Self Reliance. 2 Thessalonians 3:8-9. 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 yourselves an example to imitate.
Dear Saints,
We continue with Paul’s teaching against idleness with an example from Paul’s own life.
Independence (v. 8). Paul and his companions made sure that they paid for their food and necessities. They labored day and night, probably so, because they had to make time for evangelistic efforts alongside their economic activities. Paul was a tentmaker (more correctly, a leatherworker) by profession. His work to support his companions and himself while doing ministry gave us the modern phrase “tent-making,” which means working to support oneself while doing ministry. Paul did not want to be a burden to anyone. As we know from another reference, the Thessalonians were poor (2 Corinthians 8:2), so Paul and his companions were sensitive to the situation.
Illustration (v. 9). Paul had the right to receive material assistance from the Thessalonians. Elsewhere he writes, “The laborer deserves his wages” (1 Timothy 5:18). As Paul is writing this letter, he has already received assistance from the Thessalonians, as can be inferred from Acts 18:5. Even the Thessalonians recognized their obligation to Paul. But Paul wanted to set an example in self-reliance for the Thessalonians to imitate. It is possible that idleness was rife in Thessalonica in general, something that a casual observer would have been able to notice. It is also possible that self-reliance was Paul’s modus operandi. He hints at this in 1 Corinthians 4:12; 9:6.
The dialectic between the responsibility of the church to support God’s servant and the need for the servant to be sensitive to the local circumstances is a tricky one. Let it suffice here to say that tent-making should be a last resort. Every Christian community has the responsibility to support those who labor for the kingdom among them. No minister should be forced to tent-make. Paul did it by choice, it should be the same for all. Any community of believers that fails to support its ministers is failing God.
Your Loving Pastor Chris.