1st Thessalonians part 2

1 Thessalonians 3:7-8 (New International Version)

⁷Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. ⁸For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.

Following the theme of 1st Thessalonians' encouragment theme, Paul tells his audience that Timothy's report gave his faith a boost. This is more than misery loves company. It's more like misery loves inspiration. God has built us in such a wonderful way that we will reenergize completely (no matter how bleak things look) when we receive a sign of encouragement. More so, our goals and strategies change when we see an example of selflessness or piety that we want to copy. The church was encouraged by Paul and imitated him, while Paul was encouraged by the church. This gives strength to how much we need each other.

1 Thessalonians 3:13 (New International Version)

¹³May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

The church needed most of its encouragement in the area of how it conducted itself. Judging from the letter, the church needed a reminder on appropriate sexual conduct. Paul tells the church to be Holy and Blameless, literally set apart and irreproachable. To be a Christian means to be an ant colony surviving the waves of persecution and the scrutiny of onlookers. We don't follow hard after God because of fear of getting judged by others, but because we know that a true relationship with God is measured in how much we love his conduct. You can't truly love someone and never listen to them. In our new mission we are to imitate Christ who provided a lifestyle of freedom and true life.

1 Thessalonians 4:5

"Not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God."

The pagans that resided near the church of Thessalonica had a much different lifestyle than the Christians. They had no problem with adultery and giving into the feelings of lust. One thing a Christian understands when he is under God's regime is that letting loose your hormonal tendencies is a trap. This is a big conflict in a culture that likes to pick and choose its own limits and boundaries. Our culture has muddied the line between true love and emotional chemical releases (myself included). I think that sex and love have very different agendas. Love is the act of building up, acting out, committing and following through. You must make a conscious effort to love someone. Sex is all about giving up, surrendering and giving into. You release your value into someone. Don't get me wrong: sex is the final "thank you" to God for the wonderful gift he has given in a partner, but I think that our culture is ready to give up and surrender too easily with very little built up and committed. That is why Christians have chosen marriage as the great boundary line--its the absolute highest commitment someone can give.

^{1st Thessalonians 5:7-8}

⁷For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. ⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

Paul talks about sleep in two ways. Sleep means a temporary leave from this Earth until the day Christ comes back and resurrects the world. Sleep also means the state of a believer who has given up on his faith. In both ways it refers to death. Like a lightbulb that has faded out; it is useless to everyone. How did the believers fall asleep? According to the context they slowly slipped into a coma from giving into sensual desires. We are not darkness, a time of motionless sleep, deterioration and ultimate stasis, but we are the day, a realm of clarity, action, energy, vision and life. I love this metaphor because it draws a line between those who follow God and those who don't. Christianity is not just a lifestyle in a sea of millions. It is, in fact, the only life that is the polar opposite of death.