1 Thessalonians 4:9-12
The Transparent Christian Life

Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

New International Version

Paul was so thankful for the followers in the city of Thessalonica! They were faithful and enthusiastic in their generosity and love, and their strong Christian spirit inspired and encouraged other believers throughout the region of Macedonia. Repeatedly in his letters, Paul commended the Thessalonians for the maturity and spirituality they showed, and he encouraged them to do even more of the same.

Notice specifically what Paul identified in their lifestyle that made them such effective, positive, and contagious Christians. There are three characteristics Paul praised in this passage:

"Lead a quiet life"

With our tendency for "hero worship," this behavior may sound surprising, even misguided and wrong! However, people have struggled since the Garden of Eden to let God be God and to stop trying to be like God themselves. We read how Moses fell into this trap in Numbers 20. At Meribah, he responded boldly to the people's complaints, but in doing so, he failed to trust God to address their needs when and how God intended. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for their loud, public prayer performances in Matthew 6, accurately identifying that their prayers were intended to praise themselves, not praise God.

When was the last time you praised an evangelist for living quietly? When was the last time you obeyed God's call to quietly serve? But Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 53:7 that this would be how Jesus would live: "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth." What Pilate found so amazing and admirable about Jesus in Matthew 27:13 was that Jesus remained silent, not arguing against any of the absurd charges against him. Because the human Jesus was quiet, God could convince Pilate of the holy innocence of Jesus.

Our focus must always be on what God sees in us, and about what God is doing through us. When we allow ourselves to be distracted by what others think, we are no longer following God. When we design our actions for the impact they have on others, and even worse, when we take it on ourselves to do "God's" work in our way and by our power, we are not serving God at all.

"Mind your own business"

Gossip is a terrible, subversive sin against other people. Similarly, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount warned against judging other people, for to do so presumes God's authority to be the Judge. Sometimes we sin when all we want to do is help someone else, if we find that our "help" tears down rather than builds up the other person.

Jesus commanded that we love other people, and we must respect people if we are to love people as God loves them. To witness this respect in action, think of several stories in Jesus' life when he showed respect to women whom the religious leaders had judged harshly, even condemned. Jesus offered living water to the woman of Samaria. He told the adulteress to "go and sin no more." He responded with forgiveness and love to the sinful woman who washed his feet at the Pharisee's dinner in Luke 7. If Jesus, who knew all about their sins, could treat these women with respect, shouldn't we also treat others with respect and dignity, whether they "deserve" our respect or not?

"Work with your hands"

We don't know how Jesus supported himself during his three-year ministry, but we might note the absence in the Gospels of disciples passing the offering plates during Jesus' sermons. We do know that Paul was adamant about supporting himself during his missionary journeys by making and selling tents. Paul felt strongly that servants of God should not require the financial support of other Christians, so that tithing would be a gift to God instead of an obligation to a person. Paul also prized the humility of all believers at work for the good of the whole. He worded this idea more forcefully in 2 Thessalonians 3:11, when he wrote that those unwilling to work should not eat.

Paul was also concerned that those who lived off the work of others owed a debt to those others that would interfere with their debt to God. If Paul had depended on the financial support of the Corinthian church, he would have feared giving them the harsh criticism from God that they needed to hear. We find in our modern lives many obvious and subtle forms of debt that pull at our allegiance and limit our ability to respond to God's call.



Paul made it clear in this passage why it is important to live in quiet humility to God, showing respect and love for all people, and staying free of allegiances other than to God. In these ways, we can be obedient vessels for God's love to touch people around us. The influence we are commanded to have on their lives is one that shows our love for God and God's abundant love for us. We are to show how God loves every person, not just "good" people or Christians, because our humility acknowledges that we love God because God first loved us. We want our lives to become transparent to others, so they can see for themselves who God is. As the hymn text reminds us, we show our love for God and for others best when we "let others see Jesus in you."