For we hear that there are some among you who are idle. They are not busy but busybodies. Now we command and exhort such people by the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and provide for themselves. (2 Thessalonians 3:11-12)
No one wants to admit to being a busybody, meddler, or gossiper (these are all the same), but every single person I’ve known falls into these things to varying degrees no matter the demographic. It happens unintentionally and intentionally, and both are no good. There is a lot of work to be done for God’s kingdom. Are you working to help it or hinder it?
Both Paul and Peter give stark warnings against idleness, and even more so, both times in the context of the return of King Jesus. Peter even equates being a busybody with murder and theft (1 Peter 4:15). It is a serious matter. The root of being a meddler is often found in the desire to help with compassionate concern, but we need to check our deceitful hearts constantly. Are we seeking to truly help? Or are we just interested in the details and want to be part of the “solution”?
Some great ways to check ourselves is to ask the following questions:
- Is this my business to enter into or to share? (1 Tim. 5:13)
- Am I basing my “help” on Scripture or on my opinions? (Prov. 16:25)
- Am I motivated by love or a sense of my own importance? (1 Cor. 16:14)
Because everyone can be a meddler, busybody, or gossiper at some point or another, it is an opportunity to display God’s grace toward each other and an opportunity for us to work together for God’s kingdom and not against it. Paul reminds us of the grace we must have for one another, saying “Yet don’t consider him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.”Paul uses the word “warn” because living in busibodiness, meddling, and gossip is no way for a child of God to live. We need to use these times as an opportunity to point one another in humility to Christ and walk as ambassadors for Him (2 Cor. 5:20).