Out of Step? Out of a Job? Out looking for Trouble? Don’t Be That Guy

Admonish the Idle

Photo by John Moeses Bauan on Unsplash

Paul, in his two letters to the Church at Thessalonica, repeatedly warned against idleness. His admonition against idleness first occurs in a list of practical “Christian living” instructions at the close of his first letter that sounds a lot like a 1^st Century bullet list describing how to live out your eschatological convictions. Suppose Paul used bullet points, then 1 Thess. 5:14-15 it might look like this:

And we urge you, brothers [and sisters],

• admonish the idle, 
• encourage the fainthearted, 
• help the weak, 
• be patient with them all.
• See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but
• always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.

What’s in the Attic?

There is so much in this short list for us to think through, pray about, and respond to. But for today, I am intrigued by the word “idle”. The Greek word used here is ataktos. Various lexicons such as Thayer’s describe the common uses of this word as falling into three general senses.

1. Disorderly, out of ranks (often so of soldiers).
2. Irregular, inordinate, immoderate pleasures.
3. Deviating from the prescribed order or rule.

Ataktos is the negative opposite of orderly and purposeful biblical words such as appointed, ordained, and devoted. One online resource, Blue Letter Bible, mentions the word ataktos was used in Greek society for “those who did not show up for work.”

This word means so much more than the inactivity suggested by the English word “idle”. It describes not merely passive indolence but those who are actively unproductive. While its meaning includes the idleness characterized by the lack of profitable or purposeful work, it extends to describing someone who is not a team player as evidenced by an unruly and undisciplined lifestyle, illogical thinking, unbridled passions, and ungovernable attitudes. Most English translations use “idle” or “unruly” to translate ataktos.

This word could be used to describe destructive direct-action groups like Antifa. The something that they do is the epitome of unruliness. Such behavior should not be found in the community of Jesus’ followers for it demonstrates that one is not his disciple.

Photo by Peter Herrmann on Unsplash

Though it is a serious issue, I find this unruly, disordered, aspect of ataktos a bit humorous since if you say this word out loud it sounds like “attic-toss” which is ironically appropriate for those disordered places where we toss the things we don’t want to deal with now but hope to handle someday… be it a literal attic, or a garage, closet, shed, trunk, etc. The people who would hang around the marketplace were those who had no positive purpose for the day. They would have the ready-made excuse of looking for work or of discussing important issues, but not much of either went on.

Cleaning the Attic

In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul spent a full seven verses discussing/describing how to avoid such unruly idleness.

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies [nice wordplay]. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. (2 Thess. 3:6-12 ESV)

If I were to paraphrase the three main instructions about idleness in this passage it would be…

• Don’t hang out with the unruly, disordered, and idle who reject the gospel message and the God-given purpose and joyous responsibility it brings.
• We are not asking you to do anything we have not done as an example for you. We never expected a free meal but worked hard to pay our own way so as to burden no one.
• Some among the believers are “idle”—on one hand, living off the generosity of others and on the other, refusing to accept the responsibility that faith in Jesus Christ lays upon us all. It should stop now!

Is There More To the Story?

Have you ever wondered why Paul seemed extra concerned with confronting such unruly idleness (ataktos) in Thessalonica? It may have to do with his experience in their city on his second missionary journey. It is found in Acts 17:1-15.

Verse 5 tells of corrupt men hired by the jealous Jews to persecute the Christians.

But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble [agoraios], they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar [thorybeō], and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.

Roman Forum (Thessaloniki). (2024, September 28).
In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Forum_(Thessaloniki)

The phrase, “wicked men of the rabble” is all too familiar in any place and any culture. Some, out of their unruly idleness, are only too ready to “work” toward a twisted purpose if only to make the lives of others more unpleasant. The “rabble” (agoraios) refers to “the men from the marketplace” who could be either hired or incited for just such a disruptive cause as tossing a Christian’s house and repeatedly dragging church leaders out to face mob justice. A.T. Robertson wrote, “The agora or marketplace was the natural resort for those with nothing to do (Matt. 20:4) … Plato calls these agoraioi idlers or good-for-nothing fellows.”[i]

What about us? Do we follow the law of love and overflowing goodness given to us by our Lord Jesus? Are we keeping in step with the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16, 25)? Or are we lounging around in a self-focused stupor, or running over the rights and emotions of others?

A Thessalonian Thorybeo Redux?

There are those who, when their ideas and economy are threatened, readily find the agoraioi and use them to create a riot/uproar, or as the Thessalonians called it, a thorybeō.

Photo by Koshu Kunii on Unsplash

I live in the Pacific Northwest, an area of the country where Antifa groups have been actively unruly. Their goal is to make the cities ungovernable, thereby setting up their mob views as the law of the land. Such tactics are lacking in both love and logic, but they try to make up for it with high-volume profanities, group intimidation tactics, and violent destructive acts. They are often paid agitators who attack police and lawful citizens alike. They do no real work and have nothing to share with others for the good of the community. In their unruly idleness, they are everything bad that they claim to be against.

The church should never be this kind of idle nor that kind of unruly. In Jeremiah 29 God gave his exiled people a great promise (v.11) but set it in the context of a generation of waiting and actively working for the good of the place he had put them (v.4-7). This working for the common good was not to be done primarily through power and command but through humble service and community engagement.

The church has often been harmed in times of persecution by the “unruly idle” but this is to be expected. Jesus told his followers that this would happen. However, it is often harmed more deeply by the “unruly idle” within the church. Are we patiently warning those in our midst to not be idle? Are we living as productive and godly examples for them?

I would also like to point out that while this list of Christian living action points (1 Thess. 5:14-15) begins with strong words like “urge” and “warn” or “admonish” it moves directly to the less confrontational but much-needed verbs — encourage, help, and be patient. Our marching orders are simple, clear, and intended for the good of the community. The next part of the action list (v.16-21) touches on our attitude while following Jesus.

• Rejoicing not sulking and stomping
• Praying without ceasing rather than fierce independence
• Giving thanks in everything not grumbling and complaining.
• Being open to the Spirit’s work in and through us.
• Remaining teachable to the prophetic words of God.
• Become deeply discerning thinkers but not cynics, for we hold on to what is good.

Finally, the concluding instruction to “abstain from every evil” (v.22) forms an inclusio or bookend with the first about warning the unruly idle. This understanding of ataktos sheds new light on the old saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” If we are to abstain from every evil then we must not be idle. Jesus Christ has called us to great purpose, by a greater love than we have ever known.

Marching Orders

There was a time when the Apostle Paul (then known as Saul of Tarsus) had been persecuting Christians and he was “admonished “ by Jesus himself (Acts 9). 

Later Paul would repeat the marching orders he received that day, “And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’” 

Author in Bethsaida, Galilee.
Photo by Joshua Mitchell (2011)

He also wrote to a young pastor in Ephesus, using a military metaphor, “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” (2 Tim. 2:3-4). Let us not forget to ask the Lord what we should be doing today and, in the days, to come.

I think today is a great time for us to queue up for the march, right?

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[i] Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament Vol 3, p. 270.