1 Thessalonians 2:5-12

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.

 

Ministry requires a variety of ways of meeting the needs of other people.  This is because people are different from one another and because people have different needs at different times of their lives.  Successful ministry will require both perception and flexibility.  We must be able to discern what people need and how they need to be cared for as well as have the adaptability to provide for the wide variety of people and needs we will encounter.  Paul describes his ministry using three different characters that illustrate these truths.

 

LOVE LIKE A MOTHER: Mothers don’t care about what people think, how much they get paid, want to be rewarded or recognized for what they do; they just love their children.  Mothers don’t make demands of support from their children; they treat them with gentleness.  If we are going to reach and impact the people around us with the Gospel, we must love them with great affection.  Sacrifice and suffering are a vital part of the mission to advance the Gospel to the lost and unreached places of the world.  Throughout history, the lives of believers have been sacrificed so that the unreached can hear and eventually respond to the Gospel.  Unconditional and limitless love for the lost was a key to the success of Paul’s ministry.  We must love those we seek to reach with the love of a mother.

 

SERVE LIKE A WORKER: Advancing the Gospel is hard work.  It takes a tremendous amount of time, effort, and resources to take the Gospel to places where it has never been.  Paul and his team would work making tents to sell in order to support themselves but spent as much time as possible, even to the point of going hungry, to minister the Gospel to the lives of others.  Working night and day to serve people that are plotting to kill you is not an easy task.  The unreached places of this world are not easy places to live and are not populated by friendly faces that are waiting for someone to come reveal the truth to them.  Most unreached people live in extremely hot and isolated places where surviving takes great effort.  Most unreached people do not want to be reached and are willing to inflict pain and death to remain that way.  A tireless work ethic and a courageous willingness to suffer and die for the Gospel were the trademarks of Paul’s ministry.  We must serve those we seek to reach with a servant’s spirit.

 

DISCIPLNE LIKE A FATHER: Fathers must walk the walk and talk the talk.  Leadership is most effective when it is exemplary.  However, leadership is far more than setting a good example.  Leadership requires us to call others to follow and hold them to high standards.  Paul describes his example as being holy, righteous, and blameless.  Paul does not have any delusions of achieving a sinless perfection.  However, his reputation before men who could not see his heart was one of holiness.  Fathers are called to discipline their children.  Paul describes this work as exhorting, encouraging, and charging.  Leaders call people to a level of faithfulness that is greater than they are currently demonstrating.  Fathers long to see their children reach their full potential and discipline them so this will be accomplished.  This is balanced by encouragement that recognizes and celebrates the progress that is being made.  Leaders must be encouragers.  Discipleship involves inspiration and challenging our disciples to rise to new heights in their walk with the Lord.  Discipleship through discipline were the methods Paul used to make his ministry.  We must discipline and disciple those the Lord allows us to reach.

 

APPLICATION: Pray for God to give us a love for the lost and then seek for ways to demonstrate sacrificial love to the people around us.  Be willing to get up early and stay up late to serve the people the Lord places in our lives.  Be a godly example and call others to follow us in godliness as leaders in the kingdom.