Accountability

If you have been in ministry for any period of time then you know how easily the entire course of a church can be determined by a few disorderly or irresponsible members. As is often the case, these disorderly and irresponsible members never seem to grow weary in wearying others. The unfortunate outcome is that the faithful members become easily discouraged and tacitly concede victory to a few recalcitrant individuals. The very ones who have the responsibility to ensure the purity and integrity of the church are the first ones to give up or give in. Sensing perhaps that such an eventuality was possible in Thessalonica, Paul exhorted the church to do the right thing by addressing the problem before it got worse.

Indeed, sin within the fellowship of a church seldom goes away by itself, and it often gets worse. Christians intuitively know this, yet many are reluctant to do anything about it. An example of this is found in Corinth. Because of their arrogance and pride, the Corinthian Christians were not only unwilling to address a serious sin within their fellowship, 253but they had also become so callous that they were tolerating this serious offense as if there were no sin at all. Like a cancer eating away at the health of a physical body, the Corinthians' sin was destroying the health and vitality of their church. Left unchecked, the sin of a few members had the potential to affect every member within the body adversely. Paul could not be clearer in how he expected the church to respond:

Paul expected the church to treat the matter of sin seriously, even to the point of excluding the offender from the fellowship. Pursuing such a course of action was not for the faint of heart. It would require the resolve of the entire church.

Turning back to Thessalonica, Paul's charge not to "grow weary in doing good" may very well be a call for the Thessalonians to have the tenacity and resolve to deal with the busybodies in the church. In verses 14 and 15 Paul calls on the entire church to deal with this matter. A failure to address the issue of sin had serious ramifications for the testimony of the church. The Thessalonians could not abdicate their responsibility to practice church discipline. Greg Wills makes an important point:

2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14-15

Sin in the church is a serious matter. God expects His people to take an active role in maintaining the purity and guarding the integrity of His church. He has thus prescribed a means of discipline by which 254the church should respond to sin in its fellowship. Thomas Schreiner explains why God's people cannot turn their backs on the issue of sin:

Since the consequences of inaction threatened to derail the ongoing work of the Thessalonian church, Paul called on the Thessalonians to take action. The church could not turn its back on the matter. According to Stott, this section of 2 Thessalonians contains "some of the most important teaching in the New Testament on the subject of church discipline" (Stott, Gospel and the End, 193). In this passage are three key principles of church discipline: hold fast, take note and keep away, and seek restoration.

The Thessalonians recognized the authority of God's Word as the standard by which believers evaluate everything in the church (1 Thess 2:13). Paul therefore reminds them that the "tradition" and "our instruction in this letter" must be the starting point for church discipline. Those whose lives reflect habitual and willful disregard for God's Word must be made aware of the serious implications of their disobedience. In the case of the Thessalonians, the sin of the unruly and lazy Christians had become public and disruptive, and therefore detrimental to the health of the church. Furthermore, because these individuals remained unrepentant, inaction by the entire church was not an option. God demands obedience to His Word. Scripture is replete with instruction concerning how God expects those who belong to him to obey His Word and with repercussions that result from disobeying His Word (Deut 11:26-28; 1 Sam 15:22-23; 1 Kgs 13:11-26; John 14:15, 21; Jas 1:22-25; 1 John 5:2-3).

Obviously, proper church discipline can only occur within the context of a biblically grounded church. From the outset of his ministry in Thessalonica, Paul exposed the Thessalonians to truth. They were saved by the truth (1 Thess 1:5; 2 Thess 2:14), they were being sanctified by the truth (1 Thess 5:23-24; 2 Thess 2:13), and their future security was resting on the truth (1 Thess 4:13-18; 2 Thess 2:5). He therefore 255praised them for their obedience to this truth (1 Thess 1:6; 2:13), and he corrected them for their disobedience to it (1 Thess 5:14). The Thessalonians could not claim ignorance concerning God's standards for how they were to conduct their lives. It is against this backdrop that Paul instructs them how to respond to the "irresponsible" in the fellowship.

Although Paul is not specific as to the exact manner by which the church was to approach the sinning members, the implication is that when the church would "take note" of those individuals, they would be served public notice that their unbiblical conduct and lifestyle was unacceptable to God. In the spirit of Matthew 18:15-16 Paul suggests to the church such action that these individuals would experience the shame of their sin and thus repent and be restored prior to any further action. Martin believes this to be the case:

Green adds,

To underscore the public nature of this discipline, Paul commanded the entire church to "keep away from" the sinning individuals and to avoid associating with them (3:6, 14; see also 1 Cor 5:9, 11). Since his previous attempts to bring them back in line had failed (1 Thess 4:11-12; 5:14), the matter was now before the church. At this point, Paul's desire is that the issue would not escalate to the level of excommunication (Matt 18:17; 1 Cor 5:5). But in order to avoid 256such a fate, the Thessalonians needed to make the difficult choice to withhold fellowship from some of their own. While such an action may sound judgmental and cruel, its ultimate purpose is remedial and redemptive. In fact, the cruelest thing that we can do to a sinning brother or sister is to refuse to warn them of the consequences of traveling down a road that will ultimately lead to their ruin and destruction (Ezek 3:16-21; 33:1-9).

The purpose of church discipline is never punitive; it is always redemptive. The erring brother or sister is not an enemy of the church. They are a brother or sister for whom Christ died. Believers have the solemn responsibility of holding one another accountable, even to the point of taking the drastic measure of withholding fellowship from an unrepentant church brother or sister. The focus is not on retribution or rebuke but on reestablishing the individual within the fellowship of God's people. As Schreiner so aptly sums it up,

The primary reason for discipline is the purity of the church and hence the glory of God. If the church tolerates blatant sin in its midst, then sin will spread like an infection, and the church will lose its witness to the world. The great deliverance accomplished by Christ in His Passover sacrifice will be compromised. Hence, Paul calls upon the believers to be what they are in Christ. Therefore, they must judge those who are in sin and refuse to repent by removing them from the church. Such judgment does not violate what Jesus said about judging (Matt 7:1-5). Indeed, it fulfills Jesus' instructions on discipline (Matt 18:15-20). Self-righteous judgment violates Jesus' words in Matt 7:1-6. Those who reprove others must be gentle (Gal 6:1) and beware of being puffed up with their own "righteousness." True discipline comes from a humble heart, and the motive of discipline is the salvation of the one who strayed. Those who give way to sin and fail to repent are in danger of final destruction. Discipline is a shock treatment designed to provoke those who are rebellious to return to the Lord. (Schreiner, "Biblical Basis," 220-21)

Clearly, the act of church discipline is not a matter that a church entertains lightly. When handled correctly, we have the opportunity not only 257to "win" your brother or sister (Matt 18:15), but also to convey God's message of redemption to a watching world.

2 Thessalonians 3:16-18

This final section marks Paul's fourth prayer in 2 Thessalonians (1:11-12; 2:16-17; 3:5). Throughout his letters, Paul's prayers on behalf of the Thessalonians are pointed and purposeful. He recognized that the Thessalonians were going to need divine enablement to live in the manner set forth in his letters. So, concerning their ability to view their present suffering through the lens of God's greater purpose, he prays that God would endow them with power (1:11). With regard to his challenging teaching on the antichrist and the Day of the Lord, he prays that God would fill them with comfort (2:17). Concerning their ongoing persecution from evil people, he prays that God would enable them to endure (3:5). Finally, knowing the challenges of dealing with unrepentant and recalcitrant church members, he prays for God to give them peace (3:16).

With a final note of peace and grace, the letter ends in the exact way that it began. As Fee observes, considering the weighty subject matter contained within the letter, Paul could strike no more appropriate note on which to conclude:

In light of the preceding content (God's coming judgment on their enemies; the timing of the day of the Lord; and unrest caused by the disruptive-idle), this prayer is precisely what is needed. So quite in keeping with what will become his lifelong habit, the "grace" at the end of the letter focuses altogether on their shalom. And quite in keeping with the overall Christological focus in this letter, the prayer is for "the Lord of peace" to give them peace. (Fee, First and Second Letters, 340)

God's peace and grace keep you firmly planted amid the challenges of living out your faith. Paul places the emphasis on God Himself as the source of your peace. Hence, to have a relationship with God is to know His peace. Even as his world was caving in around him, King David knew that he had the security of God's peace. His words should serve as a comfort to you:

Because God's peace is impossible without God's presence, Paul adds these words to his prayer: "The Lord be with all of you" (3:16). What comfort the Thessalonians could take in knowing that God was not going to abandon them. With God's presence, Jesus' grace, the Spirit's enablement, and reliable words from Paul's own pen (3:17), these young believers had every resource necessary to pursue their mission until the coming of Christ.

A number of years ago I invited some friends to join me on a trout fishing trip in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. On the planned day, we arrived early at the park entrance, unloaded our gear, hiked several miles upstream into the park, and fished our way back downstream to where we were parked. Although we did not catch many fish, we enjoyed the scenery and one another's company. As the day drew to a close we made our way back to the entrance and prepared to load my truck for the journey home. Reaching into my pocket to get my keys, I made the startling discovery that they were gone. After searching all of my pockets I informed my friends of the situation. For the next hour we retraced our steps back up the trail in what would ultimately prove to be 259a futile attempt at finding my keys. I can vividly recall my friends repeatedly asking me if I was sure that I did not have my keys. "Of course not," I replied. "I have searched every conceivable pocket, and besides do you think I would have us search for keys that I knew were not lost?" With the daylight and our hopes fading, we prepared to spend a long cold night under the stars. As we stood alongside my truck discussing our next move for the evening, I reached into my back pocket and removed my billfold. As I did, I noticed that my "lost" truck key was in my pocket behind my billfold. I had it with me the entire time! Needless to say, my friends did not have many kind words for me that evening. But we all learned a valuable lesson: it is fruitless to search for something that you already have.

God has provided every conceivable resource necessary for the health and well-being of His people and His church. Through the inspired pens of the biblical authors, He has given us His completely trustworthy and perfectly reliable Word. Armed with "the tradition" to guide us and His presence within us, He provides sufficient peace and grace to endure any suffering, meet any challenge, and overcome any obstacle. As Peter puts it, God has provided for His people "everything required for life and godliness" (2 Pet 1:3). We therefore don't need to look for something that we already have. Instead, we would do well to obey the commandments and appropriate the resources that God has already given us. When the Thessalonians embraced the gospel, they left behind their gods to follow the one true and living God. They were eagerly waiting for the day when God would give Jesus the command to gather His people. Although that day was delayed, the Thessalonians could rest knowing that God Himself was fully committed to completing the work that He began in them. The gospel was doing its work in them, but the gospel was also doing its work through them. That is what the gospel does. And that is why we don't have to look for anything new. It is more than sufficient.