Habits for a Healthy Church

Introduction

Paul has been giving the Thessalonians some Biblical instruction about key doctrinal points. Staying strong against persecution, trusting in Jesus’ Second Coming, and being faithful to grow in our walk with Christ rather than being lazy. These are all great points and they undoubtedly brought about a dose of healthy conviction to this church. This church was a young church and there would have been a temptation to focus exclusively on their future that is anchored in Christ and their future home in glory that they miss out on living Christlike lives here and now.

Think about how easy it can be to get distracted. Nowadays whenever you go to Walmart there are about a billion different things that are vying for your attention and focus. They have strategically placed many of these items near the checkout lanes, as well! This is brilliant on the part of the store managers because you can get a little bit distracted while you wait on other people that you cave in and grab a candy bar or something that you don’t really need… but you get it any ways because you’re distracted!

We know that bad things can happen whenever we get distracted and it is no different in the life of a church. Whenever a church takes their eyes off of their purpose: Sharing the Gospel with others, bad things can and do happen. How can we fight against getting distracted as a group of Christians? How can we be a healthy church? By following the guidelines that Paul lays out in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22. In these verses, Paul gives several imperative commands that help us as individuals grow to be more like Christ, but they also help us as a group of local Christians to fulfill our purpose to share the Gospel and be salt and light in our community.

1 Thessalonians 5:12–22 CSB

12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to give recognition to those who labor among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to regard them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we exhort you, brothers and sisters: warn those who are idle, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Don’t stifle the Spirit. 20 Don’t despise prophecies, 21 but test all things. Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away from every kind of evil.

A Healthy Church must have godly leaders (12-13)

Maybe you’re a little unsure about this opening habit because you think that it’s a little strange for a pastor to say that a healthy church must have good leaders. What does Paul open up with in our text? He says to give recognition to those who labor, lead, and admonish. Why does Paul make this point? Because leadership is essential. Now is Paul making the point that leaders are supposed to be treated like rockstars and that they are perfect? Absolutely not! But, he clearly makes the point that the leaders work, lead, and teach in the local church and that there should be a healthy respect in a healthy church.

There are multiple leaders likely in view from Paul here because the Thessalonian church would have met in smaller groups, likely in homes. There were multiple people who were laborers, leaders, and teachers and there are multiple people like this in our church as well. While we are all given unique spiritual gifts and we are of equal importance, Paul reminds this church to give recognition to those who labor. In the Greek, the word for labor here is the word kopiontas which doesn’t just give the picture of working but someone who does wearisome labor. 99% of pastors out there are not in ministry for the money - to quote a former professor, if you get into ministry for money, you’re going to be sorely disappointed because you can earn more money in many other professions. To the pastor, he labors not because he’s in it for a pay check, it is his calling from God.

Do you see how the prosperity Gospel movement has caused such a wrinkle in this? No pastor in ministry should have a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars. Some people wonder about faithful pastors who earned large sums of money due to their writing prowess such as Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon earned between 50-100 million during his ministry due largely to book sales. Do you know how much money Spurgeon had in his bank account whenever he passed away? Roughly $250,000. Now, that’s a lot of money still, but what happened to the rest of the money he earned through his life? He funneled it back to ministry. Whenever Spurgeon’s church needed to expand seating capacity, Spurgeon personally paid over $1 million towards this endeavor. Talk about a pastor who labored and led in a healthy way!

Third, Paul notes that this person admonishes. In the Greek the word is very similar to that of preaching or teaching. Paul talks about the importance to admonish whenever he gives Timothy this charge

2 Timothy 4:2 CSB

2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching.

Not only does this involve a time of encouraging but also a time of correcting and instructing. Why must a healthy church have godly leaders? Because God gifts some with the responsibility to preach and teach. If those individuals do so in an ungodly manner, the church will certainly suffer as a result. A healthy, Christ-centered church must have godly leaders who teach and preach the truth of Scripture. This involves both encouragement and correction.

A Healthy Church must be active (14-15)

Paul continues to note that we must warn those who are idle. The word exhort implies something urgent must be done! Why must something be done? Because we are called to be active as individuals and as a church! In a world with all sorts of uncertainty and division, what must the church be? We must be active. We must be people who are salt and light as Jesus teaches about in Matthew 5. There are so many things fighting for our focus right now and we must not grow and become idle in our walk with the Lord. Do you know someone who is idle in their walk with the Lord? Have you ever been in such a situation? I know that I’ve been there before. Being stuck in neutral is not a good place to be and this is not a habit for a healthy church. We are not called to be lukewarm, we are to be hot. We are to be active. Therefore, we must urgently warn those who are idle to stop being idle.

If there were an Olympic sport called pew-sitting, would you be a gold medalist? If so, maybe you are being exhorted tonight to step up and stop being idle. Paul doesn’t stop here, though, as he continues with some other things that we must do.

Did you know that it is normal to be discouraged? In Scripture we see example after example of people being discouraged. In the Psalms we see roughly 40 lament Psalms. A lament Psalm is a Psalm that expresses the sorrow facing the person or group and asking for God’s guidance and help. David, the man after God’s own heart, penned several of these lament Psalms. David was a man who got discouraged from time to time and he is one of many such people in the Bible! You will get discouraged too and that’s ok! What are we supposed to do as a group of believers? We are to comfort those who are discouraged. Do you know someone discouraged today? I think most people are discouraged in some capacity right now. How can we comfort them? We must be active and intentional as we share with them that we care for them and that we want to share the hope of the Gospel with them.

Third, in verse 14, we are to be patient with everyone. Is it easy to be patient in an impatient world? Absolutely not. We love it when people are patient with us whenever we are having a rough time, we love receiving grace and mercy, but isn’t it so much harder to extend grace, mercy and patience with others? Why is this the case? Because we put ourselves first often times, which is commonplace for us! We put our needs first. We care about ourselves and our families first and if someone lets us down, we have a temptation to not be patient with them. Aren’t you thankful that God has a much longer fuse than you or I? We must be patient with others.

Ultimately, why do these things matter so much? Because Paul notes that we shouldn’t repay evil for evil, but to pursue what is good. What does this look like? It looks like what Jesus says in Matthew 5:38-40 as we are called to turn the other cheek.

Matthew 5:39 CSB

39 But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

Don’t keep resentment bottled up. Don’t hold a grudge for years and years. Don’t be a jerk to someone else because they’ve been a jerk to you. Be the bigger person. Pursue what is good - not just for you, but for all. Sometimes what is good for the local church might not be good for you or it might not be what you think is right while everyone else thinks that it is. What do we do in such moments? We don’t say an eye for an eye, we look out and pursue what is good for the group in a healthy church.

A Healthy Church must operate with a Christlike mindset (16-20)

1 Thessalonians 5:16-20 are some of the shortest, but deepest verses in the New Testament. In the Greek, there are 5 imperative commands in these 5 verses and these verses force us to get in the proper mindset as we strive to be like Christ rather than doing what we think is right or what is most convenient or natural to us.

Verse 16 tells us to rejoice always. The Greek reads that at all times we rejoice. How can we do this? From a human perspective, there are situations that we go through in life that seem impossible to have joy in. Joy, according to the Bible, is a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22

Galatians 5:22 CSB

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Still, though, how can Paul say to always have joy? Because of our status and nature. We are no longer children of wrath as Ephesians 2 shares with us. We are heirs of God and we are a new creation! As a result of this, we can have joy at all times because of whose we are. This is what sets us apart from every other person and religion out there. How can a non-Christian have joy in the midst of persecution and tragedy? They can’t. Christian joy, though, can because of our intimate relationship with Jesus Christ who

Hebrews 12:2 CSB

2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We can have joy today!

We don’t just have joy, though, we are also commanded to pray without ceasing. Did you know that this is mathematically impossible? Think for a moment, why can’t you pray without stopping? Because you have other things going on. You’re talking on the phone, taking a test, or sleeping and you physically can’t always be praying. What is the emphasis for this command? They are to do this continually. Meaning this: We don’t just pray at church or during our morning/evening quiet time. We don’t have 3 times a day where we bow on our knees and pray and call it good. That’s not what it’s ultimately about! We have the privilege to pray to the King of the Universe and He wants to hear from you. Not only does God want to hear from you, but God is able to answer whatever request you have. There is nothing too pressing that God cannot answer as He is all-powerful. So what must we do as a result of verse 17? We must pray continually. Throughout our day, we pray. We don’t just do it once a day in a very legalistic manner as Jesus condemns in Matthew 6:7 - we pray because we belong to Christ. We pray publicly and we pray privately and we come before the Father with our requests but also with our praises and thanksgiving because of what He has done.

The third imperative is similar in that we give thanks in all things. What is the extent of this verse? Should we thank God for hurricanes and cancer? That’s not where Paul is going here, we give thanks because even in the valley of the shadow of death, God is with us and God is working all things for our good and for His glory. Therefore, even in a terrible situation, I can give thanks. Paul concludes this verse by saying that this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do you believe that God has a plan for your life and that God is in control? Do you believe that God is working behind the scenes in a way that you wouldn’t even believe if you were told? Proverbs 21 tells us

Proverbs 21:1 CSB

1 A king’s heart is like channeled water in the Lord’s hand: He directs it wherever he chooses.

This is the God that we serve and we are called to trust in His plan as He directs us through this journey called life. This is what we call the providence of God - how He provides for us and that He works all things for our good. Are you giving thanks to God today? Are we, as a church, giving God thanks for what He has done and what He is doing today? This is a habit in healthy churches - a faithful understanding that God has a plan and that we can and should be thankful to play a role in that plan.

Verses 19-20 share with us that we must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. In order to be a healthy church that is like Christ, we must do what the Holy Spirit tells us to do. Paul gives this church this command to not stifle the Spirit. As the expression goes, if you give the devil an inch, he will take a mile. This seems to be what Paul is expressing here. Don’t, even for a second, stop following the Holy Spirit. Don’t stifle Him. Follow Him and let Him direct your actions as individuals and as a church. Think of some of the ways that satan would love to come and cause disunity in the church today. He would love for us to stop rejoicing. He would love for us to stop praying to God. He would love for us to stop giving thanks to God. What must we do to combat those temptations? We must not stifle the Holy Spirit, and as verse 20 says, we must not despise prophecies.

Whenever we think of the term prophet or prophecies, we likely have different understandings of the term. We know that there were prophets in the Old Testament and we know that Christ fulfilled many prophecies. We know that nearly all of the Messianic prophecies had dual-fulfillments. Some people claim to be modern prophets - does 1 Thessalonians 5:20 mean that we must heed their every word? That’s not what Paul’s point it. Likely, there were people in Thessalonica who were preaching the word and the church failed to value the preached word like they were supposed to. They looked down on the preached word. Walter Kaiser notes, rightly, that prophecy can mean foretelling - what we often think of, or forth-telling. Foretelling is predicting the future actions of God. Forth-telling refers to the prophet who spoke the truth of Scripture to his generation. According to Mark Howell, this is likely what Paul’s imperative command is in reference to. The people, like many people today, have rejected the preached word.

Whenever the church rejects the preached Word of God, trouble lies ahead.

A Healthy Church must do what is good (21-22)

The final 2 verses note that a healthy church will test all things and hold on to what is good. How do we know what is good? We test what is said, sung, and taught to see if it aligns with Scripture. Well, what about whenever there is a disagreement? We test both points with what Scripture teaches. You mean that if 99 people believe something because it’s what they’ve always been taught and 1 person says that it’s not what the Bible teaches, we should go with what the Bible says? Absolutely! Paul says this in Romans 12

Romans 12:1–2 CSB

1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

We must discern what is good by looking at everything through the lens of Scripture. As we do this, we must stay away from evil. Stay away from false teachers who pervert the word. Stay away from teachers who tickle our ears. Stay away from those who fail to preach the difficult passages of Scripture and for those who say that there are no difficult passages of Scripture, stay away from them as well! Stay away, abstain, from evil. Likely, Paul has the idea of sexual immorality in view here as this would have been a temptation for many of these gentile converts in Thessalonica.

If we are going to be a healthy church that strives to honor Christ, we must not only believe what the Bible says, but we must live it out. We can have disagreements over secondary issues. We can have strong disagreements over tertiary issues - I have pastors that I love who I have differences of opinion with regarding such theological points and that’s absolutely fine. You and I aren’t called to agree with every fine point of soteriology, eschatology, and pneumatology. We are all called, though, to speak the truth in love, to be humble, to share the Gospel and to hold on to what is good. Are we doing that as individuals and are we striving to do that as a church body? I pray that we are and I pray that we would do even more “good” for the Kingdom in 2021.

Conclusion

These commands are heavy. It’s hard to have joy, to pray, and give thanks at all times. It’s hard to do what is good when others aren’t. It’s hard to help those who are weak and to be patient with others when we’re in a hurry. Yet, this is our call as born again followers of the King.

While it’s easy to get into debates and arguments, our call is to hold on to what is good and to pursue what is good for all. In a world that sees so much discouragement, how can you and I help? By loving others and sharing the good news of Jesus with them. By having a smile on our face, even when things don’t go our way or whenever we wish things would look a little differently in our world. By praying for someone who hurt your feelings. By giving thanks to God, even when life hits you with something heavy. We can do all these things because, as Paul notes in Philippians 4, God gives us strength.

Ask yourself, how can you and I help Morgan Baptist Church continue to be and grow to be more of a healthy church as we proclaim the Gospel?