They are not busy; they are busybodies

"I don't want to work, I just want to bang on the drum all day..."
I don't know if anyone else will recognize that song from past decades. It reveals my increasing age that when I am thinking about an issue like laziness... such a song will invariably enter my mind... from FM radio of the past.

"There is this guy in my church. He says the Lord is coming back any day now. He quit his job and just wastes all his time now. He goes from house to house in our small town and bothers the people that are a part of my church. He is so gosspiy! He talks out of one side of his mouth about how the rapture is about to happen at any moment... but out of the other side of his mouth, he wants to dog my friend Jeff because he hasn't been coming to prayer meeting... and Sally because she wears too much make-up and is so 'worldly'. Oh and so many others! It has gotten really bad. He has run out of money and is now asking us for food. Others in the congregation are experiencing it too. He comes to all our houses asking us if he can eat meals with us. We have all tried to help him and invited him many times, but it is getting out of hand. He is causing trouble between people with his gossip. I think what my mother told me about idle hands is true. The more idle his hands, the busier his tongue has gotten. He gossips worse than a woman! I have had it. I don't know what to do. He is a brother in the Lord but this is ridiculous. He is a fanatic. While he waits for the rapture to happen "any minute," the rest of us are having to feed him while we listen to his rotten talk about the others in our congregation. He has us all on edge about what he is going to say next. My wife and I wonder what he has said about us to the others! Next thing he will lose his house and want to move in with one of us. What should we do?"

"Well, I think you should all tell him that unless he works, he is not welcome around any of you anymore. It may sound harsh, but this is the only way that he will see how terrible he is being. Do not welcome him in anymore until he repents of this lazy busy-body tact he has taken. He is a brother and so you should not treat as an enemy or anything as dramatic as that, but you should definitely not associate with him. It will be for his best. It is the only way that he will see his gross error in behaviour as he waits for the Lord's return, as I trust you all are doing."

"I was thinking about putting up fliers around town warning others of his poor character and his erroneous behavior."

"No, as I said, do not treat him as an enemy. He is not a teacher, either, so I don't think there is a big worry that others will be swayed to do what he is doing. But, separate yourself from him until he gets a job and stops gossiping!"