WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES - World Evangelical Alliance

186 WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES
“What I want is not your possessions, but you.” To the Thessalonians, he had
also said that he worked night and day so as not to be a burden to anyone
while he preached the Gospel.
3 To Be a Model
Paul had a further reason for working. He wanted to be an example.
Ministering among Gentiles who did not have a strong ethical concept of work,
he knew it was not sufficient to preach to them about hard work. He needed to
be the model. To the Corinthians, he had urged them to imitate him and his
way of life. 8
To the Thessalonians, Paul and his companions did not only preach the
Gospel but they shared their lives. They worked night and day and demonstrated
how work and ministry could be integrated. 9 It was important for new believers
to learn responsible discipleship. New Christians need to work with their hands
to win the respect of unbelievers and to practically testify to the power of the
Gospel. 10 In his second letter to the Thessalonians, he strongly urges them to
work hard to support themselves. He gave them the rule: “if a man will not
work, he shall not eat.” He reminds them that he had provided the model for
them to follow. They ought to follow his example (2 Thessalonians 3:7-13).
4 For the Mobility of the Gospel
Underlying all these reasons for working, Paul knew the importance of
the role of ordinary believers in the spread of the Gospel. The mobility of the
Gospel depended upon lay Christians who would sound out the good news. If
they depended on financial support for this task, the Gospel would be impeded.
The Thessalonians had already become imitators of Paul, and they
themselves had become a model to believers in the surrounding areas (1
Thessalonians 1:6, 7, 8). The mobility of the Gospel and the missionary expansion
of the church should never become highly dependent on financial support.
Lay Christians needed to catch the vision of the deep significance of their
vocation. What happened in the church at Thessalonica has given us an example
to follow in this day and age.
Having a good occupation and marketable skills in themselves are not
enough for the mobility of the Gospel. Tentmakers need to be available and
flexible, ready to penetrate new frontiers. In Acts 18, Aquila and Priscilla are
good examples of flexibility when they were ready to close down their business
in Corinth and start all over again in Ephesus when Paul’s ministry shifted to
that city. Their work followed God’s leading. They went where the harvest was
waiting and the labourers were few.
8 1 Corinthians 4:15-17
9 1 Thessalonians 2:8-12
10 1 Thessalonians 4:11, 12