1 Thessalonians 1 – 3
In this day and age we are trying “new” things to attract people to church and hearing the Gospel. Sometimes we need to step back and stay with the tried and true. Verse 1:6 has Paul expressing joy for this exact reason:
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
The formula is simple and easy to follow, just need implement it in the church. Now am I saying we need to go back to the old hymns and no rock? Absolutely not, but don’t lose the Gospel of Jesus in pageantry and flash. Don’t try to “muddle” the message so we don’t offend people, but at the same time don’t read into the word to attract people with false teachings.
We like to think it’s a fine line, but it really isn’t. We get lost in details and miss the overall message of love and forgiveness. Sometimes we focus on one part of God, usually love, and lose the other attributes of God. Once you ignore the whole story, the message can easily get twisted. The focus goes like this, if God is “love” than we “love” the sinner and not the sin. Following this, then the sin soon becomes acceptable and confession is not needed for something not perceived to be a sin. You need to preach the whole Bible and not just the fun parts. Granted the genealogies in some chapters may be ignored or glossed over, but then you would miss the “Prayer of Jabez”.
Verse 2:5 sets the “tone” for preaching:
For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness.
We don’t need to flower up a sermon so not to offend others, but at the same time we do not need to judge. This is the fine line of “loving the sinner and not the sin” message. We can’t flatter the sinner to the point of accepting the sin, or judge to the point of becoming pious.
One of the hotbed issues in the church today is homosexuality and what the Bible says. Both Old and New Testament has the word “abomination” associated with homosexuality. I know many homosexuals from a young age exhibited these traits, which raises the argument they were born that way and therefore why would God “make” a sinner. I have not formed an opinion yet, but really don’t worry about it. If it’s a sin God will deal with it, if it’s not then why should it offend me.
Justice Scalia wrote in a recent Supreme Court dissension comparing the morality of homosexuality to murder and polygamy. Interestingly one cannot be justified while the other has been over history, most recently the Mormon’s and their “interpretation” of multiple wives being ok morally. I don’t think we should blur the lines between sins, but you can see how I get perplexed on how to keep to the word yet understand the true meaning.
One final note on Paul, verse 2:9 shows he came to preach without his hand out:
For you remember, brothers, our labour and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
The one thing that can “blow” a “witness” is if the people feel they are being “worked” to support your lifestyle. I have seen many mega-churches collapse at the indiscretions of their “leader”. Suddenly the donations one makes seems to be wasted on a “philanderer” who does not practice what he preaches. Again this becomes a fine line between the “tithe” and not giving at all. That is something you need to resolve on your giving. My opinion is “10%” goes to God’s work, be that your church or other ministry. As long as the pastor is not “burdening” us with their lifestyle and the church remains pure, it’s works for me.