1 Thessalonians 2:1-12: Seeing It First In Those With Skin On

You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without results. We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. Instead, we were like young children among you.

Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that 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. - 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12

There are a lot of reasons to do things in the church and many of them are bad. Paul lists a number of them here: error in teaching, impure motives, deception, getting the approval of some people, getting some people to do what you want, selfish advantage and control of people or the situation. 

How could Paul prove to them that they were acting in their best interests? Really, he could not prove it. He had to trust that their compassionate, selfless hard work would speak the truth in parallel with the gospel: "we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well." I would say that people are good at detecting fakes: people building relationships tied to an agenda. In today's society, there are plenty of people who will be your friend if you will go along with their plans. 

Sometimes my test has become: how do they treat people who aren't their "type"?  That's what God did.  "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) How will they know what God is like if they can't see it first in those of his people with skin on. 

1 Thessalonians 2:8-16: Love Is The Portal

Love is the portal that truth walks through.

In his insightful article "Effective Evangelism and the Art of the Turn" by Geoff Surratt, he analyzes the way in which we go to people and pitch our ideas, expressing interest in people in order to create an opening for some product or proposal. That is the "turn". How about the gospel? He notes: "I imagine when people see through a thinly veiled Gospel sales pitch they feel as frustrated as I do when I’m turned." Why? Because they feel that the details and concerns of their lives are unimportant to us, apart from how they respond to the "truth" we want to deliver.

Paul stresses authentic love as the bedrock of his relationship with the believers in Thessalonica. He draws on the language of families to emphasize the strength and warmth. They are his "brothers and sisters" (vs. 1) Then Paul and Silas are like children (vs. 8a). Now Paul switches to another relationship: mothers and their children.

Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. 

There was no separation between sharing of lives and sharing of the gospel. They were the same love--the same delight. Nursing mothers do not begrudge the nourishment they give. For her, sleep is optional. For her, even eating is optional. But love is not optional (cf. Romans 13:8).

But Paul does not stop there. He continues with fathers and their children.

You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that 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.

Whereas the mothers nurture, the fathers motivate. They motivate by example ("how...we were among you") and by guiding them in the way they should live, when they are unsure ("encouraging"), when they are hurt ("comforting") and when they need a kick in the pants ("urging").

These relational terms stress the love aspect of any truth telling. We don't stop loving our actual children or siblings when they don't respond to the gospel. We love them. We help fix tires, bind up wounds, comfort broken hearts, and invite them to dinner whether or not they continually do dumb things with their lives. Oh, they'll hear about it. But our love isn't tied to them obeying us. God's wasn't, for us (cf. Titus 3:3-4).

So don't tell people that Jesus loves them unless you're ready to love them too (Steve Camp). If we try to tell people the truth without the love, you leave that truth on barren soil, unlikely to sprout and thrive. But in the context of love, the truth has ample nutrition to become "rooted and established" (cf. Ephesians 3:17-18).

Look at what happened with Paul, according to the next verse:

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. 

With love, the word of God was welcomed. Not just in a "Hi, how are you doing" sort of way, but in a life transforming, pattern-of-life altering manner. In a way, it is the life that we have always wanted, to be a part of those big stories where the good guys undergo fights, deprivation and all sorts of troubles but emerge better, victorious people. It is also the life that terrifies us, because it involves the trouble, hostility, alienation, discomfort and possibly worse. Paul talks about it like this:

For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.

How do we decide to make the right choices, even when they are difficult? We can do it because there are those who have "parented" us properly, nurturing and motivating us. We can do it because there are those who have showed us, by their example, the way to handle it. We help others by doing the same for them.

It starts with authentic love. Nurturing. Motivating. That love is the portal that truth walks through (cf. Revelation 3:20)

1 Thessalonians 2:1-7: Why Should I Believe You?

We are a suspicious people. To test the message, we scourge the messenger and see if he or she bleeds conflict of interest. Skepticism has become the public religion of choice, where the world is an advertisement and enlightenment is seeing through the pretense. "Life is pain, highness." says the movie The Princess Bride, "Anyone who says differently is selling something." So we resign ourselves to a wry grin of gentle cynicism--doubting and still wondering, "Is that all there is?" We hope not.

Paul notes that, when he arrived in Thessalonica, that his good news came "not only with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction." But that was not enough. They heard the truth, they had an intense encounter with God and they were profoundly challenged to reconsider the direction of their lives. Then, the next morning they work up, and they still thought it was good idea to plunge into this Jesus-life after Paul and Silas.

Why? Love. They had seen authentic love first hand.

You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without results. We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition. 

They knew what happened. They knew how Paul and Silas acted. Paul does not appeal to an abstract idea of love, he points to love in action and asks them to judge for themselves: was it real?

What was the first clue that Paul and Silas really cared about them? Trouble followed Paul and Silas but that didn't stop them. It would have been easy for them to simply stay silent and go on their way. But their love compelled them to speak because the message was so important.

So, cynic, what else would it take to convince you? Paul continues:

For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness.

Here we find another clue about the nature of authentic love: it has no hidden agenda. Everything that Paul wanted to tell them about Jesus' life, sacrifice on their behalf, return to life, and about the new kingdom life, it was all on the table. The people could clearly see that Paul and Silas weren't following Jesus in order to get a free pass to an easy life. There was no money or prestige involved in giving the gospel.

There is another, related clue about authentic love here also: Paul notes that "nor are we trying to trick you" and "we never used flattery." There was no manipulation. Yes, they spoke about the about Jesus with passion, but they didn't try to arm-twist people into the kingdom of God.

Finally, there is one more clue:

We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. Instead, we were like young children among you.

Now the cynic in us would say that Paul and Silas didn't really care about the people of Thessalonica, they only wanted people to say how smart or spiritual they were. Or maybe that, by converting the people there, they were just adding another notch in their gospel gun. Or maybe they were looking to expand their influence in the area.

Instead Paul uses another family image: that of children. Up to this point, he has characterized their relationship as "brothers and sisters". Later, he will use the image of "father" and "mother". But here, he talked about children. In this context, he contrasts what they could have done ("asserted our authority") with what they did ("were like young children among you"). Authentic love is not pushy. Instead, they were humble (see also, v. 17 where they are "orphans").

There is no substitute for authenticity. We can try to manufacture it, but live in a society will strip away any veneer and turn away in disappointment. Do you love the people you live among? Or, are they useful? "They will know we are Christians by our _______." Distance? Hypocrisy? Pushiness? Or by the same authentic love that Jesus shows for us.