A Church in Good Health

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4

Copyright September 2, 2018 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

It is hard to know how to be healthy today. I don't know whether I should eat gluten or not eat gluten. Do I load up on carbs or do I go low-carb? Do I fast regularly or will regular fasting mess up my system? Is coffee bad for me (nope!), or is it good for you in moderation? And what after all is a "healthy weight?" The one time I got close to the figure the charts said was healthy, everyone thought I looked like I was dying!

The same can be true in trying to define a healthy church. Some people define health by programs, others by attendance, finances, reputation, missions giving, and a host of other things. We turn to Paul this morning and look at some clues he gives us in the beginning verses of 2 Thessalonians about what a church in good health looks like. Before we turn to the text let's get some background information.

Thessalonica is in the northern part of Greece. In Paul's day it was the capital of Macedonia. I Today as Thessaloniki it is the second most important city of Greece. It was a major city located on a chief highway between Rome and Constantinople. The church in Thessalonica was established by Paul during his second missionary journey. He was only there for three weeks, as a result of his visit, many Jews believed as did a number of Greeks. The strict Jews opposed Paul and started rumors about him. Paul and Silas left to avoid trouble.

When Paul was in Corinth he wrote the church a letter which we know as 1 Thessalonians. In that letter he addressed several issues, among them was the notion that those who died before Christ returned would not get to go to Heaven. Paul spoke clearly that all who believe will forever be with the Lord.

Paul and Silas received a return letter from the church and it became apparent some of the people misunderstood what Paul was saying. They believed the coming of Christ was going to take place quickly and some quit their jobs to prepare. This letter was written while Paul and Silas were still in Corinth (possibly just months after First Thessalonians) to better inform, prepare, and motivate the people. We are hoping this study will do the same for us.

Let's look at the opening words of the letter,

This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy.

We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

3Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. 4We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering. 5And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering.

As in his first letter, Paul starts by describing a healthy church. This is his passion: healthy churches. Paul's words, though not exhaustive, are instructive.

Notice how he defines a Christian: A person who belongs to God. There is a sense in which we have always and will always belong to God because He created us. However, Paul is making a distinction: believers belong to God in a unique and special way. They are not merely His creation, they are His NEW creation. They are people who have been "born again," "reconciled," and "made righteous."

A person who is a true believer is one who has received grace and peace. "Grace" is an undeserved gift. It is undeserved because we have run from God. We have ignored Him whenever it suited our purposes. It is the hidden things: the rebellion, the disobedience, the lusts, the hatred, the way we find satisfaction in the failure of another, the lust to "win" even if it means destroying someone else to get the victory, are the reasons we need grace and are lost without it. We even need grace for the good things. Many of the good things we do are self-serving rather than to honor and glorify the Lord. Our sin stain is deep and we need the Lord to do something for us that we do not deserve and cannot do for ourselves. We need forgiveness.

The only way we can get that forgiveness is through Jesus. His death on our behalf, His offer to make us new, His suffering in our place, makes grace possible. The way we obtain that grace is by putting our confidence not in our ability, resume, or charming personality, but by placing it in Christ as our sufficient sacrifice. It is a gift of greater worth than any gift we can dream of receiving.

When we embrace this gift we find peace. Romans 5:1 tells us,

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

The word here for peace is the word that means shalom in the Old Testament. This peace is a sense of well-being in all aspects of life. We are no longer opponents of God, we are now sons and daughters of the King. We no longer need to worry about what will happen when we die, we KNOW we will share in God's glory. We don't need to fret about the circumstances of life because we know we belong to Him and no situation is beyond His control. We have peace because we are right where we are supposed to be and therefore can be content.

This is what it means to be a Christian. It is to be someone who has been changed in the core of their being.

The Evidence of a Growing Church

When we turn to Christ we are not simply given a pass that we can show when we die, the process of new life begins immediately.

We are involved in scores of relationships. Each of those relationships can grow or shrink. Relationships grow because we tend to them. We spend time with each other. We talk regularly. We work out difficulties. We work to stay connected. Relationships that shrink do so because they atrophy from inattention.

It is just like being in the hospital for a couple of weeks. In just that short period of time it is amazing how quickly you lose strength, energy and utility. If you are incapacitated for much longer than this, you feel like you have to learn to walk all over again. A relationship with Christ is like this, you can grow stronger or weaker depending on what you do and don't do. We are re-born in Christ to grow and develop to maturity.

Weak believers, says commentator Richard Pratt:

Have little confidence of their salvation. This doesn't mean they are not right with God (we are saved by grace not by our confidence). They don't see God working in their lives, so they have no confidence. A lack of confidence inhibits joy and increases fear.

Seldom attempt to do things for God. They do not see the importance and they cannot hear the prompting of God's Spirit. They also tend to be tentative in their commitment to the work of the Lord in the local church.

Are more apt to stumble when tempted to sin. Weak believers have trouble distinguishing the difference between the voice of God and the voice of the tempter. They do not have good handle on the word of God, so they are much more susceptible to error.

Think of it like a student in school. The good student is eager to get involved. They speak up in class, they do their homework. They tend to stay out of trouble because they are busy with studies and extracurricular activities. A poor student is the opposite of those things. They are discouraged so they do not get involved. They are much more subject to hanging with the crowd that will not help them to mature. They hate school.

In the passage before us we are given three indicators of good spiritual health of the church. The First indicator: Faith is Flourishing. In other words, you can see that the people are walking with Christ. You can see it by the things they do, the attitudes they possess and the words they say. Flourishing in the faith is more than just Bible knowledge or having "experiences;" it is about transformed living.

So how do we get to this point? God is the one who causes growth but . . . there are things we can do to help the growth "take" in our lives. First, we need to benefit from the tools God has given to us. First, there is the Bible.

If you purchase a new product it often says: "read this first." the cautions and instructions contained in that piece of paper or book, is essential for assembly or to assist you in how to use what you have purchased. The Bible is similar. It is a communication from the Creator on how He designed things to work. The wise person follows the instructions of Maker.

The second tool is prayer. Most of us testify to the value of prayer and yet seldom pray. This is because we find prayer a little mysterious. We have made prayer into a chore, a stuffy and formal conversation with the Lord, rather than an ongoing conversation with the Lord. There is a time for a more formal discussion, but most of the time prayer should be a conversation like you might have with a friend. It is about talking, listening, reflecting, sharing. It is about intimacy with God.

The third tool is the Christian Community or the church. When I say the church, I don't simply mean church "services." I mean the people of the church. I like to call the church the lab of the Christian faith. It is where we get to practice love, compassion, forgiveness, praise, intercession, commitment, and lots more.

One of the mistakes taking place in churches today are growth strategies that target a specific demographic. Usually it is young people, or those that like a certain kind of music. Such churches can grow rapidly but they lack the depth that a multi-generational church possesses. They have more of a club than a true family of believers. (What if you said your family would only consist of people your age?)

In the church you need people who have more experience than you. These people have lived out their faith and can become mentors if you let them. We make a serious mistake when we tailor the church just to young people. We need older saints in the church. They give us perspective, they impart wisdom, and they have been through difficulties and trials and can help us learn how to do the same. It would be wise to "pick the brain" of people who have walked with Christ many years.

The second sign of a healthy church is: their love is growing for each other. Richard Pratt writes,

The importance of love was highlighted by a life philosophy that has made the rounds on the Internet in recent years. First, readers are asked to name the five wealthiest people in the world, the last five winners of the Heisman Trophy, the last five Miss Americas, ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize, the last half-dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress, and the teams that won baseball’s World Series over the last ten years. The point of these questions is to show that we remember few of these famous achievers because they are not important to our lives. Then readers are asked to name a different class of people: a few teachers who aided your journey through school, three friends who helped you in a difficult time, five people who have taught you something worthwhile, a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special, and five people you enjoy spending time with. These are questions for which we have answers! Why? Because the people who truly make a difference in our lives are not those with the most impressive credentials, the most money, or the most notoriety, but the ones who most express their care through acts of love. (Reformed Expositional Commentary)

The church will transform the world if we really have an infectious and genuine love. Charles Spurgeon wrote,

The way to make men better is not to be always censuring them but to love them better. The quickest way to win a sinner is to love him to Christ; the quickest way to sanctify a believer is to love him into purity and holiness. Only faith can do this. (Spurgeon)

The early church served as a magnet to those around them. They were drawn to this group of people who really loved one another. What does love look like?

Being kind, listening, caring

Standing with someone in hard times

Celebrating with them in the good times

Being patient when growth seems slow

Speaking about one another in positive ways

Forgiving quickly because love covers a multitude of sins

Believing the best about another

Looking for ways to practically meet needs

Praying for one another

Being honest about things that are amiss in a person's life but doing so in a spirit of kindness.

Here's the question: Does that describe us? If we are going to be a loving congregation we can't stand around waiting for other people to love us . . . we have to take the initiative and love them! If we are growing in our faith, we are also looking constantly for ways to show love to others.

When someone tells you they "used to" go to church. A good follow up question is: "What hurt caused you to leave?" Sometimes it is something petty. Much of the time it is a deep and personal hurt that showed the immaturity of a church rather than its health. If we practice love, the world will be drawn to us because this kind of love is rare in the self-centered world we live in.

There is one more characteristic of a flourishing believer or church: they stand firm in the time of persecution, pressure or conflict. There is nothing that will tell you more about a person (or church) than how it responds in a time of persecution or upheaval.

There are people who are continually leaving one church and joining another. They find fault everywhere (except with themselves). Most of these people have been part of MANY different churches because they are never happy. The healthy Christians are the ones who stand fast in hard times. If they have a problem with the leadership of the church or a member in the church, they work it out rather than run away or bad-mouth the church or people in it.

We see pictures often of the ravages of a tornado. It seems inevitable that you will see a picture of a lone wall that remains standing among all the rubble. That wall is a good picture of what a flourishing and growing Christian looks like. In the midst of persecution, they remain standing. In times of heartache, they keep trusting. When criticized for their faith, they remain unmoved.

The word for endurance means to "stand up under." How do you stand in the times of trial? We stand because we believe God works in all things for His good. We don't panic. We wait. We watch. We look with anticipation for what God is going to do. The more we grow the more we will reveal our faith in the toughest times of life. When things are going bad and people ask how you can remain positive, the best answer is: "Because I REALLY believe the message of the gospel. I believe God is sovereign and has a purpose in EVERYTHING."

Conclusions

We need to ask ourselves a simple question: If Paul was here would he say these things about us? Would he commend us for our faith, our love, our endurance? Would He applaud our growth in grace and truth?

If your faith has not grown over the last ten years, if you have not made any advances, you would be wise to question whether you actually are being made new by Christ. You need to question if you are a true believer. Have you actually surrendered to Him or have you just had an emotional experience? Are you "playing the game" or following Him?

People may not see the initial growth, but if you are a child of God there must be growth. You should be growing in the way you relate to outsiders and you should be growing in your enthusiasm toward and love for the Lord. And yes, you should be learning to handle the hard times of life with grace and faith rather than anger and bitterness.

The Christian faith is not a mass of knowledge that must be learned, it is a relationship that grows and develops with our God and Savior and then spills over into every other area and relationship in life. It is a fantastic privilege and an incredible gift of grace. Don't settle for mere religion when you can have the real thing!

A Church in Good Health - 2 Thessalonians 1:1-5