Some thoughts on chapter 5 – ‘a passion for people’ – from ‘A call to spiritual reformation.’

I am telling you this is a great book. If you read only one chapter in the book, then it is this one. It is built off the passage – 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13. The main thesis of this chapter is that Paul’s prayer life comes out of his profound passion for people. Carson states,

“He (Paul) never descends to the level of the mere professional. Paul is a passionate man, deeply enmeshed in the lives of real people. That is why he can say elsewhere, “Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?” (2 Cor. 11: 28– 29). This is not someone intoxicated with ideas but unconcerned about people. Nor is it someone who is content to minister at a distance— through the books he has written, perhaps, or through younger emissaries. No, this man’s ministry is not designed first and foremost to produce ideas, books, or junior colleagues, but to serve the people of God; and to this he is passionately committed. And that passion shapes the prayers he utters on their behalf.”

As a pastor I have to ask myself do I have this same passion for my people. Does my prayer life come out of a passion to seek the good of other Christians – desiring that they be built up in Christ, or have I descended to the level of a mere professional. Listen to this quote:

“As someone who has taught seminary students for more than fifteen years, I worry about the rising number of seminarians who, when asked where and how they think they might best serve, respond with something like this: “Well, I think I would like to teach somewhere. Every time I have taught, people have told me I have done a pretty good job. I get a tremendous sense of fulfillment  out of teaching the Bible. I think I could be satisfied teaching Scripture.” How pathetic. I know pagans who find satisfaction and fulfillment by teaching nuclear physics.

In any Christian view of life, self-fulfillment must never be permitted to become the controlling issue. The issue is service, the service of real people. The question is, How can I be most useful?, not, How can I feel most useful? The goal is, How can I best glorify God by serving his people?, not, How can I feel most comfortable and appreciated while engaging in some acceptable form of Christian ministry? The assumption is, How shall the Christian service to which God calls me be enhanced by my daily death, by my principled commitment to take up my cross daily and die?, not, How shall the form of service I am considering enhance my career? This is not to deny that Christians may derive joy from work honestly offered to God, whether that work is vocational ministry or research into the properties of quarks. But it is one thing to find joy in the work to which we have been called, and another to make joy the goal of life, the fundamental criterion that controls our choices.

As Carson states Paul’s prayer life is a reflection of true Christianity.  He continues,

“Jesus came to us, choosing to be with us— and this for our good. He chose the path of self-denial, dying in excruciating shame and degradation so that others might live. He calls us to serve the same way, not by lording it over others but by open-eyed death to self-interest, for the good of others. This stance is not a mask to be donned as a disguise at religious conventions, but the hallmark of Christian living. Paul understood the point and lived it out. His prayers for believers are nothing more than an extension of the same love that he bore them.”

Carson then notes four things that Paul prays for when he prays for people

1. Paul prays with rich thankfulness for the people of God (3: 9). As noted earlier in the book when he prays for other Christians he thanks God for them. However, Carson also notes that Paul also tells believers that he thanks God for them. He wonders how different our churches would be if we were to tell others how grateful we are to God for them. For example, how would it make Bob feel if we were to tell him that we thank God for his service to the Lord every time he does the ushering at church. If we were to tell him how we love the way he greets the elderly, and the young and makes newcomers feel right at home.
2. Paul prays that he might be able to strengthen these believers (3: 10– 11). Paul’s radical concern for people is expressed in petitions asking God to open the way for him to minister to them. Carson wonders what our churches would be like if we had a radical passion for people like.
3. Paul prays that there might be an overflow of love among these believers (3: 12). Carson notes how in the Greco-Roman world people would only express love for others and do favors for others if it would advance their place in society. And Paul is pleading that the church be different. That the church be a place where there would be a deep love among every member.
4. Paul prays that these believers will be so strengthened in heart that they will be blameless and holy when the end comes (3: 13). Paul prays that the believers would be pursuing holiness in their lives.

What a chapter, well worth the read.