3:11 The teaching that Christ could return at any moment had led some of the believers into idleness. They had quit their jobs and were simply waiting for the Lord to return. This interpretation seems justified and is certainly consistent with life. Such deductions have led other Christians to do the same thing at various other times throughout church history. When people are not busy with their own work they may tend to meddle in the business of others. They may become busybodies rather than busy, neglecting their own business to mind other people's, minding everybody's business but their own.
3:12-13 Paul commanded the idle to settle down and to support themselves (cf. 1 Thess. 4:11). The obedient majority he counseled to endure this added affliction patiently and to continue doing right.
"With quietness,' emphatic by its forward position [in the Greek text], points to the quality of mind that is to be associated with their working. It denotes a condition of inward peace and tranquillity reflecting itself in outward calmness; it is the opposite of their fussy activity as busybodies."69
"Exemplary conduct serves as a constant reprimand to wrongdoers and is an incentive for them to turn from their delinquency."70
Why were these Thessalonians not working? The answer probably lies in the phrase "in quiet fashion."
"The root trouble apparently was their excitability. The thought of the nearness of the Parousia had thrown them into a flutter, and this had led to unwelcome consequences of which their idleness was the outstanding feature."71
This clause, "in quietness,"". . . is to be understood as the opposite of . . . the feverish excitement of mind stimulated by the belief that the Parousiawas at hand . . ."72
"It seems apparent, then, that these idle Christians believed in the imminent coming of Christ; however, they had concluded wrongly that imminent' equals soon.' Thus, instead of believing that Christ couldcome soon, they were convinced that He definitely wouldcome soon, and work was therefore no longer necessary for them.
"Why did the Thessalonian Christians believe in the imminent coming of Christ? It must have been because they had been taught the imminent coming of Christ by a person whose authority they trusted. It would appear that Paul is the one who taught them the imminent coming of Christ. His negative reaction to their actions, however, implies that their wrong conduct was the result of a perversion of his teaching (cp. vv. 6, 10). Contrary to them, Paul did not equate imminent' with soon' and think, therefore, that work was unnecessary."73
