Tuesday

Liberty Depends On Labor


2 Thessalonians 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

In every free society there is a fundamental requirement of responsible behavior on the part of the citizens if they wish to remain free from the oppressive power of tyranny. This verse is based on that principle.

Not every behavior can be controlled or prosecuted by law enforcement. Therefore, liberty is accompanied by freedoms which can ultimately reverse a culture of freedom and lead to tyranny. The contextual behavior leading to the discipline of withdrawal in the verse above is laziness, or the refusal to work. Short of slavery there is no way to force someone to work. A culture of laziness will lead to the destruction of an orderly government and to the tight cuffs of tyranny.

The penalty required in this passage for able-bodied people who refused to work was to isolate them, and, by doing so, take away their access to those privileges which are the fruit of labor. The purpose is to motivate them to self-discipline and personal responsibility.

The United States over 100 years ago set a day aside to celebrate labor. This is a noble thing... and the hard working laborers in our country should be celebrated. But let it also be observed that labor is a basic tenet of Christian culture and churches are required by Christ to foster a culture of labor.

1 comment:

  1. Good thoughts. Lord bless and ......keep up the good work. :-)

    ReplyDelete

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