If the Christian message really is true, and those who believe get the free gift of eternal life, which cannot be earned no matter how hard you work for it, then why not just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride? If it is impossible to earn God’s favour through hard work and self-sacrifice, what is the point of doing any work at all? That seems to be the way some people in Thessalonica were thinking when Paul wrote in the third chapter of his second letter to the Thessalonians:
Friends, we give you these instructions in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Stay away from any believer who lives a lazy life and does not follow the lifestyle which we explained to you. You know how you should follow our example. We were not lazy when we were amongst you, and we did not eat bread provided by anyone without paying for it… We hear that some of you are lazy, not working at all, but interfering in other people’s business. We instruct and urge such people in the Lord Jesus Christ to keep quiet and get to work to earn their own bread.
There is a difference between not having to do anything to earn eternal life, and not having to do anything at all. True followers of Jesus are motivated by gratitude for what Jesus has done for us, in the same way that Paul and his companions were motivated to work and endure many different hardships to tell others the good news, and even to earn their own income while serving others.