NOTES for Th2 3:7-8
When Paul mentions in his letter to the Thessalonian church that, while on mission among them, he and his companions earned their living by their own labor, the apostle wants above all to remind them of certain moral norms. Indeed, why should a church community feed those whom it did not invite and was not expecting as guests, especially if these people intend to remain in their city for a long time?
Custom required hospitality for a period of three days. During that time anyone could ask for lodging, even without explaining in detail who he was, where he was from, where he was going, and why he had set out on a journey. But if a guest wanted to stay for a longer period, this could be done only with the host's consent. Anyone planning to stay with a mission for a long time had at the very least to warn of his arrival beforehand, and better still to discuss the possibility of his stay in the city with the community or with specific people at whose home and expense he intended to live.
Meanwhile, great was the temptation, under cover of conversations about God's work, to use the not entirely voluntary hospitality of one's hosts, offered out of respect not so much for the guests as for the One in whose name they speak. But that was not the only matter. The issue is also simple responsibility, responsibility for God's work. And this is already a spiritual question, as is any question of responsibility or irresponsibility.
Simply because without a responsible attitude toward one's own life, there can be no talk of any spirituality. And the confidence that the local church community, or one of its members, is necessarily obliged to help you carry out the mission entrusted by God is an example of irresponsibility, and a fairly vivid one. Indeed, for any work entrusted by God or by a person, the one responsible is the one and only one to whom it was entrusted. And no one else.
One can count on help here only if this same work was entrusted not only to you, but also to someone else together with you. If there was nothing of the kind, one cannot count on anyone's help. It will, of course, be wonderful if such voluntary helpers appear. But one cannot demand their appearance either from God or from people. And if there are no voluntary helpers, then one must do one's work oneself. Alone, if necessary. If, of course, there is certainty that it has truly been entrusted by God.