God wants us to be givers. The idea behind the word “grace” is giving. Salvation is a gift. What is a gift? Something that is given. We have been given grace, spiritual gifts. These spiritual gifts are intended to be given to help others. God wants us to be givers, not takers. A taker is one who wants. A giver is one who lets go.
At the core of this idea of being a giver is the concept of death. When we give to someone else, we die to self. When we consider others first, we die to self. When we sacrifice our interests for their interests, we die to self. The cross is an instrument of death. Jesus said that we are to take up our cross daily, deny self and follow Him.

So we saw last week that the early church were givers. They sold homes and land to help the widows and needy among them. They were family and did everything they could to help meet the needs of one another. They did not think in terms of ten percent or five percent or anything like that. They saw a need and took it upon themselves to give. And the church grew.

About twenty years later this same attitude was dominant in the church. The church at Thessalonica had understood the message of the cross. They were not about themselves, but lived to help others. They shared the gospel and they shared their money and resources. Paul had been admonished to tell the Gentiles to take care of the poor, especially the poor in the church. Paul had been eager to do so and had obviously taught the Thessalonians the value of giving. The life of the Christian, the new life, is a life lived for God and a life of love for fellow Christians.

A problem arose in the church. There were people in the church of Thessalonica who were truly believers in Jesus Christ. But they did not understand the message of the cross. Instead of living for Jesus, they though about themselves. Instead of being considerate of others, they sought to take care of themselves.

What they did is clear from this passage in 2 Thessalonians. They took advantage of the generosity of the church for their own gain. Instead of being givers, they were takers.

Our government uses the word “entitlement.” Wikipidia gives a definition of this. “Entitlement is a guarantee of access to benefits because of rights, or by agreement through law. It also refers, in a more casual sense to someone's belief that he/she is deserving of some particular reward or benefit.[1] It is often used as a pejorative term in popular parlance (i.e. a 'sense of entitlement'). The legal term, however, carries no value judgment: it simply denotes a right granted. In clinical psychology and psychiatry, an unrealistic, exaggerated, or rigidly held sense of entitlement may be considered a symptom of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.”

If entitlement is the guarantee that you have access to benefits, that is a wonderful thing. But there is a danger to the Christian. The danger is that we take advantage of the generosity of the American people or of the church.

The specific detail in this passage is that people who were able to work were coming for help. They were “idle”. No serious injury or circumstance stopped them from the ability to work. They were not seriously looking for work. Why should they when the church was willing to support them. They were taking advantage of the generosity of the church for their own gain.

We have people today who come to the church asking for help. We are willing to help in any way that we can. But some people might not want to spend their own money, might not want to declare their own income in an honest way, might not want to mention some expenses that they incur that are extra items, not items of necessity, and so take money given by other people to help meet real needs. For someone in the world to do this is expected. But the person who has died to self and lives for Jesus, for the person who is a Christian, this is not acceptable behavior. Paul commands us in the name of Jesus, “settle down and earn the bread you eat.”

Paul said, “when we were with you we worked to pay for what we ate. We did not take advantage of you.” If he couldn’t have worked, I am sure that he would have received the help with gratitude both to the Lord and to the givers.

Verse 13 is important. In spite of the abuse, Paul tells the Thessalonians two things.

First, don’t tire of doing what is right. Just because people abuse the system, don’t stop giving. Don’t stop reaching out. So often we pull our support because of abuse. God would say, “Support…and work to end the abuse.”

Which is the second point. Don’t associate with the person who will not work and is living off the church.

What does this mean? We notice that Paul goes on to say that we should not view this person as an enemy, but as a brother. So the right action is to warn them. What they are doing is not right.

So what is this association? The literal translation is “don’t get mixed up with this person.” In other words, don’t take his side. Don’t be such close friends that you start buying into the argument that he shouldn’t work.

What is pictured here is Christian unity. The whole church at Thessalonica was to stand together and say to this person: 1. We will not help you, and 2. Get a job. Why? Because that was healthy for the church and that was what would help this brother, this fellow Christian the most. If no one took his side, he would be ashamed of what he did and change his behavior. He would repent.

Life is not about us. When we come to Christ, life is about the kingdom of God and his righteousness. We stop playing the system to get all we can get. We live for Jesus. We accept that the old way of life is dead and we walk under the control of the Holy Spirit in newness of life.

We may lose money. Honesty and integrity may cost us something on this earth. But what does it profit a man if he were to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

Today’s message is a practical look at the cross. We die to self and live for Jesus. Jesus died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them.

This is symbolized by baptism.