Busybodies in the Church

by Hadley Robinson

Should we worry about the End of the World? Change the course of final events? Send money to some ministry? Run around madly? According to many Christian teachers, we should.

As our brother Paul the Apostle notes (1 Thess. 2), there are those who unsettle and alarm God’s elect with all kinds of stories, reports, and so-called prophecies. It is not our job to worry about such things. Instead it should be to look forward to the return of the LORD. Meanwhile, we are to live in order to please Him. It is not complicated or difficult for the true Christian. 1 Thess. 4 gives a concise summary: Love the brothers, live a holy life, and tend to the affairs that are properly ours (“live a quiet life”).

We should keep away from the mass marketers of the Gospel and prosperity teachers – they sow nothing but trouble and upset the flock.

Guilt, guilt, guilt! Save the world from this – from that! Their blood is on your heads if you don’t get busy!

Or, it is “Give me $5 and God will give you $50!” It is simply a miracle that there is any Church left in this age with so many ambitious, false, narcissistic, greedy, charismatic, self-serving, immoral teachers mixing the pure faith delivered by the Apostles with every conceivable scheme of men. Pity the Flock – so beaten up and scattered.

In so doing these teachers distress godly Christians who are: 1.) Minding their own business, 2.) Refusing to enjoy the sins of this evil world (1 Pet. 2:11), and 3.) Doing local good where they can (Gal. 6:9,10).

For example, here is a small piece of the essay on the Greek word "to live a quiet life" from the New International Dictionary of NT Theology (the world’s most scholarly resource for the meaning of the New Testament Greek):

…2. Paul. In 1 Thess. 4:11 Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to aim at leading an unobtrusive life of tranquility, or, to reproduce his oxymoron, to make it their ambition to be free of (inordinate) ambition. Moreover, they are to avoid the disorderliness of busybodies and to attend quietly, denoting an attendant disposition) to their business, and earn their own living (2 Thess. 3:12). Any eschatological excitement (cf. 2 Thess. 2:1-2) that produces corporate turmoil or individual laziness is here repudiated. And the Christian should pray for conditions that will permit “a quiet and tranquil manner of life”, a life free from outward disturbance and marked by inner tranquility (1Tim. 2:2). The apostle enjoins women to listen silently to the instruction given in the church and to show the necessary deference to their teachers (1Tim. 2:11). The public exposition of scripture (“to teach”) was outside a woman’s proper domain of service (but cf. Tit. 2:3-5), as was any exercise of ecclesiastical authority over a man. In the church she was to remain silent (1Tim. 2:12).

Why should worry cross our minds?

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. – 1 Cor. 2:6

“…coming to nothing?” What does this mean? The Greek is a single word which simply means to "abolish, nullify, render inactive, do away with."

Who/what is coming to nothing? We can start with the rulers of the world – the Dark Lord and all who belong to him. This includes the current President. His policies, those whom he admires, and his friends share the values of Antichrist. The worldly kingdoms are also coming to nothing and this includes our own United States.

Then why all the fretting and anxiety? Those who, like Lot’s wife, love the current system and all it represents and has to offer, the Great Babylon of Rev. 18, do not wish for the Kingdom they claim to be a part of. But those faithful saints whose hearts belong to Him and no other, long for their absent Husband as does a faithful and pure bride.

In this way, we see that there is much spiritual adultery in the Church.

Go be a happy Christian and meditate on these great words below from our Savior, giving thanks in all circumstances, especially for making us His very own and saving us from the Judgment of sin. Live a holy life of love, humility, forgiveness, joy, and purity. Work hard with your hands helping, when appropriate, those in need.

As the earliest known catechism of the Church, the Didache, teaches,

Let thine alms sweat into thine hands, until thou shalt have learnt to whom to give.

That is, be careful what you do with your gifts lest they multiply fraud. Put your faith in Christ, not the visible church, or you are sure to be disappointed.

Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Psalm 37:3

Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work–this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart. Ecc. 5:19-20

Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun – all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom. Ecc 9:9-10

He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Rom 14:6-9

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. Heb. 11:24-26