Who is a busybody?

As I was reading through 2 Thessalonians this morning, chapter 3 caught my attention. In this passage, Paul is urging his community of readers to work hard. He reinforces this point in several ways. First, he points out there are those who are idle in the community (3:11). Second, he bids the community to stay away from those who are idle (3:6). Third, he uses his stay with them as an example of working hard; he worked to support himself, lest he be a burden on them (3:7, 8). Finally, he urges them to never tire of doing what is right (3:13). Now what really caught my attention comes from 3:11: “They are not busy; they are busybodies.”

I decided to do a little lexical detective work. The word is periergozomai. This verb is only used here, but the noun form is used in Acts 19:19 (periergon) and the adjectival form (periergos) is used in 1 Timothy 5:13. It is also used twice in the LXX – Sirach (3:23, 41:24). All the references have the notion of meddling in the affairs of others or spending time uselessly, with the exception of Acts 19:19. In Acts the word seems to have a more technical meaning referring to the magical arts.

I think the assumption is that these busybodies were busy, even extremely so, especially in the context of 1 Timothy 5:13, but they were busy in the wrong things. This is an important point to make. We need to draw a distinction between being helpful and meddling in the affairs of people needlessly. The former leads to edification of the body and the later leads to greater strain and potential conflict. Sometimes, we need to mind our own business.

In the light of this, how should we proceed? First, I would say that wisdom is paramount. Ask God for wisdom before you decide to get involved. Not getting involved can be the right way to go. Second, see if your involvement will place unnecessary burdens on the community. If so, this may be a sign that you are not doing your part. We should seek to depend less on the community (or should I say impose). Rather, we should seek to benefit the community by being a blessing. Third, going back to the context of 1 Timothy 5, does the involvement lead to gossip? If it does, it might be a good sign that you are being a busybody. In short, there are busybodies among us, who are extremely busy. They should learn to find rest and their identity in the love of God.