Doing and Being Church; First Thessalonians

May the mumbling commence!

The church is much more than bricks or mortar or wood.  The church is about our relationship to one another and to God.  Church is essentially about people – not structure.

So, how can we be the church more effectively?  How can we do church more effectively?  It is these questions that will drive our study of First Thessalonians for a few days (at least).  Read this passage from First Thessalonians chapter five (RSV):

But we beseech you, brethren, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.  And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the idle, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them.  See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.  Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast to what is good, abstain from every form of evil. (Verses 12-22)

Church is built on mutual respect.  That is the way to be church.  And respect traverses all walks of life.  Respect those who do the Lord’s word among you.

So we have one way of being the church – respect.  But that respect has enormous consequences for how we do the church.  Paul goes on to make a list of these consequences.

Here is how we are to do the church.  Pursue peace among your Christian brothers and sisters.  Make the work of those doing Christ’s work easier.  And that means doing your part in the work – however big or small that seems to be.

We do the church by exhorting one another to godly works.  We do church by goading on the idle hands in our fellowships, by encouraging those who are timid, by helping the weak, and by being patient with all people.

We do church by always seeking the benefit of all – even when it means returning good for evil.  This practice will take much prayer and thankfulness and joy.  Be assured when you do church this way, you are doing the will of God.

We do church by seeking the leading of the Holy Spirit – through prophecy of those in the church fellowship and those who are on the fringes.  We do church by testing everything that comes to us.  We do church by holding fast to the good that we receive and rejecting evil in all its forms.

These actions are ones that will lead to the road of mutual respect.  Which is more important?  Which needs to come first?  I believe that they are equally important and grow together in mutually beneficent ways.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out