I Thessalonians 2:9-13 embrace two segments of the letter. 2:9-12 is part of a segment that begins in verse 1, having the theme of the example of Paul and the defense of his ministry among the Thessalonians. Verse 13 begins an unusual second thanksgiving contained in the letter.
Paul adopts elements of the classic Greek form of paraenesis, or moral exhortation, and weaves them into this letter. His team are examples for the church to emulate. He also proclaims his love for the Christians in Thessalonica. Chapters 1-3 emphasize the relationship between Paul’s team and the readers, providing a basis for his instructions to them in Chapters 4-5. This is the pattern of the paraenetic style, holding up an example and describing lit in detail in order to list characteristics that the reader is to emulate. The difference is that the goal of the classic philosophical argument is to guide the reader into the good life, while Paul gentile moves his readers into the way that is appropriate to God (verse 12).
In I Thessalonians 2: 9-12, we have a presentation of the example of the missionaries. Part of the teaching style of the time was to point to the example provided by virtuous people. Paul points to the example of his missionary team. Their lives provide an example of authenticity. 9 You remember (Μνημονεύετε) our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. They did manual labor in order to sustain themselves. Paul’s point is striking, since manual labor was held in disdain especially by members of the upper classes in Thessalonica and elsewhere. Paul gave up his rights for the sake of his message. He does not mention that they also received financial support from Philippi (Philippians 4:15-16). They gave up their right to ask the people of Thessalonica to support them so that they would not become a burden. This allowed them to focus while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. Yet, Paul and his team did not simply have a set of teachings to communicate. They communicated their message through the way they lived among the people and the city. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers. In classic Greek moral argument, such an example provided by the team gave the people something to emulate. It also provided an argument on behalf of their message. Paul takes this traditional rhetorical structure of his time and turns it to point toward the God whose gospel he proclaims. He uses the analogy of ministry among them: 11 As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children. In the Hellenistic and Roman world, the teacher and student relation resembled the education that occurred between parent and child. Discipleship and conversion were a process resembling the education of children. He uses similar imagery in I Corinthians 3:1-2, 4:15, Galatians 4:19, and Philemon 10. He refers to them throughout the letter as his brothers and sisters. Such language binds the missionary team closely to the readers of the letter through their experience of a spiritual family. Building this type of relationship between the team and the people may replace the closeness of their biological families, which they might have lost as they embraced their new faith. His autobiographical style was typical among Hellenistic philosophers.[1]
Let us pause for a moment. Congregations need leaders, of course. Paul was an impressive leader. Yet, congregations need people who take the role of spiritual parenting seriously. Congregations need spiritual mothers and fathers. They need people who emerge from within the congregation. They need pastors who accept the responsibility of spiritual parenting. As with all forms of human parenting, instruction occurs in the way one works, build one’s character, and uses words. In such ways, either biological or spiritual parents guide their children away from harm and toward a good and healthy way.
As a loving spiritual parent, Paul and his team used the powers of words: 12 urging and encouraging you and pleading, evoking the image of a patient and loving parent guiding the children away from harm and toward a good and healthy way. that you lead (walk peripatein The LXX uses the term to translate the Hebrew word halak, denoting a commitment or persistence in adhering to a direction or set of requirements (see, e.g., Isaiah 38:3; Jeremiah 9:13; Proverbs 28:6). Paul is calling on his readers to live or walk in a way that will be worthy or appropriate to the God who is calling, a life worthy of God. God is not calling them into uncertainty or nothingness; instead this is the God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. God is not calling them into uncertainty and nothingness. The consummation of the lordship of Christ is identical with divine glory.[2] The end of the life they lead, the walk or journey of their lives, is one they already know. The end is in the future and cannot yet be seen clearly, but it is certain as a promise from God (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:50-57).
I am thinking of the power of example. During World War II, there was a village called Le Chambon in France. Unlike other towns, this one did not allow the Nazis to take the Jewish people from their midst. Rather, they hid them. Mr. Hailie went to the village, wondering what sort of courageous, ethical heroes who risked their lives like this could live in this village. They must be extraordinary people. And yet, as he interviewed people, he was overwhelmed by how ordinary they were. They were not especially insightful or daring. The one experience which united them was their attendance on Sunday morning at the little church where pastor Trochme preached. He believed that over time, the people came to know what was right, and then they did it. When the Nazis came into town, they quietly did what was right. One lady said: "Pastor always taught us that there comes a time in every life when a person is asked to do something for Jesus. When our time came, we knew what to do."[3]
One day, St. Francis of Assisi said to several of his followers: "Let us go to the village over the way and preach. As they went, they met someone loaded down with a personal burden. Francis was in no hurry. He sat down and listened. When they arrived in the village, Francis talked with the shopkeepers, spent time with the farmers as they were selling their fruits, and played with the children. On the way back, they met a farmer with a load of hay, and Francis spent time with him. The morning now gone, they reached the monastery from where they ha set out in the early morning. One of the followers was disappointed. "Brother Francis, you said, you were going to preach. The morning is spent and no sermon has been given." Francis replied, "But we have been preaching all the way."[4]
This passage reminds or informs us that spiritual parenting requires that we walk with Christ ourselves while we walk alongside others. An African proverb says that if you want to travel fast, go alone. If you want to travel far, go together. It clearly involves work. We parent with our words. We parent by offering the gift of our time. We have chosen to spend the precious and finite time we have with these people. We parent with the character we have built and continue to build in the relationships and circumstances of our lives. Could we say that we “catch” spiritual life as much as someone teaches it to us?
There is no other way to the happiness for which we were made. Good things as well as bad, you know, are caught by a kind of infection. If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has sent them. . . .There is a great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very center of reality. If you are close to it, the spray will wet you: if you are not, you will remain dry.[5]
First, real spiritual parenting involves work. Just as a parent works to support the family, so Paul and his companions worked to support themselves as they ministered among the Thessalonians. Sadly, much of work can consume us as parents that our marriages and children end up paying for it. To make such a mistake is to forget that our work is a vocation, a calling from God. The purpose of this work by Paul, however, was to bring him closer to his spiritual children. Paul shared not only the gospel, but also himself (verse 8)
One of the things that spiritual parenting involves is recognizing that we proclaim the gospel in word and deed. Our primary work as mothers and fathers in the faith is not the acquisition of stuff for stuff’s sake, but rather to see our work — our jobs, our careers — as means to an end and not the end itself. Our real work is to invest the bulk of our energy, time, effort and resources into raising others up to have a relationship with Christ.
Second, spiritual parenting requires that we walk with Christ ourselves while we walk alongside others. Paul is not self-righteous and arrogant here, even though it may sound like it to our ears. Rather, Paul is willing to be a role model to these young Christians. He recognizes the importance of authenticity. He walks the walk. He does not just talk the talk. Too many parents will say to their children something like, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Many athletes and celebrities will say the same thing. “Do not live as I do. I am not your role model.”
We who are parents must realize that, when it comes to our kids, more is caught than taught. Our children will watch us closely to learn what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Many of us know the pain of our children rejecting what we have shown them. They will develop their walk, and it may be quite different from our walk.
Third, this passage reminds us of the need to use personal words as we lead our families at home and at church. Paul’s spiritual parenthood involved using words to urge, encourage, and plead that these people live lives worthy of God. The best gift we can give our children is time — face time, one-on-one time, time to listen and to encourage, time to just enjoy being with them.
A saying on a tomb at Westminster Abbey that goes like this:
When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country. But it, too, seemed immovable. As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it. And now as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If I had only changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family. From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country and, who knows, I may have even changed the world.[6]
Pastors must lead a congregation, of course. They need to learn management and leadership skills. However, Paul says he viewed himself as the spiritual parent of the congregation in Thessalonica. As with all parents, pastors must work. They work with the congregation to establish goals. Such goals usually include spiritual, numerical, and financial growth. The goal always includes making disciples for Jesus Christ. As with all parents, pastors do not lead perfect lives. In our time, with clergy scandals so prevalent, we hardly need that reminder. Yet, pastors must accept the responsibility of being an example to others. As with all parents, pastors must use words to encourage and correct. They do so in their teaching, counseling, prayers, general conversation, and preaching.
This kind of cooperation may be part of the way God has made us. Michael Tomasello was running experiments with infants who were just beginning to walk and talk. “He had those infants engage with an adult stranger they had met moments before,” reports Duke Magazine. “They were put in situations where they could help the adult solve some simple problem, from fetching out-of-reach objects to opening cabinet doors when the adult’s hands are full. They were, as it turned out, eager to help.” From a very early age, says Tomasello, they could understand the goals of another person and cooperate with them in a self-giving way.
Tomasello elaborated on the human-chimp gap in a 2011 paper in Nature, one of the world’s leading science journals. One experiment had 2- or 3-year-old children in a room without adults; they were faced with the task of pulling together to bring a board, basically a seesaw, toward them. On each end of the board were two small toys that could be accessed once the board had been pulled close enough. As the children pulled, the toys rolled toward them; one child ended up with three toys, while the other ended up with one. The “lucky” child, who had gained three toys, made one of the toys available to the “unlucky” partner, who had gained one — so that they ended up with the same number. A parallel experiment focused on chimps. The “lucky” chimp never tipped the reward to the “unlucky” partner; the chimp took the reward for itself. For humans, it was all about restoring equity. For chimps, it was all about grabbing what was available to be grabbed. “The most basic comparative fact is that, in situations of free choice with rewards for both partners identical, 3-year-old children mostly collaborate with a partner, whereas chimpanzees mostly choose to go it alone.”[7]
I Thessalonians 2:13 is part of a segment extending to verse 16 and begins a second thanksgiving. Such a second thanksgiving was not typical in the letters of the day, so it would have drawn attention. 13 We, Paul and his companion missionaries, also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers. Paul restates his thanks in a narrower focus, limited to the action of the Thessalonians in accepting the gospel as God’s word and not as a human word. His joy is based on the Thessalonians’ acceptance and ratification that the word is indeed from God and not from human messengers. Christian preaching must show itself to be the word of God to hearers.[8] One first hears and receives the message. It penetrates mind and heart. When welcomed, it proves that the hearer acknowledges that God has been speaking through the missionaries. Receiving the word in this way produces spiritual life and fruit.
Paul regularly thanked God for the congregation. Every pastor can do that, even on a first Sunday. The people of the congregation have already faithfully served God, led the congregation to its present place, and worked with previous pastors. I thank God for you.
[1] (Raymond F. Collins, “The First Letter to the Thessalonians,” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary [Raymond Brown, Joseph Fitzmyer and Roland Murphy, ed.; Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1990], 775).
[2] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 627.
[3] Philip Hailie, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed.
[4] Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, #3104.
[5] C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity (1960, 152) writes about the Holy Spirit as being “a good infection.”
[6] Chicken Soup for the Soul (p. 72)
[7] Tomasello, “The Moral Psychology of Obligation,” in Robert J. Bliwise, “What makes us human,” Duke Magazine, Fall 2019, https://alumni.duke.edu.
[8] Systematic Theology Volume 2, 449, Volume 3, 335.
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