OVERVIEW

MASS EVANGELISTS who jet into a city, conduct a campaign, and jet out again, are often accused of leaving their “converts” high and dry, with no on-going support.

Paul, on his visit to Thessalonica, may not have intended to do this but in the end had little option. He was there for just three weeks before opposition forced him to make a hasty exit.

His new converts had no trained pastors to teach and support them. They had no New Testament to learn from, and no Christian books to read. They had no established church traditions to latch onto. They didn’t even have a telephone over which to get quick advice from the apostle.

Yet they not only survived but grew spiritually in double quick time. They became examples for others to follow. The letters to the Thessalonians provide today’s Christians with important encouragement: when God begins to work in someone’s life, he can continue it even if no human support is available.

That does not excuse any lack of pastoral follow-up. Paul was anxious to provide it: the letters are one means he used; visits from his associate Timothy were another.

Despite their growth in numbers and vitality, like any other fledgling church they had their problems. Not surprisingly, they had to endure ongoing opposition which raised doubts about Paul and his motives in some minds.

Others, captivated by the thought that Christ had promised to return, assumed that he was coming soon and packed in their jobs to wait for him. They present us with one of the first examples of the trend repeated later by “millennium cults”. Beliefs about Christ’s return often excite as much passion now as they did then.

Thessalonians provides some simple guidelines for today. Unfortunately, because they are simple and incomplete, they have been the source of as much speculation in the centuries since Paul wrote them as was the apostle’s original verbal teaching to the church. What followed in Paul’s letters, however, was a need to return to the original simplicity.

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GUIDELINES FOR CHRISTIAN LIVING

– A narrative on 1 Thessalonians 4:1-10; 5:14-24

THIS is a brief manual for Christian living. It is incomplete because Paul has already given it verbally (4:11) and here he is stressing only what the Thessalonians need to give further attention to. Which is what most people need to give attention to.

On the subject of personal conduct he warns against unbridled lust and encourages marital faithfulness (4:3-8). The former was common and the latter rare in his first readers’ society.

Perhaps some church members were still struggling and failing. Being different is not easy and new habits take time to learn. There is none of the righteous indignation here which he unleashes against the Corinthians. Instead, he stresses the social dimension of immorality. It destroys relationships within the church.

As history repeats itself and people come to Christ from non-Christian lifestyles, his firm but non-judgmental approach sets a pastorally sensitive example.

Social conduct seems to be his chief concern. Brotherly love exists and he encourages it further (4:9). He describes what it looks like in 5:14: patient, kind, supportive and encouraging.

As for spiritual conduct, Christ, not circumstance, is to dominate Christians’ thoughts and feelings (5:16-18). The Thessalonians faced potentially depressing battles with their opponents, yet even they were to rejoice and give thanks. Christ is bigger than our problems.

They are also encouraged to keep the charismatic balance. The gifts of the Spirit are not to be despised, but neither are they to be received and exercised uncritically (5:19).