"Christian community" by Rod Bayley, 16 March 2008, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

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The American preacher and writer Chuck Swindoll suggests that many
Christian communities are like a pack of porcupines on a freezing
winter night. The cold drives them together in a tight huddle to keep
warm, but as they begin to get really close, their sharp quills cause
them to jab and prick each other - a condition which forces them
apart. But before long they start getting cold and so move back
together to keep warm, only to stab and puncture each other once
more. There’s a famous little poem which captures the struggle for
Christian community or fellowship this way:
To dwell above with saints we love, that will be grace and glory,
But to live below with saints we know, well that’s another story.

Now I believe that this poem is too negative in its assessment of
Christian community, but sadly I think it is more true than we would
care to admit at times. How can we avoid this porcupine syndrome, or
should I say echidna syndrome? Today we have come to the end of our
series in 1 Thessalonians, and Paul concludes his letter by offering
what at first glance appears to be a mixed bag of instructions.
However, it all relates to the theme of Christian community - how to
relate to each other, how to relate to Christian leaders, and how to
relate to God together. It raises the question for us: ‘How should a
Christian community act?’, or ‘How should a church function in order
to promote true Christian community where there is genuine love for
God and each other?’ Remember, as we come to this topic, that Paul
described the Thessalonian church in chapter one as a model church or
model community (1:7). We can infer from this that it is an area
where there can always be improvement. Paul felt it necessary to still
give the Thessalonians instructions, and of course we need to heed
what he says today as well, no matter how well or poorly we might
think we are relating.

Well, firstly, Paul gives us instructions in verses 12 and 13 on how
to relate to Christian leaders within the church. Look at those
verses with me again:
“Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you,
who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13Hold them in the
highest regard in love because of their work.”

Because of the absence of Paul and the other founders of the church,
the establishment of leadership in the church in Thessalonica was a
primary concern. In Paul’s pastoral letters 1 Timothy and Titus, he
lists qualifications, but in this case, we aren’t told how the new
leaders were chosen, but we can presume the same criteria applied.
Verse 12 suggests that Paul and his associates are simply concerned
here to urge the church to recognise those who were emerging as
leaders. The instruction is to “respect” their leaders, which is a
word that means ‘to honour’ or ‘to recognize’ them as the legitimate
leaders. And what legitimized them was not their status or social
rank, as was commonly the case in Greek or Roman society, but the work
they undertook among the congregation. Notice that Paul describes the
work of these leaders in three ways, which are all linked. The
leaders who are to be recognized are described as 1) those who work
hard among you, 2) who are over you in the Lord, 3) and who admonish
you. The first phrase is speaking about pastoral work and putting in
great effort for the sake of the gospel; the second phrase speaks
about authority, under Christ; and the final phrase is talking about
correction of doctrine and moral errors. Neither their status nor
their title, but rather their service among the believers is what
separated them for this ministry.

Well, how do we apply this to our thinking about church leadership
today? Firstly, I think we can see from Paul’s description of what
the leaders were doing, that true Christian leadership is not about
show but substance, not self-serving but self-sacrificial. It is
servant leadership - this is what comes out right through the NT,
whether it is Jesus’ words or the teaching of his disciples. For
example, in Mark 10:45 Jesus offers some teaching on leadership to his
disciples when he states: “45For even the Son of Man did not come to
be served, but to serve” (10:42b-45a). And so if you are a leader,
whether it is heading up some ministry area or being a deacon, or
elder, than the challenge of our passage is to be a servant.

The second point, is that such service should receive recognition and
respect from the congregation. This is not contradictory - for a
leader to serve effectively their authority needs to be recognized if
they are to be over others in the Lord. We are naturally cautious
though today, about giving too much authority to leaders - we rightly
fear the abuse of power which has so often been demonstrated in our
world, and at times in our churches sadly. What we need to keep in
mind though, is that respect is earned by the leader and cannot be
forced or fabricated - so there are large expectations upon the leader
and we are never asked to give unthinking submission to those in
authority. We also need to keep in mind that God will judge teachers
and leaders more harshly (James 3:1). Hebrews 13:17 brings out this
balance of our respect of leaders and their accountability to God. It
states: “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep
watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that
their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no
advantage to you.”

Moving on to the second point on your outline, not only does our
passage teach us how to relate to leaders, but also how to relate to
each other as fellow believers. Notice firstly what is stated from
the end of verse 13 through to verse 15:
“Live in peace with each other. 14And we urge you, brothers, warn
those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient
with everyone. 15Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but
always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.”

Here we have a whole series of instructions on the right way of
thinking and acting toward fellow Christians - it is about Christian
character and love in action. The first sentence at the end of verse
13 is really a call to a commitment of loyalty to each other. This
call to “peace” is rooted in the teaching of Jesus (Mk 9:50), and of
course is one of the fruits of the Spirit in the life of the believer
(Gal 5:22). What is meant by peace is the absence of discord, or put
positively, the maintenance of harmony between believers. The
Thessalonians were a happy church by and large, with the only tensions
that are inferred in the letter being over some who are idle (3:11-12,
5:14), and some whose sexual immorality had led to fellow believers
being wronged (4:6). So in their particular context, holy living was
a path to such peace, because it was moral failure which was resulting
in some tensions.

Moving on from the theme of peace, Paul instructs the believers how to
respond to various people within the congregation. Notice in verses
14 and 15 that this pastoral care or responsibility is not placed
solely in the hands of the leadership - rather it is delegated to
everyone in the congregation. The task of maintaining the well-being
of the Christian community belongs to us all. The type of help given
to others was to respond to the particular needs of each individual.
Firstly, we see that admonishing is not just for leaders because
everyone is called to warn the “idle,” referring here to those not
working who have work, but who choose to sponge off others. Secondly,
they are to encourage the “timid” or ‘discouraged’ who were presumably
in danger of giving up. The suffering faced by the Christian
community in Thessalonica would have been enough to cause serious
discouragement. Thirdly, they were to help the weak, which in this
context refers to those who were socially weak or economically weak,
perhaps those that were slaves. Those who society walks over and puts
down are to be lifted up and given support by the church. Fourthly,
all believers were to “be patient with everyone.” This exhortation is
a call to be longsuffering and tolerant of others, whatever their
condition or status. Christians are not to be impatient or dismissive
with anyone. All of these instructions would have been testing,
particularly this last one of patience, just as it is here for us
today. When the Christian community is jabbing each other like
echidnas, it’s because these virtues are missing. If we lack patience,
if we lack kindness (v15), or seek to settle every slight (v15), then
our community will soon break down. Relating well is hard work, it’s
not to be taken for granted.

Further down in verses 19 to 22 we have a second piece of instruction
of how to relate to one another, but here it is in the specific
setting of church - it is our corporate relating to God. The focus,
notice, is on the issue of “prophecy” and how to relate to someone
claiming to have a word of prophecy. Have a look at verses 19 to 22
again:
“Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20do not treat prophecies with
contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every
kind of evil.”

It seems likely from Paul’s comments here, that some people in the
Thessalonian congregation were prohibiting prophecy altogether. Now
some of you may be thinking, ‘what is prophecy anyway? What are we
talking about here?’ Well, although a number of people in the NT are
referred to as prophets, from John the Baptist, to elderly Anna who
was awaiting Christ’s birth (Lk 2:36-38), to Philip’s four unmarried
daughters (Acts 21:9); we have very few examples of what kind of
things were said. We do have a couple of clear examples from the book
of Acts though, where the prophet Agabus prophesied the coming famine
in Jerusalem (Acts 11:27-29), and then later he predicted Paul’s
imprisonment in Jerusalem (21:10-11). However, even these examples
only remind us of the prophets of the OT who predicted the future, and
who spoke God’s word directly, saying ‘thus saith the Lord.’ Such
prophecy was never questioned, unless the prophet was false as shown
by a lack of fulfilment. You didn’t weigh up what was said - the
prophet was God’s mouthpiece.

However, in the settled church of the later NT we learn that prophecy
was a continuing spiritual gift that could be expressed in church (1
Cor.12:19, 29) - it wasn’t so much an office of a direct mouthpiece of
God who divined the future or called the nation to repentance, rather
it was words spoken for the “strengthening, encouragement and
comfort” (14:3) of a congregation in order to build up the Christian
community (1 Cor.14:1-5, 12, 26). This is what Paul himself explains
in 1 Corinthians 14, where he gives some detailed instructions on how
to regulate the use of prophecy in Christian gatherings. And what is
made clear in 1 Corinthians 14 (v29-33) is the same point that Paul is
making here in 1 Thessalonians 5 - that prophecy should not be
rejected, but it should be weighed up by the congregation. NT
prophecy is of a different order - it is not authoritative like the
words of an OT prophet, rather it can be accepted or rejected. This
is because it is focussed on encouragement and there can be false
prophets (1 Cor12:1-3, 2 Thess 2:2, 1 Jn. 4:1-3). Paul says that
treating prophecy with contempt restricts the Holy Spirit’s work.
Rather, every prophecy should be tested - is it in accord with
scripture (1 Cor 13:3, 1 Thes 2:5, 1 Jn 4:1-3), does the person show
the fruit of the Spirit, and does it build up the church? That which
is true should be accepted, that which is false should be rejected.

The third and final aspect of Christian community which is addressed,
is our relationship with God. In verses 16 to 18 we have some
instructions about God’s will in relation to prayer, and in verses 23
and 24 we have some teaching about our growth in godliness, or
sanctification. Firstly, in verses 16 to 18, the marks of a Christian
are laid out - joy, prayer and gratitude. The person who lives like
this we are told, lives according to the will of God. These are not
just to be occasional marks of a Christian - rather, we are to be in
constant joy, prayer and gratitude. Notice that he uses the words
“always”, “continually” and “in all circumstances.” Now I think we
can read these and just think they are overstatements, or at least
ideals - how can I be joyful always? Am I to have a fake smile always
on my face? No, Paul is serious - he has already said in chapter 1
that the Thessalonians were joyful in the face of suffering. Joy is
not defined as happiness, it is a deeper emotion of a certain hope in
the gospel and eternal life to come which cannot be affected by
circumstances. Paul is not encouraging believers to deny that
adversity brings sadness and grief, but they’re to recognise that the
Spirit can infuse our souls with hope even at such times. Likewise,
prayer was not restricted to set hours but should be a constant
element to daily life.

In verses 23 and 24 we find a prayer where Paul is emphasising that
God himself is the ultimate source of their sanctification, of them
being set apart for God from the world by obeying His word. Although
we have seen earlier in chapter 4 (v3) that Christians are to work at
their godliness, to conform their lives to God’s will, we are not left
on our own to achieve this. God is the one who has called us to
salvation, who worked in our lives so that we might receive the
gospel, and he will carry out his work in our lives to the end. Of
course we know from elsewhere in the NT, that God does this through
the work of His Holy Spirit who indwells us. We need to be convinced
of this same dual understanding - that the bible never allows us to be
flippant about our sin, but calls us to constantly flee sin; while on
the other hand it is ultimately God’s work in our life. He will see
us sanctified as we keep in step with His Spirit, who enables us to
put off the old sinful nature and put on the new clothes of
righteousness. God will see that his saints persevere and continue in
growth.

Now, I want to finish with some words about Christian community and
apply all that we have been considering today - relating to God,
relating to each other, relating to Christian leaders. Now I
mentioned earlier that maintaining the well-being of the Christian
community is a mutual responsibility. It is very sad when it breaks
down - but it can when either the congregation fails to relate to God
or to each other. Now I have lived through it, I’ve seen a church
that has broken up, which went through a time in the wilderness as a
result. And you know, as I look at this passage, I can see things
about what happened. There was certainly a lack of thanksgiving and
gratefulness which had been replaced by a critical spirit for some.
There was also little respect for the leadership among some members of
the congregation. And the result was that the leaders resigned, the
church went through a mess, and the situation descended into further
acrimony initially, and it was three years before the church returned
to where it had been.

It is very sad when that happens - we all have a responsibility to
encourage one another, but we can’t do that unless we are relating
rightly to God. We need to be relating properly to God - to be
joyful, prayerful, grateful, to realise God is at work in us to change
us and make us holy. Then we will be able to relate rightly to each
other, that we might help the weak, encourage the timid, and so on and
so forth. See, these two things go together, relating to God and
relating to one another - it’s right through the bible. The ten
commandments follow this pattern - the first four commandments are
about how we relate to God, and unless we can relate to God, then we
cannot follow the remaining six commandments about relating to each
other. Jesus summarises the whole law by saying, “love the Lord your
God” and “love your neighbour as yourself”, and it’s very clear
throughout the NT that you cannot love your neighbour as yourself
unless you are properly relating to God. If you find a greater sense
of community in your sporting club, or greater acceptance at some
social club then in the church, then collectively we have failed you.
Christian community depends on relationships. Your love for fellow
believers is a barometer of your faith in God, because faith expresses
itself in love. Don’t wait for someone to respond to you - we all
should care for each other.