Suggestions for leading a study:

• Familiarize yourself with the passage in context, including the book itself.  Who wrote it to whom, and why?
• Read through the study guide a couple times to get the “big idea” as well as the flow of the argument
• Have the group read through the passage in it’s entirety before beginning the study.  One of the goals is to try to get your members to learn how to study Scripture methodically, and this is an important step.
• Be prayed up
• Have fun!
  

Get to Work

⁶In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. ⁷For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, ⁸nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. ⁹We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. ¹⁰For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

 ¹¹We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. ¹²Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. ¹³And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.

Discussion Questions

-Read verse 6.  Why do you think it would be important to stay away from people who are being intentionally idle?

-According to verse 7, what kind of an example did Paul, Silas and Timothy set for the church at Thessalonica? 

-What kinds of examples have you seen that have been inspiring to you in regards to working hard?  Have you ever had anyone point to you as an example of this?

- In verse 8 Paul and friends give their reason for working so hard.  What is it?

-What are some ways that not working hard creates burdens for other people?

-In verse 9 Paul reminds them that as an apostle, he had a “right” to financial support from them which he was not insisting on.  Are there circumstances in our lives in which we might be able to justify not making a contribution with our labor, but could do so voluntarily in order to be a good example?

-What was the rule in the church described in verse 10?  Does this seem harsh, given the context of a church fellowship?  Why would it be important? 

-Verse 11 describes a problem that idleness often leads to.  What is it, and how do you think it displays itself?

-Re-read verses 14 and 15.  What is our attitude toward someone who has a problem with idleness? 

-With this sin, as with any other among people in the church, the ultimate goal is restoration to right behavior and fellowship with the body.  What can we do to make that a reality if someone is caught up in the sin of idleness?

Leaders' Guide

This lesson explores the sin of being idle.  Why it is so wrong, and how we can help ourselves and each other achieve victory over it.

-Read verse 6.  Why do you think it would be important to stay away from people who are being intentionally idle?
This is a discussion starter, so kick it around.  If the whole passage was read before-hand (as suggested), some of the group may remember from verse 14 that the goal is to shame people into right behavior.  Some other reasons might be that this sort of sin (like just about all of them) can be contagious and we could be drawn into it.  Or we could be taken advantage of if we associate with people who like to avoid work. 

-According to verse 7, what kind of an example did Paul, Silas and Timothy set for the church at Thessalonica? 
Paul, Silas and Timothy are the joint authors of this letter (see v. 1), and they set an example of not being idle while ministering to the church there.

-What kinds of examples have you seen that have been inspiring to you in regards to working hard?  Have you ever had anyone point to you as an example of this?
A discussion question to bring the issue of being a good example by hard work into, or from, the group’s own experience.  The second half of the question really makes it personal, but don’t allow any guilt trips.  Hopefully it will serve as a motivational thought for people to be re-energized about working hard.

-In verse 8 Paul and friends give their reason for working so hard.  What is it?
So that they will not be a burden to others.  The next question explores the application of this.

-What are some ways that not working hard creates burdens for other people?
Taken to its extremes, we might become dependent on others for our very existence.  There are seasons of life (young and very old or infirm) when this is appropriate, but for the most part the bible condemns the notion of being dependent on others.  In work situations it could make others have to “take up the slack” for us in order to get a job done.  Of course, it also negatively effects the bottom line for employers. 

-In verse 9 Paul reminds them that as an apostle, he had a “right” to financial support from them which he was not insisting on.  Are there circumstances in our lives in which we might be able to justify not making a contribution with our labor, but could do so voluntarily in order to be a good example?
The attitude of just doing what is required of us is very common and for the most part accepted.  God thinks differently.  For the sake of being a good example, Christians should be willing to work hard even if they have the “right” not to.  Specific examples should be easy to find from the workplace, the home, and even in the church or other volunteer organizations where no-one is “required” to do anything. 

-What was the rule in the church described in verse 10?  Does this seem harsh, given the context of a church fellowship?  Why would it be important? 
If they didn’t work, they didn’t eat.  In the context of churches in the 1^st century which often-times acted as social welfare agencies for the poor and widowed, etc., people would sometimes come to church in order to take advantage of that.  As a result, there would not be enough for the truly needy.  If people are able to work, God expects them to.

-Verse 11 describes a problem that idleness often leads to.  What is it, and how do you think it displays itself?
Being a busy-body is how the NIV puts it.  In other words, they get involved in aspects of other people’s lives that are not really their business, since they’re not spending their time taking care of their own business.  Everybody knows people like this, so avoid the naming of names.  Urge the group just to describe how they have seen this kind of behavior displayed in their experience.

-Re-read verses 14 and 15.  What is our attitude toward someone who has a problem with idleness? 
We treat them as a brother.  Even though this instruction can sound a little harsh at points, there is no hint here that the good and gracious relationships we enjoy in the church should be put at risk.

-With this sin, as with any other among people in the church, the ultimate goal is restoration to right behavior and fellowship with the body.  What can we do to make that a reality if someone is caught up in the sin of idleness?
End the discussion by underscoring the need in the church to always be working toward restoration and redemption when people are engaging in deliberate sin.  Today’s church and cultural situation is vastly different from this fellowship in 1^st century Thessalonica, so we need to take the principles from this passage and talk out creative and redemptive ways to help people with this issue.