Mind Your Business!

“But we urge you, brethen, that you increase more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you.”

(1 Thessalonians 4:10-11)

I’m a black woman, and in my community, there’s this unspoken rule to mind your business. You see people arguing in the store? Keep walking and mind your business. The cops come rolling through your neighborhood? Peek out the window, but mind your business. Heard about a coworker getting fired? Some of us may attempt to get more details, but for the most part, mind your business! That’s just what we are customarily taught.

In so many words, even Jesus told Peter to mind his own business in the Book of John. In this text, Jesus had just told Peter that he would die in service to the kingdom. In response, Peter asked Jesus about John. He wanted to know if John would also die in ministry. Jesus’s response to Peter? “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.” (John 21:22)

What’s it to you? Mind your business, Peter! Follow me!

Welp, I guess Jesus told him, didn’t He? But in all seriousness, Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 4 and Jesus’s response in John 21 serves as a reminder to us all. We truly need to tend to our own business. But let’s be mindful of what our business consists of. Our earthly responsibilities could involve many things … being a great spouse, an active parent, a good friend, a star employee. No matter the duty, we all have things to tend to.

Yet, as a believer, our business does not end nor does it begin with our earthly responsibilities. The business of a Christian is the business of our Father. Last week, we discussed how it is our Father’s will that we be holy. It is God’s business and concern that we live unto Him and that we call out to the lost to do the same. This is what we were created for.

Ephesians 2:10 states, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” We were made to perform God’s good work on earth, and if we tend to that work, we are tending to the business that God created us to tend to. It is also our responsibility to cultivate the relationship we have with the Lord. We should tend to the business of knowing, worshipping, and seeking the Lord.

Since the beginning of time, mankind has been charged to tend to our responsibilities. Adam was given the responsibility of tending to the garden. That was his business– to work with his own hands. Paul clarified that it is still our responsibility to tend to the things God has entrusted in our hands. Paul said, “lead a quiet life, mind your business, work with your own hands.” It is godly to mind your business and tend to the duties given to you. But Adam fell when he didn’t tend to God’s commands.

This is where we tend to fall too. We can accomplish and excel at every duty placed before us, but if we fail to tend to keeping God’s commands, we have missed the mark. Of course, this is where Jesus steps in. He makes up for what we lack. Although we are to strive for holiness, righteousness is only achieved through Christ, and I am so glad about that! Because try as I may, I just can’t get it 100% right on my own. I'm ssssoooo glad for Jesus…

So, let us tend to and mind our own business, which includes cultivating intimacy with the Lord, as well as being great stewards of what we are given in terms of relationships and responsibilities. Let's also be intentional in working on our own hearts, purging our sin and trauma, instead of gossiping about and condemning the sins of others.

Oh! One more thing, reader. Minding our business does not mean turning a blind eye to injustice, nor does it grant us permission to be hermit crabs in a shell.

If the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:33 had minded his business in the way that same people think minding your business means, he wouldn’t have helped the injured man on the side of the road who was left for dead. If Rahab would have minded her business, the Israelite spies wouldn’t have been saved, and eventually, she would have died too. If the young Israelite girl would have minded her business the way that some people view minding your own business, she wouldn’t have told Naaman’s wife about Elisha– how he could be healed from his leprosy.

If God’s people mind their business the way the world suggests, we would deprive the world of love and the Light of Christ. We are to tell others about Jesus so that their souls may be restored to God despite their sins. Some may say that we need to mind our business … that we should just tend to our relationship with Christ without extending the invitation to others.

But how rude and inconsiderate would that be? How unloving and hateful would it be if we did not tell you about the way to peace? As a believer, it is our business to love God and others. And if it is my business to love, then it is also my business to tell you of the greatest love I know. It is my business to tell others about the goodness of the Lord.

And so reader, mind your business! Tend to both the earthly and spiritual duties God has placed in your possession. May God guide you on the upkeep of your responsibilities, and may you be blessed for tending to the things He has given you, including your relationship with Him.

That’s all I have for you today. May God bless you and keep you. Until next time, take care.

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Thank you for reading!

Sincerely,

Quin Arrington