This week I once again welcome guest blogger, Kirk Marks. Kirk is a retired pastor of 35 years who now works in international fair trade.
Have you had the experience of unlearning?
We all know what learning is. It’s when you didn’t know something, you didn’t know how to do something, or maybe something you didn’t know anything about, and you find it out. You gain knowledge, you gain skills, you learn. We don’t learn in a vacuum. There’s things that we already know and sometimes we build on our knowledge. That is learning.
I experienced a new kind of learning recently. Three years ago, I changed careers. I retired from pastoral ministry and from being a teacher of college and seminary, and I began a new career in importing and fair trade. I knew a tiny little bit about that world. I’ve learned a whole lot more these past few years.
But what about unlearning? Have you thought you understood something, but you realize, “Oh, I had that wrong in my head,” and you have to adjust? While we learn pretty well as adults, unlearning is really hard. Unlearning is when you have been taught something, maybe by a teacher, maybe you read it in a book, maybe you imitated someone in learning how to do a certain something, and you find out later that you got it wrong. You find out that what you learned isn’t working anymore, or the world changes and you have to do it differently. So you have to stop doing what you were doing and learn how to do something else. That’s unlearning.
Brain scientists tell us that unlearning works against our biology. Our brains form pathways when we learn, and as we repeat those lessons our brains get programmed to help us to perform better and quicker. But when we try to change and do things a different way, we are going against the pathways in our brains.
It’s really, really hard to unlearn things.
I am talking about unlearning because, as it turns out, the first verse in the section of 1st Thessalonians we’re studying this week, we bump into two matters in my Christian life that I had to unlearn and relearn. We’re going to see that what Paul writes to the Thessalonian church relates to the church of Jesus Christ in 21st century America. We will discover that there are some aspects of church and Christianity that we need to unlearn, and maybe some new things we need to learn too.
Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians, refers to the history he had with the Thessalonian church as their church planter.
Then he got some new information, so he’s going to talk about the present.
Then he’s going to talk about the future. He’s going to talk about his hopes and wishes for what’s going to happen in the future,
Check back to the next post tomorrow, as we begin to study 1 Thessalonians 2:13–16 and 3:6–13.
My church has changed the names of our committees numerous times. Currently we have a Leadership Team and Serve Teams. The reason for that is based in New Testament teaching about church leadership. The writers of the New Testament have lots to say about church leadership, and what they say pretty much boils down to two levels of leaders. Elders and deacons. Elders are the ones who lead the church, and deacons are the ones who serve in the various ministries of the church. Some lead, some serve. And that’s where we got our committee labels: Leadership Team and Serve Teams.
But it wasn’t always that way. Before I started at Faith Church in 2002, there was an Official Board and Trustees and various other boards and committees. Then just before my time, the Official Board became the Ministry Council, and all the other groups became Commissions. Let me focus a bit further on those Commissions.
In 2002, we had a Christian Education Commission and a Spiritual Life & Evangelism Commission. But isn’t Christian Education nearly identical to the Spiritual Life? What was the difference? Frankly, it was hard to parse out the differences. So we changed the names to specify that those two commissions had different purposes. The Christian Education Commission became the Discipleship Commission, and for the Spiritual Life & Evangelism Commission, we just removed the words “Spiritual Life” making it the Evangelism Commission.
That helped distinguish between the two. Discipleship is not the same as Evangelism. They are, however, often conflated as identical. They are not identical. Of course they are related, but in the New Testament, they are different terms, with different purposes. Do you know how Discipleship and Evangelism differ? It is not an insignificant difference, by the way. We would do well to know the difference so we can live the way of Jesus faithfully.
Join us this coming week as guest blogger Kirk Marks will be taking a look at how the Apostle Paul describes the difference between discipleship and evangelism. Check out the passage ahead of time, 1 Thessalonians 2:13–16 and 3:6–13, and we’ll see you on Monday!
I attended a conference that changed my life. It wasn’t because the conference was so good and inspiring. That conference changed my life because it made me realize that I was in the wrong profession.
It was spring 2002, and I was working in the fundraising department of a local seminary, not really sure where my life was headed. My wife and I had been home for less than a year from an abbreviated stint as missionaries in Jamaica. We were still working through the difficulty of that situation. So I got a job at the seminary in fundraising, because we had to raise funds to go to Jamaica, and I wanted to get a masters degree. It seemed to fit.
It didn’t fit. Something happened at that conference that revealed the bad fit to me. What happened at the conference is very much related to what Paul has been talking about in 1st Thessalonians chapters 2 and 3. In the previous posts this week, we studied chapter 2, verses one through twelve, and verses seventeen through nineteen. We learned that Paul truly loved the Thessalonian Christians, describing it as “sharing his life with them.”
Paul has more to explain to the Thessalonian Christians about what was going through his mind. In chapter 3, verse 1, he continues,
“So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.”
Of course, everything Paul writes here in chapter 3, verses 1–5, the Thessalonians would have known already. They knew Paul had only spent about three weeks with them. They were there a few months later when Timothy visited them. Timothy was the one who first told them about Paul’s deep concern for them. But now in this letter, they get to hear Paul’s heart in Paul’s own words.
Paul is repeating a story they already knew, because he wants to emphasize his heart for the people.
For Paul, they were people he loved. They were not programs or projects, but people. He loved them. He shared his life with them. It was a relationship over time. Even when separated, he stayed in touch with them. Paul’s model of relational ministry is what had me so concerned about the conference I mentioned at the beginning of this post.
The seminary fundraising department sent me to a professional Christian fundraising conference in Indianapolis. I’ll never forget one session in which the presenter told us that building relationships with people was one of the most important methods for fundraising. As soon as he said that, something seemed off to me. Perhaps it was just me and my personality. I think professional fundraising is a good thing, needed, and I hope professional fundraisers have good relationships with the people they are interacting with.
But I couldn’t get away from the fact that as a professional fundraiser, the only reason I was in relationship with people who gave money to the seminary was that they gave money to the seminary. The realization hit me hard: take away the money, and as a professional fundraiser, I probably wasn’t going to care about them much longer. My job was tied to their money. It did not sit well with me that relationship in professional fundraising is tied to money.
From that point on, I knew my days employed in the seminary fundraising department were numbered. I got hired by Faith Church just a few months later, started October 1, 2002, and the rest is history. I did, however, go on to get a masters degree and doctorate from the seminary, and I had an amazing experience in both of those programs because, in large part, the professors were so relational. I was not just a student, I was a person they invested in.
My point is that people are people. Not projects. As we’ve seen this week in 1 Thessalonians 2:1–12 and 3:1–5, Paul views the Thessalonian Christians as people with whom he shares his love and his life. When we reach out to people in our world, we see them as people, not projects. How are you loving the people in your life? How are you sharing life with people?
When you travel, you pack, you get ready to leave. You’re thinking about where you are going. You might need transportation like plane tickets. You might need a passport. You might need clothing for a different climate. You have an intinerary including lodging and meals. Everything is focused on where you will be going, and how you will enjoy that destination.
Something similar can be said of life after death? Are we ready? What will life after death be like? What do we need to do to prepare for it? In today’s post, I’d like to suggest that when we prepare to travel beyond the grave, we need to think opposite to how we think about preparing for travel in the here and now. Let me explain.
Throughout Christian history, Christians have hotly debated the return of Jesus. Bible scholars, theologians, and culture observers have long speculated about when and how Jesus is going to return.
Why do Christians think Jesus is going to return? In Acts 1:10–11, Jesus ascends to heaven, and we read this, “[His disciples] were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’”
Jesus, therefore, will return again, but we don’t know when. In fact, he himself said, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Matthew 24:42–44)
Jesus’ followers, then and now, are to be ready at all times for his return. That begs the question: how are we to ready ourselves for his return?
In 1st Thessalonians, it seems that Paul has this question on his mind. Skim through the letter, and you’ll notice that he often talks about Jesus’ return. In fact, whomever first divided up the letter into chapters seems to have done so by observing the places Paul refers to the return of Jesus. Notice that each chapter of the letter concludes with a mention of Jesus’ return: 1:10, 2:19; 3:13; 4:13–18; 5:23–24. Additionally, Paul has a longer teaching section about Jesus’ return in 5:1–11. In today’s post, we look at Paul’s reference to Jesus’ return at the end of chapter two, and we’ll see how Paul answers the question: how are we to ready ourselves for Jesus’ return?
So far in 1st Thessalonians chapter two, Paul has been sharing numerous descriptions of his approach to relational ministry. At this point, we are going to jump to verse 17. Next week, guest blogger Kirk Marks will talk about those verses I’m skipping. Why the skip? Thematically, I believe Paul continues talking about his relationship with the Thessalonians in verse 17. Here’s what he says,
“Brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way.”
Remember that Paul had only been in Thessalonica for three weeks before he had to flee for his life because some anti-Christian Jews started a riot. Weeks go by and then months, and Paul is desperate for news. How are the Christians in Thessalonica doing? When he says Satan prevented him from visiting them, he is likely referring to the people who wanted to kill him.
Now as he writes them, he wants the Christians to know how distraught he was about not being about to visit them again. But he is not just sad because he can’t visit them. He is also extremely joyful because of the good news he heard about them. Look at verses 19–20.
“For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.”
Paul is trying to encourage the Thessalonian Christians. Though he can’t see them, he really loves them. When Jesus comes, Paul tells the Christians, Paul is imagining he will say to Jesus, “Look, Jesus! Look at these amazing people in Thessalonica! Aren’t they faithful disciples?” The faith and commitment of the people in Thessalonica are a shining example of Paul’s ministry. He is so happy.
Therefore, Paul’s answer to the question: “How do ready ourselves for Jesus’ return?” in 1 Thessalonians 2:19 is, “We practice faithful discipleship to Jesus, just like the Thessalonian Christians did.” In other words, we ready ourselves for the afterlife by living a particular way in the here and now. We choose to live as faithful disciples now. Think about that, as it pertains to your life. Would people say that you are a faithful disciple of Jesus?
Paul has more to explain to them about what was going through his mind, and we’ll turn to that in the next post.
I’ll never forget the time a member of my church, while standing in the lobby before worship, noticed some visitors had brought sodas into the building with them. This person cut the visitors off at the pass, just in time before they crossed the threshold into the sanctuary, and politely but confidently said, “Here, I will take your drinks and place them in the refrigerator so you can have them after worship.”
Why did they stop people from carrying drinks into our worship service? Was there a “No food or drink” sign on the doors? No, there was not. What would cause someone to intervene like that, and with visitors no less? Was the person who intervened right or wrong? The answer to these questions has everything to do with a reading and misreading of the passage we’re studying this week.
This week, we’re studying 1 Thessalonians 2:1–3:5, noticing the family similes Paul uses to describe his approach to ministry. So far he has talked about how he was like a submissive child and a nursing mother. Now in 1 Thessalonians 2, verses 11–12, Paul writes, “We dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”
Like a loving father, Paul encouraged the Thessalonian Christians, and he comforted them. Sometimes life is difficult, and people need encouragement and comfort. Maybe you are a natural encourager and comforter. You boost people. Or maybe you have a difficult time with encouragement. It doesn’t come easy for you. You might feel awkward about it. Let me encourage you to step out of that comfort zone and encourage people!
Sometimes, Paul writes, people need urging. The word Paul uses for urging carries a sense of insisting. One scholar I read translates Paul’s words this way: “we insisted on you living the kind of life that pleases God”. (Louw & Nida)
To live life worthy of God is another way of saying that we are disciples of Jesus striving to live the way of our master, Jesus. We learn from him how to live if he were us, and then we live that way. We just might need people insisting that we live that way.
I have to admit that “I insist” sounds demanding of Paul. There is, however, a positive, even generous, way that we use the concept insistence. Imagine you are out for lunch with someone, and they say, “This one’s on me.” My guess is that many of respond, “No, no, I got it.” Then a back and forth debate ensues, as we try to figure out who is going to pay.
Inwardly we might be thinking, “Let’s just each pay for our own bill,” but that can come across like we’re not being generous. So we just keep going back and forth, until finally the other persons says, “I insist.” It can be awkward to know how to respond to their insistence, because part of you might want them to pay. Who doesn’t like a free meal? But you also might want to be the one who pays, because you want to be seen as fair, responsible, generous, capable. So you might say, “No, I insist!” right back to them. When we insist, there is an urgency to it. It’s not a command, but it’s close. It is an urgency rooted in generosity.
Paul, similarly, is insisting that people live a certain way, because it is in their best interest. Yet he knows they might not fully want to live that way. Also, when he insisted that the Thessalonians lived a life that was pleasing to God, that insistence can easily come across as demanding, as forcing, and we Christians tend to emphasize the free will aspect of our faith. How do we insist that people live a life worthy of God, but do so avoiding legalism and demand?
We are called by Jesus to make disciples, and there are loads of places in the Bible that describe the process of disciple-making, part of which includes holding people accountable. Holding people accountable can be a helpful way to graciously, lovingly insist.
Holding people accountable means that we love people enough to speak the truth in love to them. We ask them, “How are you doing living the way of Jesus?” My recommendation is that you don’t do this with anyone and everyone in your life. It is clearly best if the other person first agrees and invites you to that kind of accountable relationship. Furthermore, no one should see themselves as the church morality police who can go around confronting people.
I think of the time that someone in my congregation, right before worship, pulled me aside, concerned that a person in attendance that morning was not dressed appropriately for worship. What did they want me to do about it? Should I tell those people to go home and change and then come back? Or should we set up a worship clothing examination station in the lobby, kind of like TSA at the airport, where we examine everyone as they walk in the building, and if they don’t pass inspection, we send them to a side a room where they have to put on our worship-acceptable outfits that we will offer them?
And by the way, who gets to be the one that decides what clothing is worship appropriate or not? It is personal opinion. Yes, of course, if a person walked into worship stark naked, we would have someone of their same gender pull them aside to a private room to talk with them and scrounge up some clothing for them. But where do we draw the line? What we do if a person, male or female, showed up for worship in extremely revealing clothing? We would treat them with respect and care, trying to follow the example of Jesus.
And that brings me back to the person I mentioned at the beginning of this post, the person who insisted that visitors to our worship service not bring their sodas into the worship service. When I learned about this after worship, I was mortified. The Faith Church person said tome, “But we don’t allow food and drink in worship.” I don’t know where they heard that, but it is certainly not in our church by-laws. Do you think those visitors returned to worship? They did not.
All that to say, it can be difficult to do accountability the right way. But we don’t allow the difficulty to dissuade us from insisting that people live according to the way of Jesus. Even when it is often up for debate what that way of Jesus looks like, like how to dress for worship services or whether food and drink should be in a worship service
Also, accountability runs in both directions. Not only do we need to insist that people follow the way of Jesus, but we need people in our lives insisting that we do the same. Who is insisting that you live the way of Jesus? Do you have a person who speaks the truth in love to you? Or do you think, “I don’t need that?” You need it. We all need it.
It’s why I see a spiritual director. He insists that I live the way of Jesus. It’s why I am usually not excited for my spiritual direction appointments. About 24-48 hours ahead of the appointment, I start thinking of reasons why I need to cancel it. Then during the appointment, I’m regularly trying to steal a glance at the clock, hoping that the appointment is done soon. But after it is done, I am always thankful for the hard questions my spiritual director asks me. He has helped me be a better follower of Jesus.
My spiritual director humbles me. I’m convinced that humility is one of, if not the, most important trait of a disciple of Jesus. Inviting accountability into our lives is an act of humility. We all need to be humbled, and probably on a regular basis, in order to follow the way of Jesus.
A ministry friend of mine once asked me how long I had been pastor at Faith Church. At the time, I had been pastor about ten years. He shook his head and said that he couldn’t do it. His ministry focused on speaking from place to place to place, sometimes returning to the same place, but just for one sermon per year, or maybe for a week of teaching. He did not share his life with the people he ministered among. He never stayed in a place long enough to do that. Yes, he could connect on social media, email or even the telephone. But it is next to impossible to share life without being in person with people for the long haul. As we’ll see below, the Apostle Paul has a very different approach than my friend.
This week we are studying the apostle Paul’s relational approach to ministry in 1 Thessalonians 2:1–3:5 and in the previous post I noted that Paul uses three figures of speech, similes to be precise, to describe his relational approach. In the previous post, he said that he was like a child. In verses 7 and 8, he mentions the second simile, and it is a shocking image for a man to use.
Paul writes, “Like a mother nurses her baby with life-giving nourishment, so I shared the good news with you, and I cared for you. In fact, I love you so much, I shared my life with you.” [my paraphrase]
When a mother nurses her baby, she is quite literally sharing her physical life with her baby. Similarly, Paul gave of his life for the nourishment of the Thessalonian Christians. Let’s consider how Paul is like a mother nursing her baby.
If you survey all his missionary journeys and letters, Paul’s method of ministry is relational. He is not a street corner preacher that has little if any relationship with people. When he visits a place, he stays there. Sometimes for more than a year. Thessalonica, at three weeks, was one of his shorter stays, and that’s why he was so concerned about how they were doing, as we read about in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. Paul deeply wished he could have stayed longer, and that he could visit them. That’s why he sent Timothy to visit them. That’s why he wrote two letters to them.
Unlike my itinerant friend whom I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Paul shares life by being in person with people for long periods, and then writing them, visiting them again, sending friends to check on them. Sharing life, in other words, involves quality time and quantity of time.
Next, while it doesn’t involve breast milk, Paul is thinking about practical actions when he talks about sharing life. In Luke 3:11, John the Baptist uses the same word Paul used when John preached that “the one who has two shirts must share with another who doesn’t have any.” What a practical way to share life. We do not view our possessions as our own. Instead we view our possessions as God’s, and when we have more than enough, we give to those in need.
A small way to share, then, is to thin out your closets, pantries, and attics and donate the items that are sitting unused. I have an acquaintance who years ago told me that he was experimenting with wearing the same clothing every day for six months. I don’t know if he had two of the same shirts, two of the same pants, and wore one set, washed the other, and rotated them. But every day for six months, he looked the same. I love the simplicity of that. So many of us, myself included have far more than we need.
Or think about food. How long could you live if you only ate food that is currently available in your house? My guess is that most of us could live a long time on that food. That would be an amazing experiment. Try living on just the food currently in your home, and document the whole venture on social media. I bet most middele and upper class Americans could make it longer than a month. You might start a viral trend. The point? We have so much. Also consider, how much of what we buy goes out of date or spoils and we just throw it away.
“Share life” means sacrificially sharing our possessions. The earliest Christians were known for this. Here’s how the earliest Christians are described in Acts 4:32–37. What you are about to hear is might sound radical or naïve. But is it?
“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.”
It’s might sound radical, but it sure is Christian. Remember, the early Christians described in Acts 4:32–37 learned from Jesus himself. So we have, I believe, a strong rationale to follow their pattern of sharing life.
Sharing life, though, is more than just sharing possessions. In the next post we’ll learn additional important ideas Paul has about how Christians share life, and his ideas are grounded in his third family simile.
For now, think about the uniquely Christian approach to relationships. It is sharing life. When you think of the people in your life, share life with them. Clearly, that applies to family. But also friends, neighbors, coworkers. How are you sharing life with them?
Submission is not a welcome concept. I think of an MMA fighter who is dominated by their opponent, and they tap out, they submit. We humans generally do not like to submit. It makes us feel weak, inadequate, unworthy, flawed. We would much rather others submit to us. In this week’s study through 1st Thessalonians 2:1—3:5, the Apostle Paul talks about submission to God and others, and he says submission is a good thing.
Submission to God sounds good. I suspect most readers will have little problem with that. But submission to other people? We might be iffy about that. Let’s hear what Paul has to say.
Last week we studied 1 Thessalonians, chapter 1, verses 4–10. Now we continue, and in verse 5 Paul writes to the Christians, “You know how we lived among you for your sake.”
I noted in a previous post that Paul doesn’t need to say much about how he lived among them precisely because the Thessalonians already knew how he lived among them. They were there with him. They watched him. They experienced Paul’s actions, words, tone, body language, choices. So Paul doesn’t need to describe it all over again.
Instead, in chapter 1 he summarized his way of life as “for your sake.” Paul’s entire focus was for their sake. Paul wanted the people in the city of Thessalonica to experience the Kingdom of Jesus. In Paul’s viewpoint, it was in the best interest of the Thessalonians to experience the Kingdom of Jesus. So everything Paul did was for that purpose. It was for their sake.
But now, as we turn to chapter two in this letter, Paul does remind them of his approach. He starts with a bit of history in verses 1–2, describing how he was persecuted.
If you want to know the specifics of how horribly Paul was treated, you can read about that in Acts chapters 16 and 17. Paul really did have it rough. And he’s right, the Thessalonian Christians would have known all about that. Yet Paul is reminding them of his commitment to the mission of Jesus, and the help God provided him, so that Paul courageously shared the good news about Jesus with them in Thessalonica.
In other words, this was no small deal. Paul quite literally put his life on the line for the mission of Jesus. He risked his life for people, like those living in Thessalonica. This was true in town after town. Paul is beginning to make a case here for his approach to ministry, and what does he say about his approach to ministry? He put his life on the line for it.
Let’s see what else he says about his ministry. In verses 3 through 7 Paul describes one of his attitudes about ministry. He wants to please God. Paul is not in ministry to become famous or rich. Not many people get rich by pursuing ministry, but it does happen in rare cases, some of which are the result of manipulation and greed, which Paul is clearly against. He says he did not used flattery or trickery, and he was not motivated by greed. Instead he says that as one entrusted with the gospel, the good news of Jesus, he tried to please God.
I find it interesting that in verses 6-7, Paul writes that as an apostle, he had authority from Christ. And he could have asserted that authority. He doesn’t say precisely how he would have asserted his authority, but since he mentions apostolic authority soon after he talks about greed, my guess is that he could have asked them to support him financially, but he didn’t.
Instead, he says in verse 7 that rather than take a power position among them, he takes a submission position. In verse 7 he uses the first of three family similes in this passage (technically there are four, as he starts by referring the Thessalonian Christians as “brothers and sisters”). A simile is a figure of speech that is easy to pick out because it uses the words “like” or “as”.
Paul writes, “We were like children among you.” How was he like a child? When it came to his use of his apostolic authority, he restrained himself, he was submissive, and thus was like a child among them.
Think about the upside-down nature of a leader acting like a child among those he leads. Aren’t leaders supposed to be in authority? How does a leader lead like a child? That kind of childlike leader does not demand; that leader serves.
Thus far, Paul has said that his approach to ministry was (1) to put his life on the line for the people, (2) to do ministry in a God-honoring way, and (3) to take a submissive approach rather than an authoritative approach.
Does submission resemble your approach to your relationships?
A recent article notes “Evangelism is on life support in most churches.” The article reports a poll in which only 1% of pastors surveyed say their church is very effective in sharing the Good News about Jesus.
Here’s the data:
Does this relate to your church? Maybe a little? I’ll let you answer that for yourself. As we’ve already heard in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, Paul has great affection for the Christians in Thessalonica. He is so happy that they not only became followers of Jesus, but also that they have continued as faithful followers, even despite facing suffering. Paul says that the Thessalonian Christians were so faithful as followers of Jesus that their reputation was known far and wide.
What is amazing about that, in my opinion, is that Paul only spent three weeks with them. So what was his approach to outreach? It seemed to go really, really well. Maybe the 99% of pastors who report that their churches are less than very effective at outreach could learn something from Paul’s approach?
As we continue studying Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian Christians, this week Paul describes his approach to ministry. What Paul says in 1 Thessalonians chapters 2 and 3 will be very helpful to us as we think about what outreach can look like in our culture.
Does Paul say we need to memorize a bunch of Bible verses? Does he say we need to do Bible studies with people? Does he say we need to cold turkey confront people with the gospel? Nope. None of that.
Read 1 Thessalonians 2:1–12 and 2:17–3:5 and see for yourself. Then join me back here on the blog on Monday as we talk about Paul’s relational approach to ministry.
What evidence does your life show to the people around you about your beliefs? If you are a follower of Jesus, do your life actions reveal that? What evidence should a follower of Jesus be showing?
This week we’ve been studying 1st Thessalonians 1:4–10, and Paul concludes by describing the evidence that he saw and heard about the Christians in Thessalonica.
Paul writes that he knows that the Thessalonian Christians imitated him and lived for the sake of others. How does he know? What he says are the first two of the five pieces of evidence.
Evidence #1 – Joy in Suffering. The first is in verses 6-7. Paul knows the Thessalonian Christians were genuine because of their response to the Gospel. They welcomed it, he said, even when they were suffering. They had joy in the midst of suffering. Something deep inside them had changed. The Holy Spirit was in them.
I am curious, though…how were the Thessalonian Christians suffering? Paul doesn’t describe the suffering specifically. He certainly suffered in Thessalonica when the anti-Christian Jews started a riot and tried to capture him, and he had to leave the city under cover of night, fleeing for his life. In Acts 17 we read that when the anti-Christian mob came for Paul, they seized a guy named Jason and dragged him out of his house to the public square. It is highly possible, therefore, that the Christians who remained in the city faced pressure from those same people.
Could you imagine what that would feel like, to face bodily persecution just because you are a Christian? We American Christians don’t know what it would feel like, and we wonder if we would remain faithful to Jesus if we were be threatened with bodily harm. What is amazing, then, is that Paul says the Thessalonian Christians handled their suffering with joy from the Spirit. Joy in the midst of suffering. I wonder if Paul witnessed with his own eyes the Thessalonian Christians expressing joy in suffering before he left the city.
Evidence #2 – Reputation of Being a Model of Jesus. The second way he knows that the Thessalonian Christians were imitators of Paul and of God is what we read in verses 7-8, and this one Paul did not see with his own eyes. The Thessalonian Christians had a reputation. Though Paul was far away in Corinth, he heard that the Thessalonian Christians were faithfully proclaiming God’s message.
I also want to point out one phrase in verse 7, “You became a model”. Previously Paul said that the Thessalonian Christians were imitators. Now he says they are the model. Is Paul contradicting himself? No, I think he is pointing out a progression.
Here’s the progression: Jesus lives a particular way. Jesus’ followers, including Paul, imitate Jesus. Next the Thessalonians imitate Paul, who is imitating the way of Jesus. Thus, the Thessalonians are now imitating the way of Jesus. When Paul leaves them, the Thessalonians are still imitating the way of Jesus. Then the progression extends to the next level when the believers in Macedonia and Achaia imitate the way of Jesus because of the model set by the Thessalonians.
Here’s a summary of the progression: from Jesus to Paul to the Thessalonians to the other believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
You know what that progressive imitation is called? Discipleship. We follow in the footsteps of someone else who has learned to live the way of Jesus. We learn to live the way of Jesus. Then we help someone else do likewise.
Paul is elated about the clear evidence he sees and hears about, that the Thessalonian Christians are following Jesus. In verses 8-9, Paul writes [my paraphrase], “The word is out! You Thessalonians have established a reputation for clearly being Jesus followers!” What reputation? In verse 10, Paul presents three more pieces of evidence that the Thessalonian believers are living faithful lives of discipleship to Jesus.
Evidence #3 – Turning from Idols. In the Greco-Roman world idolatry was very literal. Of course Greeks and Romans didn’t see it as idolatry. The Greco-Roman pantheon of gods and goddesses was a regular part of their culture. People could worship and sacrifice to idols in temples in nearly every city and town across the empire. That said, few from a Jewish background would have worshiped idols, as idolatry is condemned in the Mosaic Law. But for those Greeks, Romans, and Jews who might have worshiped idols, Paul says that when they became followers of Jesus, they turned away from the Greco-Roman pantheon. They went against the grain of their culture. Going against the grain of our culture and society can be very difficult. Are there ways that God calls us to go against our culture?
Evidence #4 – Serving God. Paul says that the Thessalonian Christians turned from idols to serve God. God calls all of us to view ourselves as serving the mission of his kingdom. The mission of his Kingdom involves numerous tasks, of course. One important task in the mission is to help people who are not currently following Jesus to become followers of Jesus, because Jesus taught that living as his follower is the best way to live. By encouraging people to follow the way of Jesus, we have their best interest in mind. Are you helping people who are not currently followers of Jesus become followers of Jesus?
Who in your life is not currently a follower of Jesus? What could you do to help them? Introducing them to Jesus is one way we serve God.
Evidence #5 – They Waited for Jesus’ Return. The early church believed that Jesus was going to return in their lifetime. That was 2000 years ago. We don’t know when he will return. Jesus taught his disciples that his return could happen at any time, so we should be ready at any time. We show that we are ready by pursuing the mission of the kingdom.
We proclaim what Paul proclaims in verse 10: “Jesus is risen, and in Jesus there is hope of new life. We don’t have to fear the future, no matter what the future holds, because in Jesus there is hope. ”
Evaluate the evidence in your life? Are the five pieces of evidence evident by your actions? Ask someone who knows you well, who spends a lot of time with you, who can speak the truth in love to you, what evidence they see.
How do we choose God? Do we just reach out hands to the sky? In contemporary Christianity, raising our hands to God is a common worship practice. Is that what God wants us to do to show him that we choose him? Or is their something else?
Paul saw evidence of God choosing the Thessalonians, and he saw evidence of the Thessalonians choosing God. Look at 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 5. We see both.
First, the evidence of God’s choosing the Thessalonians is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Paul didn’t just preach words. There was also spiritual power at work. The presence of the Holy Spirit’s power is clear evidence that God was at work, God was choosing the people. But he wasn’t forcing them to choose him.
Second, there is also evidence of the Thessalonians’ decision to choose God: deep conviction. They responded with deep conviction to Paul’s preaching and the outpouring of the Spirit. They were not robots. It was not as if God said, “I am going to overpower them and possess them, so they have no choice in the matter.”
Instead, when the Thessalonians heard Paul’s preaching that Jesus is the Messiah they had been looking for, and then when they saw the power of the Holy Spirit, they concluded that was evidence enough for them. What’s more, they did not simply believe. Notice how Paul describes their belief. It is not intellectual agreement with ideas. It was not just thoughts in their minds. They chose God with deep conviction.
What is deep conviction? The word conviction indicates certainty. When you add the word deep to it, you get the idea of a high level of certainty. The people in Thessalonica are deeply convinced of what they heard, saw, and experienced.
And when you are deeply convinced, you give your life for it. Did they give their lives for the cause of the Messiah, Jesus Christ? Look at verse 5,
“You know how we lived among you for your sake.”
Is that a clear description of how the Christians in Thessalonica were so deeply convinced about Jesus that they gave their lives for the mission of his Kingdom?
No. It’s not a description of the Thessalonians at all. After describing how God chose the Thessalonians, and how the Thessalonians chose God, Paul seems to change the subject to himself. Why would he now talk about himself? Let’s examine what he says.
In the last phrase of verse 5, he reminds them of his pattern of life. He says, “You know how I lived.” Yes, they knew how Paul lived. But we don’t. This is a place when it becomes very obvious that we are reading other people’s mail. Paul didn’t have to describe how he lived among them, because they lived it. They watched him.
He does write one brief comment that gives us a clue about how he lived. Look at the last few words of verse 5, “For your sake.” However Paul lived, it was for their sake. While I wish he would have described a lot more of precisely what he did, those three words tell us a lot. For your sake.
The words “for your sake” could be a Christian anthem. Think about how those words, in a very concise way, describe the entire mission of Jesus. What Jesus did was for our sake. He became a human for our sake. During his three years of ministry he showed us what life in the kingdom of God looks like for our sake. He died for our sake. He rose again for our sake. He offers us new life for our sake.
It’s right in line with what Paul says earlier, “loved by God,” (which we studied in this post). It’s a powerful combo. The Thessalonians are loved by God. And Paul lived for their sake.
Connect “loved by God” and “for your sake” with what Paul says in verse 6, “You became imitators of us and of the Lord.”
Paul first says that the Thessalonians are loved by God, and that Paul lived for their sake, and then he says that the Thessalonian Christians did likewise. This is how they showed their deep conviction in their response to the Paul’s preaching and the work of the Holy Spirit. They imitated Paul and the Lord. The Thessalonians loved others and they lived for the sake of others.
Imitating Paul and the Lord by living for the sake of others sounds like the Golden Rule in action. Remember the Golden rule? “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That’s a great rule. I have heard that the Golden Rule is not enough. Not enough? It sounds wrong to say that the Golden Rule is not enough.
But I would argue that Paul here in 1 Thessalonians 1:6 has just taken a needed step beyond the Golden Rule. Others have said that there is a rule that is superior to the Golden Rule. That superior rule is called the Platinum Rule. Why platinum? Though it is not the case when I writing in early 2025, platinum is usually more expensive than gold. So if the Golden Rule is “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” the Platinum Rule is superior because it says, “Do unto others as God would do unto them.” You are loved by God, now you love others like that. Imitate God.
The Thessalonian Christians also imitated Paul. When Paul says he was with them for their sake, they imitated him by being with other people for their sake. Think about that.
When you are with other people, you love them and are with them for their sake. That is a uniquely Christian viewpoint of relationships. It is all about the other person.
Are you imitating God? Are you loving people like he does? When you are interacting with other people, is your mindset “I am going here for their sake”?
Engaging Scripture 