1 Thessalonians 5:13,14 - Warn those who are idle

5:13

We are to hold leaders in “the highest regard” “in love” “because of their work”. The latter aspect implies respect because of the position they have. And we are to do this in love, not out of a begrudging sense of duty. We are also to live in peace with each other. There are two ways that are guaranteed to make leaders’ work a misery. One is to be constantly criticising and disrespecting leaders, the other is to be constantly arguing with others in the church. If you or I are such a person then the simple fact is that we are an absolute pain in the neck and a blessing to no one.

5:14

We see here the attitude we are to have towards various groups, or types of people. There is, as is often the case in the Bible, are proper balance. We have an inclination in the church to be “too soft”, thinking this is the same as being caring, or wanting to avoid feeling guilty. Here we are urged to warn those who are idle or disruptive. People who genuinely care for others will often take a harder line than those who are effectively just virtue signalling.  At the same time we are to encourage the disheartened and help the weak. People will become disheartened from time to time, we must not write them off when this happens. Instead we are to be patient with everyone.