Reclaiming the Quiet Life
It’s okay. It happened to the best of us this year. At different times and in different ways we all lost our minds just a little bit. In one way or another, many of us became doctors who have never been to medical school, theologians who never attended seminary, even prophets who don’t know God.
None of us began this year with this goal. It just sort of happened. It wasn’t necessarily because we are bad people (although the contention of this year has been a magnifying glass of the sin that is still intertwined in our hearts). It wasn’t always because we had wrong motives (although sin taints our motives). In fact, I’m sure, like myself, many of you tried resisting the temptation to “chime in” and add your “two-cents worth” many times. But if you are anything like me, there were still times when you caved in to the temptation to make your opinion known in a loud or aggressive way that was not honoring to God or loving towards others.
This year has made boxing-ring commentators of us all. Every single issue of 2020 has felt like two opponents battling it out, and we are all sitting around the ring, on the edge of our seats with our microphones announcing why we think our fighter is better than the other. Some of us have done this publicly on social media and other outlets. Some of us have done it privately in conversations, text messages, emails, or even in the grumblings of our own hearts. At different times, we have all felt as if our opinions and positions are of first importance.
Now hear me carefully, I’m not saying the matters at hand are not important. They are. Maybe. But for Christians they certainly are not of first importance, nor are they to be what you should become known for.
So what needs to happen? Well we need to break free from this frenzy. We need to escape the whirlpool of replying to replies, tagging people we don’t even know, and frantically searching for “facts” that just happen to align with our personal biases. We need to stop feeling the need to express our personal opinions publicly before we can move on with our day. We need to stop tearing down others in the thoughts and imaginations of our hearts. We need to stop wounding others. Even if 2021 is not different and brings no real change, change ourselves, we must.
To do this we must reclaim a vision that the Apostle Paul cast for the church in Thessalonica. He says, that you and I should:
“seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, so that you may behave properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.” -- 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (CSB)
You may notice that these verses are the complete opposite of what this past year has been for many of us. This vision of life that Paul gives, when compared to the beckoning temptations of 2020, seem paradoxical.
What sort of life-vision is this? Well, it’s nothing less than to live a quiet life, minding our own business, working hard, and behaving properly. It’s crazy that these commands seem so outlandish in our day. Yet counter-cultural they are.
Please know that I am not dismissing the obligation Christians have to speak against injustice and be a voice for the voiceless. Many of us unfortunately are not truly engaging in these battles. Instead, we are caught up in surface struggles of self glory. It is in these places that we must reclaim faithful obedience of living quiet lives.
These two verses are connected to a larger passage where Paul is urging Christians to love one another by living a life that is markedly different than the lives of those they live among. And in this vison of a better life, there is also a subtle plea for truer and better allegiance. Better than what you are wondering? Better than racial or tribal identity, better than geographical or territorial loyalty, better than political affinity, better than all the attractions and trinkets that this world is offering you. The vision for their life that Paul is calling them to is a life of devotion and worship of God, to such a degree that it reorients how they live their lives.
Friends, this is the vision of life that we need to reclaim. This is the call that pulls us out of the strong whirlpool current of ‘20, and into a better ‘21.
So, how do we do this? The first way Paul tells them to do this is simply by living a quiet life. Now this word quiet does not mean to live a restful life in silence, but rather it’s about living a life that does not intrude into the lives of others. I know that none of us would ever say that’s what we are doing. We use code words to cover up our hearts intentions like “I’m just interested,” or “I was wondering.” But in reality, more often than not, we are just opinionated… about everything. Paul’s encouragement to us is to not be like this, and also to not draw attention to ourselves by living this way. We don’t need to live our lives on blast, just blending into the roar of our culture. A better way to live, is to live quietly for the world to notice. In a screaming world, the person walking quietly is the loudest.
Closely related to this, the second command that Paul gives is to mind our own business. What is at the center of Paul’s concern here is motive. Why are you saying what you are about to say? Why are you posting, or commenting, or thinking, or whatever you are doing? Is it for the edification of another brother or sister, or is it to edify ourselves? Are we busy loving one another by outdoing one another in honor, or are we simply busybodies, worrying about areas that are not our concern? I’m not saying we wake up each morning with devious meddling plans on our minds, but what I’m concerned about is the accidental slippage that we seem to keep falling into.
Interestingly, the third command that Paul gives is to get to work! His definition of living a quiet life is to mind your own business and work. We see this theme in the text over and over again. One cure to being a busybody is to avoid idleness by doing good work. The call is to be productive and busy caring for yourself and for others. We should not simply spend our time in idleness being a burden to others. For some of us who do work real jobs, this call is a mindset shift. Some of us are showing up to work, and putting in our hours but our minds and attentions are on fixing the problems of the world. Paul’s encouragement to you is to stop it! Focus on what God has called you to do and not on what He hasn’t. For others who don’t work, but who could work, Paul’s challenge to you is to get to work! Actually get a job. Work is not for the desperate or the needy, work is for everyone. Rather than relying on institutions and the good will of others, if you can work, you should work, which will help you to live this better and quiet life.
When we live our lives this way the results will be two-fold. First, the outside world looking in will see the true difference that Jesus makes. People can observe with their own eyes the reality of the gospel by the way we live and work. This answers one of the biggest questions non-believers have about the gospel which is, “What difference does it make in my life today?” Well, when we live a life surrendered to Jesus, striving to obey His word it gives testimony to God’s power not only to save for eternity, but to save for today. Through quiet living and good work, God uses our lives to restore and build, not to tear down and destroy. We no longer live for chaos and drama, but rather healing and reconciliation. As we work, we are able to care for our needs. And suddenly, things that were once the stresses of life (like the fear of our utilities being shut off) are no longer are consuming worries. We can begin to enjoy relationships at a new level because self-seeking behaviors that destroy relationships are no longer supreme in our life. But that’s not all.
The second thing that living life in this way does is that it shows our dependence upon the Lord, and not our need to be dependent upon others. No one starts off wanting to be dependent upon the government or others to meet their basic needs. It’s not how God created us to live. Rather, God has called us all to do good work to provide for ourselves and not to be dependent upon others or upon questionable actives to provide for ourself.
Let us reclaim this better vision for our lives this coming year! The pathway to leading a quiet and peaceable life will not be found through the right person in office, a vaccine, or the ten thousand other things that we are up in arms about. The real change is going to come from us deciding to live quiet lives, minding our own business, and doing good work. And when we do, we will demonstrate the power of the gospel in a much more grand and compelling way to outsiders than any rant or rage could ever accomplish. This is the better vision for the New Year.