Blameless Behavior Series

These 5 verses conclude Paul’s defense of himself to the

Thessalonians, and in them we see clearly that one of the basic

secrets of success is to love your work. Paul’s work was reaching

people with the Gospel and seeing them mature in the Christian life.

He loved this work more than life itself. Paul was the servant of all,

and that is why he was so great. He was saved to serve, and he

served to save. Oliver St. John Gogarty, the Irish poet, was an ear and throat

specialist in his early days. When someone asked him why he left

that profession to take up poetry he said, “I got tired of looking

down people’s throats and listening to them say ah, and then looking

into their ears.” H. Luccock said in response, “What did he expect?

Did he imagine that in his service he would have an endless

succession of fresh bewildering surprises?” Service can often be

monotonous, and that is why Christian service calls for total

commitment and self-sacrifice, for without it the frustrations force

people to give up. We want to examine these verses and see what

kept Paul on the path of blameless behavior in spite of all the

problems he faced.

Verse 8: Paul’s love for these people was evident in his

behavior, for he says he was willing to give himself to them. Paul

had no cold impersonal presentation of the Gospel. He entered into

it with his life. This is an amazing statement when he says not the

Gospel of God only. What does he mean when he says the Gospel

only? You mean there is more? Yes, there is, and there must be if

the Gospel is to be effective. But what can you give more than the

Gospel? You can give yourself. The Gospel costs you nothing.

Freely you have received, and freely you are to give. But to give of

yourself, and to give up what is yours will cost you something, and

this is the plus factor of success. Being a Christian was no mere

profession for Paul, but it was a passion.

Paul had no contract with God. He had no 40 hour week and

retirement funds and health insurance. He had a message to

proclaim, and he was constrained by the love of Christ to give

himself completely to the task. Service that costs us nothing

personally will likely bear little fruit.

Verse 9: Paul made a special effort not to be a burden to people.

He was a burden bearer and not a burden bringer. He worked nights

so that he could spend the days preaching the Gospel.

Fortunately he knew how to make tents. Every Jewish boy was

taught a trade. Gamaliel said, “He that teacheth not his son a trade,

doth the same as if he taught him to be a thief.” Paul was taught a

trade and he used it rather than seek support from his Gentile

converts. He avoided all possibility of misunderstanding by offering

the Gospel “Without money and without price.”

The fact that Paul was so cautious about money and support in

dealing with his converts indicates that tithing is a commitment of

mature Christian responsibility. It is no part of the saving Gospel,

and Paul did not mention the idea to these people. This is interesting

because failure to follow Paul’s wisdom has lead to much superficial

and materialistic Christianity. In my limited experience I have met

a number of professing Christians who were fed up with the church

because of its demands for money. What has happened is that these

people were burdened with financial commitments to the church

before they were spiritually mature and committed to Christ and the

work of the church.

These people had no joy in giving because there was no sense of

involvement and no sense of delight in sharing a common goal. Paul

was more concerned about getting mature believers than in getting

givers, for he knew that in the long run the mature believers would

become the greatest givers. Failing to follow Paul’s method has lead

many churches to produce flocks of discontented sheep who feel that

the main reason for the existence of the church is to keep them

sheered.

Verse 10: What a statement! No man would dare to make it

unless it was true. Paul appeals to their memory, and to God also to

bear witness. His behavior was holy, righteous and blameless. Paul

never claimed to be perfect, and he admitted he had not yet attained,

but was always pressing on. He makes it clear, however, that for all

practical purposes the Christian can live a blameless life before the

world and fellow believers. Paul is not making himself a special

case, for he uses the plural to include Timothy and Silas also.