… ¹¹and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, ¹²so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.

For a man and apostle whose life was typified with world travel, debating Jewish legalists and Greek philosophers, and working day and night to support himself as he evangelized anyone who would listen, this is quite the statement to make. Are Christians to tame their adventuresome spirit, to quiet down in the face of false accusations, to simply mind their own business? Of course not! So what do we make of this?

Keep in mind the Thessalonian believers’ context of persecution from their surrounding pagan culture. Three other times, Paul uses the verbal term “ambition.” In Romans 15:20 it is translated, “I aspired to preach the gospel,” and in 2 Corinthians 5:9, he writes, “we also have as our ambition . . . to be pleasing to [Christ].” Here, he instructs, “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.” Christians are to pursue many things, to strive after them. And here we are to strive after quietness—an odd way of saying things.

However, quietness does not come easily. One can hardly deny that Paul is probably seeing the contrast with the Corinthian believers, among whom he is currently working as he writes to the Thessalonian believers. The experience there was anything but quiet, with all the infighting, jealousy, arrogance, lawsuits, and the like that typified the Corinthian believers. The Thessalonians were being persecuted by their pagan surroundings. So we conclude that Paul doesn’t mean we should turn life into a passive endeavor, but rather that our inner struggles should settle down, and we should go about taking care of our own responsibilities in life. “Take care of life at home, so that you have a solid base from which to engage in what is going on around you.” That is Paul’s message here.

Working with one’s own hands should be the hallmark of a Christian. Laziness is not an option, nor is it a slight character defect. Hard work should characterize those who put their faith in Christ. We don’t work for our salvation, to merit God’s favor. But we must be hard workers in life. Idleness would make our evangelism much more difficult, for how can people be challenged to believe in God’s grace apart from works if it looks to them like that will breed laziness? We should present ourselves to the world as hard workers, and from that platform we can speak of a salvation that is not based on our work. Our motivation to work comes out of our salvation, not for our salvation.

Lord, I accept the challenge to quietly take care of my own responsibilities.