What makes for a healthy church? The church at Thessalonica was an example to others in their faith, love, and hope. Even so, Paul finishes this letter to them with instruction on how to be a healthy church.
And here’s the key: A Church is a gathering of imperfect, but God-forgiven, sinners; a healthy church is one with healthy relationships between those sinners.
If you want this church to be healthy, you need to grasp 100% that you are the church. If there’s a problem, it’s on us to fix it together.
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church in December 2024. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.
Be led (12-13)
These final comments in 1 Thess 5:12-28 are typical of the rapid-fire instruction that Paul gives in a number of his letters. He wants them to be a healthy church, and he begins with the relationship between the church and its leaders. Read 1 Thess 5:12.
The way he writes “those who labour among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you” indicates he’s thinking of a single person or group of people who do all three. In a church of our size, that means the pastor and elders.
So there’s a pattern here for me:
- those who labor among you – I’m to be characterised by hard work, not sitting off, downloading sermons to preach
- and lead you in the Lord – This isn’t my church; I’m to lead you to be the kind of people Christ would have you be.
And I’m answerable to him. - and admonish you – I’m to teach you God’s word (not mine), to correct you, to say things you’d rather not hear.
Church leaders
You might recoil at such words: “Who does he think he is?”
- But Paul is speaking to a church, a gathering of Christians.
- He calls them “brothers and sisters” because that’s what all Christians are, sharing one heavenly Father.
- No-one’s born a Christian, and it’s not something you can catch. There isn’t an entrance standard to reach.
- If anything, you qualify because you’re a sinner before God
- A Christian is someone who has seen the offence they are before God and recognises they deserve punishment.
- You turn from your offensive sin, and you turn to God and ask him for his forgiveness.
- Christians are only ever forgiven sinners.
- God will forgive you, counting Jesus (the eternal Son) as punished in your place – justice served.
- And then he adopts you: God is your Father, Jesus your brother, and every Christian your sibling. Forever.
- If you want hell as the punishment for your sin, do nothing. But God would have you come to him! Today.
So if I’m to lead you I’m to do so “in the Lord.” Not in my name.
He appointed me here for your good. So inasmuch as I lead you in the Lord, you’re to serve him (not me).
Relating to church leaders
But that does affect the relationship between you and me: Read 1 Thess 5:13.
- regard them very highly – “super highly”, the highest!
- in love – I’m not your boss; the relationship between pastor and church isn’t organisational, or professional.
It’s one of love. - because of their work – not because of my job title or notion of status. That’s really important.
This is why character for church leaders is so much more important than skills and abilities. It would be easy to get proud. But church leaders aren’t to bask in the high regard and love of others: I’m to work, and to serve.
You’re to hold me in very high regard in love, and I’m to humble myself in serving everyone. If I bask in a notion of ‘status’ then I’m certainly not leading you ‘in the Lord’ – he who is to be the greatest among us is to be the servant of all, as Jesus said (Matthew 23:11). I’m absolutely not to ‘lord it’ over you or coerce you, but to serve and encourage and equip.
Competing to serve
So you must ask yourself if you’re happy to see your pastor stacking chairs and tidying up while you watch on or leave early? Is that what ‘very high regard in love’ looks like? As I see it, you and I should have a loving argument every week: I want to stack chairs to serve you; you want to do it in very high regard in love. And then we’d just work together in love, as it should be.
But if I’m to be a leader in the Lord, what do I lead you to? To all he wants you to do: To love one another, to witness about him, to grow in holiness, to live in service to others… Which means you must choose to be led (in the Lord). You must listen for Christ speaking to you.
At the end of the verse he says, Be at peace among yourselves.
Why say that? Because some ‘get it’ more than others. Some work, and serve, and labour… while some don’t. Being at peace among ourselves is often a choice. You need to decide to forgive, to submit, to be humble, to bite your tongue and forgive (always worth saying twice). Choose to submit to a direction; embrace it in the Lord.
Paul goes on to give us all some rapid-fire helpful instruction:
Be united (14-22)
Read 1 Thess 5:14.
In short, everyone who can serve others, must serve others:
- warn those who are idle – “warn” is literally “admonish” as in v12. You’re to admonish one another if you think someone is being idle. You are called to serve Jesus, and you do that by serving his church in love, in witness, in holiness. You’re not exempt.
- comfort the discouraged – When you are idle, the people who do the work end up discouraged, put on, overworked. I know this because they complain to me. You can comfort the discouraged by offering help.
- help the weak – The elderly, the ill, the depressed. Help them to do what? To love, to pray, to grow.
- be patient with everyone – You might get frustrated that people don’t (or can’t) work as well as you. Be patient, and encourage them. There will be very, very few people who can do nothing to serve the church. Patiently encourage.
Despite knowing that you’re to be patient with everyone, someone at church is bound to upset you over something. We’re all sinners; no-one is perfect. How will you react? Read 1 Thess 5:15.
Don’t repay evil with evil. Be careful: Not doing the good you know you ought to do is sin (according to James 4:17). Rather, pursue goodness. Choose to do good. Don’t give up on people when they let you down.
Always-on
You’re actually to have an ‘always-on’ attitude: Read 1 Thess 5:16-18.
3 verses, one sentence (in English!). A whole life.
- You can apply the 3 things for yourself, personally.
- Rejoice in the Lord (in his nearness, your forgiveness, in the hope he gives you in all times)
- Pray constantly, in all places and times, knowing God is near.
- Give thanks in everything – because God is working for your good, if you’re a Christian.
- These three describe a 24×7 Christian; the real thing.
- But the verb commands are actually plural: They’re to all of us as a church: We’re all to do these things, and we’re to do them together.
- See you at the prayer meeting then.
- There are no part time Christians in the kingdom of heaven; nor are there any part time church members.
Maybe you hear some of these things but you’re really unmoved. You have absolutely no intent of doing anything different.
Cynical or gullible? Be wise
Read 1 Thess 5:19. Don’t you dare listen to a sermon, tell me it was great (or whatever), and then ignore the Spirit prompting you to change. You’re not here to fact-check my sermons; you’re here to listen to the Spirit and obey him.
Read 1 Thess 5:20-21a. If you think the Spirit is prompting you to act, then test what you’re being prompted to do against Scripture. If you think he wants you to enter into an inappropriate relationship, you’ve probably misheard. Test the spirits. But if you think he wants to you tell an unbeliever about Jesus, you’re probably right. Go and do it.
And read 1 Thess 5:21b-22. As simple and as clear a summary of holy Christian living as you’ll find in the Bible.
So if you’re a Christian, you’re in Christ’s church. It’s not about you. Christ came to serve, and he expects that of us all. We’re all imperfect, so it takes effort from every single one of us to be a healthy church. A body with a bad foot or kidney is not a healthy body. You have a contribution to make, and you will need to make it in peace with everyone else. It takes effort.
Use all your talents
I remember a church member at another church explaining why she wouldn’t help any more than she was: “No-one should have to do more than one job as long as there are some people doing nothing.”
Which sounded fair enough. But it’s not really biblical. Suppose the Lord gave you 10 talents, and gave someone else just 1. And suppose that person used their 1 talent to the best of their ability. Do you then think, “Why should I use 10 talents when they’re only using 1?” Do you cut down to match them? No, you use all the talents you have, being patient and loving to those who only have 1.
And where is all this heading?
Be holy (23-28)
Verse 23 is a prayer: Read 1 Thess 5:23.
- Now may the God of peace himself – so much of what we’ve seen will require peace among us, God’s people. In that, we reflect and honour “the God of peace himself”.
- sanctify you completely – It is God’s will that you be sanctified, made holy – in daily life and in communion with him
- And may your whole spirit, soul, and body – that’s not a deep systematic theology of what makes someone human; it’s just a way of describing everything that is you – physical and spiritual.
- be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ – That’s the goal; to be ready for the return of Jesus to the world.
You might think it all sounds like a lot of effort from you. Do you think God would command you something and then not help you?
The remaining verses describe at least 3 enablers for you.
Enabler #1
Enabler #1, read 1 Thess 5:24.
That’s the paradox: Only God is holy, and only he can sanctify you (make you holy); you’re to live it out. And he will keep you. He called you to himself; he won’t let you go because the way is hard.
Enabler #2
Enabler #2, read 1 Thess 5:25.
Everyone needs help; we all need prayer. The apostle Paul asked the church at Thessalonica for prayer because he needed help. When we pray for one another, we carry our burdens to God. You need help. I’m often surprised when I ask for items for prayer at the prayer meeting that no-one speaks up: You’d think everyone’s life was uniformly happy and comfortable. Ask others to pray for you; pray through the church list. Please, pray for me: For my holiness and walk with the Lord.
Kissing?
The next verse sometimes makes us squirm: Read 1 Thess 5:26. But there are 3 things to say about it:
- It demands peace between people to show such affection.
- A kiss was a family greeting. Paul is encouraging you to show family affection for your brothers and sisters in Christ (whether that’s a hug, a wave, a fist-bump doesn’t matter).
- Massively, it means that churches cross over cultural divides: For Thessalonica, that meant Jews and Gentiles; in other parts of the world, it might mean smashing taboos to do with the colour of your skin.
See how so many of the things we’ve spoken of are really about attitude and state of mind: Be led; be church; be holy.
This isn’t a list of do’s and don’ts, but rather a temperature gauge for you to understand are you hot or cold for Christ and his church.
Do you still think you’re not included? Read 1 Thess 5:27.
“I charge you” is literally “I put you under oath” – not to read these instructions to you and to make them plain would be a sin.
Enabler #3
But Paul ends with his Enabler # 3: Read 1 Thess 5:28.
- The grace of Christ has two meanings in the New Testament.
- Usually, it’s the undeserved kindness of God.
- But often it’s more active: It’s the supernatural intervention and power of Christ through the Holy Spirit.
- Will you be led, be church, be holy? The grace of Christ will help you.
So now we come to the end.
The question is, will you change? If not, is that a lack of high regard for me, for Scripture, for the Spirit at work in your conscience, or something else? Or are you perfect? Or the first Christian in history actually exempt from every command in these verses?
Read the text again. Pick out a thought for yourself. What will you do differently? What rota might you sign up for? Or what help might you give? Who will you encourage? Today, and into 2025. Read the text.