I Thessalonians 2:17,18 – “Figuring It Out”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁷But we, brethren, endeavored exceedingly earnestly to see your faces in much desire, being torn away (painfully) from you toward a short season, to face, not to heart.¹⁸Because we, even I Paul, wished to come toward you even once and twice and Satan hindered us.

This passage brings up a subject I’m not so sure I understand completely, and that is exactly how to figure Satan into my thinking.

Paul here is telling the Thessalonians how much he wanted to come see them, but then says he had not specifically because Satan had hindered him.

For myself, I have absolutely no problem believing that Satan exists. I have no problem believing that, in a sense, the world in which we live is the grand battlefield of Gen 3:15, the war between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Satan is a murderer from the beginning, a liar and the father of lies, the one who deceives the nations, the great red dragon, the ancient serpent, the devil, the roaring lion who roams the earth seeking whom he may devour. He and his minions are the spirit that works in the sons of disobedience, masquerading as angels of light, and blinding the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Jesus Christ. I also believe that he is a defeated foe, the one who on the Cross struck Jesus on the heel, but Jesus crushed his head. His doom is already sealed. He will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire while Jesus and His people enjoy endless happiness in a new heavens and a new earth.

So what is my problem? What is it I’m not sure I understand? I will try to explain it. I pretty much try to fill my heart and mind with the truth of Romans 8:28, that in all things my great God is working for the good of us who love Him. As I have often bemoaned, I am an incorrigible worrier and want desperately to learn to see the Lord above every moment of my life, to trust Him implicitly, even recklessly, and He has helped me in this immensely just in the last year. I want to see that everything that happens, every moment, every situation, every pain and fear and hardship is Him working in my life to do me good, to help me put off my old man, to make me more like Jesus, to make me kinder, more patient, more gracious, more loving to others.

I’m trying to learn to see everything as coming from the hand of the Lord. And I think the Bible clearly teaches that is exactly the case, that this is the ground of hope and strength in our lives.

It is clear in the Bible that Satan cannot do anything except what God allows. Even his horrific, evil assaults on poor Job had to have the Lord’s permission.

The Lord reigns.

So why do I have to think about Satan at all? It seems like I could just forget about him and focus totally on the Lord. Of course he would still be there, plotting my murder and trying to feed me lies, but I’d be living inside the hedge the Lord keeps about me.

Clearly, in spite of all the teaching on the Lord’s providence and sovereign control, He still wants me to know about Satan, to be “sober and vigilant,” and to not be “ignorant of his devices.” Paul in our passage says he wanted to visit the Thessalonians – then does not say, “But the Lord did not allow it.” He rather says, “But Satan hindered me.” In II Cor 12, although the “thorn in his flesh” was given by the Lord “to keep him from becoming conceited,” yet Paul calls it “a messenger of Satan to torment me.” Peter told the Jews, “Jesus was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the Cross” (Acts 2:23).

Although the Lord does reign, although He is totally in control and works all things together for our good, yet He still wants you and me to recognize the malevolence of Satan, his minions, and people who follow him.

It suddenly makes sense to me that this is another example of the dignity the Lord grants to us. He is in total control, He certainly doesn’t need us, and He will work out His good plan with or without us. Yet He invites us to be His servants, to be involved in that mighty work – again, not because He needs us, but just because He’s kind. I think of Jesus’ words, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15).

I never cease to be amazed at the Lord’s endless kindnesses, but this one always floors me – when I see that He has granted me dignity, that He has allowed me some honor. It’s like when the children are small and you go on a trip. They don’t know anything about the route or maps or anything. They just play and sing and color blissfully while Dad and Mom take care of “getting there.” Yet, at some point, a good father says to the oldest, “I want you to help me,” gets out the map, explains the route and engages that child to “watch for signs.” It is much the same. The father really doesn’t need the child’s help. He would see the signs. He would get there with or without that child’s help. But it is a great honor to be asked “to help” and of course a great learning tool.

It suddenly makes sense to me that is why the Lord wants us to know about Satan and why we should be involved in the fight against him. The Gen 3:15 battle is the Great Warfare and the Lord wants us to join Him in it, to fight beside Him and under Him. Like Job we can daily place each of our children before the Throne of Grace. Like Daniel, we are allowed to know that “the prince of Persia” is warring against us, yet Michael is fighting for us. We can see that our warfare is not “with flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,” and so “put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.” We can see at times that our afflictions really are “messengers of Satan to torment us.” We can see that our Gospel really does turn people “from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God.” We can see that our sins “give Satan a foothold.” And we are called to be “sober, be vigilant,” recognizing that “the devil, like a roaring lion, roams the earth seeking whom he may devour.” We actually can hear the Savior say, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”

Hmmmmm. Interesting. This is something I’ve pondered for years and never quite understood – how a knowledge of Satan is important to me when I live under a good God who is in absolute control. Now I see it is another one of His dignities that He grants to us humans, an honor to be a part of what it is He’s doing.

Lord help me always to fill my mind with You, but at the same time may I see Your enemy clearly, may I in fact be sober and vigilant, and may I work and pray as a faithful soldier in Your good army.

I Thessalonians 2:14-16 – “Calling Facts Facts”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁴For, brothers, you became imitators of the churches of God being in Judea in Christ Jesus, because you suffered the same [things] under your countrymen just as they [suffered] under the Jews, ¹⁵the ones both killing the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and persecuting us and not pleasing God and opposing all men, ¹⁶preventing us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, into the filling up always of their sins, but the wrath has come upon them into [the] end.

In v14, Paul offers as another evidence of the Thessalonians’ genuine conversion the fact that they too suffered for their faith. In the first century, of course, to become Christian was to choose persecution. I would consider us all fortunate in America that such has not been the case for us.

But then Paul goes on in verses 15 and 16 to present a very unflattering description of the Jewish people. I think it is worth pausing to think about this. Read those verses again.

In our day, these words would be termed anti-Semitism. We’re just not supposed to say such things. It seems, if we do allow such things to be said about the Jewish people, it can only lead toward another Holocaust.

The problem, of course, is that what Paul is saying is true. And this is precisely where I think some pondering is needed. As I have studied these verses and thought over them for at least a couple of weeks, I am struck by the Bible’s ability to see the world as it really is and yet still come out loving. At least in America, we have developed into a culture that is forever playing “the Emperor’s New Clothes,” always saying and thinking what is “correct” regardless of whether or not it is true. We have become utterly unable to simply acknowledge the facts and then deal with them accordingly. The Bible, and this passage in particular, I think would call us back to a life of common sense.

What do I mean? Once again, the plain simple fact is that what Paul is saying is true. It is not anti-Semitism. It is a statement of facts. The words could certainly be an expression of anti-Semitism. In fact, if spoken only by themselves, they could even promote anti-Semitism. But, again, the plain simple fact is that what Paul is saying is true. Jesus Himself said,

“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar… Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing” (Matt 23:32-37).

Although it was the Romans who actually crucified Jesus, the Bible itself is abundantly clear the guilt of that unjust murder falls squarely on the Jewish people. In Acts 2:23, Peter tells them, “…you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.” Even secular writers down through the centuries have condemned the Jewish people, like Tacitus describing them as “… cherishing hatred against all others.”

However, Moses tells this same people in Deut 14:2, “… you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the LORD has chosen you to be His treasured possession.” And of course we always have the Lord’s promise to Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:3). Further, although Jesus’ condemning words there in Matt 23 were very sharp, they were spoken in love. “… how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings …” Finally, the same Paul who authored our words in I Thess 2:14,15, is the one who says in Romans 9 & 10,

“I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit -- I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, … my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.”

Both Paul and Jesus could call facts facts and still come out loving people.

Could I suggest that is one of the freedoms of real love? Real, genuine, godly, Christlike love allows me to see the truth clearly because I don’t need to fear it. It is what it is. I can face it and know that, whatever it is, whatever it means, love will still guide my conclusions and my response. In fact it is the lack of love which means we all have to hide from the truth. We have to play the Emperor’s New Clothes all the time precisely because we can’t handle the truth ... precisely because we don’t truly love.

In our graceless world, love is always performance-based. If you do well, if you please people, then you can be loved. When you don’t do well, when you displease others, your name is mud. Only grace says, “I love you because I love you. I will always love you,” so then can say, “Now, let’s look at the facts.”

I wish for my country that genuine godliness could reign in people’s hearts. Grace would free us to be people who call facts facts and yet go on loving people … just like Jesus, and our friend Paul.

I Thessalonians 2:13 – “The Root of It All”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹³And because [of] this, we also give thanks to God continually because, receiving from us [the] Word of God of hearing, you received not [the] word of man but, as it truly is, [the] Word of God, which also works in you the believers.

Yes. Yes. The root of it all. The Word of God. The words of the living God. This one verse is worth and pause and ponder. E. Cooper said, “Ministers and hearers are alike responsible, the one for preaching and the other for receiving. The Word of God is not to be trifled with. It is either a savour of life unto life, or the reverse.”

Looking at this passage, I suspect practically every sermon ever preached on it probably focused on how important it is for the people to approach church sermons and lessons as the Word of God. I’ll come back to that. However, I think there is an enormous issue which ought to get pondered first – is what the people hear in fact the Word of God? Paul could commend the Thessalonians for receiving his teaching as the Word of God – but that’s because it was.

I suppose evangelicals and conservatives can easily condemn “those liberals,” those pastors and churches who teach what is obviously not the Word of God. But I fear what those same evangelicals and conservatives do is perhaps worse, for the very reason that they do claim to teach the Word of God. But do they? How much of what they say from the pulpit is actually the Word of God … and how much of it is not? I know for myself, having done a lot of teaching in my life, I do not think there was the holy awe I should have born, even the fear, that I must speak only God’s words and no more and no less. We are only messengers. We have no right to add to or take away from His message. Paul could commend the Thessalonians for receiving his teaching as the Word of God – but that’s because it was. Is ours?

As I have studied the Bible over the years and come to know the Lord much more, I can look back now and see how little I even understood back then. I almost wish someone would have told me to “sit down and be quiet.” I wish someone would have told me to keep studying, keep growing, living, learning how to walk by faith, and wait until I honestly knew the Lord Himself was ready for me to be His messenger. I honestly suspect there’d be few young men in the ministry if that were the case. And I’m not so sure it would be a bad thing.

And then there’s us – those who gather to listen. God help us all be like the Thessalonians. If we aren’t there to hear a message from God, then why, pray tell, are we even there? Unfortunately, I wonder how few really gather to hear a message from God. Church is just something “we do.” It’s Sunday morning, so there we are sitting in a pew or seat.

I think about the verses that fire me up:

“And if you know the truth, the truth shall set you free!”

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

“The Word of God is alive and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword …”

“Thy words were found and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart, for I am called by Thy name, O Lord God of Hosts.”

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”

I am so thankful one of the first books I ever read as a Christian was “How Shall We Then Live,” by Francis Schaeffer. In it, he carefully explained how important the Word of God is to us. It is important because we need absolute truth to build our lives on. People’s opinions, no matter how seemingly wise or appealing, are still just that – opinions. We can only build strong lives, strong families, and strong nations if we first embrace the absolute truth of the Word of God. G. Swinnock said, “Man yearns for certainty, and is unhappy till he find it. He cannot find it in philosophy and speculation, but he can in Him who is “the Truth,” who reveals Himself and speaks in the Word.”

Finally I want to note how Paul refers to how the Word “works in you the believers.” This is that subjective element which is nevertheless true. How do I know it’s the Word of God? There is a very real sense in which I know it is the Word of God because I know it works in me. I feel its power. I know how it jumps off the page and arrests my heart. It changes me from the inside-out. I know it. God’s plan is that I should be a living epistle, known and read by everyone. Let us all hope and pray that in fact the Word would do its work in us and that work will be so obvious that people around us will know that our God is powerful, when they see what He does in us, when they see it make us into people who love and people whom others can count on to be where we should be, doing what we should do, when we should be doing it.

It’s all the Word of God. But it must be the Word of God.

It is the root of it all.

I Thessalonians 2:10-12 – “Living”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁰You and God [are] our witnesses how to the believers we became devoutly and righteously and blamelessly, ¹¹just as you know, as each one of you, as a father his own children, ¹²encouraging and comforting and charging you that you walk worthily of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

This passage is so like the rest of the Bible – a few words on a page that, when slowly, patiently pondered, explode into a universe of truth to feed me for a lifetime. What simple words at first glance – the apostle Paul recounting his faithful ministry to these people. As usual (and sadly), for most commentators since the mid-19^th century, that is about all they get out of it; but that is because “the well is deep, and we have nothing to draw with.” If we would really understand the Bible, we have to pause and study, to think and pray and ask the Lord to show us the significant truth being communicated to us. Jesus asked the blind man, “What do you want Me to do for you?” and the man replied, “Rabbi, I want to see!” So, today, we need the Lord to open our eyes. He calls each of us saying, “Call unto Me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.”

First of all, I would note that these are not casual words from the apostle: “You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous, and blameless we were …” He really was. Paul really lived a life of integrity. Paul really did “live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” He really did “press for the mark of the prize of the high calling of God.” David said, “I will walk in my house with a blameless heart.” In my house – at home … away from the limelight … out of the view of people who might be impressed. What Paul and David are both saying is that they genuinely strove to live lives of integrity, they genuinely sought to live out their faith, to live out the truths they claimed to believe.

I point this out because it seems to me such resolve is a very rare thing today. I believe it is true (at least in American Christianity – which is the only one I know), that we are so infatuated with results and appearances our hearts are quite satisfied to maintain a very shallow and anemic faith – as long as all our friends at church congratulate us how spiritual we are. I remember as a young man how “pleased” the church people were to see me cut my hair shorter and start wearing a suit and tie to church. That showed how much I was “growing!”

God help us. Is that really "growing?" It may have pleased people, but it had nothing to do with what the Lord wanted for my life. It now makes me sad that I thought it did.

I remember the man who years ago lost his seminary position for not “playing by the rules.” When someone asked him if that bothered him, he replied, “No, not really, for I have known God and they haven’t.” “I have known God.” My faith was real. He obviously felt he lived in a world of people who talked about faith but never really lived it.

To this day, I sadly watch the same dynamic at work. People come to know the Lord and then get applauded because they volunteer for every ministry program at church. I’m sorry but a person can be stone dead lost and still “work” at ministries. What about your heart? Do you know God? Do you really want Him to search you and know you and see if there be any wicked way in you and lead you in the way everlasting?

Paul did.

Really.

It wasn’t enough for him to say the right things, volunteer for the right ministries, etc. so that everyone “at church” applauded. It wasn’t peoples’ applause he lived for. It was God’s.

And so his faith had to be real. It had to be first of all heart-business, then, in his life, he lived out that faith. That gave him integrity. Really.

And as he lived his own faith and taught others, what did he urge them to do? “…live lives worthy of God, who calls you into His kingdom and glory.” What is he doing? He’s calling us to do what he did – to actually live our faith – and that means to live lives of integrity – really. Paul could say the work he had done he did “devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly.” As many commentators point out, “devoutly” basically speaks of being right before God, “righteously” of doing right in the eyes of other people, while “blamelessly” is, in a sense, the sum of it all. Paul’s calling was to be a minister. Why should we Christians be any different just because we’re butchers and bakers and candlestick-makers? God calls us all to be people of integrity – to live our lives all day every day worthy of Him, of being called by His name, as people called into His kingdom and His glory.

I find it wonderfully liberating to know that every minute of every day of my life matters to God. He tells us “And whatever you do, do it with your whole heart, as to the Lord and not unto men.” He wants me to be a good worker, to be conscientious, to work hard at what I do, to try to meet deadlines. While I’m doing it all, He wants me to be kind to people, to be encouraging. He wants me to work honestly, to be fair with people. And when I’m home, it is no different. “And whatever you do …,” He said. That is what it means to live lives “worthy of God, who calls you into His kingdom and glory.”

I like what B.C. Caffin, commenting on this passage, said of us believers:

“Their walk in life must show the reality of their hope. Walk implies movement, change of place and scene. As they move hither and thither in the course of their daily lives, in their business, in their amusements, they must ever think of that high calling, and live according to their hopes. Their religion was not to be confined to the Sabbath, to the synagogue, to the hours spent on their knees in private prayer; they must carry it everywhere with them; it must guide, stimulate, comfort, encourage in all the varying circumstances of daily life. Their life must be worthy of their calling. They must show its influence; they must adorn the doctrine of God their Savior in all things.”

Paul really did live his faith.

And so should we.

I Thessalonians 2:9 – “Tireless”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁹For, brothers, you remember our toilsome labor and hardship, ones working night and day toward not to be burdensome [to] any of you [while] we preached to you the gospel of God.

This verse very naturally follows the previous. In v8, Paul just said, “We loved you so much, we were willing to share with you not only the gospel of God but our own lives as well; because you had become so dear to us.” Back in verse 7 Paul compared their work to a nursing mother. What he is continuing to describe is love. Love in action. Now he adds this element of being willing to work “night and day” for someone else’s welfare. What he is describing is a life of giving. A mother is of course a prime example of such giving and such love. Her work is exhausting. It is endless. It is often thankless. But on she trudges, changing diapers, reading stories, making bottles – whatever her baby needs. The baby essentially has nothing to offer her except its preciousness – but even that is an expression of her own love. She would literally die in her giving if her baby needed it.

Paul in our passage here is saying that the same kind of love motivated him and the other missionaries. In particular, Paul points out how he and the others were willing to forego any support from the Thessalonians themselves, how he was willing to provide for the most part his own support. This generates a good deal of discussion in the commentaries about pastoral remuneration. Apparently some hold that pastors should support themselves. They emphasize passages like this and the example of Nehemiah (as seen in Neh 5:15,18). Others run to passages like I Cor 9:14, “…the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel,” insisting that ministers deserve their support. The whole question is subject to debate – and that both from the perspective of the minister and/or from that of the people and their responsibility to support him.

I’d like to suggest there is one huge element missing from this debate:

Love.

Love is all you need.

What do I mean? The first question that a heart ought to ask is, “Do I love?” Is my heart set on the kind of selfless, giving love of a nursing mother? Whether pastor or people, am I right now loving or not? If not, then nothing else I do matters. “Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not love …” God is love. If what is flowing through me right now is not love, then it is not of God. And that prerequisite still holds when a minister considers his support and when a people consider how they support him.

It also still holds while people debate about pastoral support.

I would suggest the reason why you see such a variety of practices in the Bible is because love may express itself in different ways in different situations. For Nehemiah, love meant foregoing his support. For Paul in Thessalonica, it meant for the most part providing for himself (although he did receive some support during this time from at least one other church – Phil. 4:15).  On the other hand there were times when he and all of the other apostles accepted their support from the people, and, once again, the Lord Himself has asserted that “a servant is worthy of his hire.” I would suggest, rather than trying to decide a set of “rules” for when a minister should be supported or not, and how much, etc., the first thing that should be established is love – love in the hearts of anyone involved in the discussion. I suspect, in that case, it isn’t “difficult.”

I suspect, from my own life, that what makes these kinds of questions “difficult” is first of all considering them as “hypothetical” situations (in other words not at a time when we actually need to make a decision – in which case, why should the Lord give us wisdom, if it isn’t needed right now?). Then secondly, the problem is that the question is approached legalistically, as if we just need a set of rules to follow and then all is well. Love doesn’t care about “rules.” Love sees the person, sees the needs, and will give itself tirelessly for the good of those loved, like the proverbial candle that “burns itself to give light to others.” Real love requires a great deal of wisdom, but I guess what I’m suggesting is that we’ll only get that wisdom when our heart is set on loving.

I’d like to add the thought that this subject is much larger than just pastoral support. It is certainly an important question for each of us in our own church settings, but I would like to suggest this same giving love ought to characterize our entire lives. It ought to move us to go to work. It should be in our hearts even as we work, as we interact with our co-workers and bosses and clients and students. It ought to move us while we mow the grass and do dishes and while we're walking through the grocery store.

I find all of this personally very challenging. I know it is true, “All you need is love,” but I am still learning how to live that truth.

I certainly know what it is to have to work “night and day.” I feel like I go 90 MPH all day every day and get up tomorrow to do it again. But am I loving? Am I careful enough to make sure that it really is love that drives me? I suspect too much of the time, the answer is no.

It should.

I want it to.

The Lord wants it to.

He will help me.

And you.

I Thessalonians 2:7,8 – “Love”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁷But we became gentle ones among you as even a nursing woman cherishes her own children, ⁸just as, having strong affection for you, we are pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own souls because you became beloved ones to us.

Paul here describes the kind of relationship he had with the Thessalonians. To pause and really listen to his words, it is almost amazing to think that any man ever really loved his people this much. That leads me to two thoughts. First is that what he is describing is actually Jesus. Does Jesus really love people this much? Of course He does. “He laid down His life for the sheep,” and “having loved His own, He loved them to the end.” What then is Paul describing but simply the truth of a man who loved people like Jesus. Which leads me to my second thought – that this is precisely the kind of love we should all live, whether we happen to be ministers or candle-stick makers.

Am I wrong? If what Paul is describing is simply the love Jesus had for people, then why should I accept anything less even if I own a factory or supervise an office or hire a plumber? I’m not the only one (though there have been few) who has observed this. William Nicoll wrote:

“A man of business, who looks at the laborers whom he employs as only so many instruments for rearing the fabric of his prosperity, is not a Christian. Everybody in the world knows that; and such men, if they profess Christianity, give a handle to slander, and bring disgrace on the religion which they wear merely as a blind. True Christianity is love, and the nature of love is not to take but to give. There is no limit to the Christian’s beneficence; he counts nothing his own; he gives his very soul with every separate gift. He is as tender as the mother to her infant; as wise, as manly, as earnest as the father with his growing boy.”

W.F.Adeney adds:

“The spirit of the gospel being love, if we truly receive the gospel it will inspire love. The greatest change which it produces in men is to cast out selfishness, and to give a heart of love to God and man.”

It is certainly commendable in a minister to love his people like this. Unfortunately I have to add “and exceptionally rare.” I sadly have to suggest that American Christianity is so miserably Arminian and legalistic, it is nearly impossible for any man to see God’s face clearly enough to bear this kind of love. For the ministers themselves, it will only change when they give up their fascination with results and begin again to look God squarely in the face.

But I would like to leave the ministers to ponder their own hearts and turn our attention again to us the people. That same anemic pseudo-faith that keeps them grossly immature and un-Christlike produces exactly the same effect in us. It keeps God’s people gathering straws while Jesus offers them gold. It keeps us satisfied to call ourselves Christians, enjoy everyone else’s approbation at church, then go out and live our lives often no better (and even more often worse) than many who claim no faith at all. Would we ourselves repent of our Martha-busy-ness and instead like Mary prefer above all else to sit at His feet, to hear His voice, to gaze into His eyes, then “beholding His image, we would be changed into that image.” We’d actually become like Christ.

And if we were like Christ, what characteristic would immediately be most evident in our lives? Love. And where would that happen? Everywhere we encounter people.

Now I want to inject at this point that we should not simply presume we’re talking about some kind of weak-willed, indulgent, sappy kind of love. We’re talking about Jesus’ kind of love, that could say to a woman, “Does no one condemn you? Then neither do I …,” then turn around and rail on the religious hypocrites, “You brood of vipers!” My point is that Jesus’ love bears many, many different faces, always driven by what’s best for the people and what honors the Father. It is gentle and kind when it needs to be but just as likely to be brave and firm when those are rather the more needful qualities. Even so in our lives. It takes a great deal of wisdom to love well. And once again, we will only learn that love if we sit at the Master’s feet and learn of Him.

Would that every true Christian would pause over a passage like this and pray, “God help me to love my people like this – whether it be my family or at work or the team I coach or wherever. Let my heart not be content to play at faith but may I genuinely live the love of Jesus all day every day with whoever the Lord makes 'my people' today."

Like a nursing mother cuddling her tiny baby. Pleased to do for people the work that is mine to do but, in so doing, to give them my very soul as well. To be affectionately desirous of people. To think of them as “beloved ones.”

So then let us not say in our hearts, “‘Who will ascend into Heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down) or ‘Who will descend into the deep’ (that is to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart.’” None of this is beyond us. It is as near as Christ to our hearts.

Would that the face of Jesus were ours.

I Thessalonians 2:3-6 – “Honestly”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

³For our appeal [was] not out of error neither out of uncleanness nor in deceit, ⁴but just as we have been tested by God to be entrusted with the gospel, thus we speak but not as ones pleasing men but God, the One testing our hearts. ⁵For, as you know, we were not once in a word of flattery neither in a pretext of greed – God [is our] witness – ⁶nor seeking glory out of men, [though] being able to be in weight as apostles of Christ.

Paul is here, unfortunately, having to defend himself. In I Thessalonians, he doesn’t mention his detractors as he does in Galatians or I & II Corinthians (for example), but they were of course always there, accusing him of all of the things he here insists were never true. It is saddening to see how truly good a person can be and yet still be maligned and accused. Paul did nothing but sincerely love people at great sacrifice on his own part, and yet there were still those who were quite sure he was just a greedy peddler disseminating his deceitful fairy tales. Of course, that is how they treated Jesus too. He never did anything but love people and they crucified Him for it.

Obviously, Paul is dealing with all of this in the realm of the ministry (since that was his calling), but I want to point out that what he’s talking about is true no matter what your vocation or what you try to accomplish. We won’t change this sad reality of our fallen world. What we can change though is whether or not we are like Paul (and like Jesus) in what we allow to be our motives and the methods we employ as we go about our business and our lives. In Titus we are instructed to be workers who can be “fully trusted” so that “in every way” we “will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive” (2:10). On the other hand, in I Timothy Christians should be good workers “so that God’s name may not be slandered” (6:1).

So, based on these and many, many other passages, this is true whether we’re talking about ministers or school teachers or plumbers or car mechanics or lawyers or engineers or stay-at-home moms, and whether those same people are involved in a church ministry of some kind or whether they are living their daily lives and doing their jobs. The kind of sincerity that Paul is describing is simply the kind of people we all should be, no matter what we’re doing. As Albert Barnes said, “It is much when a man can say that he has never endeavored to accomplish anything by mere trick, craft, or cunning … Guile, craft, cunning imply deception, and can never be reconciled with that entire honesty which a minister of the gospel, and all other Christians, ought to possess.” John Trapp said, “True grace is of a most masculine, disengaged, noble nature, and remits nothing of its diligence either for fear of a frown or hope of a reward.” I guess my point is that what Paul is describing is not just the work of a pastor or missionary but that of everyone who calls themselves a Christ-follower.

As we do our jobs or interact with family and friends and grocery store clerks, it should be true of all of us that “we speak … not as ones pleasing men but God, the One testing our hearts; for, as you know, we were not once in a word of flattery neither in a pretext of greed – God [is our] witness…” We don’t need to resort to deceit or trickery, we don’t need to flatter, greed deserves no place in our hearts, and we live our lives with “God as our witness.” Christians are free to simply do right and love people because they know that the Lord sees and cares and will reward their faithfulness in His way and in His time.

The Lord frees us to just live simply and honestly.

I have often told people I am convinced in work that if you take care of people, in the long run they’ll take care of you. It is true that sometimes, in the short run, people can certainly take advantage of you; but I still believe, in the long run, if you make it your goal to take care of them, they will take care of you. In other words, if I sincerely make it my goal to do good for the people I work for, in the long run I will have work to do, and I will be paid a reasonable wage. I don’t have to play games, neither do I have to resort to any schemes to “get their money.” I can just “do good” and trust the Lord to make it all work out.

Studying this passage just reinforces that determination in my own life – to simply live and work honestly.

God help me.

I Thessalonians 2:1,2 – “Christian Boldness”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹For you yourselves know, brothers, that our entrance which [was] toward you was not empty ²but having been previously mistreated and insulted in Philippi, just as you know, we were emboldened in our God to speak the gospel of God in much agony.

“Emboldened in our God.” This, I would suggest, is one of the great benefits of knowing the Lord – boldness. Faith, hope, and love all give us a divinely endowed boldness to be who we should be and do the things we ought to do. And that is important since we live in a world of “much agony” – a world where we may in fact be mistreated and insulted or where, at least, it seems sometimes every day is filled with obstacles and hardships.

“Boldness” without the Lord can be simply arrogance or obnoxiousness. A person who “wants” something may be very “bold” to get it but come off as only pushy or rude. The boldness God gives is something totally different. Boldness from the Lord does not start with what I “want.” It starts with my responsibilities, my duties, the things the Lord and others rightly expect from me. As I face my life every day, there are many such things and yet, everywhere I look I see obstacles and uncertainties and fears. But then I remember this is not my world. This is God’s world. It’s not my life, it’s the life God has given me. It’s not about what I’m doing but about what He’s doing. I don’t need Him to help me live my life, I need His help to live the life He wants me to live. The “results” are really not mine to worry about. Rather I need to be about the things He’d have me do and then just have faith that He’ll make it all work out.

In this passage, Paul is about the vocation God has given him, being an apostle and a pastor and preacher. He was “emboldened in our God” to speak the gospel in spite of many obstacles. But Christian boldness is for every person in every occupation and in every responsibility that is ours before the Lord. I go to work every day as an engineer and I have a lot of people who are depending on me. Communities have all kinds of issues and they need my help to figure out solutions and then get what needs to be done done. But there are many obstacles. I am so thankful I can face those responsibilities and just walk right straight into the issues believing that somehow the Lord will help me. And here I am nearly 40 years into my career and I can list off time and time and time again He has done just that. In a million different ways, at just the right time, He makes things “work.” I love knowing I can do just that – charge right into the face of the obstacles with faith in my great God, with the hope that He will somehow make a way, and with the love of sincerely wanting to help those who are depending on me. And that is Christian boldness.

And I love that it isn’t necessarily limited to $12 million treatment plants. It can be as simple as installing a new garbage disposal for my wife.  There are many obstacles. I don’t have one to install. If I did have one, I’ve never installed one before. I don’t know if I’ll figure it out. And if I do install one, it probably won’t work. So what do I do? Just pray and press ahead. The Lord did provide one and suddenly I’m reading the manual how to install it. Of course manuals today stink, so I have to do a lot of “figuring out.” I finally gather all the pieces and dive in. All along the way there are obstacles, yet I can press on. And suddenly it’s finished, it works great, and I’m so thankful I could do that for her. How did it happen? Christian boldness. I started out wishing I could do it for her but faced with what seemed to be too many obstacles. But I believed I should, that the Lord would want me to, and the next thing I know it’s done.

I guess somehow I just want to record, as I’m looking at this verse in particular, that it is a wonderful benefit of knowing the Lord to be able to enjoy this thing of boldness, this power to tackle life with faith, hope, and love, and minute by minute get to see Him doing great things in my world. I wish everyone could have this wonderful personal dynamo spinning inside their heart. It sure makes life fun!

I Thessalonians 1:9,10 – “Real”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁹For they are reporting concerning us what manner of entrance we had toward you and how you turned toward the God from the idols to serve a living and true God, ¹⁰and to await His Son out of the heavens, whom He raised out of the dead ones, Jesus, the One rescuing us out of the coming wrath.

There are two things I find particularly noteworthy from these two verses. The first is Paul’s observation of the Thessalonians that they “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” In the context, Paul is recounting all the reasons he (and the world) know that his labors were successful among the Thessalonians. Paul preached the Gospel to these people and how did they respond? They “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.”

This is so important. The words are not just Christian clichés. These people really did “turn to God from idols.” They really did do it “to serve the living and true God.” I fear that so much of what goes on even in supposedly Biblical Christianity, even as a result of real Gospel preaching, is ultimately for other ends than these. What do I mean? I have known so many people down through the years who tell how they responded to a Gospel message and so they went home and threw away all their tobacco products, poured all their alcohol down the sink, and started going to church. And to that we all shout, “Hallelujah!” Right? Hmmmm. Based on I Thess 1:9, shouldn’t the answer to that be, “Well … maybe?” If all those things are a genuine expression of someone “turning to God from idols” then that’s great, but there can be a lot of other underlying motives for those actions. I fear in a LOT of the people who’ve told that story, they were just turning over some kind of moral leaf. They’d been raised with some sense of Christian morals, had strayed from those morals, and now they’re just “going back” to being the moral people they were taught to be. In other words, the Lord isn’t in the middle of it at all! And the proof of that was that, though such “Christians” appear to be moral, there is nothing at all “Christ” about them.

I think too many people respond to the Gospel and “turn to church from idols to ‘serve’ day and night at their church.” Once again, Christian culture just loves someone who “gets saved” and then suddenly volunteers for every “ministry” available. But, again, my question is, “But is God really in the middle of it all?” I don’t doubt people do the same in Jewish cultures and Hindu and Moslem and Buddhist and all the rest. They turn over some new leaf and get head over heels involved in their local “whatever.” And is that any different than the person who gets tired of being “out of shape” and joins the local gym? Gospel preaching is (and should be) powerfully persuasive. It is a message of repentance, a call to major change. But, and I guess this is my point, the question still remains what “change” is really going on?

May I remind us all of Jesus’ warning in Matt 12:43-45, “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” “Change” though dramatic may not be real.

And what is real “change?” It is to genuinely “turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” It is all about God. Not anything else. It’s not about pouring your booze down the sink or “going to church” or anything else. It’s about God. It’s about spending our lives living for a million other things and suddenly realizing it’s all about Him … and then turning to a life that’s all about Him. And it’s not just about turning to some sterile “belief” in “God,” but actually to enter into a relationship with “the living and true God.” Living. It is about a real relationship with the living God. It’s about Mary, not Martha.

God didn’t sit in Heaven and wish the best for us. He came to earth and “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” He came to live here because He is a living God. He didn’t just leave us the written Word. Jesus came here to be to us the living Word. Our God is the true God and the true God is a living God, a Person who invites us into a living relationship. To genuinely respond to the Gospel is in fact to enter into a real, personal relationship with that living and true God.

I remember when I was first saved -- there was no question, from the instant “the lights came on” that I was suddenly in a real relationship with the living God. I wanted to know Him. Not long after I was saved, I ran across JI Packer’s book “Knowing God” and literally inhaled it. I observed Jesus’ words in John 17:3, “…for this is eternal life, that they might know Thee…” and I could see how true it all was. But then I remember being “at church” at some kind of meeting and realizing in my heart “what’s going on here and what’s going on in the Bible are two different things.” I could see that somehow the “church” was really about some kind of religious “busy-ness” and not really about knowing God at all. Unfortunately, I disregarded that red flag in my heart and just went ahead and joined the “busy-ness.” Fortunately for me, I continued studying the Bible on my own and having a personal relationship with God, so that, over the years I got more and more uncomfortable with just being caught up in that religious busy-ness, finally saw it for the complete sham that it is, and extricated myself from it. I deeply fear that, at least in America, church is not about encouraging people to really know God. It’s about getting them to volunteer more time to whatever programs we want to be “successful.” It’s about raising up a lot of Martha’s, not encouraging them to be Mary’s.

What does it really mean to be saved? What does it really mean to repent? What is genuine Christianity really all about? It’s about “turning to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” It’s all about Him. If He isn’t in the center of it, then it simply isn’t real.

The second thing I think worth noting is that verse 10 is almost a complete summary of real Christian faith: “and to await His Son out of the heavens, whom He raised out of the dead ones, Jesus, the One rescuing us out of the coming wrath.” Note we’re not just talking about “getting religious.” We’re not talking about some Deistic, bald acknowledgment that “there is a God.” We’re talking about the true and living God, the One who sent His Son, the One who is “coming again,” the One who raised His Son from the dead, Jesus, the One rescuing us, the One rescuing us from a coming wrath which is real.

As I look at each phrase of verse 10, I’m tempted to write a volume. But then again, that is, in a sense, what the entire rest of the Bible is about! – this Son out of the Heavens, this One raised from the dead, this One rescuing us, about a coming wrath.

Once again, it’s all real. It’s not about clichés. It’s not about whatever we want it to be about. It’s not about whatever everyone else seems to think it’s about. It’s not about what seems like it will make other people “happy” with me.

It’s all about a real relationship with a real God.

Paul knew his work in Thessalonica was successful because the change that happened was real.

God do real work in our world today. There’s been too much of everything else. God do a real work in me.