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A
MODEL FOR MINISTRY
1 Thessalonians
2:1-12
I. A model for ministry.
A. Most of us aren't ministers, but
all of us minister.
1) Others look up to us for
guidance and wisdom.
2) Are you effective at it?
B. This chapter gives wonderful
advice on influencing people.
1) Paul is defending himself, but
the principles he gives
go
beyond his specific situation.
2) We would do well to understand
them and apply them.
II. Maintain your own integrity first.
A. What Paul was accused of. (Compare television evangelists...)
1) False doctrine.
2:3
a) His opponents were most
likely Jewish outsiders,
not
people in church.
b) They accused him of being
a heretic, and Jewish
converts may
have started to have doubts.
2) Impure motives.
a) Has connotation of sexual
misconduct.
b) Probably nothing specific,
but Christians did a lot
of
hugging and kissing.
3) Trickery.
a) Paul says he is completely
above-board.
b) Not all evangelists have
been - one had secret
earphones
rigged up, others make deceptive claims.
4) People-pleasing. 2:4
a) What is our ultimate
goal? For many, it is to be liked.
b) What does God think? He is the only one who matters.
5) Racketeering.
2:5
a) Greed has brought down
multitudes of people, even
religious
ones.
b) Whenever money is
involved, be careful.
B. Integrity is not claimed, but
lived.
1) Do people ever question your
motives?
a) What is your defense?
b) Are YOU even sure what you
are really after?
2) We should not influence others
unless our own life is in
order.
III. Making a
positive impact.
A. A gentle and motherly
approach. 2:7
1) Shared lives as well as
gospel. 2:8
a) Influence is best done
personally.
1> They developed a
close bond with them.
2> "each one of
you" 2:11
b) Dawson Trotman,
founder of The Navigators, wrote
concerning discipleship
programs:
"Is the answer merely
materials to distribute to
those
who come to Christ?
No, it is obvious from
the experience of successful
follow-up programs,
both in the New Testament and
out of it, that
follow-up is done by SOMEONE, not
by
SOMETHING."
c) People need others to care
for them.
The Menninger Institute in
Topeka, Kansas, once had a
fascinating
experiment.
They identified a group of
crib babies who did not cry.
It seems that babies cry
because they instinctively know
that
this is the way to get attention.
Crying is their way of
calling out.
These babies, however, had
been in abusive situations.
Their parents let hem cry for hours on end and never
responded.
Do you know what happened?
The babies eventually
quit crying.
It is almost as if they
had learned that it was not
worth
trying.
So the Menninger Institute
came in for an experiment.
They got some people from
retirement and from nursing
homes, and every day
these people held these babies
and
rocked them.
The object was to get
these babies to start crying
again.
It worked. Physical touch had made the difference.
As important as physical
touch is there is another
kind
of touch that is even more important.
It is spiritual touch.
This is that special touch
that influences and impacts
the
lives of people.
The telephone company some
years ago had a slogan that
you
probably remember: "Reach out and touch someone."
God wants us to do that in
his name.
2) Hard work.
2:9
a) Influencing people takes lots
of time and toil.
b) Don't begrudge it.
3) Transparent lives. 2:10
a) They weren't trying to
hide anything.
b) Blameless - not sinless
but above-board.
B. A firm and fatherly approach. 2:11
1) Encouraging.
a) Has more a sense of
exhortation or admonishing.
b) Lay a particular course of
conduct before them
and
encourage them to pursue it.
2) Comforting.
a) Cheer them on in the midst
of difficult circumstances.
b) Conforting
is not difficult. Just give
attention.
3) Urging.
a) The solemn weight of
authority, like a dad.
IV. The Goal - Lives Worthy of God.
Other notes:
Expositor's Bible
Commentary:
Vindication Through Methods (2:1-12)
I. Preaching, replete with power (2:1,2)
II. Preaching, removed from untruth (2:3,4)
III. Preaching,
reinforced by godly concern (2:5-12)
A. Evidenced by the absence of lower
motives (2:5-7a)
B. Evidenced by the presence of
higher motives (2:7b-12)
To be biblically
specific, God has given several defining passages
explaining who a
pastor is to be and what a pastor is to do, e.g.
1 Tim 3:1-7; Tit
1:6-9; 1 Pet 5:1-5. But perhaps the
most explicit books
in the NT regarding the work of the
ministry are 1 and 2 Thessalonians.
A careful
analysis of these "pastoral" epistles leads to this basic
"ministry description." A pastor's primary activities include:
1.
Praying 1 Thess 1:2-3; 3:9-13
2.
Evangelizing 1 Thess 1:4-5,9-10
3.
Equipping 1 Thess 1:6-8
4.
Defending 1 Thess 2:1-6
5.
Loving 1 Thess 2:7-8
6.
Laboring 1 Thess 2:9
7.
Modeling 1 Thess 2:10
8.
Leading 1 Thess 2:10-12
9.
Feeding 1 Thess 2:13
10.
Watching 1 Thess 3:1-8
11.
Warning 1 Thess 4:1-8
12.
Teaching 1 Thess 4:9-5:11
13.
Exhorting 1 Thess 5:12-24
14.
Encouraging 2 Thess 1:3-12
15.
Correcting 2 Thess 2:1-12
16.
Confronting 2 Thess 3:6,14
17.
Rescuing 2 Thess 3:15
Paul exemplifies
the character of a pastor and how that character relates
to ministry conduct (1 Thess 2:1-6). He
describes the nature of pastoral
leadership in
terms of a mother (2:7-8), a laborer (2:9), a family member
(2:10), and a father (2:11-12). Though these texts do not exhaust the
subject, they
unmistakably point to Scripture as the appropriate source
from which to answer contemporary questions
about ministry.
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