"Real Spirituality" - I Thess. 1:1-10 - October 20, 2002

Recent surveys of Christianity in the United States have revealed that worship attendance has declined in the last decade. Also, thousands of people have left the main line church and migrated to more "evangelical" or "fundamentalist" ones. Does that mean that our nation is becoming less spiritual?

Do you consider yourself to be a "spiritual" person? If you were rated by your peers, would they think of you as a "spiritual" man or woman? Just what is a spiritual person and how would we know whether or not we, as a church, are spiritual people?

In this letter to the Thessalonians, Paul is affirming the "spirituality" of the believers there. He is thankful for their faith, their love and the hope they have in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are empowered by the Holy Spirit and they have, "full conviction." Just how did Paul determine those qualities?

In the field of Human Services there is a document called an assessment form. The counselor or social worker makes notes about their client, noting their background, psychological state, their support systems, emotional state and their behavior. They are taught that when you make comments, such as; "Mary seems depressed and lacks motivation," you must follow that assessment with evidence.

If you are a "spiritual" person then it is evidenced by a particular behavior. The problem, as I see it, is that the evidence by which spirituality is measured today is quite different than the evidence that Paul used in his day. In modern times we tend to measure spirituality by quantity. In other words, churches, because they are drawing thousands of people, are considered more spiritual because of their numbers. Billy Graham is considered to be a spiritual man since he preaches to tens of thousands of people in stadiums. Even in a medium size church like ours, worship is judged by the number of people who come.

Paul makes no mention of numbers. He does, however indicate that we are spiritual when our faith moves beyond our own community. To be spiritual means to be consistent in our faith at home, at work, at play and to the places we go beyond our home towns, even abroad. In other words, the "spiritual" person is one who is no different on the ball field than they are in the pew.

The people at Thessalonica lived in a seaport city which was governed by the Romans. There were numerous pagan cults. If you practiced Christianity you had to break your ties with all cults. This resulted in a loss of prestige, and in like all other Roman controlled cities, Christians suffered persecution. They suffered rejection, loneliness and loss of privileges. Thus, the Christian community was discouraged and being the church in Thessalonica took courage and a strong faith.

The "turning away from idols" for the Church at Thessalonica meant loss of status. Contrast Thessalonica to our society where Christianity is acceptable. We don’t experience loss of status or less privileges because of our faith. Nevertheless, these early Christians were willing to walk away from all foreign gods even if it meant a life which caused them to be ostracized.

So, what are the idols we need to turn away from today? I believe it has to do with leaving our dependencies. By breaking their dependence on pagan cults, the Church at Thessalonica had to learn to live in the new freedom they experienced through their faith in Christ. They also learned to live in the grace of God.

When we think of idols we generally think of money, material goods, food, sex or television. I believe that we are dependent in some other areas which are less subtle, yet they prevent us from being free. They are: (1) families, (2) conformity, (3) competition, and (4) tradition.

Several years ago I interviewed a young woman who was applying for a student exchange program overseas. The program required her to be in a foreign country her junior year for eleven months. She was bright, enthusiastic and excited about the opportunity. Her mother, however did not share her enthusiasm. None of her children had ever been away from home except for staying overnight at a friend’s house. Those of us in the program ended up counseling the mother for months, preparing her for the temporary separation of mother and daughter. The daughter did fine, but the mother just about had a nervous breakdown.

Our families are important to us. Nevertheless, there comes a time when we have to give our children their wings and let them go. Otherwise they will be dependent upon us their whole lives and never enjoy the freedom of being their authentic selves.

By conformity I mean the influence of our society that makes us think or believe we have to act a certain way to fit in. Following September 11th a great percentage of Americans flew the flag in front of their homes, in their windows or in their cars. If you didn’t fly a flag your neighbors thought you were non-supportive of the anti-terrorism effort. Just because you fly a flag doesn’t mean you are doing anything about terrorism. I would guess that there is also a large percentage of Americans who couldn’t tell you where the country of Afghanistan is located. I doubt that very few can spell it. Many are also completely ignorant when it comes to other religions. Most don’t understand that Muslims worship the same God, "Allah," that we do.

The Church at Thessalonica didn’t conform. They left their cults and were transformed into Christianity. But, their new found freedom gave them strength and they found community in one another, with Paul and with Jesus.

I believe that one of the major problems today, especially with our youth, is our obsession with competition. I have a friend who referee’s at soccer games. He was telling me about a city that has a soccer league for three-year-olds. These children have barely learned to walk but they are already being conditioned to be competitive on the playing field.

I enjoy sports, but I believe too many of our children and youth are being set up to fail. Since only a select few get to play in varsity sports, thousands of others have had to learn, at an early age, that not everyone is good enough. This, I believe, is creating inferiority complexes and depression in our youth. Overcoming these can be a life-long process. Unfortunately, some don’t have the fortitude to overcome them.

Lastly, our dependency on tradition keeps us from moving forward, trying new things, or living "outside the box." Real spirituality means we embrace challenges, grow in our faith, test out new ideas and stretch ourselves beyond known boundaries. That requires some pain and struggle and especially a little dying.

Notice that Paul ends this chapter by reminding that Jesus was raised from the dead. In other words, Paul is telling us that we can’t expect a new birth until we are willing to give death to the old self. Breaking away from our dependencies requires sacrifice and letting go before we can realize freedom and the joy of living in the grace of God.

The Thessalonians broke away from their dependencies and were converted. What made them spiritual was their determination to leave their cults although it cost them prestige and loss of privilege. They learned, however to live by faith rather than be dependent upon society's norms and traditional practices. What they discovered was the freedom of living in God’s grace and the joy of being resurrected into a new and different community where faith, love and hope abounded.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio