Having summarized the contents of 1 Thessalonians with regard to community, let me turn to Paul's follow-up letter.
As you might expect, 2 Thessalonians continues to process of teaching us a theology of community. It starts in chapter 1, verse 3:
We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith flourishes more and more and the love of each one of you all for one another is ever greater.
So right off the bat, Paul has let us know that the authentic sense of community found in Thessalonika (that we read about in 1 Thess) is not only alive and well, but growing!...
Chapters 2 and 3 relate more information to put into what I'm calling a "theology of community". First, in chapter 2, Paul relates much more detailed information about the "end times" than he did in 1 Thess. Remember, I'm suggesting that the very reason Paul chose the Thessalonians to reveal this truth to has everything to do with their deep sense of community. So it should come as no surprise that Paul relates even more information to them here - especially since he's learned that their bond of loving community is growing ever stronger. Had he heard that they were losing this sense of community, I doubt very highly that this "end times" teaching would have taken priority for Paul - he probably wouldn't even have addressed it, instead admonishing the Thessalonians to restore their Godly community.
So again, I'm left with the strong hunch that the teachings of Thessalonians (both 1 and 2) regarding the "end times" were given by Paul primarily because of their deep community.
Chapter 3 reveals even more information for forming a theology of community. In it, Paul focuses on this command:
But we command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who lives an undisciplined life and not according to the tradition they received from us. (v.6)
What exactly does Paul mean? He explains himself more fully a few verses later:
For we hear that some among you are living an undisciplined life, not doing their own work but meddling in the work of others. (v.11)
In other words, there were some folk who were free-loading in the Thessalonian church community. They weren't working, but were taking hand-outs and busying themselves in the affairs of others instead of "work[ing] quietly and provid[ing] their own food to eat" (v.12). These are the kind of people that are always "suggesting" ways for you to live your life better, but never living those standards in their own life. My study Bible notes that "there is a play on words in the Greek: 'working at nothing, but working around', 'not keeping busy but being busybodies'."
Returning to verse 6, what does Paul mean by "keep away from any brother" who lives this way? He spells it out in verse 14b-15:
...take not of him and do not associate closely with him, so that he may be ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
So let's recap. The Thessalonian church had a deep and abiding sense of community. There were some that wanted to enjoy the benefits of that community without really contributing to it. They wanted to be around this community - who wouldn't?! But they didn't want to be obedient (v.6, v.12) to at least one of the sometimes difficult commands that are prerequisites for authentic community. They wanted to cheat - enjoy the benefits of deep community without the hard work. But Paul commands those in deep community to "not associate closely" with them, not in hopes of selfishly "preserving" their community, but in hopes that the offenders might repent and enter into the deep community the right way.
So, we now have two points to work with in our growing "theology of community".
1. Deep community is a prerequisite for full understanding of certain teachings. At least it was in the case of the Thessalonians.
2. Deep community is to be guarded, but not in an exclusionary sense. Christians are to be encouraged to do the hard work necessary to truly enter into deep community by those already in deep community.
Anybody agree or disagree at this point?
Hatushili
Saturday, March 3, 2007
A Theology of Community (part 2)
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7 comments:
I think that the church posers that Paul tells us to stay clear of are still as big of a problem as they were in the Thessalonian church community. I think that is where small groups come in. It’s much easier for these fakes to fit into a general church service, which may be another reason why it is so hard to develop community through such services alone. I know for myself, I can’t really take my mask down with those I only converse with once a week at church. Perhaps that’s why churches like ours are so prone to create comities for everything; they really just want more community and feel like they need a purpose or reason to be together. Just a thought.
So if we had to make a list of definable actions or qualities that are signs of good community what would they be? Are there common characteristics of modern day churches that foster strong community?
You're questions will make a good homework assignment for you, JB!
Seriously - go through 1 and 2 Thessalonians and see if you can glean some answers to your questions. I'm in the process of working through Colossians for similar purposes - likely the next post in this series.
I'm holding off on posting part 3 in an effort to give my regular readers a chance to catch up to the abundance of posts from the last week. If you get caught up, drop me a comment on this post.
This recent series on Community is a genuine work-in-progess. I have no preconceived conclusions. I'm not guiding the outcome of this discussion. I'm honestly seeking, and using the tools of exegesis and shared wisdom (from you guys!) to make some headway on the issue.
I eagerly await your thoughts... and Jered's homework assignment!
Hatushili
From I Thessalonians, there are certain actions that Paul encourages the church to do and praises them for doing. I’ve not listed all of them, rather the main ones repeated and those that seem to concern community. Maybe these added to the sense of community clearly present there.
- Pray for each other constantly
- Affectionately desire each other’s company
- Encourage one another; push one another to good works
- Build each other up
- Know those that work among you and value them exceedingly high in love for their work
- Be at peace among each other
- Study and work
- Help those lacking
- Collectively anticipate the Lord’s return
- Communally comfort each other
- Edify each other
- Warn the unruly
- Support the weak
- Rejoice always
- Always give thanks
The vibe I got from studying I Thessalonians, while focusing mainly on community, was that it MUST be more than a once or twice a week commitment. There has to be constant communication with each other to do the things Paul says. When we only see each other a couple of hours a week we can only pretend or act like we are encouraging, edifying, warning, or supporting each other. And as can quite often be the case, pretending to do something can be much more dangerous than not doing it at all. Have we lulled ourselves in to thinking what we do at church fulfills Paul’s demands? I know that when I pray for those on our prayer list, I struggle with sincerity. I don’t know the people on the list and hardly know, I mean truly know, the people on our list that even go to our church. I doubt I’m alone here, and I think this is true in other areas as well.
I’m starting to think that the Christian life we are ideally to be living must be much more extreme and require a greater commitment than that which we are letting it be. It can’t simply be a country club for the weekends. Maybe this is why churches around the world under persecution are so much healthier, they HAVE to stick together! Part of me wants that persecution… part of me wonders why all of me doesn’t want it.
JB said: I’m starting to think that the Christian life we are ideally to be living must be much more extreme and require a greater commitment...
I'm starting to think you're beginning to understand my passion.
Since you completed your homework from 1 Thessalonians, how about you do 2 Thessalonians in the same way?
Hatushili
No prob. Oh by the way, I left off the holy kiss from the above list of Paul's. Maybe that's why so many modern church's are lacking strong community we just ain't smooching enough...maybe not...
Here are some of the characteristics from the church at Thessalonica, regarding community.
- Their love was always increasing for each other
- Their faith was increasing
- They held to the teachings of Paul (shown in deed and word)
- They were warned against being idle
- They were to warn those not following Paul’s instructions
Not as much regarding community as in the first book; however, it was clear that they loved each other and that they were working together. In an above comment I mentioned how persecution often draws Christians together in other countries; in the first chapter of 2 Thessalonians he praises their perseverance in their current persecution. I’m sure good community can be established without persecution, but it often can help, for example Sept. 11.
You've hit on what Tertullian noted around 1800 years ago - "the blood of the martyrs is seed".
Some have argued that this is not true, but I don't know how. It seems almost self-evidently to be the case. But then I generally reject "self evident" truth claims, so maybe a bit more study is needed... No it's not - I've studied enough church history to know the truth of Tertullian's statement!
Incidentally, I'm guessing by now that any of you "lurkers" (those that read but don't post - I know who you are!) interested in this topic have caught up by now, so we'll proceed with the study soon...
Hatushili
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