When reading the second half of Acts recently, I was struck by the commitment of Paul and his companions to press on in ministry no matter the opposition they faced. A good example of this point occurs in Acts 16–18. Just after the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), Paul and Silas set out for Paul’s second missionary journey. In Acts 16, they added Timothy as a companion in ministry and soon ended up in Troas. In Troas, Paul had a vision by night where he saw a man from Macedonia saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us” (16:9, ESV). Paul, convinced that this vision was the Lord’s will, set out for Macedonia. Along the way to Macedonia (the region where Thessalonica was), Paul and his companions shared the gospel in Philippi with Lydia and then with the Philippian jailor after being stripped, beaten, and imprisoned. These beginnings are remarkably humble ones for the Philippian church.
In Acts 17, Paul and Silas finally made it to Thessalonica, where Paul reasoned with Jews in the local synagogue for three Sabbaths about Jeus, His death, and His resurrection. Some were persuaded and believed. But some of the Jews stirred up a group of men to harass Paul and his companions as well as their host Jason, who was abused when the crowd failed to find Paul and his companions. Concerned for Paul and Silas, the believers in Thessalonica sent them out under the cover of night. The mob was so outraged with Paul and Silas that they tracked them down in the next town, Berea. Paul was then sent away to Athens, where he preached in the synagogue and then at the Areopagus before moving on to Corinth.
What strikes me in Acts 16–18 is the commitment of Paul and his companions to take the gospel wherever the Lord led, no matter the abuse or ridicule they faced. Their commitment led me to reflect on the questions: “Why are they doing this? How do they continue to press on in ministry despite such opposition?” As I was reading 1 Thessalonians 2:1–8, a couple of answers to these questions emerged. First, Paul and his companions had a singular focus: the proclamation of the gospel that had transformed their lives and had been entrusted to them. Second, they were motivated by a desire to be faithful to the Lord. But as I read 1 Thessalonians 2, I also noted that they were determined to minister boldly but with gentleness.
I believe that each of these points can be paradigmatic for how we think about pastoral ministry.
Purpose: Gospel Proclamation
Paul and his companions went to Thessalonica to preach the gospel in response to the Macedonian vision. In the vision, this man from Macedonia compelled Paul to come there with the gospel. So, he set out for Thessalonica for the purpose of taking them the gospel.
As noted above, this path was not an easy one. Paul faced all sorts of opposition and physical abuse on his way to Thessalonica. Paul alluded to this difficulty in 1 Thessalonians 2:2, writing, “But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.” Paul and his companions had been roughed up at Philippi. They had been stripped of their clothes, beaten, and imprisoned. Paul could have hung it up. He could have called it a day. We probably would not have blamed him. Yet Paul just rolled on to Macedonia—he went on to the next region and town. Why? How? Because his whole life was dedicated to taking the good news about Jesus wherever he was called to go.
I am struck by Paul’s clarity and singularity of purpose. His life was about gospel proclamation. He was always looking for an opportunity to preach the gospel wherever he went. Paul wanted the gospel to spread, and he did not wait for the perfect opportunity or for the mood to be just right. He constantly sowed the seed of the gospel. That is what he did in Thessalonica. Paul essentially said in 2:1: “You know that we did not come empty-handed. Our coming to you was not in vain. Because we came with the ‘gospel of God.’” Paul came with the very thing the Thessalonians needed—the gospel.
Motive: Faithfulness to God
Paul’s primary motive in ministry was faithfulness to God. Something apparent at the beginning of 1 Thessalonians 2 is that some in Thessalonica had criticized his motives for ministry. They had questioned what Paul was really after in Thessalonica. In the ancient world, traveling teachers would go from town to town to take advantage of people. Apparently, some had accused Paul of getting what he wanted in Thessalonica and then of moving on to the next place under the cover of night.
Yet Paul did not go to Thessalonica for personal gain. He was not trying to trick anyone, or take advantage of anyone, or stroke his ego (3–6). God had called Paul to this place, and he wanted to be faithful. Through his obedience to God, Paul longed for the Thessalonians to hear the gospel, repent of their sins, and believe the truth. And now, having heard of this critique against himself and his ministry companions, Paul is able to say with a clear conscience that he had been faithful.
A result of Paul’s desire to please the Lord was that he was not beholden to anyone in Thessalonica. Paul was not trying to be a smooth talker. He was not trying to figure out who the key figures in town were so that he could gain their approval by saying what they wanted to hear. He was not trying to “win friends and influence people” through empty flattery (5). His goal was “to please God who tests our hearts” (4).[1] The easiest way for Paul to get off course would have been for him to shape his ministry and persona around the desires of the most influential figures in Thessalonica. But that almost certainly would have led to Paul distorting the gospel message in some way. He resisted this temptation.
It is not that Paul was indifferent to the Thessalonians and was just serving God how he saw fit. Later in this letter, he poured out his heart to the Thessalonians. Paul wanted a reciprocal relationship with them whereby he loved and cared for them through his ministry, and they loved and cared for him in return. But in response to critiques of his ministry, Paul was saying, with a completely clear conscience, “We did not shape our ministry around the desires of any individual or group in Thessalonica. We did not make human approval our aim. Our goal was faithfulness to the Lord, and He can test our hearts to know this is true.”
Pastors who want to be faithful to the Lord cannot live and die by human approval. If we live to be congratulated and patted on the back, then we will end up doing whatever it takes to get and keep that approval. But if our work is done with faithfulness and in service to the Lord, the critique of others may hurt us, but it will not ultimately crush us because we will have divine approval. Critics will come and go, but the One who tests hearts remains. So, ministry must be motivated by faithfulness to the Lord.
Demeanor: Gentleness
Finally, Paul described his demeanor among the Thessalonians as being “gentle” (7).[2] The image he used is of a nursing mother gently taking care of her own young children. She is careful and thoughtful with the baby, tending to each need. That is how Paul ministered among the Thessalonians. He did not roll into town and announce his credentials or tout his education. He did not brag about the beating he had survived in Philippi. He did not demand that they treat him like an apostle or meet his every need. On the contrary, he humbly gave of himself to the Thessalonians. In verse six, Paul said, “[W]e could have made demands.” But he did not say those things. He gave of himself. He did not think too highly of himself. He was a servant of the Lord, a servant of the Thessalonians, and he acted like it.
I am struck by the way Paul describes his demeanor here: “So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us” (8). He and his companions shared the gospel andthemselves. Their ministry was not a flyover. They did not just dispense the gospel message and move on. They gave of themselves to the Thessalonians. They ministered with care and with gentleness to the holistic needs that were present.
It is possible for pastors to become dictators, thinking they must constantly assert their pastoral authority. The assertion of such authority may be needed on some rare occasions, but it is certainly not all the time. Sometimes pastors become prideful, authoritarian, and brash. They are not gentle. They might convince themselves that a pastor must always be this way. As a result, they always and only sound like Paul to the Galatians: “Who has bewitched you?!” But this approach misses what was likely the norm for Paul: “we were gentle among you.” Pastoral authoritarians miss the example of the one who Paul was imitating—Jesus—the One who had every right to make demands but was characterized by gentleness and lowliness of heart (Mt. 11:29).
Conclusion
We learn here from the example of Paul, who learned from the example of Jesus, that ministry must be done for the right purpose, with the right motive, and with the right demeanor. The goal was to get the gospel out, in obedience to God’s command and for God’s approval, but with a demeanor of gentleness. Much within Paul’s letters is somewhat unique to his ministry, but contained within them is something for each of us to learn here. Pastors must make our lives about advancing the gospel wherever we are. We must make that our life’s aim. We must live for the Lord’s approval, and then we will not be completely crushed when others do not approve of us. And we must do all of these things with the humble demeanor of our Lord and Savior—with gentleness.
[1] My usage of “win friends and influence people” here is not a direct critique of the work of Dale Carnegie but more of a reference to how the phrase is used popularly.
[2] Some debate exists among the commentators about the Greek word that Paul uses, but most of them agree that he is describing his ministry among the Thessalonians as gentle.
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