As humans, we seem to have an approval addiction. It can go without saying that we want people to like us. But as Christians, we can’t always have that. Our faith—what we live for—does not always go hand in hand with approval. As soon as Darrell mentioned this last night, I instantly related. You see, I really like to be liked. My friends occasionally threaten to bake me an “insecurity cake” that has the message “Don’t worry, Caity, no one is judging you” on it.The Thessalonians were discouraged because Paul left on a somewhat low note. The officials had tried to arrest him, but couldn’t find him and ended up arresting his host, Jason. They eventually freed Jason, but Paul was forced to leave town. It just felt a little like a failure to the early church. But in verses 1 and 2, Paul encourages them to 1) not think of it as a failure and 2) remember what happened in Philippi. Because of the big commotion that occurred with the nature of Paul’s departure, word was spread about the church. And Paul’s experience in Philippi was way worse in comparison, so they shouldn’t be distraught. (You should check out that story if you are unfamiliar with it. Acts 16:8-40)
In verse 3 Paul reminds them that they did not come to the city with “impure motives” or “trying to trick” the citizens. It’s hard to think that Paul, author of thirteen books of the Bible, could have possibly been suspected of having impure motives. As followers of Christ, we should be viewed similarly as he was, but how often do we let impure motives slip in? How often do we try and make ourselves look better than we actually are? How many times have we slightly modified the truth or changed a subject ever so slightly to bring up something attractive about ourselves? I know I am definitely guilty of this.
Verse 4 talks about Paul’s actions as being approved by God and how they were not trying to please man, but God—a goal for which we all strive. At this point, Darrell mentioned how many times Proverbs mentions the word “heart.” If you have time, check it out. If you write in your Bible, maybe underline all the times it appears. (Darrell even suggested drawing little hearts around the word.) A good way to avoid the approval addiction is to guard one’s heart. The only way to overcome the fear of rejection is to focus on God’s acceptance of us as we are.
Verse 5 mentions flattery and a mask to cover up greed. The difference between flattery and encouragement is that the latter is used to lift up other believers in Christ. Flattery is used to inflate a person and serve the speaker’s purpose. Darrell brought up an interesting suggestion during this part which I intend to try out now when I study the gospel. Today, we are so accustomed to the Pharisees being the bad guys. Whenever we read a story with them, we instantly scoff at what they say. But during Jesus’s time, they were the religious leaders—the ones others looked to for guidance on how to serve God. As Christians today, the world sees us similarly, and how often do we screw up? So when you read a story involving the Pharisees, read Jesus’s words to them as if he were speaking to you. Darrell then read Matthew 23:25-28, where Christ reveals the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He compares them to beautiful tombs filled with death and a clean mug with a filthy inside. They focus so much on looking holy on the outside while their insides—their souls—are unclean. We are challenged to not fall into this trap. We should not be focusing on the outside, (appearance or our actions that others see and thus judge us on) but the inside (where we are with Christ.)
Finally Darrell talked about verse 8, the memory verse for this week. “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our loves as well, because you had become dear to us.” To how many people can you truly say that? Is it a small list? I pray that throughout this semester, as you and others grow in your relationships with Christ together, that that list will become longer.
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