and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
As mentioned, the Church in Thessalonica was surrounded by hostile people groups.* Remembering this, and desiring to survive, the words of Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 make sense: if you live in a hostile environment, attempt to stay out of trouble.
Living quietly, minding your own business, and working with your hands effectively produced great results, though these things seem rather simple. What were the great results? They were a witness to outsiders.
During the time of Paul, it wasn’t uncommon in Greek culture for those with wealth to show off their status within the society by displaying how many people they supported with generosity.* Those who received their generosity did so for various reasons, but often times it was simply in exchange for praise, not because there was a real need involved.* Some scholars suggest that while Paul recognizes that generosity is important, only those who absolutely need it should receive it.* All others should work to support themselves. Furthermore, some scholars speculate that the church of the time was worrying more about political games than preaching the Gospel.* Other scholars believe also that Paul had to remind the Church to work because some stopped working because they believed there was no point in working due to the soon-to-return Christ.*
The exact reasons for why Paul narrowed the effective witness of the Church in Thessalonica to living quietly, minding your business, and working hard remains illusive. However, the consensus among scholars is that one of the greatest ways that the Church in Thessalonica could show the love of Christ to one another and to the surrounding society was to do the simple things right.* Paul knew that if the Church in Thessalonica avoided causing trouble of their own and did the things that the surrounding society respected as right, they would be a light to this world.*
In the words of Seyoon Kim,
The church should always seek to maintain a good reputation in the world. This is inherently required of it as the community of the citizens of the kingdom of God, the community of the justified and sanctified. It is also required by its missionary nature. It must let its “light so shine before all people, that they may see [their] good works and give glory to [their] Father who is in heaven” (Matt 5:16; cf. Phil 2:14–15; 1 Pet 2:9, 12).
Sometimes the world needs to see the Church do the simple, right things right. Sometimes this shines the light of Jesus brighter than any revival meeting, political argument, or social media post.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to do the little things right. Perhaps today God wants you to be a light to this world by showing love to another believer. Maybe today God wants you to extend generosity to someone else.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!
*Holmes, M. (1998). 1 and 2 Thessalonians (pp. 138–139, 141-142). Zondervan Publishing House.
Shogren, G. S. (2012). 1 & 2 Thessalonians (pp. 170–172). Zondervan.
Green, G. L. (2002). The letters to the Thessalonians (pp. 208–213). W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.
Kim, S., & Bruce, F. F. (2023). 1 & 2 Thessalonians (D. B. Capes, Ed.; Second Edition, Vol. 45, pp. 361–371). Zondervan Academic.
Morris, L. (1984). 1 and 2 Thessalonians: An introduction and commentary (Vol. 13, pp. 85–86). InterVarsity Press.
Beale, G. K. (2003). 1–2 Thessalonians (pp. 126–129). InterVarsity Press.
Weima, J. A. D. (2014). Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: 1–2 Thessalonians (R. W. Yarbrough & R. H. Stein, Eds.; pp. 292–299). Baker Academic.