Yesterday, Pastor Byron shared the message on 1 Thessalonians 4. You can hear it in its entirety here. 1 Thessalonians 4 gets a lot of attention in the Evangelical world because of the last part of the chapter. Verses 13-18 talk about the second coming of Christ and the importance of the resurrection of believers from the dead. Something that is often overlooked because it is neither part of a sensational doctrine (like eschatology) nor in line with the “Radical Christianity” that has permeated American Christian culture. That is verses 11-12, where Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” (1 Thess. 4:11-12)
Today I’d like to talk about 3 elements Paul mentions in living a tranquil Christian life. For starters, It is important for us to understand that the situation the Thessalonian Christians inhabited as a result of their conversion to Jesus was nothing compared to our world. They believed in Jesus in a world that was hostile to Christian conversion, because it meant disrupting the religious and political systems of an Imperial City. Family, neighbors, and co-workers were not happy with Thessalonian conversions.
Lead a Quiet Life
In our world, it is lauded when someone shakes up the system. People are praised for being cutting edge and drawing attention to themselves, for their “expression of individualism.” In Thessalonica, they were arrested, beaten, blacklisted, and possibly killed for their break with the norms of the city. By the nature of the culture, living for Christ was going to cause major hindrances across social and professional strata. There was no need to make it worse by being intentionally odious or disrespectful.
The nature of Christianity is extremely narrow, that’s why there is so much upheaval in American culture regarding Christian belief and practice. That’s why Paul was run out of Thessalonica 2000 years ago. Yet given the exclusivity of Christianity, all are invited into redemption. Just because the path is narrow doesn’t give a Christian permission to revel at the blindness of those refusing the narrow path. Jesus lamented the fate of Jerusalem because of Jewish unbelief. We would do well to emulate that regarding our neighbors and co-workers. Most of the time, leading a quiet life full of integrity and holiness will speak more to people than bandstanding ones religious views in unsolicited ways. Part of that integrity was wrapped up in knowing what was and was not your place to be involved.
Mind Your Own Business
It is natural for people to talk about other people’s problems. Instead of empathizing, a core requirement for intimacy, we often hear people’s problems and jump into problem solving or offering our unsolicited advice. That is an indicator of lacking empathy, or avoiding sharing the emotional moment with someone. Another temptation is to talk about other people’s problems with persons other than the one with the problem. The term for that is gossip. Gossip is included in the minding one’s own business. This command also includes not meddling in other people’s relationships, regardless of motive. As the proverb goes, “Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own.” (Prov. 26:17)
Does a neighbor in a dispute with the local auto mechanic? It’s no one’s place to confront the mechanic except the one with the dispute. Was someone publicly dumped by his girlfriend? It’s no one’s place to make ranting posts on Facebook about it. No matter how frustrated the neighbor is or humiliated guy is, in the end, it’s their business and no one else’s. Anyone who jumps into a quarrel that doesn’t involve them is in the wrong. It is best to let them be adults and figure it out themselves. The best way to avoid wasting our time and breath on other people’s business is to keep ourselves active.
Work With Your Hands
This is an exhortation against laziness and willfully neglecting one’s own personal responsibilities and depending on someone else to take care of them. As we saw in the intro of 1 thessalonians ch. 1, one of the characteristics of the travelling philosophers was that they would be waited on hand and foot, then expected to be paid for it. Paul’s team did exactly the opposite that, working 10+ hour days on top of preaching on breaks and in the evenings. They earned every cent of their keep so as to not be a burden on Thessalonian believers. This established a model of Christ-like disciplined living. We work hard for our keep and honor God by carrying our own load. That is why later in 2 Thess. 3, Paul emphatically reminds them, “For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” (2 Thess. 3:10)
Likewise, believers to this day have the responsibility to work with their hands and provide for themselves and those that are under them. Diligence in personal discipline is a foundational element to the Christian life. Whether it is manual labor or an internet business, working with purpose and providing for ourselves and our families is a non-negotiable for the Christian. Paul issued this command and modelled it in Thessalonica because it is such a necessary element in honoring Jesus.
At the end of the day, many Christians are hard on themselves or are envious toward other Christians who have the opportunity and calling to share the Gospel in exciting ways. It is exciting to hear missionary accounts of preaching the Gospel in a closed nation and getting caught and deported. It’s exciting to hear the accounts of a youth mission trip where they built dorms for a school. These testimonies garner a lot of praise and attention because they are not routine. They are not the normal.
But Paul paints a different picture for many Christians. Unless we have a very specific call to go overseas, we are called to a much more difficult and arduous mission–living the faith everyday in the same community, around our family, and with our co-workers. It’s not glorious. It’s not exciting. We are continually around people who know us, our shortcomings, and whether our faith is legitimate. Sometimes it feels easier to preach the Gospel to strangers because we will never see them again–and we get juicy stories to tell. It’s hard to live the faith everyday where people see our imperfections and frustrations. Yet I can’t shake the feeling that our daily interactions with the same people in the small region where we live and work is a greater test and testament to our faith than all the globetrotting missionaries that come with exciting stories. If we are called to a daily life where we are, that is the greatest mission field. It is a field where our obedience is tested. It is the proving ground to determine if we will hear “Well done, good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your master.” (Matt. 25:23)
Thank you for reading this week’s pastor blog. I hope this reflection on 1 Thess. 4 has blessed and encouraged you. I also pray it has helped you better experience our Lord’s: