Not only the gospel of God but our lives as well

1 Thessalonians 2:2-12 (TNIV) -

2 We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition.3 For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you.4 On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness.6 We were not looking for praise from any human being, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our prerogatives.

7 Instead, we were like young children among you.
Just as a nursing mother cares for her children,8 so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.

9 Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.
10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children,

12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

My thoughts -

There's some interesting things going on in this passage. One thing I find impressive about Paul is his radical transparency. He doesn't seem to have an agenda save for preaching God's word. He doesn't seem to feel the need to present himself as someone he isn't to impress anyone. There is no one for him to impress. He doesn't deceive, even when it's the kind of deception that we could easily justify. He is disarmingly honest. This may have been one of the reasons he spent so much time in prison. He just couldn't help but tell the truth no matter what the cost.

Here he is reminding the church in Thessalonica of his honesty and transparency. He reminds them that he, Silas, and Timothy "were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well". He loved them enough to be himself and to model himself as an example of how to honestly follow Christ. How many friends to we have that we share our lives with? How open are we? How many people get to see who we really are? Not many see me. I let some see who I'd like to be but pretty much only my wife, children, and a few close friends get to see the real me, warts and all.

What would we look like if we were radically transparent and always completely honest? What would we look like if we had no motives, no agendas, no pretense, and no walls? I just read a really good book by A. J. Jacobs called The Year of Living Biblically. The author, not a believer, decided to immerse himself in the Bible and live an entire year under the premise that everything in the Bible is literally true. He followed, or tried to, all of the law. Part of that meant that he was unable to lie. Not even little "white lies". He was honest always even when that required him to share things that made him vulnerable and things that hurt others feelings at times. He was transparent. One of the things that he found in this was that it really helped him reign in some thoughts that weren't particularly godly, as anyone could know them. This radical transparency, in essence, helped make him a better person.

There are some other neat things going on in this passage. Look at the ways that Paul describes his relationship with the Thessalonians. In verse 7 he says that he, Silas, and Timothy "were like young children among you". In verses 7 and 8 he says he cared for them like "a nursing mother cares for her children". In verse 9 he calls them his "brothers and sisters". And then in verses 11 and 12 Paul says "we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory".

Multiple descriptions all bunched together like this almost feels disorienting. So he's like a child, a mother, a brother, and a father to them. I'd feel more comfortable if he'd just pick a role and stay with it. That's easier to grasp. But our relationships are deep and complex. They are not black and white. There is a richness to interpersonal relationships. I like that all of these are family. There's intimacy there. The church is a family. And while we all have abilities and roles that we play within this family we also grow together and our roles adapt and change as we do. Dynamics in relationships are not static but fluid. Paul is sharing his life with this church just as we, in our own churches, share our lives with each other. It is an honest, open, transparent, and fluid process.

My hope is that we can embrace radical transparency. My hope is that we can embrace honesty to the point of vulnerability. My hope is that we can share our lives with one another in love and learn to tear down all of the walls of pride and fear that separate us and be one family in Christ.