1 Thessalonians 2

intro

Discovering the New Testament: An Introduction to Its Background, Theology, and Themes, Volume II: The Pauline Letters (Mission in the Workplace (Tentmaking))

MISSION IN THE WORKPLACE (TENTMAKING)

Another aspect of Paul’s mission has been increasingly recognized in recent years: evangelism in Paul’s tentmaking workshop. The origin of Paul’s tentmaking is either a trade he learned from his father (possibly related to his father being a Pharisee) or something he learned in Jerusalem during his training to be a Pharisee.21 As a skēnopoios Paul may have worked with cilicium or goat’s hair from his native province, Cilicia. Some suggest that Paul did not use leather, as the tanning of leather was a despised trade among Jews. It may be that, after working with cilicium with his father, he moved to leatherwork after Christ transformed his views on ritual purity. If so, he would have made contact with gentiles through his workshop.

Tentmaking involved the manufacture and repair of many leather and woven goods, including tents. The higher social classes disdained such work, and his stained hands would have made Paul the object of ridicule in upper-class circles (cf. Acts 17:12, 19; 19:31; Rom 16:23). If he worked with leather, Jews may have also criticized him. So, it may have been a controversial dimension of his mission strategy. The work was physical and arduous (1 Thess 2:9; 2 Thess 3:8; Acts 20:34–35; 1 Cor 4:12). Paul’s work seems to have been an exhausting, all-day affair. The Western text of Acts 19:9 suggests that Paul taught between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. It’s likely he taught during the siesta and worked from dawn until 11:00 a.m., then from 4:00 p.m. until evening. He probably spent many of his evenings teaching in homes.

Paul’s trade has been largely neglected in discussions about his missionary strategy until recent years. This changed partly because scholars started to define Paul’s missionary strategy in relation to the record in the Epistles rather than that in Acts. Even though in Acts Luke records that Paul was a tentmaker (Acts 18:3), he doesn’t highlight it as a means of evangelism. However, the Epistles show the importance of tentmaking to Paul ( see 1 Cor 9:1–19; 2 Cor 11:8–10; 12:14–15; 1 Thess 2:1–9; 2 Thess 3:6–12). These texts show a range of reasons for Paul’s choice to be a tentmaker, including:

1. He did not want to hinder the gospel of Christ. Living under patronage might have hindered his freedom to preach what he wanted; he would have been expected to fulfill the expectations of his patron, and/or he might have been seen as a peddler of the gospel ( 1 Cor 9:12, 18; 2 Cor 2:12).

2. It was good to be self-supporting ( 1 Cor 9:15).

3. It was beneficial for his relationship with God and eternal reward to be self-supporting (1 Cor 9:17).

4. It was culturally inappropriate to accept money from his recipients as he preached the gospel. He would be charged with accusations of preaching for the money (i.e., peddling the gospel [2 Cor 2:12]).

5. He did not want to be a burden upon those (especially the poor) to whom he preached 2 Cor 11:9; 12:13–16; 1 Thess 2:9; 2 Thess 3:8).

6. As the “father” of his churches, he should provide for them rather than be provided for 2 Cor 12:14).

7. He did not want to accept patronage and be accountable to anyone other than God.

8. He intentionally wanted to be a model of someone who combined work and evangelism(2 Thess 3:6–10).

Robert Hock is the scholar most instrumental in recognizing this dynamic in Paul’s ministry. He argues that Paul engaged in workplace mission. He paints the picture of how it might have looked for Paul

In this way, Paul gives a methodology for ministry “without burden.” This approach could be valuable as today’s church seeks to engage its culture more effectively. In fact, this is often the only way of gaining access to many countries resistant to Christian evangelization. Paul’s approach also challenges televangelism and other such ministries that open the way for accusations of “peddling the gospel.”

This tentmaking approach should cause believers to read Paul’s letters carefully, keeping the “workplace” in the back of their minds always. He was not a cleric or a financially supported “faith-living” evangelist. Rather, he was a self-supporting working man. Paul should be “declericalized” and seen not as a professional pastor/missionary but as a self-supporting missionary. His intentional modeling of workplace Christianity should be seriously considered, as his appeals for lifestyle Christianity have immediate application in the workplace. For example, his call to “pray continually” means “pray in all situations, including your workplace through the day!” Or “rejoice in the Lord always” invites believers to “rejoice everywhere, whether it is at home with the family, on the sports field, etc.” Or “contend for the faith of the gospel” means “contend for the gospel in all situations including the marketplace.” Paul modeled workplace mission—and he may have reached many of his converts in his tentmaking shop.

1 Thessalonians 2:8 -10(NLT)

8 We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.

9 Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that we would not be a burden to any of you as we preached God’s Good News to you.

10 You yourselves are our witnesses—and so is God—that we were devout and honest and faultless toward all of you believers.

Jon Courson’s Application Commentary (Chapter 2)

Paul was like a working brother. He labored to support himself so as not to burden the Thessalonians

Guzik

Paul’s self-support and hard work among the Thessalonians demonstrated that his motives were pure (8–9)

i. It has been said that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Paul gave both his care and his knowledge to the Thessalonians.

c. For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil: Paul recognized his right to be supported by those he ministered to 1 Corinthians 9:14, but voluntarily gave up that right to set himself apart from missionaries of false religions. Paul denied his rights and took a higher standard upon himself.

i. “Paul means by the phrase, night and day, that he started work before dawn; the usage is regular and frequent. He no doubt began so early in order to be able to devote some part of the day to preaching.”

11 And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children.

Finally, Paul was like an encouraging father as he exhorted the believers to walk worthy of God.

Paul is a wonderful model for all who serve the Lord. Oh, that we might be like nursing mothers who aren’t angry with the demands and cries of our children, like brothers who are working together and relating to one another, like fathers who are not afraid to speak the truth.

12 We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory.

13 Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.

Paul is thankful that they welcomed the Gospel as God’s message, not man’s (13)

How closely are the written Word and the living Word—Jesus Christ—related? Both are Truth John 14:6; John 17:17). Both are Light (John 8:12; Psalm 119:105). Both are Bread (John 6:35; Matthew 4:4). People ask why we spend so much time teaching Bible studies. Why do we have retreats where we study Scripture? Why do we get together virtually every night of the week to open the Word? It is because we firmly believe that this is the very Word of God, and that it will radically alter and influence any person who spends time in its pages.

c. Which also effectively works in you who believe: Paul’s confidence in the word of God wasn’t a matter of wishful thinking or blind faith. He could see that it effectively works in those who believe. God’s Word works, it doesn’t only bring information or produce feelings. There is power in the word of God to change lives.

i. “The powerful working of God is usually expressed by this word, Ephesians 1:19; Philippians 2:13; and the working of Satan also, Ephesians 2:2. Men possessed with the devil are called energumeni. And where the word is believed and received as the word of God, there it hat this energy, or worketh effectually, so as to promote love, repentance, self-denial, mortification, comfort, and peace.” (Poole)

1 Thessalonians 2:14–16 (NLT)

14 And then, dear brothers and sisters, you suffered persecution from your own countrymen. In this way, you imitated the believers in God’s churches in Judea who, because of their belief in Christ Jesus, suffered from their own people, the Jews.

15 For some of the Jews killed the prophets, and some even killed the Lord Jesus. Now they have persecuted us, too. They fail to please God and work against all humanity

16 as they try to keep us from preaching the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles. By doing this, they continue to pile up their sins. But the anger of God has caught up with them at last

1 Thessalonians (2. The Thessalonians Welcomed Suffering When They Welcomed the Word, Yet They Stood Steadfast (14–16))

The Thessalonians welcomed suffering when they welcomed the Word, yet they stood steadfast (14–16)

“You are following in the footsteps of the Jewish believers in Judaea who are also persecuted by their countrymen,” Paul tells the Thessalonians. He would go on to tell Timothy that all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12).

d. Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins: Here Paul revealed what offended the religious persecutors of the Thessalonians so much. They were outraged that Gentiles could be saved without first becoming Jews. This exclusive attitude filled up the measure of their sins.

e. But wrath has come upon them to the uttermost: Paul comforted the Thessalonians by assuring them that God would indeed take care of their persecutors. When Christians forget this, they often disgrace and curse themselves by returning persecution for persecution towards others.

ii. “At the same time we should notice that Paul’s anger is the anger of a man with his own nation, with his own people. He is very much part of them, and he sorrows for their fate.” (Morris)

1 Thessalonians 2:17–20 (NLT)

17 Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again.

18 We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us.

We err whenever we underestimate Satan’s ability to hinder people from service, fellowship, or worship. Although greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world (1 John 4:4), we have a very real adversary who will do whatever it takes to thwart our ministry.

Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 1333.

i. The Thessalonians were mostly Gentile converts, yet when Paul mentioned Satan here, he gave no further explanation. This shows that in the few weeks he was there, Paul taught the Thessalonians much about Satan and spiritual warfare.

19 After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you!

20 Yes, you are our pride and joy.

Jon Courson’s Application Commentary (Chapter 2)

“Yes, we’ve been beaten up in the city,” writes Paul. “Yes, we’ve been chased down by envious Jews. Yes, we’re going through real persecution. But it’s all worth it because you’re getting saved.”

The greatest joy in the world comes from seeing someone for whom you’ve been praying, and to whom you’ve been witnessing, receive Christ. No wonder Jesus tells us that when one person is saved, all of heaven breaks out in rejoicing (Luke 15:7). Truly, joy and evangelism go hand in hand. Thus, my prayer is that we would never lose sight of the privilege, priority, and pure joy of sharing the Good News with people who don’t know Jesus.

d. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Paul assured the Thessalonians that he could never forget them because they were his glory and his joy. His inability to visit should never be taken as a lack of love towards the Thessalonians.

i. Perhaps Paul would say that he didn’t need a crown in heaven because these precious ones were his crown of victory. Those whom we bring to Jesus and disciple are a crown of victory for us.

ii. “Every man who preaches the Gospel should carefully read this chapter and examine himself by it. Most preachers, on reading it conscientiously, will either give up their place to others, or purpose to do the work of the Lord more fervently for the future.” (Clarke)

1 Thessalonians 3—Ap