Self Control

The last two chapters of 1 Thessalonians are filled with instructions on how we are to conduct ourselves and treat others. They are filled with urgings at "self control". Here are a few of the passages from Chapter 4. I'll discuss Chapter 5 separately

"It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. ... For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life."

Paul is taking aim at sexual immorality. The Lord certainly isn't against sex. Heck, he created it, and made it the method by which the human race could be "fruitful and multiply". But if the only purpose of sex was to produce more humans, why did he make it pleasurable? No, he made sex for both procreation and pleasure. I'm sure happy for that!

However, like just about anything else the Lord has given us, we can abuse sex. The Bible makes it clear that sex is intended for married couples, and it is a holy union. We are not to "be like the heathens" and use it strictly to satisfy our lusts. Sadly, we live in a society where that is clearly the message. We are told to indulge our fantasies whenever we desire, and have as many sexual partners as we want. It is difficult to turn on the TV or connect to the internet and not be bombarded with such messages and sexual images and innuendo. It excites us, titillates us ... and makes us long to partake in such lustful activities. But we have crystal-clear warnings from God that this is NOT the righteous path and we are not to succumb to such temptations and immorality. As Christians, Christ dwells within us, and to use our bodies in such a fashion is defiling not only our God-given bodies, but Christ himself.

Picture it this way: if you succumb to these temptations, it's like having Christ sitting next to you and you turning to him and telling him: "I just don't care what you say. I'm doing it anyway." Ouch. It's like giving him a sucker-punch right in the gut, or slapping him across the face. That's our Savior ... would you really do that to him?

Paul isn't just talking about actually having wanton sex outside of marriage. He's talking about all forms of sexual immorality: viewing porn on the internet, watching explicit movies, fantasizing about that pretty girl who just walked by ... all of it. We are called to be pure and faithful to our spouse. Fantasize about her all you want ... but keep it there!

Oh ... and there is a warning interspersed in this passage: "The Lord will punish men for all such sins." Our actions are not without consequences. But this is a topic I'll delve into later.

Chapter 4 also contains this intriguing passage:

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."

Hmmm ... does this mean we are all to lead quiet lives and shun any type of job or position that would force us to be in the spotlight? Are we not to be leaders, politicians or statesmen? What about folks like Billy Graham, who was in the spotlight for most of his adult life and brought hundreds of thousands of people to Christ? What about Dr. James Dobson, who is quite outspoken in his quest to emphasize family values to the masses? These folks certainly aren't living "quiet lives".

One possibility here is that we must consider to whom the letter is being written. Thessalonica was a busy seaport with a fairly large population. The church had been founded early in Paul's ministry, but he was forced to leave the area shortly thereafter. The outside influences and pressures on the church were tremendous, so he wrote the letter to encourage the new believers to hold strong to their faith and how to conduct themselves.

But why the "quiet life" and "mind your own business" plea? I'm just not sure. Perhaps it relates to the entire concept of being humble, and not seeking self-aggrandizement. Perhaps new Christians were meddling in the affairs of others, and being "busy bodies" or gossips. The Bible doesn't tell us the exact situation, so we must attempt to understand Paul's reasons without full evidence.

However, we also must keep in mind that Paul's letters and even Jesus' teachings were sometimes targeted for a specific audience who found themselves in a unique or special situation. We must take care in transferring those lessons or instructions to other groups or even our time period. Often these lessons and instructions are universal, but sometimes they are not. There are numerous examples wherein Jesus, Paul or other authors give directives on specific situations that do not necessarily relate to us today. For instance, when Jesus talks about slaves being obedient to their masters, he is not condoning slavery. When Paul talks about women being silent in church, he was being mindful of the local culture and trying to keep peace in the new church. I sure wouldn't want to try to keep the ladies in my church quiet!

We must realize that most of the New Testament was written nearly 2000 years ago, and was written in a vastly different world filled with civilizations and cultures that are sometimes radically different than ours today. Jesus, Paul and the other authors often had to speak to specific cultural questions and situations that don't necessarily directly apply to our culture today. It is sometimes tough to make this distinction and fully understand what they were trying to teach. That's just one more reason why it is important to be involved in a local church and with a body of believers that these situations can be discussed and better understood.

GJS