochers, some who are lazy and unwilling to work, who ought to be here today, but none come to my mind.
For those of us involved in our Helping Hand ministry, the bread route and the food pantry, the Thanksgiving baskets and the Christmas gifts, we are overdue in needing to re-evaluate how we make food available to those who ask for assistance. Are we helping those with legitimate needs, or are we making it easy for those who ask to continue to be lazy and irresponsible?
But as we think about application, and as we consider some of the implications of ‘unruly’ and ‘undisciplined’, it is fair to state this lesson: (Lesson Two) “The church is a work of responsibility.” To sign on to projects and to then to disappear is undisciplined irresponsibility. Work, friends, at fulfilling the promises you have made. To join a meeting in progress because we didn’t know what time it was is evidence of undisciplined irresponsibility. Work, friends, at being on time and being in rank along with the rest of the committee.
How many times have we made commitments to ministries and then backed out, leaving the rest of the team holding a now-heavier load? Work, friends, at carrying your part of the load you said you’d carry with diligence and grace. This is a great church, friends, but it’ll be even greater when these kinds of occurrences become rare around here. Leave the playing of hooky to someone else. Everything, and I mean everything, we see of the Lord Jesus, the founder of the church, and everything we see of the apostle Paul, the builder of the church, is a work of responsibility. The church was worthy of their disciplined, diligent work. It must be for us, too.
The third command in our text is “Follow our example.” In verses 7-9, Paul twice says ‘to follow our example’. His example is seen in concrete terms: Verse 8 tells us “that with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you.” He and his team did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it.
He had not been unruly nor undisciplined in his efforts on their behalf, and he wanted them to pick up on that same pattern. He didn’t ask these believers to do something that he himself was not doing. Paul was very conscientious and responsible in his relationship with the members of the Thessalonian church. He paid his own way; he picked up his own tab; he willingly forfeited his rights as an apostle to set the example before these friends that ‘if a person will not work, then he is not to eat, either’.
Paul’s example of a disciplined life brings to mind an account of Robert E. Lee I read this week in Jeff Shaara’s book, Gone For Soldiers. Before the battle of Cerro Gordo in the Mexican War, Captain Lee and a young enlisted man by the name of Fitzwalter are sent out to scout a way around Santa Ana’s force blocking the road to Mexico City. On their recon patrol, they come across a small spring of cool, sparkling, bubbling, running water. Being the officer and gentleman that Lee was, Lee let Fitzwalter take the first refreshing drink.
Before Lee had a chance to take a drink, the two Americans heard the voices and boots of approaching Mexican soldiers. Lee shoved the young Fitzwalter back down the path they had come to take cover in the shrubs there, and Lee himself dove behind a log beside the spring. The log was about 3 feet in diameter and Lee squeezed himself as far down behind the log as he could possible get.
Thus began a long afternoon of numbing stillness and silence as Mexican soldiers came and went, never leaving the spring completely unoccupied. Lee, not having had a chance for a drink, is getting more and more thirsty with each passing hour. Fortunately, the soldiers continue to come and depart the spring from the other side of the log. Lee prays through his trial, “God help me. God protect me.”
While lying there, Captain Lee feels a stab of pain in his back that he later discovers to be a cone shaped rock. His thought at the moment: “With just one more second, I could have swept that rock away. Another message from God. ‘You will stay awake’”.
Finally, with the coming of dusk, the Mexican soldiers return to their camps. Shaara writes: “He (Lee) tried to move his right leg, realized now both legs were completely numb. He pulled himself clear of the log, his legs dead weight, saw movement, under the log, and now a large hairy spider moved into the open, stopped, and Lee stared at it through watery eyes, thought, Yes, sorry old fellow. No doubt, I was the intruder. He slid his legs farther out, rolled to the side, unclenched his left hand, slowly, painfully, moved his arm down his leg, began to massage it.
The feeling crept into his legs, the slow spread of the tingling, the awful prick of a thousand needles. He rubbed harder, worked the stiffness out of his hand, tried to lift his head, and suddenly his hat fell off, rolled on its brim down the short hill. He felt a laugh trembling inside him, but he knew he could not make a sound. He looked down at the hat, thought, Well, thank you for doing that now. He was completely clear of the log, looked back underneath, saw the stain of wetness, saw now the small pebble that had been under his back, a tiny cone of rock.
He leaned over, picked it up, slipped it into his pocket, thought, I will remember you. He tried to stand, leaned against the log, slowly pulled himself up, and now there was a sound, behind him, from down the hill. He reached for the pistol, felt the ice in his chest, saw motion, the brush moving, then a figure, a man. It was Fitzwalter.
The young man moved quickly up the rise, and Lee saw the smile, a toothy grin, and Fitzwalter whispered, “Quite a day, eh, sir? Thought they’d never leave.”
Lee tried to speak. “Where did you go?”
“Right down there, sir. Just in those bushes there. I could see ‘em just fine. Could see you too, sir. If they’d a found you, I was ready.” He tapped the pistol in his belt. “We’d have made some noise, that’s for sure.”
Lee nodded, could see the young man’s excitement, thought, Yes, remember this day. You will never have another one like it.” When Lee finally gets a chance to get a drink himself, he finds himself thinking, “Not today. It was not my time. Thank you, God.”
The young American soldier Fitzwalter was given an afternoon-long lesson in the importance and the virtue of discipline. He saw first-hand a real live example, modeled before his very eyes, of the kind of discipline that can save a life.
Interestingly, that was exactly what Paul was doing for his new friends in the Thessalonian church. He was modeling the kind of discipline and training that would save their lives. No wonder he would repeatedly say, “Follow our example.”
The lesson for us is just this: “Following the example of a disciplined church leader will save your life!” How incredibly important it is that the church’s leaders live model lives of diligence and discipline! How incredibly important it is that church members follow the example of these kinds of leaders.
If we as pastors and elected church leaders do not measure up as models of disciplined lives, we need your admonishment! If we as members of this church refuse to follow good leadership, we need exhortation to get with the program. Our mission depends upon it. Our vision depends upon it. A lost world depends upon it. The discouraged, the depressed, the hopeless, and the wandering depend upon it. There is a great deal to be said about losing our souls that has nothing to do with heaven or hell. There is a whole dimension to saving our lives that has nothing to do with deathbeds. Being delivered from an unruly life is to be delivered from all kinds of heartbreak, pain, and unpleasant consequences IN THIS LIFE HERE AND NOW.
Leaders, be an example. Friends, please follow.
The fourth command is seen in verse 13: “Don’t grow weary of doing good.” The original text implies that these believers had not begun to grow weary, and Paul wants to make sure they don’t start down that road. John Calvin’s comment here is helpful: “…however ingratitude, moroseness, pride, arrogance and other unseemly dispositions…may have a tendency to annoy us, or to dispirit us, from a feeling of weariness, we must strive, nevertheless, never to leave off aiming at doing good.” ‘Doing good’ means doing the noble thing. As long as the Lord delays His coming, regardless of the unruliness and undisciplined living of others, we must continue to measure up to our high calling, and we must do it day after day.
The lesson is easily stated. “Even when others don’t and won’t, keep on with a noble heart.” It will be worth it on a certain coming day.
(Conclusion) In the 19th century, yellow fever attacked 500,000 people in the United States and it killed 90,000. It was the determined discipline of Army major Walter Reed that led to the discovery that mosquitoes were the culprits. Reed ascertained that “a female mosquito could get the yellow fever virus from a victim only in the first two or three days of the disease, and that approximately two weeks had to pass before the virus could multiply sufficiently within the mosquito to enable it to infect another person.”
On the basis of Reed’s hard work and important discoveries, a vaccine for yellow fever was developed in 1937 by Dr. Max Theiler. Who among us hasn’t heard of Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.?
We may be more successful in moving away from an unruly life if we can visualize ourselves ‘playing hooky’. What we would not think of doing when we were going to school is something we fall into all too often in our life in the church. Don’t do, friends. There’s way too much at stake.


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