What type of believer are you?

2 Thessalonians 3:6–15 CEB

6 Brothers and sisters, we command you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to stay away from every brother or sister who lives an undisciplined life that is not in line with the traditions that you received from us. 7 You yourselves know how you need to imitate us because we were not undisciplined when we were with you. 8 We didn’t eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, we worked night and day with effort and hard work so that we would not impose on you. 9 We did this to give you an example to imitate, not because we didn’t have a right to insist on financial support. 10 Even when we were with you we were giving you this command: “If anyone doesn’t want to work, they shouldn’t eat.” 11 We hear that some of you are living an undisciplined life. They aren’t working, but they are meddling in other people’s business. 12 By the Lord Jesus Christ, we command and encourage such people to work quietly and put their own food on the table. 13 Brothers and sisters, don’t get discouraged in doing what is right. 14 Take note of anyone who doesn’t obey what we have said in this letter. Don’t associate with them so they will be ashamed of themselves. 15 Don’t treat them like enemies, but warn them like you would do for a brother or sister.

What type of believer are you?

It seems like customer service has taken a huge hit since COVID became a thing. The service industry, restaurants in particular have taken a huge hit. Who would have thought that someone working at McDonald’s would be making $15 an hour.

I have two teenage clients who will be working at 7-Springs this winter and will be making nearly what I make per hour.

Some business struggle because the employees don’t want to work. People will come up with all sorts of excuses as to why they cannot make it to work. I read a funny story this week that illustrates this point.

There were two factory workers, Joe and Lester, who were talking.

"I know how to get some time off from work," said Joe.

"How do you think you'll do that?" asked Lester.

Joe proceeded to climb up to the rafters of the factory and hang upside down by his knees. The boss walked in, saw Joe hanging from the ceiling, and asked him what on earth he was doing.

"I'm a light bulb," Joe answered.

"I think you need to take some time off," said the boss.

So, Joe jumped down and walked out of the factory. Lester started walking out, too. The boss asked him where did he think he was going.

"Home." said Lester, "I can't work in the dark." [1]

It seems that in this letter that Paul is dealing with problems. Last week we looked at the problem of people stirring up the church about when Jesus was going to come again.

In these few verses Paul addresses those who were living undisciplined lives. We can identify three different types of Christians here.

The first type is the “If” Christian.

An If type of Christian follows God if he receives blessings and rewards in return. He waits to see what God will do first, then decides whether or not to respond in obedience.

Paul gets right to his point in verse six when he writes:

2 Thessalonians 3:6 CEB

6 Brothers and sisters, we command you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to stay away from every brother or sister who lives an undisciplined life that is not in line with the traditions that you received from us.

This wasn’t a suggestion for the Thessalonians; it wasn’t an option for them. Paul writes that it’s a command. It wasn’t just a command coming from Paul, because he puts the full weight of Jesus behind the command when he writes “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul was saying to the church to keep away from every believer who is goofing off and is disrupting the church and isn’t living according to the church’s teachings. It’s easy to understand the part about not living according to the church’s teachings. It’s also easy to understand the part about disrupting the church. It’s the part about goofing off or being idle that for me is hard to wrap my head around.

What exactly is Paul talking about? As Christians we’re taught to love each other unconditionally, but here Paul is telling the church to keep away from certain people. How is that loving unconditionally? Part of the problem is the difference between tolerate and unconditional. Though the definitions are somewhat similar they mean two different things.

Tolerate means:

1. to allow the existence, presence, practice, or act of without prohibition or hindrance; permit.

2. to endure without intense disgust; put up with

3. to experience, undergo, or sustain, as pain or hardship.

Unconditional means - without conditions or limitations

To love unconditional means that you don’t put any limitations on that love. Sometimes that unconditional love has to be tough. An example is a show on TV about people who are trapped in an addiction and the family gathers to confront the person in hopes of getting them the help they need to conquer the addiction. A part of the storyline has family members telling the person that if they don’t accept the help then they aren’t going to help them anymore or they can’t live in their home any longer. That is unconditional love although it is tough love. They aren’t telling the person they won’t love them any longer it’s just that they aren’t going to enable them any longer with their habit.

To tolerate would be to continue loving the person while still supporting them and enabling to continue their habit.

These “If” believers were only following Jesus if they received a blessing from God.

The bulk of my time as a pastor is spent with the “needs” of If believers. They are the ones that want the most from the church. They are the ones that demand that I visit them in their homes. The expect that I drop everything to “minister” to them when they are going through a problem. If they are in the hospital, they want me to show up at 3 in the morning to pray with them.

I don’t mind doing any of that, however, for them is that they believe that I am obligated to do that. They want they church to “help them out” or provide for them. They are the first in line at a potluck meal and take home lots of leftovers when they didn’t bring anything to share. They didn’t share because they didn’t have it to share, it is because they feel that they are entitled.

They don’t give to the church or do anything for the church until they get a blessing from God. When they get a blessing, they might give a “tip” to the church but they are not going to invest in the Kingdom through tithing because they don’t get anything from it.

I don’t think this anything new. Paul wrote to Timothy in his first letter 1Timothy 5:8

1 Timothy 5:8 CEB

8 But if someone doesn’t provide for their own family, and especially for a member of their household, they have denied the faith. They are worse than those who have no faith.

An If type of believer waits on what God is going to do first before they decide how or if they will respond. Paul calls these type of people undisciplined.

Paul reminds them that he provided them a living example. Paul was one of the first bi-vocational ministers. He worked as a tent-maker to support his ministry.

2 Thessalonians 3:8–9 CEB

8 We didn’t eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, we worked night and day with effort and hard work so that we would not impose on you. 9 We did this to give you an example to imitate, not because we didn’t have a right to insist on financial support.

He was saying that he had the right to receive financial support from the church, but he wanted to provide him an example of working for the Kingdom.

Instead of working and keeping busy and providing for their families they were idle. I grew up hearing the old proverb “idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” Do you remember hearing that? Have you had a bunch of little kids in your house and all of a sudden you realize it’s awfully quiet? There are two options as to what is going on. The first option is that they’ve fallen asleep which is highly unlikely. The second option is that they are doing something that they shouldn’t be doing and you’re going to have a mess to clean up.

We can’t just sit around and do nothing. That is true in your own family and life and it’s true in the church.

Not only were some of the people idle they had become disruptive to the church and had even become busybodies. Reading between the lines here I think we can see people who had quit their jobs and now they were dependent on the church to feed them and to provide for them. It was because of a bad choice on that person’s part that they are now disrupting the mission of the church which is to make disciples.

The second type of believer is the “Because” believer

The Because believer is those who give to the Kingdom work because they have seen the blessings and they want to continue to receive the blessings.

Now it might seem that this is the way a Christian should live, but I need to challenge your thinking on this style.

Another way that I see these types of Christians is that they are “lottery” Christians. The largest lottery was recently won by someone in California. They are suddenly a Billionaire.

In places from gas stations, pizza places, to laundromat there are those Pennsylvania Skills games. I call them “crack” machines because they are very addictive.

Why do people continue to by scratch-off lottery tickets or feed those machines? They hope to get something from them.

Because type of Christians often treat God as if He were some cosmic lottery game or skills game. I’ll give something or do something because I’ll receive a blessing from God. If I don’t receive a blessing then I’m not going to give or do.

We as a church and as individual Christians have a responsibility to help those who are in need if we have the resources to do so. It’s the time of year when social agencies and churches are bombarded with requests for assistance. I wish we had the resources to help everyone who has called me but we don’t and sometimes it’s frustrating to tell someone we can’t help.

It is important that we distinguish between those who are in the church and living this way and those outside the church who live that way. Paul is not talking about people who are facing dire circumstances forced on someone beyond their control.

Because type of Christians can be disruptive Christians in the Church.

Paul is talking about Christians who purposefully made a decision to quit working and to depend on the church to support them while they do nothing. They were just sitting back waiting for Jesus to come back. He says to keep away from them. The church doesn’t have a responsibility to help or support a Christian who won’t help themselves by working.

Now that they don’t have jobs and are just goofing off they turn into busy-bodies. They’re involving themselves in everyone else’s lives which further disrupts the church. Have you ever known a busybody? Please don’t point them out this morning! Aren’t they annoying to be around? They disrupt our lives.

Paul in his first letter to the Thessalonians wrote:

1 Thessalonians 4:11–12 CEB

11 Aim to live quietly, mind your own business, and earn your own living, just as I told you. 12 That way you’ll behave appropriately toward outsiders, and you won’t be in need.

Paul is saying that our daily lives are a testimony of who we are. He’s saying that we need to live like Christians so that others will see Jesus in us. The best witness to a non-believer is to live like a Christian daily. Paul says so that you “may win the respect of outsiders.” Those outsiders are the people out in the world. Even working and making a living can be a testimony of our faith in Christ.

I’ve told you about the individual at Sheets who was having a tough day and I got to share an encouraging word to her a month or so ago. They other day I went through the drive-through and they were out of what I wanted so she offered a substitute which was entirely fine. She was apologetic and I told it was no big deal and she didn’t need to apologize because it wasn’t her fault. She asked me if I was always like that. I’m sure she’s had her share of “cranky” people who would have complained. That is not how we as Christians should be. We should live like Jesus has made a difference in our lives. I think I left her scratching her head about the way I treated her.

An idle Christian can become a busy body. They have nothing else to do. They’re not doing anything to help with the mission of the Church. They’re involving themselves in ever bodies lives and standing with a handout for the church to support them and complain about how bad they have it. Like Paul wrote, if you come across a Christian who lives that way, stay away from them. They will suck the life out of you and the church.

The third type of Christian is the “Regardless” believer

A regardless believer is the Christian who loves God and follows God, and obeys God regardless of how hard it is or if they receive a blessing out of it or not.

This is the type of believer that Paul is encouraging the Thessalonians to be.

Paul wrote there in 2 Thes 3:13

2 Thessalonians 3:13 CEB

13 Brothers and sisters, don’t get discouraged in doing what is right.

As a Regardless believer we keep going even when it is tough.

Paul is reminding us that we need to remain busy. We have a mission to accomplish. That mission is to make disciples of Jesus. We all have a part to play in that mission. It takes all of us working together to accomplish that mission. If just one person becomes idle it impacts us all. Paul said that it’s disruptive.

We need to follow the example of Paul. We can get tired or even discouraged in serving Christ. We invest in a person’s life and they turn away from Christ. We make plans but cannot fulfill them because we lack the resources. All sorts of things can make us grow weary or tired or discouraged.

Pastor Billy Strayhorn wrote:

“They have faith, they give, they attend, they support, they reach out, "Regardless." "Regardless" of whether they like the preacher. "Regardless" of whether they agree with all the ministries of the church or not. The "Regardless" Christians stay involved regardless of whether or not they are blessed because they know that God is faithful, no matter what. So they try to be like God and remain faithful, no matter what.

The "Regardless" Christians give and participate and support and pray simply because they love God. They have experienced the unconditional love and faithfulness of God and want to share it with others. It doesn't make any difference whether life is good or life is tough, they love God and know that God is faithful in the midst of every situation life throws at us. And we are called to do and be the same.” [2]

So we are left with the question.

What type of believer are you?

Are you an If believer, someone who serves or gives to the Kingdom only if you receive a blessing?

Are you a Because believer, someone who serves or gives to the Kingdom because you have received a blessing and want to continue to receive those blessings?

Or, are you a Regardless believer. Someone who serves or gives to the Kingdom regarding of whether you receive a blessing or not.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be a Regardless believer. I’ve learned that regardless of the circumstances, that God still blesses. When it is hard and it seems that everything is working against me, regardless of what is happening, God is with me.

The bottom line is that God is God, regardless of what is happening around me. I hope you’ll endeavor to be a regardless believer.

Do not get discouraged Paul says. Jesus is coming again. Will we be found ready and prepared? Will we be busy working for the mission that He left us with? It is urgent that we all are involved in accomplishing that mission because time is short. We have the lifesaving message of the Gospel.

Make your goal, your life’s aim to be a Regardless type of believer.

[1] Dynamic Preaching, November 2004

[2] Strayhorn. (n.d.). 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 - If, Because, Regardless. Sermons.com. Retrieved November 12, 2022, from https://www.sermons.com/sermon/if-because-regardless/1441964