As one who preaches and teaches for a living, I have wrestled with how pushy to be in my sermons. Or in lessons. Or in written communication. And not just in large groups, but also one-on-one. I’ve heard that we shouldn’t guilt people into doing things. I agree with that. We shouldn’t manipulate them, or scare them, or gaslight them into following Jesus. So how should we motivate people?
In this post, we’ll observe the Apostle Paul’s compelling approach to motivating people.
We’re studying 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 1–8 this week, and in the previous post, we looked at the beginning of verse 1. Paul continues in verse 1, “Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.”
Think about that. Earlier in verse 1, Paul has just admitted that the Thessalonian Christians are already living to please God. He had heard great things about them. Therefore, he could say, “My work here is done.” But no, he presses in. He says, “I ask you…no wait…I urge you to do this more and more.” Is Paul being pushy?
I submit that Paul is not being pushy. The word “urge” is better translated “encourage.” While “urge” can come across as pushy, “encourage” is warm and gracious. In fact, the same word that Paul uses is one of the titles of the Holy Spirit. It is the word “parakaleo,” and in John 14-16, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit with this nickname. The Spirit is The Paraclete. The Encourager. Encouragement is a very comforting, positive action.
Paul is being warm here, encouraging the Christians to pursue living to please God even more. First, Paul acknowledges that the Christians are already living that way. But then he encourages them to keep pushing themselves for more of God.
Notice Paul’s technique in verse 1. He first affirms their family, relational connection, calling them “brothers and sisters”. He then continues to affirm them by saying, “You are living to please God just as I taught you.” Only after that affirmation does he ask and encourage them to live for God even more.
No doubt, Paul is confronting the Thessalonian Christian. He wants them to go deeper. But his confrontation doesn’t feel harsh. It feels inviting. They will likely read this and think, “Yes, I want to go deeper, I want to make changes to how I live.” Likewise, we can graciously encourage people in our lives.
I am grateful for his phrase in verse one: “more and more.” Paul is saying, “Christians, none of us has not arrived. We are not perfect. We can do better.” Paul is stating what is true about life. We have room for improvement. We can have more of God.
In verse 2, then, Paul begins to provide some practical application for how they can more and more live in order to please God. He writes,
“For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. It is God’s will that you should be sanctified.”
“It is God’s will.” How many times in life have you wondered if something was God’s will or not? How many times have you prayed, “Lord, I wish you would tell me if this is your will!” and maybe he didn’t tell you?
Here is one of the many passages in the Bible where we very clearly know God’s will. God’s will in verse 3 is that we should be sanctified.
What does it mean to be sanctified? We use the word “sanctimonious” which is when someone is holier than thou, self-righteous. Sanctimonious is negative. God doesn’t want us to be sanctimonious, but he does want us to be sanctified. We use the words “sanctity” or “sanctuary,” words with a much more positive spin. The “sanctity of life” or a “wildlife sanctuary.”
These words all relate to the following concept: To be sanctified is to be set apart, consecrated, and holy.
If I’m honest, that feels odd. Do you feel sanctified or holy? If you have those moments in the quietness of your heart and mind where you think, “I am not holy. I am a mess. I am far from God’s heart,” you are not alone. There are plenty of Christians, me included who can struggle to believe that God thinks about me with love. But he does. And Paul is right. God not only loves us, he sanctifies us.
Paul will later write about this to the Corinthian Christians in 1st Corinthians. In chapter 3, verse 9, he says, “You are God’s building.” Then in verse 16, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” Then in 1st Corinthians chapter 6, verses 19–20, he expands on this, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
We are to pursue holiness, purity, in our bodies, because we are God’s temple. God lives in us. I don’t know about you, but I can forget that God lives in me. I don’t often think of myself as God’s temple or that God’s Spirit lives in me. I can think, “It doesn’t matter much what I think, eat, watch, say.” I can think, “It’s not really affecting me that much. Maybe it did when I was younger. But now I am 50 years old. I can handle it.”
And when I start to think like that, I am not given due attention to the fact that my body is the temple of God, that it is God’s will that I am sanctified, set apart, a vessel consecrated for him. How about you? How often do you think about the fact that your body is the temple of God’s Spirit, and therefore, you are to be holy, set apart, sanctified?
God has chosen relationship with us. He lives with us! He desires what is best for us, which is to make choices for our good, for a good relationship with him and with others.
Check back to the next post, as we’ll look at the very specific way Paul says we should be sanctified, sexually.
Photo by Smit Patel on Unsplash
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