Paul and "Working for a Living"
Paul Rohde

Another turbulent conversation has finally convinced me to address the Apostle Paul's teaching about work and earning a living. Several people have referred to him from time to time, when I talk about 'giving freely' vs. asking for payment, or when I criticize capitalism. Paul's work as a tentmaker is often raised as an objection. Not that Paul's life is the measure of perfection--I think most Christians accept Jesus' life as the one we are to imitate. But I think the life and teachings of Paul often have not been presented fairly or clearly, and that's part of the problem. Also, the discussion may clarify my own thinking on this topic, and help me emphasize what's really important.

I'll start with the most difficult passage, 2 Thessalonians 3.6-12:

Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, we did not eat any one's bread without paying, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you. It was not because we have not that right, but to give you in our conduct and example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: If any one will not work, let him not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work in quietness and to earn their own living.

Clearly, the emphasis here is against those "living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work." This is right. We should work, using our talents, and being creative, not just being "busy." I think that's the real message of this passage, and I completely support it. But Paul says several things in his argument against idleness that can (and have been) applied in other ways. "We did not eat any one's bread without paying"; "If any one will not work, let him not eat"; "Now such persons we command... to earn their own living"; these lines can be combined to defend a capitalist economy. But I don't think it's clear that is what Paul envisioned. I think there are other remedies for idleness that do not carry with them such serious side effects, such as cutting off those who, for one reason or another, cannot pay for the bread they need. Certainly, many other passages from his letters have been used as biblical justifications for horrible abuses (specifically his words about the Jews, slaves, and women); and these are usually misrepresentations of Paul's thought. For a fuller picture, we need to look at more of Paul's letters, and the life he lived.

Some of the things Paul mentions in that last passage also appear in other places, where he's not writing about idleness. His reference to working "night and day, that we might not burden any of you," also appears in his first letter to the Thessalonians (2.9). (And Acts 18.3 tells of his work with other tentmakers, though pay is not mentioned.) I already acknowledged that creative work is a good thing, and I will also readily support 'not wanting to burden others.' But, again, working and avoiding being a burden on others does not require a free market economy where everyone has to pay for what they receive. For example: we can keep from being a burden by minimizing our own consumption, living more economically, or by not pressuring others to pay our way. 'Not being a burden' is good, but if people are sharing with us freely, we can accept without being "burdens." Paul makes another interesting comment in that same letter (1 Th 4.11-12):

Aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we charged you; so that you may command the respect of outsiders, and be dependent on nobody.

"Be dependent on nobody" is quickly snapped up as the battle cry of economic individualism. Everyone is expected to pay their own way, thus "depending" on no one else. Again, I'm not sure whether Paul would support that position or not--but I'm sure I don't. We are always dependent on others; we simply cannot survive without the help of others. We only deceive ourselves when we attempt to use dollar bills to convince everyone that we are independent. Inter-dependence is a fact of life, and a very good and holy gift of God. Jesus himself clearly lived a inter-dependent life. He was constantly provided with food from other people's tables and shelter under other people's roofs (and he taught his disciples to do the same: Mt 10.8-11, which contains that beautiful command, "You received without paying, give without pay"). Jesus preached and lived a radical dependence on God, who met all his needs through others, just as God meets our needs through others.

But back to Paul: as much as we hear about Paul working to 'pay his own way,' that was not always the case. Often he writes about gathering money at churches to support other churches, and sometimes part of that support was paying his way (2 Cor 11.8-9):

I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. And when I was with you and was in want, I did not burden any one, for my needs were supplied by the brethren who came from Macedonia. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way.

(Also note Phil 4.16, where Paul talks about receiving financial support from the Philippians when he was in Thessalonica.) Here we see Paul 'not burdening' in the same way Jesus did. Some people gave freely to him, so he could give freely to others. Especially when it came to preaching the gospel, 'giving freely' was very important to Paul. I think that's what made him so obviously uncomfortable about receiving anything from the people he was preaching to. He often defended the preacher's "right" to expect help from the congregation, but Paul wanted the gospel to be free of charge. This is demonstrated in 1 Corinthians 9. First Paul reiterates the preacher's "rights," then:

But I have made no use of these rights, nor am I writing to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have any one deprive me of my ground for boasting. ...What then is my reward? Just this: that in my preaching I may make the gospel free of charge... (1 Cor 9.15,18)

Boasting aside, I think Paul's got it exactly right here. The important thing is, not paying your own way, not independence, but being able to give freely (and in Paul's case the gift is the highest: the gospel). Earning money by selling our services is one way to be able to give freely; and perhaps Paul did encourage this and do this himself. But this method requires us to not give freely to some people (our customers) so that we can give freely to others. Plus there are other objections against requiring payment from others for our services (Jesus himself raised them; for example, Lk 6.33-35, and Lk 14.12-14). But is there any other way? Paul himself demonstrated another way: Accepting help from those who want to give freely to us enables us to give freely to others. That way, all our human interactions are guided by the generosity of love and all witness to our common dependence on each other and, ultimately, on God. Not surprisingly, Jesus lived just like this. And for those who worry that living this way won't provide the necessities of life, Jesus said, "Look at the birds and the lilies."(Mt 6.25-33)

I keep shifting from Paul to Jesus, but I don't think Paul would mind. I will conclude, however, with Paul's words about the ideal form of (Christian) society, where we give when others are in need, and accept when we are in need. Where we don't worry about 'getting paid' or 'paying our own way' or becoming rich, but imitate Christ, who was willing to become poor so that we all might receive his riches:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. [...Here Paul mentions a donation the Corinthians had apparently promised for another church...] I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their want, so that their abundance may supply your want, that there may be equality. As it is written, "He who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack." (2 Cor 8.8-9,13-15)

Note that Paul is not talking about heaven here, or just addressing the clergy. This is to a whole community, on earth (and it sounds much like the real, earthly community described in Acts 2.44-47 and 4.32-35). Those whose creative work has produced some abundance are encouraged to give freely to those who are in need. They give what they can give, and they receive what God provides for them through their own work and the gifts of others. No payment required. And this does not necessarily result in idleness or anyone being "burdened." These problems may arise, so we need to hear Paul's warnings. But warnings are not a model for goodness. Jesus is our model for goodness--and his life clearly showed us the way.
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Paul Rohde is a graduate of the University of Michigan. He spent a few years in the Navy, became a pacifist and went AWOL seeking refuge in monasteries in Great Britain. Currently Paul is on a self-described "pilgrimage" walking highways around the USA to symbolize the church's alien and exiled status in this world. You can read his journal entries at Pilgrimage Journals