I continue with my
series on the Thessalonian correspondence. Today I look at 1 Thessalonians
2:1-7.
1 You know, brothers and sisters,
that our visit to you was not without results. 2 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. 3 For the appeal we make does not spring from
error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4 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. 5
You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God
is our witness. 6 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. 7
Instead, we were like young children among you.
No one likes
having their motives questioned or accused of harboring a hidden agenda. But it
happens in ministry more than we would like to admit. A pastor says or does
something she believes will be helpful for the congregation and is accused of
making a power play or being dishonest. The energy she wants to put into
ministry ends up directed at defending herself and her integrity. Paul’s words
in 1 Thessalonians 2 helps us realize that having to explain, or even defend,
one’s motivation and ministry approach is not new. These kinds of questions
have been asked since the earliest days of the church. This means that modern
ministers of the gospel should not be surprised when they are asked to explain
themselves. They are not the first and certainly won’t be the last to have
their motives questioned.
Evangelist George
Whitefield (1714 – 1770) knew what it was like to minister in the face of
opposition. Whitefield is sometimes called the father of modern Evangelicals.
While we might debate the accuracy of this description, many agree that he laid
the ground work for such American preachers as Charles Finney, D.L. Moody, Billy
Sunday and Billy Graham. But like the Apostle Paul, he often ministered in the
face of opposition with some questioning his motives. During his life and
ministry Whitefield had rotten eggs and pieces of dead cat thrown at him,
received death threats and once was nearly stoned to death. Sometimes people
would gather with drums and trumpets trying to drown out his preaching. The
press didn’t help either. Newspapers in Boston wrote that he was a “Peddler in
Divinity,” a “Spiritual Pickpocket” and suggested that local laws instituted
for “Pedlars in Trade” (i.e. Salesmen) be used to regulate Whitfield and his
ministry. But probably the most distressing to Whitefield was the opposition he
received from his friends John and Charles Wesley. A doctrinal dispute pitted
Whitefield against the Wesleys in what became a very public feud and ended up costing
him a number of supporters. To his credit, Whitfield recognized that, in spite
of the opposition from his friends, God alone saw the true motives of his
heart.
It is good for me that I have been supplanted, despised,
censured, maligned, judged by and separated from my dearest friends. By this I
have found the faithfulness of Him who is the friend of friends . . . and to be
content that He to whom all hearts are open . . . now sees . . . the
uprightness of my intentions to all mankind.
Like Paul,
Whitefield handed his case over to God and believed that in the end God would
be the one who vindicated him, his motives and his ministry.
As we look
at Paul’s words to the Thessalonians here there are some things that we can
apply to our ministries for those times when we are facing opposition or
questions regarding our methods or motives. Most will not be beaten and thrown
in jail like Paul and Silas or have pieces of dead cat thrown at them like
Whitfield, although those types of actions and worse cannot be ruled out in
some places in the world where the gospel is preached. But regardless of the
source and shape of the resistance, Paul provides a model for responding.
One thing
Paul doesn’t lose sight of here or in his other epistles is the call of God for
him to preach the gospel. He and the others are confident that God called them
to do this, and they put their trust in God not the people to whom they are
ministering (2:4). I suspect that Paul’s experience on the Damascus road never
left him. His encounter with Jesus and his commission to the Gentiles is what
helped keep him going (Acts 9:1-19). Compounding this was the vision Paul
received one night of a man asking him to come to Macedonia (Acts 16:9-10). I
imagine being beaten and imprisoned in Philippi and run out of places like
Thessalonica and Berea Paul and the others might begin to question whether or
not God really had called them to preach the gospel here.
The central
thing to keep in mind is that your ministry is your calling. It is not just a
job. Granted, it may be the primary way in which your support yourself and your
family. But it can’t be viewed primarily as an occupation. It’s not unusual
today for people to have two or three careers. For some that second or third
career is the ministry. God calls them from business, military or some other
occupation. The difference, however, is your knowing that God called you to it.
It is not something you do to pay the bills and look forward to the weekend and
the next vacation. In many ways, it helps to define you. If we approach ministry with the attitude of
“I was looking for a job when I found this one” then we won’t be able to endure
the challenges of ministry, and there will be some!
Like Paul,
we need remember that ultimately it was not a particular denomination or
mission board that called us to ministry. It was God who touched our heart and
told us to “go.” A pastor friend told me that there were times over thirty
years of ministry that being able to go back in his mind and heart to the call
God laid on him was the only thing that stopped him from walking away
sometimes. Like Moses with the burning bush and Paul on the Damascus road that
day in history is forever engrained in his heart and mind. If someone is
experiencing a serious challenge in their ministry and life I would ask them:
“What is your call?” followed up by: “Are you still following it?” Remembering
our call or reaffirming it is particularly important when we are called to
defend our ministry.
