Three Questions

Three questions stood out for me as I went through today’s reading (1 Thessalonians 2) —

(1) Is the gospel currently considered potent enough to oppose it? We read here about how people were trying to stop the gospel from spreading. In America at least, does anyone care or think highly enough of the gospel to believe it’s important to contain it? And, if not, how do we change that?

(2) Who are we trying to please? Paul (the author) says, We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. Let’s be honest: Are we performing for an audience of one, or many? And how would our lives and ministries look different if we were only trying to please God?

(3) What crown will we be wearing? The Bible talks about how we’ll be rewarded in Heaven, and that we will wear crowns. But what are we rewarded for? And what is the crown? We’re told here that our reward and crown are … people. The people we served, the people who’s lives we had an impact on. And if that’s true, if there’s some sense in which the scorecard of your life is measured in the ministry you did for/to others, what about our lives needs to change?