Community not communism

2 Thessalonians 3 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it was also with you; ² and that we will be rescued from troublesome and evil people; for not all have the faith. ³ But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. ⁴ We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing, and will do, what we command. ⁵ May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the perseverance of Christ.

⁶ Now we command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother or sister who leads a disorderly life and not one in accordance with the tradition which you received from us. ⁷ For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined way among you, ⁸ 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; ⁹ not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a role model for you, so that you would follow our example. ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. ¹² Now we command and exhort such persons in the Lord Jesus Christ to work peacefully and eat their own bread. ¹³ But as for you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary of doing good.

¹⁴ If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person so as not to associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. ¹⁵ And yet do not regard that person as an enemy, but admonish that one as a brother or sister.

¹⁶ Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!

¹⁷ I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write. ¹⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Acts 2:43-45 says: Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all the believers were together and had all things in common; and they would sell their property and possessions and share them with all, to the extent that anyone had need.  Many people wrongly believe that this is an indication that Christian faith is better expressed by the tenants of socialism or communism than it is in a free market society. What the early church really had was community, not communism. The word community is derived from the combination of the words common and unity. The early church was united to each other through their common unity with Christ. They shared what they had with each other, but this was not a governmental redistribution of wealth, it was each one giving what they could to the community of believers. 1 John 4:19 says: We love, because He first loved us. In the same way, we give of what we have to others, because Christ first gave all for us.

Today’s text clarifies that the early church was definitely not a model of socialism. It says: We command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother or sister who leads a disorderly life and not one in accordance with 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 way 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 role 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 we command and exhort such persons in the Lord Jesus Christ to work peacefully and eat their own bread. But as for you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary of doing good.  The admonition is against anyone who is not willing to work, not those who are unable to work. The instruction to the community was: If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person so as not to associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. And yet do not regard that person as an enemy, but admonish that one as a brother or sister.

In the kingdom of God, what is given by individuals to the kingdom is multiplied by God. With the government, what is given by, or taken from individuals is divided and reduced by bureaucracy. In Matthew 14:15-21 it says: Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is secluded and the hour is already past to eat; send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go; you give them something to eat!” They said to Him, “We have nothing here except five loaves and two fish.” And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” And ordering the crowds to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looked up toward heaven. He blessed the food and breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces: twelve full baskets. There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.  God multiplied what the disciples had and fed perhaps 15000 people or more and they were all satisfied. In the end, they had more leftover than what they started with. With the government, it takes hundreds to supply for the needs of a few, and no one is satisfied.

Again, the text says: We command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother or sister who leads a disorderly life… yet do not regard that person as an enemy, but admonish that one as a brother or sister.  The church needs to be willing to not tolerate or embrace what is out of order, but rather to admonish it. In Ezekiel 3:17-21 God says: “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way so that he may live, that wicked person shall die for wrongdoing, but his blood I will require from your hand. However if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die for wrongdoing, but you have saved yourself. Again, when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits sin, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require from your hand. However, if you have warned the righteous person that the righteous is not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall certainly live because he took warning; and you have saved yourself.” It is a high standard, a great privilege and a sobering responsibility we have.

May the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.