2 Thessalonians 2:3-13
Carrying the Message

For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.

You remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was towards you believers. As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, urging and encouraging you and pleading that you should lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

We 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.

New Revised Standard Version

The New Testament shares with us the phenomenal effectiveness of Paul the Apostle at spreading Christianity. Paul spoke to huge crowds, to small gatherings, even to fellow inmates, responding to whatever opportunity God provided. Paul witnessed powerfully across many different cultures, including a powerful ministry in Rome and references some scholars say indicate a ministry in Spain. Paul spoke to the poor and powerless and to the rich and powerful alike. He started congregations, he grew churches, he appointed and trained pastors, and he lived out his faith in exuberant fashion. This passage explains a portion of how Paul was such an effective messenger of the Gospel.

In this passage from a letter to the church in Thessalonica, Paul doesn't write so much about the message of the Gospel as he does about how that message should be carried. To Paul, the message was profound and simple: Jesus Christ died so that we could live. In other writings, Paul warned that if the message were made any more complex than just that core truth, the true message would be disguised or diluted in the understanding of those who so needed the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

Paul understood that how this simple message was carried was crucial to how the message would be received. The messenger had to live out the message of God's love, so that the evidence of God's love could be seen in the life of the messenger. Look at these ways in which Paul was faithful to God's message of love by how he related to the Thessalonians:

Honest: On the one hand, the idea of a dishonest evangelist is abhorrent, and of course we should not fall into that sinful behavior. On the other hand, however, there are ways we might "sugar coat" the gospel message to make it more appealing. Paul elsewhere reminded the Thessalonians that he had warned them about likely persecution for their belief. While this might have repelled some people from accepting Christ, Paul's honest teaching allowed this church to stand up under persecution.

Fixated on God: As much as Paul loved the individuals in this church, he expressed repeatedly that his goal was to please God, not to please people. Every one of us wants to be liked by other people, and every one of us enjoys being accepted and praised by other people. But this desire can transform into a sinful temptation that undermines the good news we carry. As much as we want our friends to accept Christ's salvation, we are not the agents of that salvation, merely the messengers, and we must remain true to the One whose message we carry.

Unobtrusive: The Spirit of God is profoundly intrusive and life-altering to those who accept God's gift. God changes us from what sin had made of us to what God intends us to be. That is one of the reasons that we who are God's messengers must do the opposite--we are called to "tread lightly", to be self-sufficient, and to witness with a spirit of gentleness. If we make requests or demands of those with whom we are sharing, we interfere with the message we carry. Paul lived out this standard consistently and aggressively throughout his journey, as we often read of the businesses he set up so that he could support himself.

Generous: If we are to live out this message, we must live out the generosity of God that gave Jesus as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Our giving at its best is a meager token of the expanse of God's grace. So we must give of our possessions, our time, and especially "our own selves", as Paul expressed it, to support the message we carry of how profound and deep the love of God is.

Compassionate: The gospel portrays God as a father waiting at the window, ready to run and embrace his wayward son; as a mother hen, longing to gather her chicks under her protective wings; as a shepherd willing to risk every danger to go find even one lost lamb. Paul wrote of his personal compassion for each person in the church at Thessalonica, urging, encouraging, and pleading that they might faithfully follow God's Way. We as God's messengers show that we have God's love in us by how we express God's love towards others.

Inconspicuous: Finally, we must be certain that the message we carry and share focuses people on God and not on ourselves. The urgency of being inconspicuous is implied in Paul's writing, as he rejoices that this church did not accept the gospel as "a human word". Paul worked with churches that were divided and contentious because their focus was on the evangelist instead of the Savior.


We have a beautiful and eternally valuable message from God to carry to those around us. We must be faithful in carrying that message, and we must be faithful and selfless in how we carry that message, so that its recipients meet God, accept God, praise God, and draw closer to God.