Advice from Paul

What does a quiet life look like?

I recently read a blog post centered on 1 Thessalonians 4:11. “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.”

The writer went one way and my mind went spinning in an entirely different direction. I looked it up and discovered that the you, is followed by a comma, not a period, so I read the rest of the sentence, which is verse twelve, “so that your daily life will win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” 1 Thessalonians 4:12

I quickly read the footnote for explanation. Paul had written this letter to the people of Thessalonica, who were doing a good job in their Christian walk, but he had a warning for them. First he tells them how to live and then he tells them why.

The Greeks of the day, apparently, looked down on people who performed manual labor, worked with their hands, and Paul was reminding them that Christians are called to work hard and not be dependent on others due to idleness. If they led a quiet life and worked hard, others would see and be drawn to Christ as well.

This verse swirled in my thoughts all day long. Paul could have written it for us today.

In a world where we all desperately seek our fifteen minutes of fame at all costs, living a quiet life seems almost impossible. We take to social media to tweet every thought that comes into our minds and we take pictures of our meals to post. We broadcast when we get a new dog, a new car, or a new spouse. We feel compelled to share everything.

But, all that sharing is the opposite of quiet and it also leads to the next warning about minding your own business. It’s fairly difficult to mind our own business when we can’t put down our social media, because we are so engrossed in everyone else’s business.

Christians who are able, are also called to work hard and not depend on others to take care of us. Paul is not talking about the elderly or sick; he’s talking about people who are simply lazy.

On the surface, it seems like a simple recipe. Lead a quiet life; mind your own business and work hard. But, I don’t hear a lot of quiet these days and it seems like no one minds their own business. Everyone has an opinion about just about everything, and they feel deeply, the need to express it. And, we have a lot of able-bodied folks who refuse to work.

So, what can we do?

The change, starts with me and you. We need to lead a quiet life and mind our own business. We need to work hard, because the rest of the verse says that we, “may win the respect of outsiders.”

Outsiders are non-believers. Is there a better way to share the Gospel than earning the respect of those who don’t believe?

Isn’t that what we are called to do? That’s what Paul believed. What do you believe?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂