Compelling, Not Repelling
September 27, 2023
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your own hands ... so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders. 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 NIV
What’s on your bucket list? If we have one, it most often has to do with experiences (going to Europe, skydiving), accomplishments (getting a degree, completing a marathon), or possessions (owning a boat, buying your own home). Almost never will you hear someone talk about setting big goals for personal change, unless they have to do with appearance (like working out or dieting).
But Paul gives his readers an ambition for which to shoot. He assumes these Jesus-followers will be with him on the mission of bringing other people to Jesus for life and eternity-changing relationships.
So, he gives them ambition, tells them what to do, and shares what the result will be.
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life …” Seriously? My ambition isn’t to be flashy, to be “in charge,” sharing my opinions and directives with everyone? The goal isn’t to attract attention with eye-batting, tell-it-like-it-is social posts, influential boycotts? Not to marshal political prowess and masterful pro/con arguments? My goal is to manage my own life, quietly?? Wow! The exact opposite of what I would think.
“Mind your own business and work with your own hands.” Mind my OWN business? Not handle the world? Focus on my own character, not yours? Be concerned about my own sins and failures, not my neighbor’s? Work with my own hands? Be recognized by taking responsibility for myself and being industrious? This doesn’t sound like the way to change the world. How does just managing my own business and taking responsibility to use my own hands, gifts, and responsibilities make a difference in any way?
“So that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders.” And there it is. That’s the genius of the strategy. Jesus first and then Paul, his most famous follower, were always focused on the “outsiders,” those outside salvation and faith. POWER is not the way to win the hearts of another; INFLUENCE is. Influence only comes from respect. The non-manipulative, uncoercive daily life of a true follower of Jesus Christ is the most powerful tool in the toolbox. That’s what gains influence and leads to respect that then gains an honest hearing.
A quiet, industrious, and disciplined, “looking after my own character and following Jesus” kind of life is magnetic. It compels attention and respect. Anything less than that repels others and closes their ears and minds to the true message.
Ambition is powerful. It compels or repels. Of all the things he could have pointed us toward, he told us to live counter-culturally—to live a quiet, focused life that attracts the curiosity and respect of those who need to trust and respect us so they can trust and follow Jesus.
- Jesus, honestly—does my life, my words and actions, compel or repel others?