Thoughts on 1 Thessalonians 4

Today’s reading: Ezekiel 40, 1 Thessalonians 3-4

What does it say about the Godliness of the current American lifestyle of busyness that Paul was telling his readers, 2000 years ago, to aspire to live quietly?

In the middle of 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy tell the Thessalonians 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.” Looking at the Greek for living quietly, it really carried the same connotations for them as it does for us today in English. It means to literally be quiet, to rest from labor, or to not be characterized by running “hither and thither.” Clearly, in this context, they are not talking about silence, and given that in the same sentence they instruct them to work with their hands so as to not be a burden on others, they are clearly not talking about resting from labor either. So the option that leaves us with is a life not characterized by busyness, constantly running from one thing to the next.

And what of the fact that the instruction is to aspire to this kind of life? It tells us that this was not the default for the Thessalonians. Honestly, given the pace and constant busyness of the current American life, I have a hard time imagining what this would have looked like. I feel like, given our current context, if we looked at the lifestyle they are being warned against, it would look pretty slow, mundane, and maybe even boring to us. I’m betting the average Thessalonian family didn’t have 3 kids in a collective 6 sports leagues, extracurriculars at school, a couple hours of homework each night, and a video game addiction to feed, or 2 parents working extra hours to afford those leagues, and the minivan payments to cart the kids around between all their activities, and the higher mortgage for the nicer house in the school district with the better sports programs so that there’s a better chance their kids will be able to play in college, etc., etc., etc…

I would bet that, as they are writing this, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy have basically no concept for a life as hectic and busy as the baseline American life today. And still they are telling their readers to aspire to live quietly.

So what does that mean for us? What does it look like for us to choose a quiet life today? I don’t honestly know, but I know it doesn’t look like going with the flow, following the path of least resistance into the standard American life. And I’m betting it probably doesn’t even mean dialing back slightly from the norm around us. I’m betting that what God would have from us here very likely looks radically different from the norm today. 

I think I need to spend some time with the Lord, asking Him what He would have this look like for me and my family.