“Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.”
1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 ESV
As Christians, we are certainly called to share the gospel. We’ve been called to bear witness for Christ. And we’ve been called to make disciples.
We also have a civic duty to vote. We have the duty to cast our ballot for representatives who will best represent our values. We have the duty to vote for candidates whom we believe will best serve our nation.
We ought to take both of these responsibilities very seriously. We should do them diligently. However, there’s another side of this that we must consider.
Here, in the United States, we have the freedom to say what we want. We have the freedom to voice both our beliefs and our opinions. However, that being said, many of us have become quite obnoxious in doing so. We’ve become obnoxious as we constantly feel that we must make our voices heard.
This is true when it comes to interpersonal conversation. But it’s even more true when it comes to social media. As we hide behind the computer screen, we’re emboldened to say what we will in a way that is both tactless and insensitive.
As we see above, this is not God’s will for us. Paul urged the Thessalonians to love one another. And he encouraged them to do so more and more. However, he then went on to tell them how they were to live within society.
They were to aspire to live quietly, and to mind their own affairs. In other words, they were to be at rest. They were to stay home and mind their own business. And they were to hold their peace, they were to say little to nothing, as they went about their lives.
They were also to work with their hands. They were do so that they might walk properly before others, or win the respect of others. And they were to do so that they might be dependent upon no one.
As we carry out our call to proclaim the gospel and to make disciples, and as we carry out our civic duty to vote for our representatives, we would do well to cultivate these other character qualities as well. We would to do well to love one another more and more. We would do well to hold our peace and to say little. We would do well to stay home and mind our own business. And we would do well to work hard to both support ourselves and to win the respect of others.
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