NOTE:
This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.
› Engagement
When Ellen Degeneres took a selfie with a bunch of celebrities during the 2014 Oscars and posted it on Twitter it became the most re-tweeted post ever. Even today, seven years later, it is still the fourth most shared Tweet of all times.
Self-portraits have been around in some form for a long time, even before there were cameras. But with the dawn of social media, we now live in a world where so many people largely measure their worth and self-value by the size of their digital network. So it’s not surprising that so much effort goes into getting people to like those selfies. In fact, the selfie has made such a tremendous cultural impact that the Oxford Dictionary named “selfie” the 2013 word of the year.
But frankly, that’s only one of many symptoms of the real underlying problem - a culture that is increasingly obsessed with self. I’m convinced this is one of the reasons it has become so hard to have a civil conversation with others who might hold different opinions or viewpoints. And it is also why we’ve seen such an overwhelming focus on individual rights, but hardly any focus at all on our individual responsibilities.
› Tension
Obviously there is a certain amount of focusing on myself that is healthy and even necessary. It’s a good thing to take care of my body by eating healthy and exercising. If I’m going to apply for a job, I do need to paint myself in the best light in order to be hired.
But there is also a tendency in all of us to take that to an unhealthy extreme. I know this is really a cliche, but I think it’s actually very instructive. What is the middle letter in the word “sin”?
SIN
Obviously, it’s the letter “I”. At its core, sin is an unhealthy focus on “I”. We see that with the initial sin in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve weren’t satisfied with God had provided for them and they wanted to have the same knowledge of good and evil that God had. And from that point forward, every sin ever committed by man, including yours and mine, involves man’s selfishness.
So since we are all born with a sin nature, we’re not immune to becoming overly focused on self. I can certainly testify to that in my own life. I think one of my biggest areas of growth as a disciple of Jesus over the last year or so has been a deeper realization of that tendency in my life and understanding how contrary that is to the nature of Jesus. He was completely focused on the needs of others ahead of His own, so much that He willingly gave His life for our benefit. So I'm working really hard on trying to take some practical steps in my life to cause me to be more others focused. But I still have a long way to go. And my guess that this is an area where you probably struggle, too.
› Truth
So as we continue our current sermon series - Living in Light of Eternity - we’re going to let the words that Paul wrote in his letter to the church in Thessalonica help us understand how we can be more effective in carrying out our mission by taking some practical steps to be less focused on self and more focused on others.
1 Thessalonians 2:1–16 ESV
For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
For you remember, brothers, our labor 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. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!
There is a lot to cover here. Early in the week, I wished that I had broken this into some smaller pieces, but then as I continued to study this passage, I began to see a common theme that runs throughout. So it’s probably a good thing to take this passage as a whole and not get too bogged down in the details. When we do that, here is the big idea that pops out:
Churches make an impact for the gospel when they choose to be selfless in a selfie world
During the time of Paul’s ministry, there were a lot of what we might call wandering philosophers. They would travel from town to town to offer their latest teaching. While some of them sincerely believed what they were saying, most were just saying what they thought people wanted to hear so they could make a quick buck here and there.
Paul’s enemies were accusing him of doing the same thing. They claimed that he came into town, spoke some flattering words, made a few bucks and then left town. And then they tried to prove their point by arguing that Paul left town in the middle of the night - which was actually true. As we talked about last week, he had been run out of Thessalonica by some jealous Jews who were worried they might lose their influence over the people there.
So Paul defends himself against those charges here. In spite of the fact that he had repeatedly endured opposition and persecution as a result of his ministry, he continued to preach the gospel because it was the word of God and not just a message of his own making. Not only did he not resort to flattery, but he had worked to support himself while he was in Thessalonica so that no one could claim he was only preaching the gospel for the money.
› Application
So let’s see what we can learn from Paul about...
HOW TO BE SELFLESS IN A SELFIE WORLD
• Believe the Bible is the Word of God
The phrase “the gospel of God” is found eight times in the New Testament and three of those eight uses are right here in this chapter. That phrase indicates that the gospel originates with God and has the authority of God behind it.
Paul reinforces that idea in verse 13:
1 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV
And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
Here, just as we saw in chapter 1 last week, Paul uses the phrase “word of God” as a synonym for the “gospel”. And he reaffirms that the gospel is not just the word of man, but the word of God.
Last month in our monthly Men’s Bible study we talked a lot about the idea of a biblical worldview. That worldview begins with a belief that the Bible is the Word of God. And as we’ve talked about frequently recently, the kind of belief that we’re focusing on here is more than just an intellectual understanding. It is a confidence and trust that is so deeply imbedded that it leads to a change in the way we live our lives.
That is why Paul writes that when we believe that the gospel is the word of God, it will be “at work” (v. 13) in our lives. The underlying Greek word there is the word from which we get our English word “energy”. The idea here is that if we truly believe that the Bible is the Word of God, it will be what energizes every area of our lives.
So here is how you can evaluate whether or not you really believe the Bible. Is it what energizes your schoolwork, your marriage, your parenting, your work, your relationships, your service? Is that your first and main resource when it comes to living out your day-to-day life? If not, then chances are you don’t really believe it is the Word of God.
• Proclaim the Word of God with lips and lives
Hopefully this second point sounds familiar to you. It is the main idea we developed last week from chapter 1.
Let’s start with the idea of proclaiming the Word of God with our lips. Paul expresses this idea using several different synonyms:
…declare to you the gospel of God… (v. 2)
…we speak… (v. 4)
…we proclaimed to you the gospel of God… (v. 9)
…we were ready to share with you… (v. 8)
Paul and his companions did not speak flattering words or just say what they thought the people wanted to hear, so that they might somehow profit personally from their ministry. They stuck to the truth of the gospel, knowing that God would use His Word to test the hearts of those who heard it. They weren’t worried about pleasing men, but rather about pleasing God.
Today, there are many churches who have taken the position that they don’t want to say anything that might offend people. So they don’t talk about sin and they avoid truths from the Bible that go against some of our cultural norms. While I think that approach is often undertaken with the right intentions, I also think it is actually one of the most unloving things we can do. In fact, if there is nothing else you take from this message today, I pray that you will understand this:
The most loving thing we can do for another person is to hold fast to the truth of God’s Word.
Sometimes, it may seem like the most loving thing to do is to “water down” the gospel and try and make it more palatable. I suppose from a secular worldview that does make some sense. Perhaps, we reason, if we can just get someone to accept the gospel, even if we have to use trickery or omit certain aspects that we think people might object to, then eventually they will come around and embrace the gospel in whole. But in reality, just the opposite is likely to happen.
There is a reason that one of the fastest growing businesses here in the U.S. is the timeshare exit industry. I understand that there might be some of you who have purchased a timeshare and are completely satisfied with it. But if that’s the case, you are in the minority. There is a rapidly increasing number of timeshare owners who are trying to get out of their obligations because they feel like they were deceived up front and not informed of things like constantly increasing maintenance fees.
And if we try to water down the gospel or avoid things that we think might offend someone, it’s not hard to imagine that some people will feel deceived and betrayed and we’ll actually end up driving them away from Jesus rather than encouraging them to embrace Him. So I’ll say it again:
The most loving thing we can do for another person is to hold fast to the truth of God’s Word.
But as we discussed last week, we need to testify to the gospel not just with our words, but with our lives. Since we talked at length about that last week, I won’t spend a lot of time on that again today. In this passage, Paul reminds the disciples there in Thessalonica about the example they set while ministering there. They worked to support themselves. They lived a life that was righteous and blameless. And they exhorted the other disciples there to do the same thing.
• Be compassionate
Though we need to speak the truth, we need to do that with compassion and gentleness. In verse 7, Paul writes that he and his companions were gentle, like a nursing mother taking care of her children. So while they were not afraid to speak the truth of the gospel, they did that in a way that didn’t unnecessarily push people away from putting their faith in Jesus. Both Paul and Peter reinforce this idea elsewhere in the New Testament:
Galatians 6:1 ESV
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
1 Peter 3:15–16 ESV
but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
I think those passages speak for themselves.
• Expect opposition
Not surprisingly, the disciples there in Thessalonica were experiencing the same kind of opposition and persecution that the church in Judea had been facing from the very start and that Paul and his companions had faced throughout the entire region of Macedonia.
Unfortunately, we live in a culture where this is increasingly becoming the norm, even here in the United States. We really shouldn’t be surprised at that, given these words of Jesus:
John 15:18–20 ESV
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
We have had people leave this church because we have consistently and unapologetically held to a biblical worldview when it comes to marriage and gender identity. And I can guarantee that if you do that personally, you are going to be called intolerant and labeled as a bigot or even worse. And in some states here in the United States you can now even be charged with a hate crime for doing that. And unless Jesus returns soon, that is going to be just the tip of the iceberg.
So you need to understand up front that holding a biblical worldview is a guarantee that you will face opposition. And, understanding that, you need to make a decision right here and now that you are going to hold fast to the Word of God no matter how difficult that might become.
• Trust the results to God
Paul made it really clear that the goal of his ministry was to please God and not men. Because of that Paul was able to just do what God had called him to do and leave the results to God.
In almost every new city that he entered, Paul first shared the gospel with his fellow Jews by going to the local synagogue. And he was regularly rejected by his own people. And that had to break his heart. But he didn’t let that deter him. When his fellow Jews rejected the gospel, he just went and preached to the Gentiles, who tended to be much more receptive. But Paul’s zeal for sharing the gospel was never dependent on the response of those who heard it.
It is only natural for us to feel rejected when others reject the gospel. But we need to remember that God never holds us responsible for the other person’s response. He only holds us accountable for being faithful to share our faith with others when given the opportunity.
We have seen this morning that...
Churches make an impact for the gospel when they choose to be selfless in a selfie world
› Action
As we close I’m going to ask you to do two things to put this message into practice:
1. First, I’m going to give you a one question test: What was the most important idea to take away from this message today? I repeated it twice earlier: The most loving thing we can do for another person is to hold fast to the truth of God’s Word.
2. The second thing I want to ask everyone to do is to do something very practical to serve someone else this week - something that doesn’t benefit you at all.
Inspiration
The things that we have discussed today are actually pretty easy to understand. But frankly, they are not always easy to put into practice because we are by nature selfish and being selfless doesn’t come easy to most of us. However, if we really believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that the gospel is the only way for people to be made right with God, then we must follow the example of Jesus and willingly give up our own selfish desires and rights for the benefit of others.
Paul ends this section with a sober warning that reminds us of how urgent our task is. While it might be uncomfortable for us to hear, those who do not put their faith in Jesus face God’s wrath - a wrath that begins right now and continues for eternity. I know that none of us want anyone - even our enemies - to experience that. So let’s make sure that we approach the responsibility of sharing our faith with others with the urgency that it deserves.
