Warn the Idle and Unruly
Let's look at some real practical New Testament teaching from Paul this week. 1 Thessalonians 5 is a great little passage on how to do what is good, striving to do good. In verse 14, Paul says, “We urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive”.
Avoiding Idleness and Disruption: A Lesson from Paul's Warning
When I read that with Shereen the other day, she said, “Oh, that sounds like a grade two class! There are those who are idle and those who are disruptive!” But it's true of us adults as well, isn't it? Perhaps today we need to take this warning. Paul was telling them to warn each other about these things. Maybe we can do that to each other today. Let's not be idle. Let's not be disruptive.
Some people struggle with being idle, with being lazy, with not doing what they're supposed to do. And you know what? The devil finds ways to lead us in wrong paths when we are idle, when we are sitting around.
In fact, it amazed me the other day reading of David in the Old Testament chapter after chapter, we see him conquering and doing good for God. And then suddenly, in chapter 12 of 2 Samuel, we read that while his men were out to war, he was lounging in bed and walking around the palace. And that's when the affair with Bathsheba happened. When he was idle, instead of doing what was good, he went down some wrong paths.
Do you need to quit being idle today, friends? Do you need to be warned that idleness is going to lead you in the wrong direction?
Paul's Warning: Avoiding Disruption and Staying in Step with God
Paul also says warn those who are disruptive. I think this is a good warning for us today. Now, if you look at the old translations, they use the word “unruly”. Warn those who are unruly. And that's a word that means out of line. And according to Warren Weirsbe, it was applied to soldiers who couldn't keep their rank but who instead insisted on just doing their own thing.
Paul is saying, “don't just do your own thing and disrupt everything. Do what God wants you to do. Keep in step with God. Keep in line with God. And don't be a rebel and a renegade.” That's what Jesus did. Jesus stepped outside of the lines of the Jewish religion, yes, but he kept so deeply in step with God that he was anything but unruly or disruptive.
And so friends, we want to do good. We want to live godly lives. Let's remember these warnings from Paul today. Let's not be idle. Let's not be disruptive. But let's follow Jesus and live good holy lives like he did.
