Introduction
A couple of years ago, there was a private e-mail exchange between two men called Harry and Sebastian. It was about Harry’s ex-girlfriend Jenni. Harry bragged in a very macho kind of way, went into some fairly intimate details and spoke of Jenni disparagingly.
Sebastian, attracted by the idea of a pretty girl with few scruples, asked Harry for Jenni’s e-mail address. Harry said “no problem” and typed it into the CC window to copy and paste it – but crucially forgot to delete it from there before sending the reply. Result; Jenni was copied in to the whole thread and read everything Harry and Sebastian had said.
So she decided, in a plan to humiliate them both, to forward the entire exchange -unedited- to everyone on her list of contacts. Within a few hours, it went viral on the internet and was in all the newspapers.
We can afford to smirk a little. But have you ever spoken about someone in their absence with words you would never have used if they were present? I’m not going to ask for a show of hands. But if I did, I would imagine that probably every hand would reluctantly have to be raised – mine included.
Mark Twain was once travelling in a train home from Maine after a really successful three week fishing holiday – even though it was outside of the state’s fishing season. And he was bragging about his huge (but totally) illegal catch to the only other passenger in the carriage.
The other passenger had a face that grew increasingly sour as Twain was boasting about his ill-gotten gains. When Twain finally asked his fellow passenger what he did for a living, he explained that he was the State Fisheries and Game Inspector. “And who are you?” he asked. “To tell the truth”, Twain said, “I’m the biggest liar in the whole of the United States!”
Integrity. The dictionary defines integrity as “adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.” It’s about being true to what you believe, it’s about being consistent and honourable. What you see is what you get. I suppose the opposite of integrity would be duplicity or hypocrisy – which is the one thing that got Jesus most upset with the Pharisees.
The nearest the Bible come to defining integrity is here in 1 Thessalonians 2. Only here, it isn’t a dictionary definition, the sort of thing you find in a textbook – because the Bible is not a theoretical document. What we have in 1 Thessalonians 2 is the lived-out testimony of how one man maintained his integrity under pressure – because the Bible is about real life situations and how God interacts with them. This how God has chosen to reveal truth to us; not through abstract philosophical precepts handed down from on high, but through flesh and blood, in lives just like ours, lived out in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Background
I explained last week how the church in Thessalonica came into being (you can read about it in Acts 17) but for the sake of those who weren’t here last week, let me just run over it again briefly.
Paul arrived in the busy, commercial, highly populated city of Thessalonica in about AD 50 and preached the gospel in the local synagogue. Some were converted to Christ.
But several synagogue elders became dismayed that a section of their membership was leaving them to join this new church and it caused serious friction between the two communities. In the end, some thugs were recruited to start a riot in which Paul and Silas were nearly strung up from a lamp post.
It says that they were hauled before the authorities to explain themselves.
By the way, the word used for authorities is “politarchas.” It’s from the Greek “polis” which means city and “archas” from which we get Archbishop, Archangel; it signifies an office of high authority over a city.
People used to pour scorn on the Acts of the Apostles as accurate history because this technical term was unknown anywhere in Greek literature. It was assumed that Luke just made it up. But archaeological excavations in 1960 in Thessalonica uncovered 41 references to this word, all dating back to the first century.
Thessalonica was, in fact, as far as we know, the only city in the ancient world to call its magistrates “Politarchs.” And Luke only uses that specific term when writing about Thessalonica. The point is that the Bible is reliable and trustworthy, even down to incidental details like this – and the more we dig up, the more its authenticity is confirmed.
Anyway, fortunately, Paul and Silas were secretly smuggled out of town at night and made their escape.
Some time later, Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to find out how the young church was getting on. It would be a miracle if they had survived; not only had their leadership team been removed, they were public enemy number one and had only been Christians a very short time.
But Timothy came back with some good news. The church had survived and was actually prevailing. It was, in fact, a model church as we saw last week. So Paul decided to write them a letter to express his delight and to supplement the teaching he had given when he was with them.
1 Thessalonians was, in fact, the first letter to a church that Paul ever wrote – which means that what you have in your hands are the first recorded words of the New Testament. The letters were written before the Gospels so this letter is how the written revelation of Jesus Christ all began.
But word of a flourishing church wasn’t the only news Timothy came back with. He also brought back a report of malicious gossip all over town about Paul. What we read in chapter 2 only really makes sense if Timothy brought news of smears on Paul’s character.
Criticism of Christian Leadership
The elders at the synagogue were understandably jealous of Paul’s success and I’m afraid they had begun to badmouth him in his absence. They were undermining trust in Paul and contesting the truth of his message.
I wish I could say that unfair and untrue criticism was rare and exceptional in Christian ministry; I’m afraid to say that everywhere I have been as a leader I have experienced it, including here.
You ask any minister and they will tell you that they’ve faced it too at some point. One of the first things they should tell you at Theological College; is if you want to be a church leader, you’ll need to be able to hold your head and rise above when people are spreading lies about you and your church.
Someone once said that “The secret of leadership is to keep the four guys that hate you away from the five who are still undecided!” Well, I think that’s overstating the case a little.
But Jesus said “Blessed are you when [not if, when] people… falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5.11-12).
Of course, it’s not only church leaders who have to contend with being discredited and maligned – but, in my experience, church leaders encounter it perhaps more often.
Now… what’s going on here? Why does this happen with such predictable regularity? Could it be that people are really that dishonest and that nasty everywhere you go?
What we have to bear in mind is that behind all this is the devil.
Jesus called him “a liar from the beginning and the father of lies.” Satan deals in inaccuracies, exaggerations, smears and character assassination.
The book of Revelation calls him “the accuser who accuses day and night,” pointing the finger at Christians round the clock, finding fault and heaping condemnation.
The devil’s overarching ambition is to destroy the Gospel message and his first tactic is to discredit the messenger. It is one of the most effective weapons in his arsenal.
The Accusations
So let’s look at the gossip that was going round about Paul. What were they saying? Reading between the lines here, you can piece together a quite startling list of what lies were being said behind Paul’s back.
Here’s what they were saying:
1. Paul is incompetent. (They were saying he made a dog’s dinner of starting the church, leaving you in confusion).
2. Paul is a quitter. (They were saying that he was a criminal jail breaker from Philippi, persona non gratis in Thessalonica, and a runaway from Berea. He wasn’t man enough to face justice, he was a coward).
3. Paul is a fanatic (They were saying he’s so single-minded he’s actually obsessed. He’s an extremist you should avoid).
4. Paul is unqualified (He’s got no real credentials to speak of and you shouldn’t take amateurs seriously).
5. Paul is a fraud. (He’s basically a con man - his whole ‘ministry’ is a scam and you were taken in).
6. Paul is a flatterer (He’s good at sweet talk but beware, it’s insincere. As soon as he was out of town he forgot all about you).
7. Paul is an opportunist (He’s only in it for the money he can get out of you).
8. Paul is workshy (He’s just looking for an easy life).
9. And finally, Paul is a domineering dictator (His attitude is controlling and authoritarian).
That is a really heavy list of accusations isn’t it? All said behind his back, once he’d left.
Was there a grain of truth in any of this? Paul was a man, not an angel, so he wasn’t a paragon of sinless perfection, in fact he once called himself “the worst of sinners” but the truth is that every one of those things that were being said about him was completely false.
That’s why, incidentally, it says in 1 Timothy 5. “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.” Don’t be taken in by hearsay or idle gossip. Check the facts with two or three trustworthy people who can confirm or deny the rumours.
And here’s the truth; the devil is every one of those things on that list. Behind all these accusations, the devil is actually ascribing to Paul the features of his own personality. Well, you know what they say; it takes one to know one doesn’t it…
The Defence
How does Paul respond to all these rumours? In v10 he appeals to God and to the Thessalonians as witnesses. He says “You have seen how I was when I was with you. You know yourselves this isn’t true. And my conscience is clear before God too. My life is an open book to God.”
In v1 he says “Our visit to you was not without results. How can I be incompetent?” We saw this in chapter 1 last Sunday; a solid church full of faith hope and love - and all God was doing there was becoming known everywhere. Is that a botch job? Look at my effectiveness.
In v2 he says “We’d just been in prison in Philippi but we dared to tell you the gospel in the face of strong opposition.” Look at my boldness. Actually he left Thessalonica to protect his converts, removing from them the obligation of having to pay his bail.
In v6 he says “As apostles of Christ we could have asserted our prerogatives.” Did I stand on my rights or bang on about my dignity? No, look at my humbleness.
In v4 he says “We speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.” In other words, even if no one else approves of what we do, God does. Look at my godliness.
In v3 he says “For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you.” Look, he says, we’ve been above reproach. Look at my blamelessness.
In the second half of v4 he says “We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.” In other words, whatever I say, I mean. Look at my guilelessness.
In v8 he says “Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” Look, he says, I gave you my time, my money, my very self without counting. Look at my selflessness.
In v9 you can sense the frustration in his voice as he learns that some of his converts are being persuaded by all these lies. He says “Surely you remember our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone.” I was never idle among you. I’m not a sponger. Look at my industriousness.
And finally in v7-8 he confronts the charge that he was domineering and controlling. “We were like young children among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you.” Look at my gentleness.
It’s hard to find, anywhere in the New Testament, such a clear exposition of the Christian character we should all aspire to, and what we should especially look for in those we appoint as leaders.
Do you think God is interested in reputation? What do you think?
Remember the risen Lord Jesus in Revelation 3 – he addressed the church in Sardis saying “you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up!”
In truth, God isn’t all that bothered about reputation. He is more concerned about what our character actually is.
Reputation is what you are supposed to be. But, as Bill Hybels says, character is who you are when no one is looking.
Reputation is made in a moment. But character is built over a lifetime.
Reputation grows like a mushroom. But character grows like an oak tree.
Reputation is what people say about you on you tombstone. But character is what the angels say about you around the throne of God.
Satan’s Attacks
In case it seems fanciful to you that Satan is spending his time attacking the integrity of Christians today let me share with you an extract from a 1991 book called Blasphemous Rumours by Sunday Telegraph journalist and BBC reporter Andrew Boyd. In that book, Boyd included the testimony of a 29 year old woman who claims she was involved in a satanic network for a number of years before becoming a Christian. This is how she describes her experience.
“They placed curses on [prominent Christians], that they would fail, very disastrously, so that everything would be destroyed around them, and the obvious things about marriage, homes, jobs, plans, that… something would happen to them. They particularly prayed that the marriages of church leaders would fail.
Some of the group members were given the job of infiltrating local Christian churches… to try and destroy the church from within. They would… bring dissent, or whatever, into the church, so that spiritually they were being broken down.”
Ending
So, as I end, I want to encourage you to do the best thing you can do in the face of such opposition. Ephesians 6 says “Put on the full armour of God, so you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Verse 16 says to raise “the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
When you raise the shield of faith, you proclaim the truth of who God is - the triune God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who was, and is, and is to come.
When you raise the shield of faith, you say that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask and conceive according to the power that is at work among us.
When you raise the shield of faith, you speak out your confidence in Christ’s power to save and deliver because at the cross he disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them.
When you raise the shield of faith, you declare Christ’s victory over all the forces of darkness, over curses, strongholds and evil spirits and you anticipate the day when the devil and all his angels will be thrown into the lake of fire that will burn forever.
Raise the shield of faith! Declare that the kingdom of God is here! And that kingdom, says 1 Corinthians 4.20, is not a matter of talk, but of power.
Let’s pray…
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 14th October 2012
