I Thessalonians 2:1-12
The triads… Once you are aware of them, you tend to see them quite often. I counted three today; the first two are obvious: …how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct… (v. 10) and …we exhorted … and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God… (v. 11). But the third triad is hidden a bit in verses 5 and 6: For we never came with words of flattery, … nor with a pretext for greed (v. 5) … Nor did we seek glory from people… (v. 6).
This third triad is more interesting. Paul is talking about how he might be preaching – actually how his preaching could have been misguided. First he could have come trying to win coverts with flattery, making the Thessalonians feel good about themselves. Or he might have come preaching and asking for their support – I so remember a “teaching” that I attended in my early born-again years where the last half of the two-hour “teaching” was their need for support to maintain their ministry. Turned me off!! Finally, Paul could have courted praise from his listeners, winning them over with HIS (not the Lord’s) manner and elocution. Again, misguided. Instead Paul spoke as a person …approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel… not to please man, but to please God. (v. 4) There’s a bottom-line message in all that for us: we must be genuine when we share the Gospel. Our listeners will see right through any insincerity in our words or in our hearts. We are entrusted with Jesus’ Gospel. Don’t misuse it!
Slava Bohu!
Good words! Whenever we talk, we need to be sincere, not a flatterer, though true, encouraging words are important to others and to us. How can they hear the Gospel if our words and actions don’t reflect Jesus, the Word of God?