Introduction
Are you a “people person?” There really are two types of people in the world—those who are people-people, and those who are not. Some individuals just love being around people. Maybe they have a bubbling overflowing personality and they just love to talk and fellowship and be around other people. In fact, they would probably rather die than be the only person left on this earth. Then there’s the other type—the person who enjoys solitude, peace, and quiet. They’re not a conversationalist, in fact,- they’re usually waiting for other people to stop talking so they can end the conversation. If they were the only person on the earth they would be delighted! Now neither of these is right or wrong necessarily, though God is a relational God and he did create us to relate to him and to one another. But some people are just people persons and some are not.
It’s interesting, how this kind of works itself out in our marriage with Emily and myself. I’m not a bubbling personality who just can’t stop talking, nor am I the life of the party, but I enjoy being with people. I’m the guy who on a relaxing Saturday when we have no engagements, I want to get up and go do something with the family. I like to go on adventures, explore things, and be with people—share experiences together. But my wife’s idea of a relaxing Saturday is just the opposite. Her idea is to sleep in, and have some time alone in her room, I take the boys to go do something and just enjoy the peace and quiet. Not that she’s anti-social or anything like that, and she does love people, and sometimes she is more of a people person than I am, but she does enjoy time to herself. Sometimes we’ll give each other a break—she’ll offer to take the kids and give me some alone time to go fishing or whatever. And you know what, after an hour or two, or maybe an evening, I’m good! I want to be back with people—I’m just kind of wired that way. Recently I took our boys on a “man’s weekend.” We had an overnight at a men’s retreat with our church, and then we went camping for a second night after that. So she was alone for two whole nights and 2 ½ days. Let me tell you, she loved every minute of it! That’s just how she is wired. Some people like to be with people, while others prefer solitude.
When it comes to church life, believers in Jesus can often tend to enjoy their solitude. In our individualistic culture, we like to do life on our own and rather than view the church as a body to which we are inextricably connected, we think of it as a place we visit on Sunday and then disconnect until the next Sunday. This is not God’s plan for the church. God wants believers to be “people persons.” God desires that all of us be intimately connected and intimately involved in the lives of one another—that’s why the church is called a body.
Our text today is all about body life. It’s about how God expects us as believers to be involved in the lives of each other. For the boys and girls out there, you can draw a picture of a church building. We’re going to put some people in the building, so just draw the outer building for now. So today we come to the book of I Thessalonians chapter 5. As we unpack this text together, we’re going to learn what God expects of each and every one of us when it comes to “body life.” I entitled this message “your church, my church, our church,” because we ALL are expected to play an active role in the lives of our fellow church members. So as we walk through this text together, there’s one theme I want you to remember this morning, it’s our big idea for today:
Big Idea: ministry is people, and we’re all called to ministry.
So let’s read our text . . .
But we urge you, brethren, warn the unruly, encourage the weary, support (be devoted to) the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one might repay another with evil for evil, but always pursue that which is good for another and for all people.
Big Idea: ministry is people, and we’re all called to ministry.
Interrogative: as we work through our text today, the obvious question is “how ought I to be involved in the “people side” of ministry?”
Transition: from our text today, we learn five relational strategies for getting involved in the “people side” of ministry.
Before we examine our text, let’s get an idea of what is going on here. The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church in a town called Thessalonica. Thessalonica was a vital port city in Paul’s day, and was located at the intersection of two major Roman roads. Now I know that probably doesn’t mean much to you (I mean really, two roads), we have that in Sauk Center, but if you understand the Roman road system and how there weren’t many roads and they were all laid by hand, you’ll know that this was a key city. To be at a port and the intersection of two Roman roads meant this was a hopping place. We might compare it to Minneapolis. It was a center for commerce. In this center of commerce was a church, and these are the people Paul writes to.
Paul also had a personal relationship with this church. He was the one who founded the church during his second missionary journey, so he knows the people he’s writing to. Perhaps Paul had a greater burden for this church, for he was forced to leave by the city official before he was able to complete his work there—I Thessalonians 2:17-18. Paul was eventually able to send his protégé Timothy to minister in this town and learned that the church here was struggling. Enemies of Paul and his message began spreading lies and slander about Paul, and so Paul wrote to defend his ministry. He also writes to correct doctrinal misunderstandings and instruct the church on Christian living.
As we come to today’s text, we find ourselves in the midst of a discussion concerning Christian living. In verses 12-13 Paul instructs the church on how to relate to its pastor—he says to appreciate them and highly esteem them for they labor among you. In verses 16-22 Paul discusses how individual believers are to relate to God—in rejoicing, prayer, and purity. But right in the middle, in verses 14-15, Paul talks about how believers are to relate to each other. Paul seems to reiterate the idea that the ministry God has for us in the church is a people-based ministry, and we are all called to do it. It’s as if Paul intends to teach our big idea for today:
Big Idea: ministry is people, and we’re all called to ministry.
And so as Paul continues with this emphasis, he gives us five relational strategies for getting involved in the “people side” of body life. The first is found in verse 14:
1) WARN THE UNRULY (vs. 14)
Explanation: the first relational strategy for getting involved in people ministry in the church is to warn those who are unruly. For the boys and girls, you can draw an idle person in your church. I drew a guy sitting back and relaxing, maybe he’s just watching others and making fun of them, idly letting everyone else do the work. Look at what Paul says at the beginning of verse 14: But we urge you, brethren, warn the unruly.
Explanation: Notice how Paul begins this section—we urge you. Urge—urge means to appeal to, or to exhort. There’s a sense of urgency in what Paul is saying here. This is a burning plea for how believers are to people ministry. Notice the contrast from what Paul said in verse 12. In verse 12 Paul simply says “we ask you”. Different word there. But the escalation builds, and now Paul is pleading with his readers to get involved in people ministry and take care of business in the church. How believers relate to each other in the church is a passionate topic for the Apostle Paul.
Explanation: Paul tells his readers to warn the unruly. Warn—This word for warn carries the idea of instructing or admonishing. It’s actually the word we get our English word counseling from—Paul essentially says “give them a healthy dose of counseling.” It is putting something in someone’s mind; to bring a deficiency to their attention. In secular usage, the term was used to “take aside someone who has unintentionally given a false account of something in order to instruct and warn him” (TDNT IV:1019). This indicates a corrective influence over someone.
Notice who this influence is over—Paul calls them the unruly. Unruly—literally this is disorderly; lazy; or insubordinate. The term is a military term that is used for a soldier who is out of rank. Paul instructs the Thessalonian church to set this guy right.
Application: Sometimes in churches, there are idle or unruly people. People who are dysfunctional in their ministry. People who are out of line or out of rank. These are people who buck against the system. They’ve stopped fulfilling the mission God has for the church and instead, they want to oppose everyone and everything. Their new mission is not God’s mission, but they work for their own agenda. Maybe they want their way and have to have their preferences. Perhaps they disrespect and go against the leadership. Maybe they are causing issues, gossiping, and leading others astray. They’re never in step, they won’t get with the program, and they’re determined to be the hindrance and opposition to everything that God is trying to do in a church. They had them in Paul’s day, and they are in churches today as well, sitting on the sidelines, opposing, even criticizing. Often times the people who do the most criticizing are the ones who fail to do their duty. And Paul gives specific strategies for dealing with these people—warn. He wants us to warn them. To show them their deficiency—point it out to them and show them the error of their ways.
Illustration: I remember being in an auto accident one morning with my mother when I was a teenager. The temperature was right around 32 degrees and it had rained the night before, but you couldn’t really tell that the rain caused a thin layer of ice on the road. As we were coming down a steep hill we lost control of our car and spun out of control, hitting an oncoming vehicle. Seeing the cars strewn across the road, the first thing I did was to climb to the top of the hill and re-direct cars. I knew that if they kept heading in the direction they were going, they were in for a wipe-out.
Application: this is what Paul has in mind when he talks about warning the unruly. Point out that if they keep heading in the direction they are going, it will not end well!
Sad to say, this oftentimes isn’t how it happens in churches. Many times these contentious people are left to exist, and many times they display openly sinful actions and they are just allowed to exist in the church. They might blow up or explode when they don’t get their way; they may gossip or whisper about something they don’t like. And others just kind of learn to skirt around these people and excuse their sinful actions and unrighteous character. That’s not what Paul says here—Paul says we are to warn them. Notice, this is the responsibility of everyone in the church. This isn’t just for pastors; this isn’t just the pastor’s job—“well pastor, you can take care of the problems in the church so I don’t have to deal with them.” If that’s your view of how the church ought to function, you don’t have a biblical view! Doesn’t mean it’s easy, but we still have to do it. And if we want this church, or any church today to move forward and progress and be what God wants them to be, we need to follow Paul’s instructions here. There will be unruly, contentious, idle people in the church. Don’t let them go on like this, Paul says warn them. We learn an important lesson:
Big Idea: ministry is people, and we’re all called to ministry.
God wants us all to be involved in the ministry of people, and we do that first of all by warning the unruly.
2) Encourage the weary
Explanation: There is a second relationship strategy we can practice in order to be involved in the “people” side of ministry, we need to encourage those who are weary. For the boys and girls, draw a weary person in your church; I drew someone who is crying because they are tired. Look at what Paul says in verse 14—encourage the weary. Encourage carries the idea of coming alongside of someone. Of comforting or consoling; of being a friend. Weary—is someone who is discouraged. It literally means weak souled. This is someone who is weighed down with the burdens of life. Perhaps an anxious and worried person; those who give in to fear or discouragement. Some have described this as timid. This type of person who lives in fear. They are afraid of change or anything new; they don’t want to offend people and they care too much about what others think. They fear the unknown so they never really end up doing anything—their soul is crushed and weak about everything. They are weighed down and burdened.
Application: Do you know anyone like this? Someone who may be burdened—struggling under the weight of life? Captivated by their fear; their worry; their anxiety? Someone who lives in fear of people—reminds me of the very excellent book by Ed Welch—When People are Big and God is Small. Often times when these people are in the church, it can be incredibly difficult to move forward or to get anything done. Their fear of new things or of change freezes them in place. Their fear of man keeps them from doing anything that would make anyone else unhappy. In short, they can often hold back a church from forward progress. Paul tells us how to minister to these individuals; he says to come alongside these people and encourage them. Comfort them. Be a friend to them. These types of people require personal investment. They need discipleship!
Illustration: if you’ve ever read the Old Testament story of David and Jonathan, this serves as a prime example of what we’re talking about. If you recall, David was living life on the run. His best friend’s father, King Saul, was trying to kill David. He lived the life of a criminal on the run from the law when he actually had done nothing wrong. He was weary. He was perhaps discouraged. And we learn in
that Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God.
Application: This is how we are to relate to each other as believers. And this is for all of us. This isn’t just instruction for pastors or leaders in the church. This is for every church member! I like to tell people:
We’re not all called to be the shepherd, but we are all called to do the ministry of shepherding.
Those who are weary should be able to find comfort in our assembly. We need to reach out and encourage them! I wonder, who can you encourage this morning? Who in this category of weary and weak souled needs your investment today?
Big Idea: ministry is people, and we’re all called to ministry.
The second relationship strategy for doing this is to encourage the weary.
3) Support the weak
Explanation: But there’s a third way. The third relationship strategy we can practice for getting involved in people ministry is to support the weak. In verse 14 Paul simply says support the weak. For the boys and girls, you can draw a weak person in your church. Maybe it’s someone who’s crawling along in their spiritual life and ready to quit. This is someone weak in faith; perhaps they are burdened down and susceptible to sin. They are new believers perhaps, or worldly believers who maybe don’t have a lot of Bible knowledge and because of that, they are not very strong and secure in their faith. They have a lot of growing to do and they need your help! Maybe they are even ready to leave the faith.
Explanation: And Paul tells us that when it comes to those who are weak, we are to support them. He simply says support the weak. Support—means be devoted to, or to take a hold of those who are wanting in moral courage or will. When we support the weak we hold fast to them and help them in their need. Sometimes this word for weak is used for those who are physically weak or sick, but here it seems to refer to weakness in faith. These are those who are struggling spiritually; maybe they are ready to bail on their faith. Maybe it’s those who may be new believers or young in the faith, and they need extra ministry. They perhaps need some discipleship or some training. Paul says we are to support them, to cling to them, to take interest in them—that’s what support means. We are to look out for those who are struggling and weak spiritually.
Illustration: When I was in college one of my professors used the phrase “walk slowly through the crowd.” His point was that there are a lot of people we come into contact with on a daily basis. And if we just get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, we may miss those who need us. But if we walk slowly, and look around, we may find that there are people who need us. Who need our support because they are weak. They are ready to give up.
Application: Friends, walk slowly through the crowd! There will be people in our churches who are ready to give up spiritually. Maybe they just can’t seem to get victory over a sin, or there’s some spiritual truth they just can’t seem to grasp. Or they are attracted by a different lifestyle which God condemns. Perhaps they question things–like “why should I pray, or does church really make a difference?” These types of people should be able to get help in the church, and we need to help them in their growth process. These type of people in the church can keep the church immature and hinder growth. We need to support these individuals. We need to be there for them in their time of need and their struggle. Notice with me again, this is the responsibility of everyone in the church, not just the pastor! We all need to be involved in this type of ministry.
I wonder who needs your support this morning. Maybe it’s a teen. Perhaps a mother or father, or a retired individual. Maybe a single mom; someone who recently lost a loved one; someone with no family around.
Big Idea: ministry is people, and we’re all called to ministry.
The third relational strategy you can practice to help you do people ministry is to support those who are weak.
4) Endure the challenging
Explanation: But Paul continues, giving us the fourth relational strategy we all can use to get involved in people ministry. He tells us to endure the challenging. Look at what Paul says in verse 14-be patient with everyone. For the boys and girls, you can draw someone in your church who is challenging—I drew someone with their hands up in the air who always has something to complain about. Paul says we are to be patient with everyone. When Paul says everyone, he means everyone. Whether it be the unruly, the weary, the weak, or anyone else we may encounter, we are to respond to them with patience. We are to persist with them patiently. I think the fact that Paul mentions patience implies that there are those in our lives and in our church who are going to need patience—this is a sure thing. Some people are challenging; some people try our patience. But they just need our endurance. Maybe these are wearisome people—those who we invest in and invest in and they never seem to grow. Those who know what they need to do in their spiritual lives but they just never seem to do it. They are undisciplined or unspiritual in their lives and that just causes frustration. This could even be the type of person that is just a time eater and they eat up your time because they are so needy and clingy, and they’re just exasperating. These may be the individuals whom we may be tempted to not show patience. But Paul says to show patience to all men.
Application: Whom do you know who needs your patience? Your longsuffering? Your forbearance? People grow in different ways, you understand of course. It can be tempting for us to try to force growth. To make people be what we want them to be. Maybe it’s the unruly person, and we want to admonish them with a slap across the face and say “get in line!” Or perhaps the weary person and we want to look down on them, thinking “if they only knew how easy their life really is!” Or maybe it’s the weak person, and the tendency may be to become frustrated easily and think “why don’t you just grow? You’ve been coming to church for so long I thought you’d have it by now?” No, Paul tells us that these are not the ways we are to act. We are to be patient. Patience is the virtue that should temper our every interaction with believers in our church.
Illustration: Our ultimate example of patience is God the Father, and His patience with His people Israel. I’m amazed at God’s patience with His people Israel. Israel kept wandering from God yet God patiently kept drawing them back to Him.
Application: This is how we are to be with those who may be challenging in the church body. To those who would let us down, who would discourage us, who would be difficult for us to deal with, Paul tells us to be patient. We need to be patient with those who are challenging. I wonder who needs your patience this morning. Who is a challenge to you? Perhaps your lack of patience is what’s hindering their growth.
Big Idea: ministry is people, and we’re all called to ministry.
5) Love the hateful
Explanation: Paul gives us one last strategy for getting involved in people ministry, and that’s by loving the hateful. Look at what Paul says in verse 15—See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. For the boys and girls, add someone to your church who is hateful. I drew someone saying hateful things about other people. Paul acknowledges here that even in the body of Christ there will be those who will be unkind—even hateful. If this was evident in the early church which was started by the Apostle Paul, we can imagine that it must be evident in our churches today. Paul says don’t give this person evil in return, rather love them. Do good to them. Show them kindness. Notice Paul says “see” that you do this. This is the idea of being careful to do this or paying attention to make sure this happens. We are to pay special attention to make sure we treat hateful believers with love. Are you careful about how you treat those who may mistreat you? Do you pay attention to how you treat hurtful individuals? Paul says we need to take special care to do good to them.
Application: this is the reality of getting involved in people ministry. If you are going to get involved with people, you’re going to get hurt. You’re going to have people do hurtful and hateful things to you. You will love people, and they will walk away from you. Your greatest friends may become your biggest enemies. People will gossip about you, slander your reputation, and seek to destroy you. This is a very deep-cutting pain, but even in the midst of this, our faith must control our actions.
Argumentation: This is where it can really get tough. Because what’s the first response we tend to have? Our human response is to lash out; to get even. “I don’t get mad, I get even!” But Paul says “don’t do that!” Instead, show love. Don’t give evil for evil but pursue that which is good.
Explanation: it’s interesting—that word pursue. Some translations say seek after. It’s the word used for persecution. We are to chase down our enemies, not to do evil, but to do good to them!
Illustration: Jesus Christ provides the ultimate example of showing love to those who were hateful. Christ allowed Himself to be captured by a mob of armed men, questioned by the high priest and Roman officials, beaten, humiliated, and killed on the cross. Yet He loved those who treated Him with hatred.
Application: This is how we are to respond to those who are hurtful or even hateful to us. Paul says to give them love. Perhaps you fall into the category where you haven’t treated hurtful people with love. Maybe you haven’t given good for evil; perhaps you’ve even repaid evil for evil! Paul says that this isn’t how we are to respond. If you’ve done this, then you need to repent and make restitution for this wrong if necessary. God wants us to repay evil with good.
CONCLUSION
Big Idea: ministry is people, Paul makes that abundantly clear. He also makes it clear that we’re all called to this type of ministry.
Today we saw five relational strategies that we need to use for engaging in people ministry in our church today.
· Warn the unruly
· Encourage the weary
· Support the weak
· Endure the challenging
· Love the hateful
Notice that this is what ministry is all about. Paul doesn’t tell the church—get involved in AWANA, or Sunday school, or the Easter Egg hunt, or as a sound booth worker, as important as those ministries are in churches today. Paul gives clear instructions for the type of ministry he wants us to prioritize in our ministries today—it is a people ministry. Paul teaches us that:
Big Idea: ministry is people, and we’re all called to ministry.
I opened today by asking if you’re a people person. Whether you are drawn toward being with people or you like your solitude, God’s desire when it comes to our relationship with his church is that we all be “people persons.”
I wonder—are you involved in the people ministry here at the church? Do you have someone who you are investing in?
· Do you warn those who are unruly, or just let them remain as they are?
· Do you encourage the weary, or let them flounder in their walk?
· Do you support the weak, or let them continue in their struggle?
· Do you endure with those who are challenging? Or do you give up in despair?
· Do you love the hateful? Or do you seek retribution?
God has shown us very clearly today what he wants—he wants us to be involved in people ministry. Whom do you have?
“Everyone needs a Paul: a pattern, a Barnabas: a peer, and a Timothy: a project.”
-Dr. Les Ollila
Perhaps you see this and say “I want to do this, but I can’t. It’s too hard, or I don’t know what to say.” You can do this—you can play an active role in the growth of believers here at your church because the very same things that Paul tells us to do here at your church, are the very same things Jesus did in His ministry. You may be a child, or a teenager, and you can do this. You may be a young adult or middle-aged individual, and you can do this. You may be one of the older ones here at the church, but you can do this. Everyone can do this because Jesus did it! Jesus warned the idle. Jesus encouraged the weary. Jesus supported the weak. Jesus persisted with challenging people. Jesus gave good to the hateful. Jesus is our ultimate example of this, and He has given us His Spirit inside of us to enable us to do this. We find enablement in the example of Christ and power in the Spirit of Christ.
Next Steps
And you can do this too! Perhaps you ask how? Let me just give you a few suggestions by way of next steps:
· Ask questions like: “How can I pray for you; how can our church better minister to you; what is God doing in your life?”
· You can warn, encourage, support, persist, and love over coffee.
· You can do this by hosting a game night.
· You can do this by inviting someone over for dinner.
· You can do this through texting, or a phone call, or an email, or a card, or through a Bible study, or by praying personally with someone.
These are all ways that you can warn, encourage, support, persist, and love. And you can come up with your own ways—it doesn’t matter how you do it; just do it! Sometimes this is difficult, especially if it is warning the unruly. But we need to be willing to have the hard conversations—and if we truly care about such individuals, we will. It may take time and effort to find out how to help the weary or weak individuals.
I pray that you’ll get this today. I desire that you’ll develop a vision for this. I long at to see church members warning the idle, to see the weary encouraged, to see the weak supported, to see persistent patience shown to the challenging, and to see love shown to the hateful. I love how Paul so wonderfully develops these categories—categories of people in the church, and helps us to discern how to minister to those in each. My challenge for you as you leave this morning is to find someone in one of these categories—it could be unruly, weary, weak, challenging, or even hateful, and make it your goal to step into their lives and minister to them this week based on the instruction from this text of Scripture. These are practical steps you can take to put this passage into your daily life.
Big Idea: ministry is people, and we’re all called to ministry.
I want to leave you this morning by casting a vision—what would Faith Baptist church be if everyone here followed this text? What incredible ministry would we have if we all practiced these relational strategies this week? I think this church would be an interconnected web of people stepping into each others lives for very specific ministry as needed, and that type of community of faith—that type of faith family is one that is attractive and compelling to those without. So as you leave this morning, let me challenge you to dream—what could this church accomplish together if we were the type of faith family described in this text? Ponder that this week, and envision how you might play a part in helping your church become this type of community!
