Disassociate from Evil
After spending a couple of chapters on more heavy theology, Paul turns to practical matters in the last chapter. In 2 Thessalonians 3:1-6, he first requests their prayers for him and the words that he was sending out to various churches and the teaching and sermons he was personally overseeing that the word of the Lord would be lifted up with all who heard it as it had been with the Thessalonians.
He prayed that he would be delivered from wicked and unreasonable men, because he knew that many wanted him stopped and put in prison again. It is believed that this epistle was written from Corinth, so he was not in prison at this point.
He further prayed that the church would be strengthened and established and that the evil forces of the world, both from man and from the supernatural, would not stand against it. He knew the hearts of the people and had heard reports of their conduct and wanted them to know that he had confidence that they would follow his instruction.
Knowing and communing closely with the Holy Spirit in order to know what to tell someone else to do is something we should all strive for. If all Christians had that closeness with God, there would be far fewer troubles and hypocrisy coming from the church today. The church would be stronger, and God would be able to do more to lift up the name of Jesus Christ among the world.
Regardless of how close or far away we are from God in our Christian walk, God wants us to have that close walk that Paul had. He desires this for every Christian. But we all need to take up that cross and bear it and follow God's leading to reach the level of closeness He wants.
We can all pray that our fellow Christians and ourselves focus on loving God first and to be patient in waiting for both Christ's return and for the things we have asked God to work out in our lives. We have lots of practice in the first. The last - the waiting for the answers we think we should have from God takes much more patience.
If the Lord is directing our hearts, though, we won't be asking amiss, and it is more likely that God will, indeed, answer the prayers of our hearts. We have to listen to the directing of the Holy Spirit as we pray. God does know what is best for us, or at the very least what is best for all of the people we will directly or indirectly influence. Sometimes, that means the blessings we want for ourselves have to be sublimated or put of entirely for a time for the greater good. God is always looking out for that greater good.
Along with how we act and what we do, we must also watch those with whom we associate. Paul warns the readers to stop hanging around with people who aren't living Christian lives or who are outright sinning. Clearly, if we cut off all communication with the worldly, nobody who didn't wander into a church service on their own would have a shot at being saved.
Realize that there is a difference between spending significant time with the world and existing in the world. It is up to you to choose how you spend time. If you spend all of it with the world, there is a good chance that the world will pull you back into it's clutches. Satan doesn't want any to be saved, just like God wants all to be saved. The more time you associate with the world, the greater the chance you will be drawn away from God and drawn back into a sinful life. It is up to you and your own strength in God to decide how much interaction you can have to witness and when you need to shut off interaction and draw close to God. Jesus was chastised frequently for hanging out with the world. His response was that He came to save the lost. Be sure the Holy Spirit is strong in you before spending significant time in the world.
Pattern for Leaders
In 2 Thessalonians 2:7-13, Paul deals with those who try to take advantage of the goodness of Christians. He declared that as ministers of the gospel, he lived a Christian life. He practiced what he preached. In addition, he worked because he didn't want anyone to claim he was profiting by the work of others as many teachers did at that time. He went on to say that as a minister, he would have had the right to ask for his room and board, but he wanted to set a good example to everyone he ministered to, so he worked as well. It also eliminated the chance that some would claim favoritism because of where he was quartering, for example.
He went further in saying that if people were lazy and chose not to work, they shouldn't eat the provisions of the church. Paul ordered that the people who weren't doing anything, but were instead being busybodies, should start working, stop talking with each other, and eat the bread their own hands provided.
He closed this section that just because there were people who were taking advantage of the system, the solution was not to abandon the system and abandon doing good works. The solution was to get the people who weren't working a job that could provide for themselves.
Paul recognized that there were people who were in hard straits. Perhaps they had health issues that prevented work, although he would have prayed and believed they be made whole, if that wasn't God's will and they had no family to support them, he would not turn them away. Good works aren't the problem. Taking advantage of people doing good works is the problem.
Beyond that, don't get tired of doing good works. Even when you don't feel like you are being taken advantage of by someone, it is human nature to get tired when you keep working and need a break. If you look at how long it took me to do these three chapters of 2 Thessalonians after completing 1 Thessalonians, you'd know that I had a tough month and got a little weary in well doing myself, and tired of dealing with too many other issues around the Christmas season.
Everyone needs a break a times. But if God has laid something on your heart to do - don't let that weariness overwhelm you and put the good work to a stop. In the words of a memorable drill sergeant "I will use every means necessary, fair and unfair, to trip you up". That's Satan's motto. Remember also the VeggieTales song "God is bigger than the boogeyman". God wins. Don't get weary.
How to Handle Disobedience
The epistle closes in 2 Thessalonians 3:14-18 with some advice on handling people who are claiming to be Christians, but are not living a Christian life. First, Paul says that they shouldn't have company with that man (or woman). This has the hope of making the individual ashamed of whatever they are doing and drawing them back to the Christian walk. But don't just walk away without letting them know why. Admonish them as you would family, and don't count them an enemy.
There are too many situations where relationships sour today, whether in family, work, church, or other environments, and one or more are left wondering what happened and why. Let the people know exactly what is wrong and don't make them guess. But also, we need to understand that the motives that people have for doing things, especially in family, are usually for the best. If something didn't go the way we think it should have gone, each party needs to realize they are seeing the situation with their own filter and they need to see the situation from the other person's eyes as well.
Clearly, that last bit didn't really have a lot to do with not living a Christian life, but even there, if we can understand what is troubling someone or why someone is taking the path they are taking, it is easier to know how to direct them back on course. We all have the same rules to follow. But we are each in different places with respect to how close we are to God and how easy it is to hear what the Holy Spirit is directing us to do.
Once we see this, it is easier to have compassion when things don't go as expected. We can all pray, as Paul did at the close here, that we will have peace and that God will be with us. If you haven't decided to follow God and accept Christ as Savior, there's still time.