Courageous Leadership: 1 Thess Lesson 13

Loving Leaders Lead with Courage

1 Thessalonians 2:1-2

 We are going to return to 1 Thessalonians 2. Please stand with me as we read the first 12 verses of this chapter.  Last week we did a preview. I was hopeful that the preview would peak your interest in hearing more. This is a really important passage because it gives us such a thorough look into the ministry of the greatest missionary the church has ever had. There was only one Apostle Paul. No one else was used to a greater extent than the Apostle Paul to establish the church and advance the kingdom of God. He has always been my ministry hero. I admire him and have always been something of a student of his ministry.

 Paul has no equals because he had a ministry unlike any other man of God. He wrote a great deal of the New Testament. He went on three missionary journeys and established many churches. He discipled many young men in the faith. There is no other man who accomplished so much in such a short amount of time among so many people. His legacy is an enduring legacy. His work still impacts people for the kingdom of God today. 

Conventional wisdom would tell us that this kind of success resulted from everything going well. Paul must have had the Midas touch. This is far from the reality. His was a ministry marked by hardship, suffering, opposition, personal attacks, threats, arrests, beatings, accusations, mocking, and all kinds of things brought on by those who hated his message and tried to destroy his ministry. A great deal of his ministry time was spent in custody. He was relentlessly attacked by enemies of the gospel. I am convinced that Paul’s thorn in the flesh was not some physical malady, but rather was a group of enemies who were working relentlessly to destroy him by attacking his character and motives.

 Then there were the disappointments. There were people in whom Paul had invested time and energy and whom he had discipled in the faith, who just walked away, abandoning him, experiencing shipwreck in regards to the faith. The churches he established were under the constant threat of extermination. He lived daily with the burden of the spiritual well-being of those whom he had seen come to faith in Christ.

 It wasn’t always the people who opposed Paul who were the cause of his troubles. Occasionally he would encounter something like a storm while on a ship at sea. He could have pled with God saying, “God, I’m your Apostle. I’m out here trying to get the church off the ground. It’s bad enough that You have allowed me to be arrested and now I’m on my way to Rome to stand trial. But now You have allowed this hurricane that is blowing us all over the Mediterranean Sea. When will it ever end? Can’t You take care of the weather?” This is not how Paul responded to this trial, but I can imagine that it may well have been how I might have responded.

 I cannot be dogmatic about this, but I am convinced that the result of that storm at sea, the account of which you can read about in Acts 27, resulted in the salvation of 276 souls. That’s not bad for a couple weeks work for a missionary. Paul came to see that storm not as a problem but as an opportunity to demonstrate real faith in God. So not only was it people who presented problems for Paul, sometimes God ordained a few troubles that can only be attributed to the sovereign hand of God, and Paul just kept on doing what God had called him to do and left the results up to God.

 We can learn from this man. We are all ministers of Christ. We serve in various capacities and we don’t all do the work of an elder or a pastor or a missionary. But we are all ambassadors of Christ. We all have a ministry to perform. We are not saved to sit and soak and sour until Jesus comes. And ministry is hard. Doing the will of God always brings opposition. It always involves hardship, controversy, and it is filled with disappointments and discouragement. So we need to learn from Paul’s example as a loving leader how to remain steadfast and faithful in difficult ministry. We will learn from him as we study what he has written in chapters 2-3.

 We need a little more context. As we embark on an in-depth look at chapter 2, I want to remind you of something I said in passing last week. Paul isn’t writing this chapter for the purposes of giving information, or instruction to the Thessalonians. He returns to exhortation and instruction in chapter 4. This chapter, and chapter 3 are things that the Thessalonians already knew. Paul is writing to them and reminding them of what they knew to be true of him and the way he carried out his ministry. He says twice in the first two verses “you yourselves know” and “as you know.” He will say this several more times in this letter. Paul is simply pointing to the things that had happened and he reminds these Christians not just to recall what had happened, but to understand what these things reveal about the man and his ministry.

 The first question that comes to mind for me is why Paul writes something he knew that they already knew. The answer is clear. Paul writes this as a defense of himself and his work. Evidently, some of the enemies of Paul had followed in his steps, as they were accustomed to do, and they were attacking him. Chapter 2 is polemical. It is his self-defense against those who always came in behind him and attacked. Paul’s enemies would follow him to a city and attack him with accusations that he lacked apostolic authority, or that he was corrupt, or that he was only in the ministry for money, or sexual favors. They accused him of doctrinal error, moral failure, and promotion of his own agenda. His enemies were relentless in their attacks and their goal was to shred his credibility. If you can destroy a man’s credibility, you destroy his ministry.

 Paul wasn’t concerned with his own reputation for his own sake. He wasn’t concerned about himself. He was concerned about the Thessalonian church. He was concerned about the stability of their faith. He was burdened with concern for their spiritual well-being. So he writes this chapter and chapter 3 to remind them of what they knew to be true of him and his companions. He appeals to them to simply remember the work of his ministry and the manner of his life and they would know that he was the real deal.

 The ancient world of Paul’s day was full of spiritual hucksters. The language of this chapter and the descriptions of Paul’s ministry set him apart from those frauds. Paul’s manner of life and methods of ministry, and his motives were very different. The phony spiritual leaders were always in it for personal gain, or power, or pleasure. Paul was only in it for the glory of His Lord and the good of the elect. So in this chapter he reminds them of his manner of life, his message, and his methods of ministry. These speak the truth. These reveal reality.

 That’s really what we should look at in the life of anyone in the position of spiritual leadership. We should examine the manner of their lives, the message they preach, and the methods of their ministry. Their methods will reveal their motives. We should look at how they live, what they teach and the way they go about their work. Paul details these things in chapters 2 and 3 of this letter just before us.

 Reading the first two verses of this chapter takes us back to the book of Acts. When you read about the mistreatment in Philippi and the opposition encountered when Paul preached the gospel to these people, you think of the historical account of these events as recorded in Acts 16-17. I trust that you are familiar enough with those chapters that we don’t need to read them. From that account we know that Paul and Silas had a rough experience in Philippi. They were publically humiliated, beaten, and thrown in to prison. They were there with other prisoners. They had a captive audience so they decided to have a worship service. God shook things up with an earthquake that opened the doors of the prison and not a single prisoner escaped. I am convinced that a lot of really bad people’s lives were transformed that night. We know the jailer and his family were saved.

 How does the mistreatment and suffering not lead Paul to discouragement and disappointment and despair? How is it that all these violent responses to the gospel do not cause Paul to question what he is doing? How does Paul keep pressing on in the face of this kind of violent opposition? We need to answer this. We also need to understand why it is important for us to know how he did it.

 Our text gives us important keys to steadfast faithfulness in a ministry that meets with opposition. Here is something I think we already know. If we are doing the ministry of our Lord, we will eventually be opposed. You take a stand for truth in today’s world and you will be confronted by those who hate the truth. You may even be opposed by those who say they love the truth. There are some who only love and hold to the truth when it is comfortable and convenient. As soon as you decide to honor God in some area where they don’t agree with your position, they will turn on you.

 Sometimes the opposition and pushback comes from those who are close to you. Sometimes it will come from a godless world that lies in the power of the evil one. We can be sure that God calls us to represent Him and representing Him means sharing His truth with our lips and confirming its truth with our lives. When we do this we will be opposed. So it is critical for us to learn from Paul. Right now we don’t face physical violence and arrest for proclaiming God’s truth. That day may be coming sooner than we want. But if it is violent pushback or vitriolic pushback in the verbal form, we need to know how to remain steadfast and faithful. How do we remain faithful?

 First, we look for confirmation among the converts. Paul reminds the Thessalonians of something they knew to be true. His coming to them was not in vain. The word “vain” means empty or hallow. There was something to show for his efforts. His ministry efforts were not fruitless or unsuccessful. This is obvious from all that we learned in Chapter 1. His coming to them was anything but vain. This was a church of whom Paul could say he was thankful to God always for all of them. He was constantly bearing in mind their work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope in Christ. He knew God had chosen them as His beloved. He saw the impact of the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit. He was witness to the transformation that made them imitators of himself and Christ. He saw how they received the word of God and sounded forth the word, not just with their lips but with their lives. He was confident in the work of salvation that had caused them to turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God. He could tell that they were living in expectation of Christ’s return.

 We just have to remember what it is we are trying to accomplish and remember to look for confirmation of our work by focusing on the right things. Paul found confirmation among the converts at Thessalonica. They were the evidence that his coming was not in vain. Paul looked at what God had done among this group of Christ followers and he was convinced that everything he went through to bring them the gospel of God was worth it. 

 When Paul arrived at Thessalonica, he was still healing from the wounds that resulted from the beating he received in Philippi. He would have looked at those bruises and the other scars on his body and he would have reflected. He was not thinking about the people who had beat him. He would have been thinking about Lydia, the jailer, and the converts who came to faith in Christ. He would have said that it was all worth it. As he writes 1 Thessalonians 2 he looks at the people who he came to and he knew his coming was not in vain, so all that he suffered was worth it.

 The key here is that Paul is focused on the right stuff. He knew what was important. He understood what was of eternal significance. God’s work among these converts was confirmation that he was doing the right thing. As long as he could see the results he described in the first chapter he was certain that God had worked through him. This gave him the strength to keep on going.

 What better outcome could there have been among the Thessalonian church than the results described in Chapter 1? Listen friends, if a man is involved in a ministry and he can write of those people he invested his life in, and he can write what Paul wrote in chapter 1 of 1 Thessalonians, that man’s ministry was as fruitful as it could have been. 

 Would it have been as fruitful and spiritually profitable if it had resulted in a large church full of people of whom these things could not be said? Would it have been successful if they would have quickly developed all the kids programs and youth center and all the other things churches use today to measure success? Today, about the only thing that matters to too many people in ministry is the size of the church and the programs that are available. If the church isn’t becoming a large church, the ministry isn’t successful. These things are not the confirmation. People are looking for confirmation in the wrong places. Confirmation is found in the changed lives of the converts.

 If you are doing something that falls into the heading of ministry for the Lord, and that involves a lot more than preaching in a church, or serving as a missionary, and you are facing opposition, or are struggling with someone else’s expectation as to what the results are that you should be achieving, stop listening to others and start looking for confirmation among those whom you lead. If you see the hand of God working in the lives of those you are leading, know that your work among them is not in vain. Know that God is working, and that God is responsible for the results. Focus on the confirmation you find among the converts.

 I think sometimes it is important to notice what is not in a passage. What isn’t here? What isn’t here is a long discourse detailing all that was wrong about the way he was treated, and all the reasons why those who caused his suffering and mistreated him should be exposed. It is obvious that Paul isn’t focused on those people. He knows why they oppose him. He knows what they will do to him if they are given the chance. But he doesn’t focus on those who are responsible for the suffering. He ignores those who are mistreating him. He doesn’t waste his time attacking his enemies.

 When we are trying to do the will of God, and we are opposed, what do we often do? We often get our eyes off of the will of God (our mission) and get focused on those who are causing us trouble. Paul remained focused on those in whom the work of God’s redemption had begun and he was focused on all that God had accomplished among them and he was focused on what they needed going forward. By staying focused on the converts themselves and looking at the confirmation of God’s work in their lives, he didn’t get distracted and derailed from his mission. He didn’t waste precious time and energy on his enemies. He stayed focused on the converts.

 If you are going to continue faithfully in a work of God which brings conflict, opposition, hardship, and suffering, you are going to need confirmation that you are doing the right thing. Find that confirmation among the converts you are leading. If they are not yet converts to Christ know that what you are doing is being used of God to bring about that result. Confirmation leads to confidence. So stay focused on the confirming evidence in the lives of the converts. And there is something else you are going to need if you are going to continue faithfully. You are going to need courage in the face of conflict.

 If Paul had anything he had courage. He didn’t allow the suffering and mistreatment which he experienced in Philippi scare him off. He didn’t let the responses influence him to alter his message or methods. While he was in that prison in Philippi he didn’t say to Silas, “Maybe we better try a different approach in the next city.” He had the boldness in God to continue doing the work of ministry even amid much opposition.

 Where does this kind of courage come from? The key word here is “boldness.” If I may quote from Richard Phillips’ commentary on this letter he writes, “Paul’s boldness in ministry did not come from his own native courage. It was, he said, ‘boldness in our God,’ as he preached ‘the gospel of God.’…This boldness sprang from the preacher’s assurance of his own personal relations to God as a redeemed sinner, and from his consciousness of a Divine strength strengthening him for the fulfillment of a Divine commission, in the delivery of a Divine message.”

 When we are assured of God’s work in our own lives, and we know we are doing what He has called us to do, we find He provides the courage we need to fulfill His plan and purpose. I think this is illustrated in the life of Paul in the storm at sea as recorded in Acts 27. We aren’t going to take time to read this but you should if you haven’t for a while. Paul was the least ranking individual on the ship because he was a prisoner of the Roman soldiers who were escorting him to Rome. When the storm got really bad, and all hope was lost, there was one man with courage. He encouraged all the rest. I hope you recognized the word courage in the word encouraged. He had so much courage he was able to share it with others and they were encouraged.

 Paul had this courage because he knew he was right where God had sovereignly planted him. He had been promised that he would stand before Caesar. He had been told by an angel of God that none on the ship would be lost. He knew God was in control. He told them to keep up their courage. It turned out just as Paul promised. The courage Paul had elevated him from the least ranking individual on the ship to the guy who was in complete control of everything that was happening on the ship. And he wasn’t even a sailor. Paul’s boldness in his God was the product of a courage that resulted from knowing he was doing the will of God.

 You could make the argument that genuine saving faith will be accompanied by a healthy dose of courage. Hebrews 11 tells us about many whose faith was exemplary. You could almost say that Hebrews 11 is example after example of courageous faith.  Hebrews 11:36-37 describes some who possessed genuine saving faith. They experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword…”

A faith that does not produce courage is a questionable faith. A faith that is without courage is about as useful as a car without a motor. A car without a motor is only good for going downhill. It is worthless as soon as you come up against the slightest resistance of an incline. It comes to a stop and even rolls backwards. Well, we can be sure that our faith will meet with resistance and that is when the courage keeps us speaking with boldness in our God.

Look with me at Acts 9. Look at verses 26-29. This is the account of Paul’s first trip to Jerusalem after his conversion. He came to associate with the disciples but they were all afraid of him. He did have kind of a bad reputation. Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the disciples and described how that at Damascus Paul had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. After Paul is accepted by them, he immediately began moving freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. In verse 29 we find that he is talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews, but they were attempting to put him to death.

How much courage do you need to remain steadfast and faithfully committed to a ministry that is met with suffering and mistreatment and opposition and persecution? You need enough courage to continue to boldly speak the gospel of God even if it means death. Here is something I am convinced is true of genuine saving faith. Genuine saving faith produces that kind of courage. Genuine saving faith is a faith that the genuine believer will hold on to even if it costs him his life.

Why does Paul remind them of his own courage? Paul knew that courage is inspiring. Paul’s courage was “Exhibit A” among the evidence that he truly believed the message he preached. If we don’t have the courage to persevere in our mission in the face of suffering and mistreatment and opposition, do we really believe in what we are trying to do? If others see our courage they will be convinced that we are trustworthy as a leader. If they can trust us they will follow us. Courage convinces them that we can be trusted.

There is so much more we will learn from Paul in this passage. As each of us fulfills the ministry in which God has placed us, we need to know how to remain faithfully committed in the face of opposition. We can remain faithfully committed if we learn to focus on the confirmation we see in those we lead. Focus on the work God is doing in them and we will know that our work among them is not in vain. The progress we see, and the results God brings, will help us to know we are doing the right thing. This will inspire courage in us to continue in the face of any and all opposition. Our courage will encourage those we are leading.

Let’s pray.