Paul mentioned in his letter to the Thessalonians how he came to them preaching the Gospel (1Thessalonians 2:4). First, he said that he had been tested by God before he was entrusted with the Gospel. That is, Paul and those who accompanied him had to endure much persecution in their effort to bring God’s message to mankind. The Lord didn’t merely pick a rhetorician who would express the wisdom of God with beautiful, wise sounding words. No! instead, the Lord brought Paul through much suffering and persecution to discipline him and mold his heart like his own. So, in the context of pain and persecution Paul and company were entrusted with the Gospel. Therefore, Paul simply preached the good news of Christ to those who would listen. If the Gospel message fell upon ears that are able to hear, then that one was drawn to Christ by the Spirit of the Lord. Christ, himself, would then mold the believer’s heart through much persecution, and so it would be for each child the Lord received in order that the believer’s own heart would image that of his Savior’s (cp. Genesis 1:27).
It would simply be useless for Paul, in such a context, to use flattery or to otherwise seek to entice folks to receive the Gospel. Why would he do such a thing, knowing flattery is unable to change one’s heart and inspire the listener to endure persecution? Anyone who responded favorably to flattery would surely fall away as soon as persecution set in, and Paul promised his listeners that persecution would follow their acceptance of Christ (2Timothy 3:12). Thus, Paul’s defense in his epistle implies that the Jewish authorities at Thessalonica were trying to convince believers that Paul was simply seeking to draw followers for himself, and that they were being exploited for his purposes. Nevertheless, this accusation was baseless in the context of Paul’s manner of preaching and the context of persecution following embracing Christ.
The fact is that Paul never sought magnify himself in order to take an honorable position among new believers, which seems to be and implied accusation against him by some in Thessalonica (1Thessalonians 2:6). In other words, he was accused of trying to lead folks against the local community and even Caesar (cp. Acts 17:6-8). We need to read Paul’s epistle in the context of the times. The first century AD Jewish historian, Josephus, tells us that there were several messianic figures in Judea about the time of Paul’s second missionary journey, and they tried to excite the people into following them and opposing Caesar.[1] In fact, a few years later Paul was suspected of being one of those rebels (Acts 21:38). Add to this the fact that Claudius had recently expelled the Jews from Rome due to a dispute over Chrestus (Christ; see Acts 18:2). Thus, one might understand the argument of Paul’s enemies and how uninformed gentiles could be led to believe Paul wasn’t so forthcoming as they might have thought in the beginning.
Nevertheless, the proof of Paul’s defense is that he didn’t require anyone to protect and defend him, when his life was in danger (Acts 17:5-9). Rather than allowing the new believers at Thessalonica to put their lives in jeopardy, Paul not only preached the good news of Christ to them, but he was willing give up his own life in doing so (1Thessalonians 2:8). Paul proved himself to be gentle (1Thessalonians 2:7), not an activist. He was like a nursing mother, not a political leader wanting to overthrow the local government.
Finally, Paul reminded his readers at Thessalonica that he never once allowed himself or any with him to be a burden to the new believing community (1Thessalonians 2:9; 2Corinthians 11:9; 12:13-14). Although he had every right to expect their financial support for what he was doing for them (cp. 1Corintians 9:5-11), Paul worked night and day so that he wouldn’t burden anyone with his physical care. He worked daily in the market to support himself and those with him (cp. Acts 18:3), and at night he labored in the Gospel, teaching folks from house to house (cp. Acts 20:20). Thus, refuting the implied argument of his enemies, that he was drawing unsuspecting folks to himself by his doctrine in order to establish a following for his own gain.
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[1] Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 20.5.1-2 (97-102).
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One response to “The Gospel Is Neither Political nor Burdensome”
Yes! Thanks for that lovely encouraging post Eddy.
My Mom married after my Dad died. His name by the way was Eddy. My Mom’s married name was Solly.
So your words in this post Eddy really grabbed my attention. My Mom used to say to me, Linda, just plant little seeds. After awhile, those seeds will take hold and then they will think the idea was theirs. In other words they will think the idea came from them. I used to get so annoyed at my Mom for saying this. I thought she was not being honest and not taking credit for an idea or a strategy that was hers.
Now that I am an adult and a Grandma, I see the wisdom behind my Mom’s words. I also think that wisdom my Mom planted in me was planted long ago from my Grandma Arthur who was a very devout woman. Why do I think that? Because as an adult, my eyes opened wide when I read the Pauline letter to the Corinthians: 1 Corinthians 3:2-6
“I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man? For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role. I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.”
Thank you Eddy for reminding me and your readers how Paul was gentle yet tough, labouring day and night so as to be self sustaining and not a burden to others. And thank you for pointing out that Paul believed that this Messianic mission needs many workers going house to house and this mission needs to be financially sustainable as well as spiritually and physically sustainable for all.