Archive for April, 2007

    
1 Thess. 2:5-12: 5 For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed —  God is witness —  6 nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. 7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. 8 Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. 9 For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; 11 just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, 12 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. (NASB)
 

1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, quoted in part above, is a remarkable autobiographical statement of Paul in which he reflects on his ministry with the Thessalonians.  He interweaves in this passage both his commitment to the preaching of the Word of God and his commitment to loving people.  He obviously believes the truth of the Gospel enough to be serious in its proclamation and its application to his life, especially as it relates to a life of integrity and love of people.
 

I began the current series writing about ways that we can create problems for ourselves in ministry.  Such things as unrealistic expectations about the spiritual growth of our congregation or our own personality problems can cause us to experience opposition.  If we are experiencing opposition we should examine if we have contributed to the problem.
 

We should also make sure that we are positively committed to certain things in ministry. So, in my last article I wrote about our commitment to “Preaching the Word.”  As ministers of the Gospel we have a sacred obligation to carefully, accurately, and passionately proclaim the Word of God.  God will use, according to His good pleasure, the faithful preaching of His Word to accomplish what He intends.
 

Yet, if I understand Paul in 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, preaching is not enough.  God also uses, according to Paul, the testimony of our lives to bring credibility and authenticity to our message.  Paul reminds them that he and his companions came seeking their good and not seeking personal gain (vv. 5-6).  They “proved to be gentle among you,” remarkably using the metaphor of a nursing mother tenderly caring for her children (v. 7).  They not only gave them the Gospel but also gave them their “own lives” (v. 8).  They worked unbelievably hard to avoid becoming a burden to anyone (v. 9).  Their commitment to God and to these folks was so great that they behaved “devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly” toward them (v. 10).  They acted as fathers toward them, “exhorting and encouraging and imploring” each of them so that each one would act in a “manner worthy of the God who calls you” (vv. 11-12).
 

All this, this mix of proclamation and lifestyle, of talking and acting, of doing and being, had the singular result of the Thessalonians receiving the Word of God as the Word of God and not just a word from men (v.13).  The reality of Paul’s life conclusively demonstrated the reality of Paul’s message.  You could not have one without the other!
 

Here is the great advantage and disadvantage of a rural church pastor.  We have the great, perhaps huge advantage, of being able to demonstrate the credibility of our message through our personal lives.  Living in a small community, they will know what we are like.  They will soon discover if we truly love them.  They will soon discover if our message is of such truth that it transforms the very warp and woof of our lives.  What an incredible opportunity we have to demonstrate that Jesus Christ is real!
 

Yet, our huge advantage is a huge disadvantage if we do not unswervingly seek the glory of God (vv. 4-6).  Ministry is tough and increasingly so in today’s world.  We regularly deal with dysfunctional people, unrealistic expectations, and a church model that emphasizes quantity over quality.  Add to that the fact that we are swimming in an ever increasing materialistic and entertainment orientated soup that satiates the entire U.S. and Canadian church in apathy, dulling both their and our own passion for following Christ.
 

Thus, our love for our people can quickly become cold and half-hearted.  It becomes easy to let go of an outburst of anger.  Our perks and our position can become paramount in our mind.  We can easily start to manipulate people to achieve our ends rather than letting the Word of God motivate them to achieve Christ’s ends.  After all, they may never contribute to our latest program if we don’t.  We turn into fathers who harangue and harass, rather than exhorting, encouraging, and imploring.  We can become anything but gentle mothers, instead we become rough and caustic abusers.  We end up only pretending to love people.  All the things that Paul did not do in Thessalonica such as speaking from error, impurity, or deceit (v. 3) or engaging in flattering speech or coning for more money (v. 5), we start to do.
 

How do we “preach the Word” and truly “love the people?”  As I reflect on my ministry as a Village Missionary, I would like some “do over’s!”  I did not come anywhere close to the quality of love Paul describes in this passage.  I don’t have an answer much beyond what we all know to be fundamental.  We simply must seek the glory of God and not our own glory.  We must seek His glory in our preaching, in our loving, and in everything that has to do with our ministry.  We must daily examine ourselves, asking “Am I seeking God’s good or my good?”  Whose kingdom am I building?  Paul rejoiced that the Thessalonians’ faith was firmly placed in God and not in him (v. 13).  Can we rejoice in that as well?
 

To weed out all areas of our thinking that does not seek God’s glory will be freeing for us.  Seeking our own glory generates frantic, restless striving, especially in ministry where so much is out of our control anyway.  We can take our day off knowing that He is glorified by our statement about His sovereignty over the details of our ministry.  On that note, I believe the easiest way to become angry and bitter toward your people is to become “wound tight” through failure to take a day off.  In addition, when someone attacks us we can let God take care of it for His glory.  We may be run out of town but we still will glorify God by our response.  When someone doesn’t live the way they should, we can love them as a mother and father but ultimately let God do His work in their lives.  Seeking God’s glory will cause us to pay much closer attention to the quality of our walk with the Lord.  Paul brought glory to the Lord in Thessalonica by the life he lived before people.
 

In this season when we celebrate the glory of the cross and resurrection, let’s resolve to desire supremely the glory of God and so “Preach the Word and love the people.”