The Hope of the Gospel (Present: Just Love)

 One of the main themes of the Thessalonian letters is Christian conduct. In our previous article, we talked about some of the general ideas regarding this. As Christians, we should live in a certain way. Our decisions and lifestyle should be dictated, not by the world around us, but by God and God's word. We are walking in the light of the rising Son, even though it is still night. 

That is obviously very general. But Paul also lays down some specific ideas, the first of which is something I call: “just love.” That is an odd phrasing, but eventually, it will make sense, probably.

(1 Thessalonians 4:9-12) But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more; and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:9, Paul praises the Thessalonians for their love for one another. He speaks of brotherly love. According to Robertson, outside of the New Testament, the word translated brotherly love refers to the love and affection for those who are part of a family. Here, however, it is not a family, at least not a biological family. The church had become like a family, with its members caring for and helping one another. We see this in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, where Paul encourages them to comfort and edify one another, but also says that this is something they are already doing. 

But there is something odd here. Paul says that he has no need to write to them about this—and then he continues to write about it. At first, I thought that maybe “ye need not that I write unto you” was just a sort of literary device. But Paul goes on to say that they were taught by God to love one another. This was something they had already learned and learned from the best possible source. So then why does Paul go on talking about it? I think it is something like this: humans are naturally born with muscles; they are part of our physical make-up. However, some people make an active effort to exercise those muscles, causing them to grow and become stronger. If they are not used at all, they will atrophy and become weak. In the same way, when a person becomes a Christian, there are certain spiritual things they get 'automatically'. They are born again with them, as we are born with certain things. However, as Christians, we must exercise those gifts to enable them to grow.

I don't need to belabor the point that love is an important part of the Christian experience. All of our experience is based off our love for God and God's love for us. And that love flows out into a love for our fellow Christians and, then, to all the world. Love is the first part of the fruit of the Spirit. The word 'love' is found in almost 300 verses of scripture, and many more times in the hymns and testimonies of the church.

However, we must not be hypnotized by this repetition. Love is more than just a pretty word. And the Christian idea of love—whether for God, our fellow Christians, or the world—is something more than a soft, warm feeling. There are certain duties and responsibilities that go along with love—things that, on the face of it, have little of the poetry and romance we associate with the word love.

This is true even of human love. Think of the love of a man for his wife and children. That is a beautiful thing. But the actual practical details of caring for and supporting a family are often far from romantic, things that are prosaic, difficult, and even unpleasant. And this is also true when it comes to our love for the family of God. It is going to involve difficult and even unpleasant things—it is more than just a feeling.

That is why I labeled this: 'just love.' That isn't 'just love and nothing more.' What I mean is that the idea here is of love that is bound to justice; it is love that has a sense of duty, a love that has the backbone to recognize its responsibilities.

Look at verses 11-12. There is an almost abrupt shift. Paul encourages the Thessalonians to "study to be quiet." The word 'study' means to be ambitious; it literally has the idea to love to be noted for something. Paul wanted them to be ambitious, to aspire to a quiet life.

What is a quiet life? In context, it seems to mean a life that does not meddle with, cause problems for, or unduly rely upon other people. Paul goes on to remind them of what he had taught them in person, that they should work with their own hands and attend to their own business. He wanted them to be able to support themselves so that they could walk decently and respectably in the sight of the world around them.

There are concepts here that we will come back to later. But at the moment, the point I want to emphasize is this. All humans have certain duties and responsibilities in light of being human. And being a Christian does not excuse us from those duties. Love should lead us to do our duties and not be used as an excuse to avoid them. Paul wanted the Thessalonians to be seen, even by the world outside, as examples of honesty, industry, and respect.

Let's now look at another passage

(1 Thessalonians 5:11-14) Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.

This passage comes directly after the discussion of the Christian life which we studied in a previous article. To get the context, look at 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10: “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.” This is the hope we have as Christians. God has given us the hope of salvation, the hope of deliverance from wrath, the hope of being with Christ in this life and the next.

And therefore we should comfort and edify one another. We come back to this idea of brotherly love. We are a family and are united in this common hope; we are all working together to a common end; we are travelers bound on the same journey; we are soldiers fighting in the same army. 

But running a family, a business, a caravan, or an army are not easy things. There are difficulties and frictions which come from people being together, even when they are united; even when they are united in love. This returns to the point I said before—that there a union between love and a sense of responsibility, of prosaic faithfulness.

Within the family of God, within this common household of love, there must be respect. Paul beseeches his readers “to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you.” Some interpret the word 'know' as simply meaning to know—in other words, recognize your leaders, don't ignore them, be aware of them. Robertson paraphrases it: “Get acquainted with them.” Others give the word the idea of “show respect” (Weymouth) “value” (TCNT) or “acknowledge” (MNT). This thought is carried on in the next verse when he tells them to “to esteem them very highly in love.”

The point is that the church must recognize and respect those who are leaders in the church. In one sense, every Christian is equal before God, but in another sense, there are those above us whom we must recognize for the service they provide to the church and to God. Just as an army needs officers or a family needs a family-leader, so the church needs individuals who take responsibility to lead and care for the church and so the church, in turn, should respect and assist its leaders.

Immediately afterwards, Paul encourages them to live at peace with on another. This is a sort of catch-all admonition. There are all kinds of problems which can arise within the church—within any organization with many different people coming together. Paul couldn't deal with all of them here, though does mention a few things in the next verse. But the one of the guiding principles or the foundational ideals which should inform all our decisions and actions and attitudes within the church is peace.

In verse 11, Paul spoke of edifying or building up one another. The church has to work together. And that will sometimes specifically mean dealing with difficult people. In verse 14, Paul speaks of three kinds of people within the church.

We have the 'unruly.' The term is a military one and speaks of a man who loves his position. Barclay translates it: “The quitters.” These are people who, for one reason or another, are dissatisfied with their place within the church and try to cause problems instead. “Feebleminded” does not mean of low intelligence, but rather of low courage or spirit; it is timid or faint-hearted. Clarke thinks that Paul is using a military metaphor throughout this verse, and compares the feebleminded to those who are scared and uncertain on the eve of battle. And we have the weak, those who struggle, who aren't doing well with their task.

These are the three kinds of people Paul identified within the church. Perhaps he had learned from Timothy that there were problems with these kinds of people within the Thessalonian church. Or perhaps he simply knew what mankind is like, since these kinds of people tend to pop up in any church or really any organization.

These are people who cause problems for the church, that cause concern for church leaders and frustration for their fellow Christians. But remember that all of this still falls under the umbrella of brotherly love. Paul could have told them to just weed out all the weak and the trouble-makers. But Paul told them to edify one another—to help and build up even these people. He told them to warn the unruly, comfort the fearful, and help the weak. There are different needs for different kinds of men, but the one thing we need in dealing with anyone is patience. We have to be able to face the difficulties of interpersonal relationships without losing hope or losing our temper.  Remember, the goal in all this is for the church to be able to keep on working together in love and peace as they await Christ's return.

There is a third passage that parallels some of the ideas of the two we have read, but which goes further into detail on one specific aspect.

(2 Thessalonians 3:6-15) Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

One of the questions we have to consider regarding the Thessalonian letters is: why are there two of them? Both letters contain many of the same ideas and, so far as we can tell, they were written within a very short time of each other. 

The answer is that there were problems within the Thessalonian church that could not be solved by a single letter. After Paul sent the first letter, he received news of further problems within the church and so wrote a second letter to deal with them. One of those issues was eschatology. Both letters work to clear up doubt and confusion regarding different aspects of eschatology.

But another problem in the church is a group of people Paul refers to in this passage. This seems to have already been a problem, because Paul briefly touches on these issues in the passages from 1 Thessalonians that we just read, but it had grown greater; the problem was to a point where Paul had to speak some very clear, forceful words.

In verse 6, Paul speaks of the 'brother that walketh disorderly.' The word translated disorderly is a form of the word used in 1 Thessalonians 5:14, when Paul says to warn the unruly. The disorderly brother is the truant, the deserter, the man who is somewhere else than where he ought to be, a shirker and/or a troublemaker. The NET Bible translates it as 'undisciplined.' In living in such a way, they were going directly against the 'tradition which he received of us'--whether this refers to 1 Thessalonians or to Paul's preaching while at Thessalonica.

Paul gives further information about these people in verse 11, when he says that they were not working but being busybodies. There is a connection between these two phrases in Greek. Ellicot gives it: “doing no business but being busy bodies.” (Quoted in Robertson) The NET Bible translates it: “not doing their own work but meddling in the work of others.” The picture is of someone living in idleness and using their spare time to cause problems for others, to interfere with the business of others. The advice of verse 10 suggests that these people were depending on the charity of others in the church to live. 

We know this group existed in Thessalonica, prompting Paul to write this passage. Some have speculated this was connected to the furor surrounding eschatology. It could be that there were those in Thessalonica who were so convinced that Jesus was soon to return that they had quit their jobs and were living idleness. Barnes points out that humans are always tempted to be lazy and when the need to work for the future is taken away (by radical eschatology) it is very, very easy to give in to that temptation.

But whatever the reason, this was a real problem within the Thessalonian church. And it should be noted this was not a problem of their being sinners within the church--of hypocrites, backsliders, or unconverted. Paul refers to these people as brothers. They were part of the family of God, but they were not acting as a part of the family.

And this comes back to what I said before about Christian love being united with justice or duty. These people were Christians and so, on some level, they did love God and their fellow Christians. But they were not following the duties and obligations that go with love; and therefore, in practice, they were not being loving whatever love they might have truly had within their souls. Their manner of life was interfering with and negating their Christian love.

Paul has strong words for them. The sum of his command to them is verse 12: he tells them to work with quietness and eat their own bread. He wanted them to leave their idleness and busybodery and become productive members of the community. He points to a simple piece of advice that he had given while at Thessalonica, that those who refuse to work should not eat.

This advice: “Settle down and get a job” does not sound especially spiritual. In modern evangelicalism, there has been a tendency to downplay the importance of work that is not implicitly spiritual. There is a general idea that if a man works in some job outside the church, then his work is unimportant and incidental to his Christian walk. The idea is that so-called secular work is done for man and not for God. But look at the story of creation in Genesis 2:15: “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” One of the first things God did with Adam was to give him a job, and a job you would call a secular job. That was before the Fall. But after the Fall we have this: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Genesis 3:19) One of the conditions of the Curse was that man would live by the sweat of his brow, or in other words, by his work. 

We think of the necessity of labor as being simply part of the world we live in. But the world we live in is a creation of God, and therefore this imperative does come ultimately from God. And if it is a command of God, then our obedience to it is part of our Christian experience.

And so Paul exhorted these unruly and idle brothers, to start working. He gives weight to this exhortation by reminding them of his own example. In verse 7 he says that they “ought to follow us.” He had shown them a pattern of behavior. Despite all the accusations of his enemies, Paul had lived a decent, respectable life. And specifically, he had been a hard worker; working to support himself rather than taking money or food from any of the Thessalonians. 

Paul did this even though he was an apostle, he was working for them. Verse 9: “not because we have not power.” The word power there has the sense of right or authority. The point is that Paul would have had authority, both spiritual and logical, to ask for support. Paul lays down this principle in 1 Corinthians 9:11: “If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?” A minister of the gospel has a right to demand payment like anyone who performs a service, since they are performing one of the highest services.

However, Paul had asked for such support while at Thessalonica. We talked about this in an earlier article. There I brought up the question as to why Paul didn't take support from the Thessalonians, since it seems he did from other churches. We know that he received gifts from the Philippian church while at Thessalonica. In that article, I suggested that the Thessalonians simply didn't offer and Paul wasn't going to ask.

But in studying this lesson, I wonder if Paul may have had a more deliberate motive. Perhaps the situation Paul is addressing here—these idle and unruly brothers—were already present in the church, at least to some degree. At least, there was enough of that climate to make Paul realize the danger, and so he made the deliberate decision to work for his own support to set an example. This was a church that especially needed this lesson and so Paul taught it with his own actions.

Paul's exhortation to these unruly brothers was to buckle down and do their jobs, following his example. But he also has an exhortation to the rest of the church, those who were not part of this group. And this comes back again to this idea of just love. The people of a church ought to love one another, but this doesn't mean just ignoring and bearing with everything people do. There is a time for discipline.

In verse 6, Paul tells the church to withdraw themselves from the disorderly brothers. He repeats this idea in verse 14, where he tells them to note the troublemaker and have no company with him. The picture here is of some kind of disciplinary action by the church; some ecclesiastical version of the silent treatment.

And yet this was still born out of love and was aimed at reclamation. Paul says to do this “that he may be ashamed.” The goal was to make the troublemaker realize his problem and come to repent.

Paul emphasizes this point in verse 15, when he tells the church not to consider the troublemaker as an enemy, but instead to admonish him as a brother. Look at 1 Corinthians 4:14: “I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.” Paul was not trying to degrade or insult the Corinthians; he wanted to warn or instruct them as a father trying to guide his children. The word translated 'warn' there is the same as the one translated 'admonish' in our text. Strong defines it as: “to put in mind, i.e. (by implication) to caution or reprove gently:--admonish, warn.” That was the attitude Paul wanted the Thessalonians to have towards their erring brother.

And finally, his advice to the church was to “be not weary in well doing.” 

Remember, the Thessalonian church was facing opposition and persecution from the world around them; in many cases, perhaps the members of the church were facing opposition from people who had been their friends and family. But then, on top of that, they were facing difficulties and problems within the church, with people who were their new Christian family. Dealing with that would be discouraging to anyone.

And so Paul's encouragement was to keep at it, to not give up on doing what was right, even when it was difficult. Because this is the work of love, and this is what Paul said about love: “Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7)