It has been said that knowledge is caught rather than taught. That certainly seems to be the case with regard to the gospel. In Paul’s day the church at Thessalonica had a number of members who used their Christian faith as an excuse to "freeload" off of pagan neighbors. This was contrary to Paul=s own practice of working for a living even while preaching the gospel. This apparently made the church the object of disgust and derision in Thessalonica.

Note the words of First Thessalonians 4:11-12 (NIV): "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."

The stated principle in this passage is also applicable today. As far as possible, the followers of Jesus are to live their faith in such a way as to gain the respect of outsiders and avoid being disruptive of the social context in which a spiritual community is placed. Paul’s counsel is interesting, he invites believers to exercise "ambition" to live a "quiet life." In the ancient world a quiet life meant avoiding, as far as possible, engagement in politics and popular social affairs. Charles Wanamaker, in his 1990 commentary on the Thessalonians Letters, calls it "maintaining a low profile."

Let me offer a contemporary illustration of how this might work out in the area of Muslim-Christian relations. In a Muslim society good relationships with neighbors are valued at least as much as truth, honesty, and wealth. When Christians ignore family and social responsibilities in order to "witness" for Christ they unwittingly communicate irresponsibility and social disdain in the Muslim environment. Paul would argue here that the first work of the follower of Jesus is to uplift family and community responsibilities. In that context the witness to Jesus has credibility.

When a person is converted to the Adventist faith in the developing world, for example, the tendency is to pull them out of their family and their environment and send them off to school to learn how to be an itinerant pastor. Such an action may make perfect sense in terms of building up the church as an institution. But the consequent impact on family life can do great harm in terms of the credibility of the church in the Muslim community. So Paul’s counsel here makes me wonder whether the unpredictable God of the Bible really prefers the short-term results of such a policy at the expense of long-term hits to the church’s reputation?