Problem Children
I Thessalonians 5:14-15
Inexperienced people sometimes hold
one of two images of the church. Both
are wrong.
One suggests the church is filled
with people who have their lives together and have no problems or difficulties.
The other suggests the church is
filled with neurotics who couldn’t hope to function in the “real” world.
The truth isn’t so much somewhere in the middle, as it is something
entirely different. The church is
neither a holy sideshow where you may observe all manner of ecclesiastical
freaks nor a kind of spiritual club-med where you see nothing but tanned and
toned specimens of saintliness. It is
more akin to a rehab center where most residents are on the road to good health,
some are still seriously ill, and others are struggling with relapses.
The church at its best has a
realistic view of itself.
As John Stott points out in his
comments on this passage, every church has its “problem children.”
Do you remember Designing Women, the 90’s era TV series
set in Atlanta? Julia Sugarbaker, one of
the key characters, once offered this observation about the difference between
the North and the South. She said that
every family has its crazy or weird members.
In the North, those members are locked away in the attic; in the South,
they’re paraded out for everyone to meet.
That’s a truth that can be applied
to the church. We have our flawed
members and, as in the South, we don’t deny their existence. But neither do we exploit them or assume
that nothing can be done to heal them.
In this passage, Paul deals with a
variety of these problem children.
And, to carry on the image of the rehab center, he begins with those who
resist getting with the program before he moves on to those who will need a
longer-term therapy. Keep in mind: the
motivation for dealing with all of them is a patient love.
We are all called to help
individuals in the church be at their best.
Meet Some “Problem Children”
At this point, we’re invited to meet some “problem
children” we find in a typical church.
We meet them and learn how we are to respond to them
1. In any church, we may find those who are
undisciplined: We are to admonish those
who are undisciplined.
The phrase is translated in a variety of ways and
is understood to refer to those who are "unruly,"
"disorderly," "shirkers," "idle,"
"lazy," "idlers," "careless,"
"loafers," and "vagabonds."
The AMP simply says "those who are out of line."
Just whom
did Paul have in mind? Some will
probably see a reference to those who had stopped working because they believed
the Second Coming was to take place soon.
According to this explanation they had begun to leach off of more
industrious Christians, thus becoming a drain on the resources of the congregation. The word was sometimes used to refer to “lazy
idlers” who played truant or who neglected their duties. This idea is behind Peterson’s paraphrase in The Message: “…warn the freeloaders to get a move
on.” That may be what Paul had in mind
but it’s possible he saw a greater threat.
The word
comes out of a military background and was used of those who broke rank or to
those who had defected from the army or other duty. Consequently, Vine sees the word as referring
to the insubordinate.
Some translations capture both ideas by referring
to those Paul refers to as “lazy troublemakers” or “idle and disruptive.” In
his letters to Timothy, Paul refers to individuals who might be thought of as “busy
troublemakers.” They stay busy promoting
their own agenda, sometimes undermining the church’s leaders. It’s hard to know which one we would rather
have in our churches. After all, just
remember a “lazy troublemaker” is a troublemaker still.
Coming as this
instruction does immediately after Paul’s appeal for respect to be given to the
leaders of the church, perhaps there were some in the Thessalonian congregation
who were failing in this area. It
probably wasn’t so much open rebellion against leaders as it was a kind of
passive aggression. They just quietly
ignored the leaders’ appeals to do the work of the Kingdom.
Of course,
the word “undisciplined” suggests several ideas. Today, Paul might apply this exhortation to
those who enjoy the benefits of the church but never commit their time or
talents to its work.
There might be others whose passive aggressive
behavior becomes simply aggressive behavior. For example, The Voice translation expresses the word’s meaning as “the rebels who
devote their lives to wreaking havoc.” In many churches, there are those
who cause trouble, motivated by jealousy, envy, even self-promotion.
How are we to respond to such individuals? We are to “admonish” them. The basic idea is that of an earnest but
gentle warning, one that is thoughtful and reasonable. Often, the pastor is the individual who
should bring this warning but elsewhere Paul makes it clear that any Christian
may sometimes be called to say to a fellow believer, “We need to talk.” This may be especially true if the church’s
leaders are the object of the havoc.
By the way, Aiirhart believes Paul had in mind a
private, rather than public, confrontation with those guilty of such
behavior. In fact, a thoughtless, public
confrontation could easily turn lazy troublemakers into busy troublemakers,
passive trouble makers into active troublemakers.
Paul’s instructions clearly imply that by no means
are we to make these “lazy troublemakers” the subject of gossip or to ignore
their behavior. Neither course reflects
the kind of love Christians are to have for their church.
2. In any church, we may find those who are
disheartened: We are to encourage the
disheartened.
The word is translated in several ways: "Fainthearted," in several
translations, "frightened," "timid," “apprehensive,“ or
"afraid" in others; Webster and Young translate it as
"feeble-minded" but Vine believes this to be a poor rendering. The word, oligopsuchos,
means "small-spirited" and carries the idea of someone about to give
up. The word "disheartened"
might be an appropriate synonym.
Maybe they were among those who suffered because
things didn’t happen the way they expected.
There are those who get tired in the pilgrimage;
rather than chasten them or shame them, Paul says we are to encourage
them--give them the courage to keep going.
There are many fearful people in our churches. They are afraid for a variety of
reasons. Past failures. Spiritual threats, real and imagined. A culture perceived to be at odds with all
things godly. The media and the public
schools. They are afraid of the future
as they hear the nightly news.
How are we to respond to the disheartened? Not with shaming or ridicule, but with
encouragement. The Greek word suggests
we are “to exercise a gentle influence by words.” Other translations speak of
supporting those who are afraid. Still,
I like the word encourage. We are to do
our best to infuse them with the courage to go on.
3. In any church, we may find those who are
weak: We are to support the weak.
TCNT says, "give a helping hand to the
weak." Weak is used in almost every
translation.
Some commentators feel the weak may be particularly
susceptible to moral temptation. This
might be part of the explanation, but it may simply refer to those whose
defenses have been worn down.
If the
undisciplined were careless about the pilgrimage, the disheartened frightened and
discouraged, the weak were completely drained, unable to go on. They would need special help to get them
going again. A key notion is that they
are not to be abandoned. One writer says
the idea is that of putting an arm around them.
The kind of help given is to be supportive, help
that sustains.
The help Paul prescribes involves more than just a
pat on the back, for the asthenes are
"strengthless" (Strong). The
word translated as “help” implies holding onto someone tightly. Figuratively speaking, we tell the weak that
we’re not going to let them go.
A Key to Successful Ministry with
the Problem Child
Paul couldn’t list every possible “problem child”
in a congregation, so he gives a key to successful ministry to every needy
person: “Be patient with everyone.” Here was an instruction that covers each
case. No matter how exasperating these
individuals might be, real change would result only if someone showed them
patience. That would not be easy. Vine translates the word as
"long-tempered." We all know
people who are short-tempered, this is the opposite.
Arthur Holmes comments on the challenge of being
patient. He says, “Ministering to those
in the body who have deep needs or hurts, as Paul here urges us to do, is often
difficult, sometimes simply because people do not always respond, heal, or grow
as fast as we think they should. This
may be why Paul adds a word about patience at this point.”
Patience is a challenge but it may
be rewarded with seeing the lives of the problem children transformed.
The patient may see the
undisciplined become focused and useful to the Kingdom of God.
The patient may see the
disheartened become bold and confident in the face of the challenges of living
for Christ.
The patient may see the weak mount
up with wings as eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint.
The Motive Which Shapes Our Approach to Problem Children
Love should shape our approach to problem children. This verse describes
that love. This love helps make this
patience possible.
Look at the negative picture of our motivating love: "Take care that none of you every pays
back evil for evil."
Striking back at those who hurt us
or frustrate us is a “natural” impulse.
Christian love calls on us to
resist that impulse.
Look at the positive picture of our motivating love: "Always aim at what is best for each
other and for everyone."
Agape transcends emotion and calls us to seek the best for others. Because of this it must be thoughtful; what
is best for another is not always immediately apparent to us or to the other person. Although we cannot ignore another's
happiness, only seeking to make the other person happy may not be in their best
interests.
Loving this way isn’t always
easy. Doing the loving thing may make
the other person temporarily unhappy with us. We may discover this when we must oppose a
self-destructive lifestyle or other behaviors that are offering temporary
pleasure to someone. In fact, since
evangelism--presenting the good news--may involve beginning with the "bad
news," witnessing may be another venue in which seeking the best for
another may involve making another unhappy for a while.
At the same time, showing agape
love within the church is sometimes demanding.
A commitment to show agape means we cannot be content with leaving the “problem
child” alone.
This love will “admonish” the “undisciplined”
even if it puts us in the way of their rebellious behavior.
This love will “comfort” the “fearful”
even if being around them is sometimes a downer.
This love will “help” the “weak”
even if it is more fun to be around the strong and confident.
Look at our motivating love's breadth: "...for each other and for
everyone."
Love is to be demonstrated within the Christian community, that is a
given; but it is to also be demonstrated to those outside the community. This was one of the distinguishing marks of
the early church, distinguishing and radical.
When love looks at problem
children, it sees more than the problem; it sees the potential.
Conclusion
Every church—even good churches,
like the Thessalonian church, has its problem children. Who’s to try to help them? The pastor?
Sure. The deacons? Sure.
But not because of their titles.
Every Christian is called to help these people.
Ernest Best:
“Paul lays the
responsibility for the whole community on the community itself; each member,
and not the leaders alone, must be aware of his or her responsibility for
others and seek to help them. At no
stage can the ordinary member lean back and say, ‘This is the task of the
ministry alone.’ Paul knows nothing of
an inert mass, the congregation, on which the ministry operates.”
The church at its best will be a
place where people get better.
