Introduction
Brief review of setting (MAP). This is the section of the letter in which Paul gives instruction on living the Christian life (4:1-3a) – a life that aims to please God and is ultimately fulfilling because it is how as He designed us to live ("sanctification;" quote Rom. 12:2b).
GOSPEL: Don't get the cart before the horse! Most people think that you try to live a Christian life in order to be a Christian, but this is backwards – and impossible. First, become a Christian by receiving Christ just as you are. When you do this, He indwells you through His Spirit, who imparts both motivation and power to please God (read Phil. 2:13). Then, on this basis, we embrace this way of life.
What does this way of life look like? Having begun with the importance of sexual sanctification in 4:3b-8 (LAST WEEK), Paul moves on in 4:9-12 to repeat and elaborate on instruction He has already mentioned in 3:12,13 (read). God wants to enable Christians to abound in their love or one another and for all people (3:12); this is what establishes us in holiness/sanctification (3:13). Read 4:9-12.
4:9,10 repeat Paul's emphasis on loving other Christians – notice the repetition of "abounding" in this.4:11,12 unpack loving people who have not received Christ (4:12a); notice his challenge to "make it your ambition" to love them well.Our culture advocates aspiration to excel in many areas (e.g., education; wealth; career; sports); but God says that a life that doesn't aspire to excellence in loving others well is a failure (1 Cor. 13:1-3)! Conversely, your life will be a success if you excel at loving people – even if you don't excel in these other areas. What does it look like to aspire to excellence in loving people? Let's take a closer look . . .
Loving our Christian brothers & sisters well
Read 4:9,10. "Love of the brethren" and "love one another" emphasize me loving other Christians. (Of course, "one another" implies that I should also be willing to receive Christ's love from other Christians. But the command is not: "Be sure that other Christians love you well.") This is Jesus' great commandment for all Christians, and the demonstration of His reality to a lost world depends on this (Jn. 13:34,35). Accordingly, virtually every New Testament letter emphasizes progress in loving other Christians well (e.g., 1 Pet. 1:22; Phil. 1:9).
Paul provides a snap-shot of what this looks like later in this letter (read 5:14,15):
"Admonish the unruly" – counsel, challenge, correct with God's moral will when they are wandering off His path vs. ignoring this or blowing up/rejecting (EXAMPLE).
"Encourage the faint-hearted" – build them with God's promises when they have had their spiritual wind knocked out vs. ignoring them, shaming them or simply telling them to buck up (EXAMPLE).
"Help the weak" – provide them with support and practical aid when they are sick, mentally unstable, defenseless, in crisis, etc. vs. ignoring them, exploiting them, etc. (EXAMPLE)
"Be patient with everyone" – as we do the above, we bear with them over the long haul vs. becoming exasperated and writing them off or paying them back (5:15a).
The above describe what it looks like to "seek after that which is good" for our brothers and sisters.
Passages like these show us that aspiring to excellence loving our brothers and sisters takes real involvement and investment and ongoing concern. We have to be involved enough to know when they are unruly, faint-hearted and weak. We have to be invested enough to need to exercise patience. We can't do this by merely attending a weekly meeting (though this may be our starting point). We need to get to know at least a few other Christians well enough to love them in these ways over a long period of time.
God will personally apprentice you into excellence in this if you are willing to be apprenticed (3:12; 4:9). Do you want Him to – or are you uninterested because you want to excel in other less important areas, or only be loved by others? Are you asking Him for this as you wade into the mess – or just avoiding the mess? Over the past year, have you gained ground in this area – or lost ground? What one step do you think God wants you to take in this direction? Are you asking Him for this? Will you take it, or will you hang back?
Loving non-Christians well
Re-read 4:11,12. Notice that one of the reasons we should make it our ambition to excel in 4:11b is so that "outsiders" (those who do not believe in Jesus) will respect the way you live and be attracted to it.Re-read "lead a quiet life." "Quiet" clearly does not mean silent or isolated, because the context doesn't allow these meanings. In the rest of the New Testament letters, a quiet life involves:
A life that is socially peaceable because properly submissive to God and legitimate human authority (see vs. 1 Tim. 2:11; 1 Pet. 3:4,5) vs. having a rebellious spirit. Paul was wrongly accused of this in Acts 17:6 – and the Thessalonian Christians were probably viewed as guilty by association. See Paul's similar exhortations in Titus 3:1,2; Rom. 12:17. God prizes social peace and order, and provides civil authorities to promote this.
A life that is relatively contented (REF.?) vs. restless, complaining, disputing. See Paul's similar exhortation in Phil. 2:14,15. Christians already have every spiritual blessing (EXAMPLES) – so we can be content because of this wealth.
A life that prizes being quiet before God (Lk. 10:38-42) vs. chronically distracted.Re-read "attend to your own business." "Business" is not in the original Greek; it just reads "attend to your own." Your own what?
It could mean "mind your own business" (NLT) and thus be connected to "lead a quiet life." vs. being a gossip and busybody (1 Tim. 5:13; 2 Thess. 3:11). Think how much discord and unhealthy drama there is at work and in neighborhoods and on media because of people's gossip and motive-speculation (EXAMPLE)! Christians don't need to get involved in this because they already have a life that has been ordered by God for them. That's why I like John Cleary's maxim: "Less drama – more Jesus!"
It could means "care for your own family" vs. neglecting them. Such care includes not only providing for their material support (1 Tim. 5:8; see below), but also includes investing regularly and personally in your spouse and children (Eph. 5:29; Col. 3:21). This involves scheduling regular times with them, giving them your attention during these times, and prayerfully considering how you help them come to know Christ and grow in Him. And when grandchildren come, we have a similar, special contribution to make to them. It also involves honoring our parents – finding appropriate ways to communicate love and appreciation, and helping to care for them as they grow older. This is counter-cultural,"Work with your hands" should not be taken literally, as though Paul is criticizing white-collar work. Virtually all work in the first-century world was physical; most of the Thessalonian Christians were no doubt laborers or slaves, so Paul is emphasizing the dignity of manual labor. Here and elsewhere, he emphasizes being productively employed and being financially self-sufficient (4:12b) so we can be generous (Eph. 4:28).
John Wesley captured this in an easy-to-remember maxim: "Make all you can" (industry), save all you can (frugality) and give all you can (generosity)."
Do you need to progress in industry? Some of us are inclined to be lazy and/or feel entitled not to do tedious work. This seems to be the error some of the Thessalonian Christians were falling into, because Paul reproves them for this in his second letter (read 2 Thess. 3:11,12). It is good to work! It is God's ordained means of meeting our physical needs. It enables us to have something to share with those in need. It keeps us busy and safer from temptation. God teaches us key character lessons through work. It gives us opportunities to reach out to people who do not know Christ.
Do you need to progress in frugality? Some of us spend all of our money on "stuff" – so we are constantly in consumer debt, can't save for rainy days or retirement, etc. Do you need to cultivate a greater appreciation that "the best things in life are free?" (EXAMPLES)
Do you need to progress in generosity? Some of us hoard our money for the future, to buy extravagances, etc. Do you need to let God teach you the joy of giving to meet others' needs and advance His kingdom and lay up treasure for heaven?
Conclusion
Repeat the priorities. In concluding, I want to make three over-arching points that have been very helpful to me over the years.
The Christian life is a balanced life – but this does not mean "moderation in all things." It means fulfilling all of God's priorities, which often means letting go of things He does not prioritize. This is what Jesus means in Jn. 15:1,2 when He refers to the need for pruning in order to be spiritually fruitful. You can't do everything—you have to choose, and what you choose to prioritize will make the difference between a fruitful or unfruitful Christian life.
The amount of time you invest in these priorities changes according to many variables – e.g., your stage of life, special needs that arise, etc. But they are always priorities, and so we ask God recurrently for the wisdom to know how to pursue all of them in our particular life-situation.
God will help and empower you as you pursue these priorities – and the result will be abundant life as you do! I've been pursuing these priorities for almost 50 years, and I have plenty of room to "excel still more." But I can say with complete honesty that God has helped me down this path, and that it has led to a life I would not trade for anything else! Maybe others of you would like to weigh in on this point . . .
NEXT WEEK: 1 Thess. 4:13-18 – "Living with Hope in a Dying World"