Paul was seeing the decline of a work ethic in Thessalonica. In his first letter he warned them; by the second letter had it gotten worse? For them, it seems that it was a combination of the Greek ideal of leisure is for free people and Jesus Christ’s imminent return. And the church fed the problem, literally, with their shared goods. The idlers were abusing the food pantry and the Benevolent Fund, being a drain on church resources. They had also become “busybodies” and given a bad name to the Christian church in the community. How will Paul attack the problem?
Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 3