II Ths. 3:13 ... "Brethren, do not grow weary of doing good."
Real Christianity is an active religion. It requires its adherents to commit themselves with energy and persistence in various kinds of activity described in its book of divine guidance, the New Testament. There are religions, however, that are characteristically passive. To enter one of them requires compliance with a prescribed ritual, or perhaps testifying to a spiritual experience one is supposed to have had. From then on the initiate is considered to be an adherent, whether he does anything further or not. He may not attend the regular assemblies, participate in worship activities, study the accepted sacred writings, or try to persuade anyone to enter that religion. But because he complied with the initial requirements for acceptance into the system, he is always considered to be a member.
The Founder of Christianity, who is its ultimate example and standard (I Pet. 2:21), established the pattern for every disciple in Jno. 9:4, to "work the works of Him who sent Me (Jesus), as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work." God sent His Son to the world on a mission that was a very comprehensive and with a well defined set of things to be done. He gave Jesus a specified period of time (signified by "day") in which to accomplish those things. Jesus felt it urgent to work steadily to fulfill the mission, realizing that an end (signified by "night") was fast approaching to terminate it. It is not different with His disciples. To us He has declared that "not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven" (Mat. 7:21). God looks not only for the occasion when someone turns to Him in faith and obedience to the initial commands, but also for the lifetime of uninterrupted occasions when that individual persists in doing the many provisions of His will.
"Well doing" (KJV) is an archaism in English. Now we prefer to say "doing good," (as in the NAS) or "constructive action." In either phrasing the meaning is quite clear. It is important that we recognize the thought expressed to be that of a fixed standard by which human activity can be evaluated and then judged to be either good or evil. The Christian affirms the Bible to be the fixed system of truth revealed by God as that standard. And that Source itself urges us to use it always to make such evaluations in the effort to determine which actions are good and to be followed and those that are bad and to be avoided.
Actions that are good turn out to be those that respond to God's expressed will, that reflect His glory by our lives, that complement the effort to realize His goals for human life and benevolently affect the lives of other people. The encouragement given in II Ths. 3:13 is for Christians who have identified these actions and learned to practice them without ever growing weary. Becoming tired of doing good is "spiritual burnout," the result of losing faith and love and the recognition of the essential meaning involved in such activity. It gains impetus in proportion to an apparent failure of such efforts to produce effects that are desired, favorable, pleasant and encouraging to one's sense of self-esteem.
It is said that to recognize the cause of a problem is a long step toward its solution. To ward off the tendency to grow weary in "well doing" consequently challenges us to maintain our faith and love at the highest possible level, to study and meditate, to renew continually that basis of meaning in spiritual activity, and to keep ourselves convinced that indeed our "toil is not in vain in the Lord," (I Cor. 15:58), no matter what the perceived effects appear to be.
