The Dimensions Of Love
THE DIMENSIONS OF LOVE
1 THESSALONIANS 4:9-12
Both Christians and non-Christians will evaluate the sincerity of your love for God by the way you treat others.
Paul describes a second group in the church as “the idle” (5:14). These were those people whose refusal to work had disrupted the life of the Christian community and incurred the disrespect of those who were not Christians. While the Roman world tended to despise manual and even supervisory labor as beneath the dignity of the citizen, the command to work drew its authority from the cultural mandate to “subdue the earth” and from the Law of God (Genesis 1:28; 2:15; 3:17-19; Exodus 20:9).
It was the responsibility of every Jewish father to teach his son a trade by which he could support himself. While in Thessalonica Paul had worked night and day to meet his needs (2:9). When idlers joined the young church he laid down the rule, “If anyone will not work, let them not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). In disregard of this explicit instruction some people in the assembly had not only refused to work but had also sought to be supported by other Christians. When support was denied on the ground of Paul’s word, the idle made their plea on the basis of “love of the brothers and sisters.” This is the background presupposed in 4:9-12.
That God had taught the Thessalonians to love one another was clear to the apostle (4:9-10). Nevertheless, he appeals to them to demonstrate still more love, and he introduces a series of specific responsibilities which define the depth of love for others which God demands. It is the practical orientation of communal love which is the startling element in this section. Who had considered that to live quietly, to mind one’s own affairs and to work with one’s hand were actually a consequence of the love which God teaches? Yet further reflection affirms that each of these actions springs from a selflessness which has its source in God’s love. A basic consideration for others moves Christians to avoid unnecessary conflict and the uninvited intrusion of themselves in the affairs of other people. This same considerateness moves them to do the honest work which commands the respect of outsiders and frees the worker from dependence on others for support. The idle needed to recognize the practical dimensions of Christian love.