For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed… though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. – 1 Thessalonians 2:5, 6
The first accusation against Paul by the church in Thessalonica was that he was using the people to his own advantage. In Paul’s response, he is talking about money. As an apostle, he could have called on the Thessalonians to support him financially.
But he didn’t do that. Paul got a job working during the day, and he gave himself to ministry in the evenings. That made for some long days: “You remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God” (2:9).
The issue here goes deeper than money. Very few people are driven purely by money. The real motivation is not money itself, but the comfort that it brings.
If comfort had been Paul’s criteria for success, he would have abandoned the first missionary journey when they were thrown into prison in Philippi. The gospel would never have come to Thessalonica, and you wouldn’t be reading this today.
How would you know if you are motivated by comfort? You would always be asking: “What am I getting out of this? Am I enjoying this ministry? Do I like the other people?” When you ask these kinds of questions, you are working with a false definition of success: Success = comfort.
If this has become your measure of success, what would repentance look like? It means ditching these questions and embracing a new definition of success.
What matters is not your comfort, but the advance of the gospel through your life and ministry. Loving while bearing pain is a reflection of Jesus, and that’s success. In order to be a faithful disciple of Jesus, you have to overcome the desire for comfort.
What are some new questions you could start asking?
