1 Thessalonans 5:14-15 - We Are All Ministers

Introduction

We find ourselves in the middle of a section where Paul is helping the church of Thessalonica to stay a healthy church.

I say “stay” because Paul has really spent a lot of the letter telling the church how thankful he was for them.

He told them that he was thankful for their faith, hope and love.

He was thankful that they were faithful to sound out the Gospel to the areas around them.

He was thankful that they were staying faithful in the middle of persecution.

And so, for the first 3 chapters of the letters, Paul was basically praising God that the church of Thessalonica was a very healthy church.

In fact, Paul would often in a sense brag to other churches about how healthy and about the example that the church at Thessalonica was.

Then, starting in chapter 4, Paul wrote to help the church to stay healthy.

He told them to take sexual purity seriously in the first part of chapter 4.

He helped them to think right about the Rapture and the Day of the Lord in the last part of chapter 4 and the first part of chapter 5.

In the verses just before our passage today, Paul helped them to have a proper attitude and view of their pastor.

In our text, Paul is addressing the relationships that we should have toward each other as church members.

If a church is to be and to stay healthy, the church members have to minister to each other.

Church isn’t just coming and sitting in the pew and listening to the preaching and leave.

Church is gathering together with our church family.

We’re supposed to be a family.

We’re supposed to develop relationships with one another.

We were designed by God to need the fellowship and friendship and edification of each other.

God calls us sheep and sheep flock together.

We need each other.

The problem is that when you hang around people long enough, you find out that people are sinners.

People sometimes respond wrong to things.

People often have bad attitudes.

People often struggle with the problems of life.

People need to be ministered to.

Often, we think that the pastor is the one who should do all the ministry.

The pastor is a minister.

That’s why I don’t want you call me Reverend.

I don’t deserve reverance.

I am a minister.

I am a servant.

I am here to help you and guide you in the truths of the Word of God.

My calling from God is to pastor you and guide you through life by helping you see what the Bible says about it.

However, that doesn’t mean that the Pastor is the only one who should help those who are struggling.

The Bible is full of verses that speak about:

Loving one another.

Edifying one another.

Encouraging one another.

Submitting to one another.

Being accountable to one another.

As a church family, we are called to help each other and to consider one another and to provoke each other to love and good works as Hebrews 10:24-25 says.

That’s the idea behind our text tonight.

That’s what Paul was exhorting the church members of the church of Thessalonica to do.

He said “we exhort you, brethren.”

If you look at verse 12, Paul said, “And we beseech you, brethren.

In verses 12-13, Paul was addressing all the church members as “brethren” and helping them see that if they want to stay a healthy church, they would need to have a proper relationship with their pastor.

And so, that was obviously addressing the entire church family.

In our passage, he uses the same term, “brethren.”

He is saying to stay healthy, you will need to have the right relationship with each other.

These commands that Paul gives are not commands to the pastor.

These are commands to the church family as a whole.

In church life, there will be members who struggle along the way.

There will be members who will be “unruly.”

There will be members who are “feebleminded.”

There will be members who will be “weak.”

A large part of our church staying a healthy church will hinge on how we respond to people who are struggling.

A healthy church is not a church that has no problems.

That is a fantasy church that doesn’ exist.

A healthy church is a church that responds properly to problems.

There are three basic things we need to remember as we deal with problems in the church.

Deal with problems with discernment.

Deal with problems with patience.

Deal with problems with compassion.

Deal with problems with discerment. (v. 14)

We need to make sure we understand what they problem is and the best way to respond.

Paul gave 3 categories of problems that most problems in a church will fall under.

You need to first decide if the person you are dealing with is:

Unruly

Feebleminded

Weak

Paul said to warn the unruly.

The word “unruly” was a term that was often used in military referring to an insubordinate solider.

A soldier who knew his command or duty, but for whatever reason chose not to do it.

Maybe they didn’t agree with the officer.

Maybe they were simply too lazy to keep post.

Maybe they didn’t understand the importance of their role in the battle.

They would not be ruled.

They refused to fall in line with command.

They are in outright rebellion.

In churches, there are will be times when you notice another church member who is in rebellion to God.

They know what God wants them to do, but for whatever reason, refuse to do that.

Maybe they know they should be in church and they really have no reason not to be, but they just stay home.

Maybe they know they shouldn’t be in a certain kind of relationship, but they still choose to keep it.

Maybe they know they shouldn’t gossip and slander people, but they continue to do so.

Maybe they don’t fully understand why God asks that of them.

Maybe they just don’t want to make the effort.

You can’t and you shouldn’t try to read their minds and figure out why they are doing what they’re doing, but you do know that they are purposefully rebelling against what they know that God wants them to do.

How do you respond to someone like that?

Paul said to “warn” them.

When you warn someone, you are lovingly pointing out to them the danger of what they are doing.

You’re helping them to see that the road they are going down is going to bring pain.

It will bring pain to them and it will most likely bring pain to those around them.

Sin destroys.

If you love someone, you can’t let them walk down a path that will hurt them and not warn them.

The point is not to shame them, but to warn them.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:14

1 Corinthians 4:14 KJV 1900

I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.

Paul loved the members of the church at Corinth.

They were living in a rebellion toward God, and Paul understood that living this way would destroy them.

It wouldn’t be loving of Paul to just ignore the problem, so he had to warn them.

But Paul didn’t just want to shame them.

Often, when we notice someone in sin, we want to shame them.

We confront them in anger and want to make sure they get a piece of our mind.

We want to make sure they understand just how they made us feel and how wrong they were.

Or, we talk to others about what we saw, and multiply the shame.

Unfortunately, we often revel in other people’s shame.

As Christians, we are called to cover shame.

1 Peter 4:8 KJV 1900

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

Covering sins doesn’t mean that you ignore it, it means that you cover the shame.

You don’t make a spectacle of sins.

You only tell those who need to know.

Another way we often respond is by ignoring it.

We see our fellow church family member about to hurt themselves and we say nothing.

We think, “Well, I’ll let the pastor or someone else deal with it.”

We think, “it’s none of my business.”

Well, the Bible says that if you notice a fellow church family member being unruly, it just became your business.

You can’t just let them walk off a cliff and not say anything.

Now, that doesn’t mean to you need to approach them from a position of superiority as if you’re better than them.

No, no, you approach them as one sinner to another.

You’re no better than them, and again you’re not there to belittle or shame them, but it is your responsibility to warn them.

If you’re not sure how to do that or what to say, then it might be appropriate to talk to me about and get counsel about how to deal with it, but what we cannot do is ignore it and just watch them walk down that path without warning them.

They don’t have to heed the warning.

We don’t have to force them to do anything.

If they want to walk down the path anyways, we can’t do anything about that.

But we need to warn them.

And so, when you see someone who is unruly, wayward, heading down a wrong path, you need to warn them.

Paul said to comfort the feebleminded.

The second category Paul addressed is the feebleminded.

Literally, this word means “little souled.”

These are the discouraged.

These are the anxious.

These are the insecure.

These are the overwhelmed.

Sometimes, a church member will become overwhelmed with the circumstances of their lives, and it will cause them to become feebleminded.

Our job is to “comfort” them.

We don’t deal with them the same way we deal with someone who is unruly.

We are gentle with them.

We are encourage them.

We console them.

We affirm the truth of the Word of God to them.

Most likely, they are struggling to remember truths about God.

Remind them that God is good.

Remind them that God has a plan.

Remind them that God loves them and wants to use this for good.

Maybe Satan has deceived them and lied to them.

Help them recognize the lies they are believing.

Help them to look past their feelings and what ifs and to hold on to what they know to be true.

Help them to see that they aren’t alone.

Help them to see that our church isn’t not against them, but actually desperately wants to help them.

All of this comes from a heart of consolation and comfort.

Paul said to support the weak.

Someone who is weak is limited.

Maybe they are weak in their faith in the sense that they are limited in their knowledge of Scripture and how to deal with certain situations of life.

They need someone to support them.

Someone to teach them.

Someone who is there to answer their questions and help them apply the Word of God to their lives.

Maybe they’re weak morally and are limited in their ability to overcome temptation.

Again, there is no place to shame them or belittle them.

They need us to support them.

They need accountability.

They need us to encourage them with the Word of God

They need someone to remind them that Christ has already given us the victory and the Holy Spirit can help them overcome any temptation.

Maybe they need us to help them put up barriers and boundaries and help them stay away from situations that would tempt them.

This is what Paul meant by “support.”

It means to build up

It means to be devoted to them.

Often we get annoyed when someone seems to struggle over and over again, but we need to devote ourselves to them and build them up and help carry their burden.

And so, we deal with each problem with discernment.

We also need to deal with problems with patience. (v. 14)

Paul said to be patient to all men.

Why did Paul have to tell us to be patient?

If we’re not careful, this whole process can get pretty frustrating.

People often take longer to grow that what we think is reasonable.

Unruly people often take a lot of warnings before they get on the right path.

Feebleminded people sometimes take what feels like endless comforting.

It seems like right after we pick up the weak they fall again.

It can be so exhausting, so frustrating.

When people don’t change like we feel they should at the speed we feel they should, we are tempted to give up.

We need to be patient.

It’s not about results, it’s about obeying God and giving people a chance.

We need to deal with problems with compassion.

In verse 15, Paul said