“We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority.”
1 Thessalonians 2:6 (NIV)
It is an amazing truth that the true apostle would set aside his authority because of his love for God’s people, whereas false apostles assert their “authority” to manipulate God’s people.
It is not that the Thessalonians didn’t recognize Paul’s authority- for verse 13 says they accepted his words as the Words of God-
but it is that Paul did not have the attitude of getting what he could from them- rather his attitude was to give all he could to them.
There is a world of difference between those two attitudes.
A giver or a taker?
A friend of mine tells his daughters that when they choose a mate they need to determine whether the person they are going to marry is a taker or a giver.
As long as they can tell him what he himself has identified in the potential mate- he is happy - for they are forewarned.
The apostles gave they didn’t take.
They didn’t even look for praise, they didn’t want to be a burden in any way.
Look at their attitude towards God’s people- their hope, their joy, their crown, their glory.
Quite a different attitude than the one who thinks the only problem with church is the people.
May God help us to imitate them.
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