ARE you still looking in the wrong
places for the good life, hoping it will miraculously materialize?
For the last couple of weeks we’ve
been digging into Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians to discover exactly
what The Good Life is and how to achieve it. Evidently it’s something people
have struggled with for ages. Paul gives this congregation of Christ followers
a long list, and we made it about a third of the way through, to verse 14 last
week. This week we’ll tackle the next three. I know, I said we’d finish the
list today, but on closer examination, I think it’s best to bite off three more
and then finish the list over the next couple of weeks. If we truly want The
Good Life, we need to study these carefully.
So let’s do some more digging!
Moving on to verse 15, Paul says,
“See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is
good both for yourselves and for all.”
Bottom line: no tooth for a tooth,
no getting even. No saying nasty things back to someone who has scorned or
ridiculed you. No quick-witted, unsavory retorts. No seeking vengeance. No
getting back at someone. No libeling them on social media. No standing on some
dais in the country’s capital, ranting and raving and slinging potty-mouth
words at someone you don’t like and don’t agree with. When you do that, you’re
showing your true stripes, as we like to say here in the U.S. And they’re
pretty ugly. No one is won over by shouting at them; no one changes their minds
when verbal mud is chucked at them.
People are most often won over by
truth spoken in love and a gentle voice. Indeed, the truth and voice may be
firm, but it’s not vitriol that makes converts. It might gain a reaction and
plenty of media attention, but it’s not going to change people’s hearts, unless
they’re on your side to begin with. Which brings me to a story. Actually, a
couple of them.
Some years ago, when my older son
was attending college, there was a well-meaning guy who would show up on campus
every day in the same place with his thick Bible and shot hellfire and
brimstone words and all-day sermons to the students, and probably the staff. My
son would sit and listen to him from afar, making mental notes about his
presentation and delivery. One day my son had the guts to approach him and tell
him that he was giving the faith a very bad name; that his method was winning
more enemies than converts. In a nutshell, he was driving away the very people
who needed the true message the most. And many had heard him for so long, that
they regarded him as some kind of nut to be avoided. My son was angered by the
methods this man used; angered by the impression he gave others about
Christianity. Eventually this man got booted off campus for his behavior. So
much for making converts for Christ.
My husband and I saw the same thing
happening on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC a couple of
years ago. One guy on each pillar, ranting and raving, swinging their Bibles
around, acting as though they were messengers sent by God to proclaim salvation
to the masses. Well, maybe they were, but my husband and I thought their
technique was lousy, and horribly embarrassing. And few, if anyone, listened to
them—except maybe to laugh at them. So often, I think our behavior makes God
cringe and stifles the Holy Spirit from working in others’ lives. So often our
attitudes, behavior, and speech make messes He has to clean up.
And then notice what Paul says about
what we are to pursue: “…pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all” (my emphasis). We are to on the pursuit
of goodness, not just for ourselves, but for everyone. So this recipe for
having the good life entails keeping watch over our brothers and sisters,
making sure that whatever we do benefits them along with benefiting us. Combine
that with Paul’s admonishment in another letter to consider others as more important
than ourselves, and we’re really focusing more on others’ needs than our own. And
in First Timothy, Paul says, “Let them do good, that they be rich in good
works, ready to give, willing to share.”
The King James Version says to “ever
follow that which is good…” We’re to always be on the lookout for it and choose
to do good. Always. One question we
might ask ourselves is: “Will this action benefit everyone, or will it harm
someone?” True, while not everyone is going to get what she wants we should always think about what
she needs, and aim for that. Even if
it costs us something. Sometimes I think we’re just too exhausted or broken to
do well at this verse. And maybe pursuing simplicity alongside it would help us
have enough energy and resources to make it happen!
Before we move on to the next verse,
consider this quote from the famous theater director Michael Chekhov in his
book To the Actor.
“Imagine a character entirely
attached to an earthly kind of life. It’s powerful
and egotistical will is constantly
drawn downward. All its passionate wishes
and lusts are stamped with low and
base qualities. It has no sympathy for
anyone or anything. Mistrust,
suspicion and blame fill its whole limited and
introverted
inner life. The character denies a straight and honest way of
living, always choosing round-about
and crooked paths. It is a self-centered
and at times an aggressive type of
person.”
Wow! Paints a powerful word picture
of a pretty dark person, doesn’t it? Certainly none of us are like that, are
we? Probably not, but many times in our lives we may come close. We’re focused
on earthly things, worldly goals that wrench our hearts and minds from the
eternal, and the Eternal. Our thinking is self-focused, egotistical. Me minded.
Rather than lifted to the heights of hope, our spirits are dragged downward and
chained to the present. We become jaded, and mistrust dominates our thoughts
and decisions. Our fingers point blame at everyone except ourselves. We become
intellectually dishonest, blaming everyone else for our tragedies, expecting
everyone else to fix them, taking responsibility for nothing and expecting
handouts and freebies for everything. Our hearts become jealous and envious.
Covetous.
Something to think about as we make
honest assessments of our thoughts and hearts.
Then Paul switches into happiness
gear when he says, “Rejoice always.” In other words be cheerful, calmly happy.
I know. Often that’s easier than it
sounds. Right now the events of the last 13-14 months have piled up high enough
to overload my spirit, my human one that is. Even the good events in your life
can bring stress; and the good events in my life were interspersed with
not-so-good, physical, emotional, and spirit-draining ones. And because of
that, I’m really feeling a need to pull an Elijah, to run off and flop down
next to some out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere brook where no one can find me. To be
fed by some birds. To sleep. Or crash in a field of poppies like Dorothy did in
the Wizard of Oz.
These days it’s taking all of the
energy I have to get up, get dressed, and put one foot in front of the other. I
cry out to God every morning to get me through the day. No, not just get me
through the day. See me through the day with a grateful heart, with a purpose
for living. And I can only do that if I’m willing to turn to my grateful list.
The L-O-N-G one that tallies off all of the things I am grateful for, and thank
the Creator for them. And smile. Doing those two things change your attitude.
Literally. (It’s a brain chemical thing.) Doing those two things pour hope into
my heart. Why? Because I’m replaying God’s track record in my mind, remembering
what He’s done for me and what I am sure He will do for me in the future; how
He will sustain me. Although others have let me down, He never will. Although I
have let myself down, He lifts me up. Always. He’s the first person I seek in
the morning and the last person I seek at night. Without Him, my life would
unravel like a thread ripping from a spool on a high-speed sewing machine. My
spirit would disintegrate.
Paul knew very well what he was
talking about when he said, “Rejoice always.” The man who many times had to run
for his life. The man who had to be lowered from a roof in a basket so others
wouldn’t find and kill him. A man who was stoned nearly to death (some believe
he actually did die), and imprisoned on more than one occasion. A man whose
closest friends and allies abandoned him when he needed them the most. This is
the man who says, “Rejoice always.” If we don’t our spirits (and bodies) will
die a slow, torturous death. Life will suck the life out of us.
Paul knew what he was talking about.
And he also knew that taking the focus off of self and putting it on others,
encouraging them and lifting them up, goes a long way in perking up our spirits
and cracking the despondency that comes along with too much self.
So whatever you’re going through,
you can Rejoice! If it’s wonderful, rejoice over its wonder and pleasure. If
it’s painful, rejoice that God is still in control, knows what you are going
through and what you need, and will be with you to guide and walk you through
it. Rejoice that this too shall pass and that joy comes in the morning.
And join me next week for more
uncovering of The Good Life!
Blessings,
Andrea
May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your
soul prospers (3 John 2).
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