/fairfaxs-website/image-f878f-i65ab.png "Fairfax Presbyterian Church")
The apostle Paul’s first and second letters to the Thessalonians are possibly the earliest writings in the New Testament. Written to Greek followers of Christ in the port city of Thessalonica, Paul spoke of the second “coming of the Lord” (1 Thess 4:15), which most members of the community assumed would happen in their lifetime. He also described how they should live a life that is pleasing to God, and presented the basic beliefs and common convictions of the first followers of Christ. He was determined to present timeless truths, and to explain and defend the common ground of the Christian faith. Paul was not interested in creating a distinctively Thessalonian style of Christian; instead, he wanted to help people to be Merely Christian. He knew that such Christians would be “sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 5:23).
Similar efforts have been made by a number of Christian writers since Paul, including C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity. This book began as four sets of radio talks on basic Christianity, offered in England during the darkest days of the Second World War. Since then, the book’s popularity has grown, and for many Christians Mere Christianity is their favorite religious book apart from the Bible. The book is a classic, says historian George Marsden in The Wall Street Journal, because Lewis “was determined to present only the timeless truths of Christianity rather than the latest theological or cultural fashions.” The book is his attempt to explain and defend “the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times.”
So what are the timeless truths that Paul presented? He began with a set of commands: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess 5:16-18). Such orders might strike us as odd and out-of-touch with the painful realities of our lives — illnesses, breakups, failures and job losses. We would understand if Paul said “rejoice often” … “pray regularly” … and “give thanks whenever good things happen.” But instead he says that we are to rejoice, pray and give thanks constantly, without regard to the difficulties of our lives. Paul issued this command because he was focused much more on God and on Jesus than he was on himself. Rejoicing, praying and giving thanks are important because they are “the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess 5:18). This focus on the way of God and Jesus motivated C.S. Lewis to write, “Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your live and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favorite wishes every day … and you will find eternal life.” As Jesus himself said, “Those who lose their life for my sake will find it” (Matt 10:39).
The next timeless truth, according to Paul: “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thess 5:19-22). A person who is Merely Christian is open to the power of the Spirit of God, blowing where it will and doing the work of transformation. In the magazine Leadership Journal, pastor and author Gordon MacDonald has written an article on “How to Spot a Transformed Christian.” These folks don’t look different from the general population, but they do have characteristics that are signs of inner changes. One of the most important is a passion for reconciliation. “They bring people together,” writes MacDonald. “They hate war, violence, contentiousness, division caused by race, economics, gender, and ideology. They believe that being peaceable and making peace trumps all other efforts in one’s lifetime.” They take action in the community when they see “dividing walls that separate people, each of whom was made uniquely and loved by God.” Transformed Christians “do not despise the words of prophets” (1 Thess 5:20) — prophets such as Zechariah, who said, “Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace” (Zech 8:16). Transformed Christians follow the apostle Paul in holding fast to what is good and abstaining from evil.
People who are Merely Christian tend to behave in a particular way. Instead of quenching the Spirit, they let it fill them and transform them. Rather than tumbling into evil, they hold fast to what is good. Listening to the words of the prophets, they work for peace and reconciliation. All of this prepares them well for “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 5:23), because Christ’s life of love and service shows them how to “hold fast to what is good [and] abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thess 5:21-22). Best of all, they don’t have to do this by their own power, because the God “who calls you is faithful, and he will do this” (1 Thess 5:24). This passage from 1 Thessalonians is one of the Bible’s greatest hits because it describes how we can be Merely Christian with the help of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Such an approach to the faith can stand the test of time, because it is based on the beliefs that have been common to followers of Jesus since Paul wrote the very first of his letters.
Questions:
1. In your opinion, what are the timeless truths of Christianity?
2. What do you consider to be the marks of a transformed Christian?
3. How do you understand the second coming of Christ?
Join the conversation through a comment on Facebook.